Nikaido Benimaru FAQ For Capcom vs SNK 2 on Arcade, Dreamcast, and Playstation 2. Written by Kenny "Kenshi" Tam Contact: kennytam@foxhound.zzn.com =============== Version History =============== Version 1.0 January 24, 2002 Everything. Version 1.1 January 27, 2002 Added Groove Info etc. ================= Table of Contents ================= I. Introduction II. Profile III. Annotations and Abbreviations IV. General Moves V. Special Moves VI. Desperation Moves VII. General Notes VIII. Strategies IX. Combos X. Miscellany XI. Notes and Credits =============== I. Introduction =============== This FAQ is for the every so special Nikaido Benimaru. I tried Benimaru in the King of Fighters 1998, and used him every now and then. He is quite different in this game though, and has slight changes to his style. The move lists and descriptions I got from sitting next to my machine and watching the move several twenty times on training mode. The Translations I transliterated directly from the Cantonese names, so they might be a bit off or sound funny. =========== II. Profile =========== Full Name: Nikaido Benimaru (Two-level Sun Shrine) Age:21 (as of King of Fighters 2000) Birthday: June 6, 19?? Nationality: American and Japan Height: 180 cm Weight: 70 kg Favorite Food: Sashimi, Pasta. Favorite Sport: Clay Shooting, high jump. From: The King of Fighters 1994 ================================== III. Annotations and Abbreviations ================================== UB U UF UB= Up-Back U= Up UF= Up-Forward \ | / B= Back N= Neutral F= Forward B--N--F DB= Down-Back D= Down DF= Down-Forward / | \ DB D DF LP= Light Punch MP= Medium Punch HP= Hard Punch LK= Light Kick MK= Medium Kick HK= Hard Kick P= Any Punch K= Any Kick PP= Two Punches Simultaneously KK= Two Kicks Simultaneously PPP= All Three Punches KKK= All Three Kicks QCF= Quarter Circle Forward (D, DF, F) QCB= Quarter Circle Back (D, DB, B) DPM= Dragon Punch Motion (F, D, DF) RDP= Reverse Dragon Punch (B, D, BD) HCF= Half Circle Forward (B, DB, D, DF, F) HCB= Half Circle Back (F, DF, D, DB, B) 360= Spin Joystick in Full Circle Super Jump= Tap Down, then Up or any Up direction quickly to do a further, large jump. A trail will appear behind the opponent if done correctly. Dash= Tap Forward or Back twice quickly to move quickly in that direction. Throw= When near an opponent, press either Forward or Back and Hard Punch or Hard Kick to execute a throw attack. Throw Escape= When being grabbed for a throw, Press either Forward or Back and Hard Punch or Hard Kick to escape. Evasion= Press Light Punch and Light Kick simultaneously. Depending on the groove, the character will perform an action that will evade most moves for the duration of the action. Taunt= Press Select to do a special taunt. Grooves ******* C-Groove: --------- This mode is similar to the Alpha Series as well as Capcom Groove in the original game. The character has a gauge at the bottom of the screen, which is divided into three sections, shown by a larger area as the level increases. Attacking and performing moves will increase this gauge. Depending on the Level, Different levels of Super Combos can be performed: Level 1- Super Combo Command + LP or LK Level 2- Super Combo Command + MP or MK Level 3- Super Combo Command + HP or HK The higher the level, the more powerful it usually will be. The levels are cumulative, so doing a level 2 super on with a Level 3 gauge will leave the bar with 1 level left. Dash- Tap either Forward or Back Twice quickly to do a small dash in that directly. Rolling- Press LP and LK simultaneously to perform a moving dodge, which can pass through most Special and Super moves, as well as the opponent. Counter Attack- While blocking, immediately tap Forward + MP+MK to perform a counterattack. Note that it requires 1 level of the Super Gauge to perform this move. Air Block- Press Back whilst in the air to block. Super moves cannot be air blocked. Tactical Recovery- When Knocked down, press all 3 Punch Buttons to delay your character getting up. A-Groove: --------- This mode is similar to the Custom Combo Groove, the V-ism from Street Fighter Zero 3. At the bottom of the Screen is a Custom Combo Gauge, which can be filled up by attacking. At 50% full, a Level 1 Super combo can be performed. When full, a Custom Combo can be performed. Level 1- Super Combo Command + Button Level 2- Custom Combo - HP and HK Simultaneously Dash- Tap Forward or Back Twice to do a quick small dash towards the enemy. Safe Fall- Press All Three Punch Buttons whilst Landing to recover on the ground. Rolling- Press LP and LK simultaneously to perform a rolling dodge which can pass through most Special and Super Attacks, as well as the opponent. Counter Attack- While blocking, immediately tap Forward + MP+MK to perform a counterattack. Note that it requires 1 level of the Super Gauge to perform this move. P-Groove: --------- This Groove is the most similar to the Street Fighter 3 system. It includes the Parry Command as well as a single level Super gauge which fills up when attacking. Super Combo- Super Command +Button Note that there is only one level in P-Groove, and that it will be a Level 3 combo. Parry- The Instant the opponent makes contact with a hit, Tap forward for High Attacks, and Down for low attacks. The opponent will Parry the away the opponent, leaving them open for a counterattack. The timing window has been decreased significantly though, making it harder to perform. Dash- Tap Forward or Back Twice to do a quick small dash towards the enemy. Safe Fall- Press All Three Punch Buttons whilst Landing to recover on the ground. Small Jump- Tap Up, or any Up Directional to do a small jump. S-Groove: --------- This groove is similar to the Extra mode from the King of Fighters series, as well as the original SNK-Groove from the Original Capcom vs. SNK. The Super Gauge is filled by Charging, Pressing the HP and HK simultaneously. The Character will begin charging up their powers and their gauge will start increasing. Note that the character cannot move or perform any attacks whilst doing this. When the Bar is full, the character is slightly stronger as well as being able to do a Level 1 Super Combo. Note that the bar will start decreasing once it reaches the maximum and the opportunity to perform Super combos will end when the bar is empty. When the Character takes enough damage, the Vitality Gauge will begin flashing. At this point the Character can do unlimited Level 1 Super moves, and if the Super Gauge is also full, a Level 3, MAX Super Combo. Run- Tap Forward or Back Twice to run towards the enemy. Tactical Recovery- When Knocked down, press all 3 Punch Buttons to delay your character getting up. Counter Attack- While blocking, immediately tap Forward + MP+MK to perform a counterattack. Note that it requires 1 level of the Super Gauge to perform this move. Dodge- Press LP and LK simultaneously to do a quick dodge animation. The character does not move, but has the same properties as the roll. Small Jump- Tap Up, or any Up Directional to do a small jump. N-Groove: --------- This Groove is similar to the Advance Mode from the King of Fighters. The character can perform Super combos when they have 'stock.' The super Gauge is filled by attacking. When full, the Super gauge will reset but a Counter will appear in the box next to it, indicating the character now as 'stock.' The Character can perform as many Level 1 super Combos as there are number of stock. The character can 'Power MAX' by pressing HP and HK together. It will cost a single stock unit, but the character will become more powerful. In addition, MAX level moves can be performed. Run- Tap Forward or Back Twice to run towards the enemy. Safe Fall- Press All Three Punch Buttons whilst landing to recover on the ground. Rolling- Press LP and LK simultaneously to perform a moving dodge, which can pass through most Special and Super moves, as well as the opponent. Counter Attack- While blocking, immediately tap Forward + MP+MK to perform a counterattack. Note that it requires 1 level of the Super Gauge to perform this move. Small Jump- Tap Up, or any Up Directional to do a small jump. K-Groove: --------- This groove is he most similar to that of Samurai Spirits (Showdown.) the gauge fills up as the character gets hit and receives damage or performing Just Defense. When the gauge fills up, the character will be in Rage MAX mode, which allows the character to perform MAX Super combos as well as dealing more damage. Note that the bar will start decreasing once it reaches the maximum and MAX mode will end when the bar is empty. Just Defense- Tap Back right before the enemy makes contact with their hit. If done successfully, the character will take no Guard damage as well as gain some vitality. The character will also recovery sooner and be able to counterattack. Run- Tap Forward or Back Twice to run towards the enemy. Tactical Recovery- When Knocked down, press all 3 Punch Buttons to delay your character getting up. Small Jump- Tap Up, or any Up Directional to do a small jump. ================= IV. General Moves ================= Standing- ********* Light Punch- Ultra fast forward jab to head level. Does minimal damage (slightly more than block damage) but comes out lightning fast. As usual, it can be comboed or cancelled. Comes out as fast as you can jam the button. Medium Punch- A right handed punch. Slower than light punch, but still comes out as fast as some other character's light punches. Slightly longer range than Light Punch. Can be cancelled. Hard Punch- Spinning backhand to face. As expected, comes out extremely fast, matching some character's medium punches. Does not cancel into any other moves though. Light Kick- Low kick to the back of opponent's legs. Oddly enough, it is not as fast as one would expect it to be, considering his martial arts style. Pretty safe to throw out though but needs to be up close to connect. Combos into kick-based moves. Medium Kick- High Kick to the head, slightly slower than his LK. Up close it becomes a knee to the chest. Combos into most of his attacks. Hard Kick- Leaping tornado kick to the mid-section. Pretty fast move, good for interrupting. Does not combo though. Benimaru can be moved slightly forwards or backwards while performing the move. Jumping- ******** Light Punch- A flying elbow. Hit point is the tip of his elbow, so it aims downwards. Good for those LP mashing combos. Medium Punch- Same as Light Punch version. Hard Punch- Dragon punch-like move. Benimaru raises his fist like an uppercut when in the air. Looks just like a Tiger Uppercut but without the massive priority and painful looking hits. Has very little horizontal range and cannot hit ground opponents. Light Kick- Flying knee attack. Lasts the entire flight duration. Aimed forward, so it can hit ground and air opponents. Has very short range though, but good for those kick button mashing sessions. Medium Kick- Weird side-kick move. Has weird timing in the sense that you need to press the button the moment you want the hit to connect, since there is a long animation frame leading up to it. Hard Kick- Standard jump kick. Looks pretty stylish though, but he doesn't do anything special like twist or flip around. Good general purpose air attack. Crouching- ********** Light Punch- A forward-looking jab. Can combo into a lot of things and hit for multiple times before it gets pushed out of range. Very useful in combos. Comes out as fast as you can press the button. Comes out Really, really fast. Medium Punch- Another crouching punch. Not as fast as LP, but still fast. Combos into most attacks. Hard Punch- Punch to the opponent's ankles. Pretty short range though, and does not counter air attacks. Light Kick- Sticks is front leg out along the ground, hitting the opponent's ankle. Comes out as fast as you can hit the button, and combos into anything. A very useful poke, combing speed, range and comboability. It allows you to hit several times before following up with a move. Medium Kick- Weird Upwards kick to the opponents groin. Does not combo but has good range. Somewhat slow though. Hard Kick- A low sweep, Spinning sweep. Somewhat fast and has good range. Pretty good sweep move in my opinion, since it is good for countering or annoying the opponent. ================ V. Special Moves ================ Command Moves ------------- Jack Knife Kick - (F+MK) Runs towards opponent and does a kick to the face. Pretty annoying move actually, since it comes out fast. CPU loves this move. Drill Kick - (Air, D+HK) Benimaru dives down like a drill, almost identical to Dhalsim's move. Hits multiple times and can be followed up with anything. Has good priority and is pretty fast. Extremely abuseable to a point. Throws: ------- Suplex - (B or F+P) Benimaru grabs the enemy and leans backwards into a suplex. Knee - (B or F+K) Benimaru grabs the enemy and does a quick knee to the enemy. Special Moves ------------- Raijinken (Lightning Fist) - (QCF+P) Benimaru extends his fist and a globe of lightning flashes for a short duration. Strength of punch determines how long it lasts and how many hits it does. Unlike the previous incarnations, LP and HP do not vary the angle anymore. It can reach about one character away, and can counter projectiles it hits. Good for a poke or countering enemy moves, such as the Hurricane kick or Aoi Hana. Raijinken Anti Air (Lightning Fist Anti Air) - (DPM+P) An upwards angled Raijinken, same as his old HP Raijinken. Very little difference between punch button used, and can hit ground opponents as well if close enough. Iai Geri Kick (Shooting Kick)* - (QCF+K) Looks like a blurred knee attack, but in fact is a really fast kick to the head. Has the range of his MK, and has quite good priority. Extremely good poke, but has long recovery time. You can really piss off an opponent if you repeated do this move up close, since it has a high chance of beating whatever they will throw out and get the Counter bonus as well. Button used makes no difference on move. * more on this in comments. Handou Sandan Geri (Triple Rebound Kick) - (D, U+K after Iai Geri) Follow up to the Iai Geri from KoF 1999, Benimaru follows the Shooting kick with a HK, then a lightning flip kick. Note that the Iai Geri must connect in order to do this move. Works as a combo chain. Inadzuma Kick (Lightning Kick) - (DPM+K) Benimaru does a aerial flip. Lightning strikes down slight forward of where he was standing. Standard anti-air move for Benimaru, but may trade hits with some attacks, such as Iori's jumping D (or anything Ryu does.) As usual, strength of button used determines how high he will jump and move will last. Long recovery time though, but comes out near immediately. Shinnku Katategoma (Vacuum One-Handed Top?)-(HCB+K) Considering his hair style, nothing is too weird for Benimaru. He gets is a push-up position with one hand but mains perfectly parallel above ground. He spins around for a while. Hits low but does only one hit. Strength of button determines how long he does the move, and can be cancelled with PPP. Electro-Trigger - (HCB, F+HP) Benimaru grabs the opponent by the head and runs lightning through them. It is a command throw, having high priority. Strength of punch varies (by very little) damage where HP does about 1 block damage worth than LP. =================================== VI. Super Moves/Desperation Attacks =================================== Raikou-Ken (Lightning Fist) - "RaiKou Ken!" -(QCF, QCF+P) A larger, meaner version of the Raijinken. Covers a much larger area, and lasts significantly longer, making his front pretty much invincible. Only the ground version is available though, but it is still useful a zoning move or counter move. It reliably beats out many moves, and is difficult to roll through. There is little recovery time with it as well. Quite a safe move to perform and good as a combo ender too. Discharge Spark - "Ore Ni Tsuite Koreru Kai? Supaaku!" -(QCF,QCF+K) Benimaru dashes past the opponent anime-style with a trail of electricity following behind him. The opponent collapses after Benimaru passes through. Punch button determines how much damage the move does. All versions go nearly full screen, but can be easily seen from a mile away since it moves at the same speed as the Ya Otome. If blocked, Benimaru will still pass through the opponent but noting will happen, leaving Benimaru stuck in his pose open for counterattack. Use only as a counter or combo-ender. Electro-Trigger "Electro-Trigga!" -(HCB, HCB+P) A significantly stronger version of the electro-trigger, and with much higher priority. It is unblockable and can grab people out of a roll. Damage done depends on button used, as well as grab duration. The highest level version of this move has a start up invincibility frame as well. Good for roll in attack or just jump-in surprises. It can beat any normal moves as well. ================== VII. General Notes ================== Benimaru has changed quite a bit, losing his air-Raijinken as well as having the Discharge Spark replace the much more stylist Gen'ei Hurricane. His Shinnku Katategoma is one hit only and knocks the enemy away. ================ VIII. Strategies ================ Benimaru, as one can tell from his speed and moves, is a poking type character. His jump is fast and has long range, and his poking moves make him a Chun-Li like character... kind of. Character Strategies: --------------------- Versus; Gouki/Ryu/Ken ------------- Chances are the shotokans will be a common enemy. Their Dragon punch can beat Benimaru's jump attacks (if only Benimaru had the air Raijinken!) but since you are much faster, you can try and trick them into whiffing a Dragon Punch. Their Hurricane and Projectile attack can be negated using the Raijinken or Raikouken. The Discharge Spark does go through those moves as well, but needs to be at maximum level. Generally try to out-speed them and try to beat their reaction time. Kusanagi Kyo ------------ Most of this match is based on trying to interrupt and out-speed Kyo. The Iai do Gami is good at beating his -Gami chains, but he can recover faster and counter you. The Douki Gami has a slight auto guard, but its frame is so small it is minimal. Beat his RED attempts with your Raijinken and so forth. Keep in mind Kyo is pretty fast too, so don't poke mindlessly. Terry Bogard ------------ Pretty hard match. Terry is a powerful character, and his Crack Shoot can beat your air attempts. Try to stay grounded, or his Power Geyser will give you a lesson in staying grounded. His Power wave can be difficult to beat with the Raijinken, so roll through it (and Burn Knuckle follow up) as well. His Burn Knuckle will lose to all of Benimaru's special moves (should lose...) but the main danger is from his Power Geyser and offensive ability. Terry is significantly slower than Benimaru though, but it is a tough match nonetheless. Sagat ----- Dodge his Tiger shots and beat him to the Tiger Uppercut. Raijinken his high shots and jump over the Ground shots. Benimaru's long jump can actually reach Sagat in one leap, so leap away. Geese Howard ------------ Geese is a stronger but slow version of Rock. His Counters can take Benimaru to a wholesaler for a large crate of whoopass. Jumping in is the same as walking into a Raging Storm, so try not to do it. You could try to confuse Geese Players and jump-in before they can react, but it is tricky. Benimaru's low attacks are pretty fast and comboable, so the opponent might mess up the counters. Of course he could just Deadly Rave or Raging Storm. Geese's projectiles are pretty good at keep away too. Vice ---- Vice is now back to her powerful KoF '98 incarnation. She has all her grappling moves, including her air-follow ups. Vice players need to stay in between close and mid range, so your best bet is to zone them. Being a grappler, you can't really beat them up close, so your Iaido Gami can be useful; but the long delay may open you up for a ripe Negative Gain. Her Ravenous is a powerful air move, in which your jump attacks gets countered every time. Her de-cide can also be a good surprise you, so watch out. Her supers are unblockable as well. Try to stay with pokes and play conservatively. A very tough opponent indeed. Yagami Iori ----------- Iori is a very powerful character, as you can tell. Jumping and staying on the ground is a bad idea, so that leaves Benimaru with... well nothing. His Ya Otome and Jumping D can teach you that he owns the air, and his ground attack and combos are similarly nasty. He might be able to Ya Otome under the Raijinkens, as well as zone with his Yami Barai. Frankly, you need to be damn good with Benimaru or playing a horrible Iori to really win. ========== IX. Combos ========== ============= X. Miscellany ============= Win Quote: ---------- "I'm not conceited at all! I only speak what everyone else feels!" "My Lightning strokes dazzle audiences around the world!" "You are so lucky! I finished you off in a very impressive way!" "You played a good shadow, but you could never come into the limelight!" "My beauty captivates the world!" (0_o) Special Intros: --------------- -vs Females: Flirts a bit with his hair down. Blows them a kiss then zaps his hair up. -vs Kyo: Kyo holds a flame in his hand whilst Benimaru points towards Kyo, taunting each other. Goro is sometimes present I think. Or was it the old one? Comments -------- Benimaru's Iai Geri literally translates to "pull kick." Geri is derived from the term Keri, where keri is kick. Iai literally means "pull." As such, Hibiki's art is Iaido, which means "pull sword" or in other words, "sword drawing." However the term "sword drawing" also has another term, "battoujitsu" in which Rurouni Kenshin fans should know. The term "battou" means "Draw sword' in a marital arts sense, as opposed to the term pull. Think of it as the difference between "shoot" and "fire" something. The art of Iaido I could write loads about, but the general concept is to dispatch all enemies in a single stroke and drawing of the sword. A lot of anime is based around this art, but none really represent it well. As such, Benimaru substitutes the "Do", which is "blade" with his leg instead. Thus he draws his leg quickly to strike, the enemy, which the move is designed like. Many thanks to Mr. Greg Kashiwa for clearing this up. ===================== XI. Notes and Credits ===================== -Capcom Vs SNK 2 is Trademark and Copyright of Capcom. All Characters mentioned relating to the game are as such property of Capcom. -Mr. Jeff Veasey at Http://www.Gamefaqs.com for hopefully hosting this FAQ. -W.W for a CvS2 matches. -L.N for the NGPC sessions back then. -N.H because you fill me with electricity when you are around. If only there was the "spark." -Mr. Greg Kashiwa for clearing up the translation of "geri." -Quote for Discharge Spark Referenced from Kibagami's "Voice Translation" FAQ at Gamefaqs.com -Translation for "Shinnku Katatagami" from Mr. Chris "Kmegura" MacDonald's "King of Fighters 2000 FAQ/Movelist" at Gamefaqs.com -Nakaido Benimaru's name Translation reference fro Mr. Kailu Lantis' "Story Guide" for the King of Fighters 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000" hosted at Gamefaqs.com -If, for any part, I may have borrowed or referenced information that originally stemmed from your work, PLEASE do notify me and I will immediately remove or a credit the work from this FAQ. This document Copyright 2002 by Kenny "kenshi" Tam, and may not be duplicated or reproduced (in part or in full) for profit without the explicit permission of the author. Chances are it will be rare if anyone would want to use this crappy FAQ. This document is supposed to appear on http://www.gamefaqs.com. http://www.psxcodez.com http://www.DLH.net http://www.gamespot.com