All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright owners. Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai Author- Nnamz25@hotmail.com Version 1 This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of public display is strictly prohibited, and violation of copyright. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ INTRODUCTION Let’s get this out of the way first. Goku is not a good character in this game. In fact, he's pretty terrible. When Dimps started this series Goku was at his prime. In fact, the game seemed made for him. >PKK was an excellent starter with great reach, decent speed, and can cancel if blocked. He had it all. Budokai 2 was also kind to him, since it didn't really add much, just fixed and balanced things. Goku was easily top Tier in that game as well. However Budokai 3 did add things, a lot of things. Most characters evolved to better fit with the new combat system, but Goku didn't. He was, give or take, the same character he was in Budokai 2 competing with everyone else in a new game. He was instantly hurled from Top Tier in Budokai 2, to middle Tier in Budokai 3. Still, he was worth playing. Dimps had its most radical change in the series with the jump from Budokai 3 to "Shin" Budokai. Virtually every returning character had a complete move list overhaul. Nobody was left the same.....except Goku. Dimps made the change from "punch and kick" to "rush and slam" and slam combo starters were essential to compete. However since Goku was more or less unchanged in terms of chains, he's still stuck with the traditional >PKK- (except it's called >RSS- now) starter, which starts with a rush and really can't compete with slam starters. Maybe Dimps thought of this for a bit and decided that he needed a slam stun. So they gave him one, his <S*. The problem is that this stun hit's his opponent into a low juggle when connecting against an attacking opponent (i.e. 90% of the time a slam starter actually connects) ruining combo opportunities off of it. And this game is no kinder to Goku; he's virtually the same character he was in Shin Budokai 1. Dimps evolved the series, but left Goku behind. Hopefully though, this won't be Goku's swan song and he'll come back better then ever in Shin Budokai 3. For now though, I'll do my best to make him almost playable. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ GOKU'S ADVANTAGES - Dragon Fist is a very high priority special attack and can start combos. It eats through almost any physical attack (except some death moves with even higher priority like Pikkons Hyper Tornado). In this game though, they made it even better in that it can even eat through some beam attacks. (You still take "recover" damage) - Last Ditch Power is an excellent Burst Charge. It cranks Goku's attack up to 184% while he's in SSJ4 and to 181% while he's in SSJ3. It lasts for 10 seconds, but it really cranks up the damage he can do with his combos. - His >S is the best >S in the game. It has HUGE priority, even for a slam starter and has pretty big reach as well. It also knocks Goku's opponent into the air, where Goku actually does more damage and fights better. - Kaioken is a decent Burst Charge. It can be used up to 5 times, and if used in a row can bring Goku's attack up to 311%. It does cost a lot of health to do, but giving up health is better then giving up all your ki. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ GOKU'S DISADVANTAGES - He doesn't have a good slam starter. <S* just doesn't cut it in this game. It has low reach, but even more important is the fact that it can't combo off of a counter hit. - His ki building is rather low. Goku only builds 2.5 ki bars on the ground with his main combo chains, and even less if he combos into Aura Burst charges and rushes and his Super Dragon Fist. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ GOKU'S MAIN STRATEGY In the previous game I assigned <S* as Goku's primary starter, since I felt that even though it will rarely present a combo opportunity it was still better with the unsafe >RSS- rush starter. But I've changed my mind on this for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, Goku HAS to be risky to have any hope of winning a match. I've learned this through watching my friends play against me while I'm using Piccolo or when I'm playing against a decent Piccolo. If you just play it safe all you're going to do is prolong the match and still lose. Second, most slam starter in this game have lost (if ever so slightly) a bit of priority. While using rushes against slams will more then likely end up in you eating it, it's more of a viable option in this game then it was in the last game. So Goku's main starter in this game is his trademark (and generic) >RSS- starter. However from close range, use <RRRS-. Remember, slam attacks only nullify 1 hit. "<RR" is faster then ">RS", so if you could get the first 2 hits off in that chain against someone charging a slam attack, you'll land it and force them to teleport or face a combo. "<R" also comes out faster then ">R" and is better at catching someone in transition from blocking to attacking. *How do I deal with normal slam starters?* To compete against the rest of the cast evenly, Goku needs to not only fight risky, but he needs to fight unconventional. To be able to fight at their level I had to kick it way back to Budokai 2 for some strategies. In that game, I used Piccolo a lot, who was very unconventional (but albeit, a lot better in that game then Goku is in this game). One of the nasty ways he can combo into his SBC was off of a win in the burst zone. So I would intentionally charge Piccolo's nullifying P+K whenever I saw or anticipated someone doing a nullifying move of their own, which if I was right, would end up in a Burst Zone and a combo opportunity if I won. But to get there I had to use P+K, which isn't a combo starter on its own. So I looked at Goku's moves and thought of his >S as Piccolo's P+K. It has huge priority and nullifies attacks when it's being charged and like all slam starters it can be canceled. But there is no Burst Zone in this game, so what's the pay off for Goku? Well he'll be able to nullify one of his opponent’s attacks, even if it's a slam starter. If you let it fly and catch your opponent they get hurled up into the air, where you fight better anyway. Also most characters chains push them forward as they perform them, so just using it and nullifying 1 attack then canceling it puts your opponent at a closer proximity, where <RRRS can be employed. *What do I do once I get the ki advantage* If you go through Goku's whole platform, you'll notice that he doesn't have anything usable for the rushdown in his whole move list. So again, think outside the box and be risky. Use [AB]<E in this case. You already have the ki advantage, so using a bit doesn't hurt that much. Also, it's a very hard move to heal with, especially when every hit will be fully charged by the [AB] and will be coming out as fast as if they weren't. You can cancel each one into a throw, or an RRRS attempt. The best part about it is that your opponent can't block it and gain ki. They have to dodge or sidestep it with proper timing. *When should I activate my burst charges* When you're in his Kaioken form you can use it 5 times. Whether you chose to get a small boost 5 times, or a massive boost at the cost of a whack load of life once, is up to you. When you're in SSJ3 or SSJ4, use it either when you have the ki advantage or when your opponent is fatigued. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ COMBO SECTION (Canceling? Stunning? Juggling? Burst Canceling? If any of these words are new to you or you simply do not know what they mean or how to perform them then read Goryu's Cancel Combo Guide found at this link: http://www.gamefaqs.com/portable/psp/file/924588/42016 then proceed to the beginners section) ***ALL COMBOS ARE DONE AT MAX KI AGAINST GOGETA AT MAX KI*** Legend: R = Rush attack S = Slam attack > = Towards opponent < = Away from opponent /\ = Up on the D-pad E = Energy Button - = Cancel * = Stun ' = Fully charge upcoming move [AB] = Aura Burst -[AB] = Aura Burst Cancel Beginners Section (No cancel knowledge needed) Base <R<R*, <S*, >RSS>E [Kamehameha] 11 hit's, 761 damage. Opponent gains 0.6 ki bars. Kaioken <R<R*, <S*, >RSS<E [Super Dragon Fist] 12 hit's, 841 damage. Opponent gains 1 ki bar. Intermediate Section (Burst Cancel knowledge not needed) SSJ2 >RSS-, <S*, <RRRS-, \/S>E [Kamehameha] 14 hit's, 1122 damage. Opponent gains 0.9 ki bars. SSJ2 >RSS-, <S*, <RRRS-, /\E [Warp Kamehameha] 18 hit's, 1669 damage. Opponent gains 0.7 ki bars. Advanced Section SSJ3 >RSS-[AB]S*, [AB]R*, <S<EE-, <RRRS-, /\E [Dragon Fist Explosion] 26 hit's, 2519 damage. Opponent gains 1.8 ki bars. SSJ4 (Combo must be done while airborne) >RSS-[AB]S*, [AB]R*, >>R*, <S<EE-, RSE-, <RRRS-, /\E [Dragon Fist Explosion] 29 hit's, 2808 damage. Opponent gains 1.9 ki bars. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Special Thanks CJAYC - For creating the n00b infested boards in which the depth of this series was created. Dimps - For continuing this series. Drunken Pilot, Zejitox, philff138, cml64, Brogeta, Goryus, Sjsman, vegeta1, kekken5, EVIL CAPTIAN AMERICA, SuperShinySonic, superior13 - and the rest of the users on the Shin Budokai: Another Road board who give a damn about the games depth. More updates to come....