Groove Faq/guide:
Created by hayato42 (
[email protected])
(Comments?, drop me a email, I'd like to hear them)
TOC:
-Table of contents
-Explanation
-Legal
-Different groove functions
-Dash
-Run
-Air guard
-Small jump
-Counter movement
-Counter attack
-Dodge
-Rolling
-Tactical Recovery
-Safe Fall
-Grooves
-C
-A
-P
-S
-N
-K
-Thank you's
Legal:
This faq is copyright (c) me, hayato42, and cannot be distributed under
any means of profit. Also, if you plan on using this faq/guide on your
own site, give me an email asking so, If not you do NOT have my
permission. Anyway, on with the Faq.
Before getting started:
Before you read this faq/guide thing, it should be noted that I expect
everyone to know the basic directions, up down left right etc... I really
don't want to take the time to explain what left and right is.
Also, the buttons are expressed using LP,LK,MP,MK,HP,HK. Which on the
button lay out looks like
LP MP HP
LK MK HK
(note: you must be viewing this using a monospaced font, such as
courier)
Explanation of different groove functions:
Dash (hit forward or backwards twice to dash)
Grooves with this:(C,A,P)
- Dash is used for a quick hop backwards or forwards. It has a lot
more usefullness when its used as backwards, as dashing forward is not
very effective, the dash itself is pretty fast, but during the entire
time your left open. (never dash within more than half screen range
toward your opponent, you will most likely get nailed)
Run (hit forward twice and hold it)
Grooves with this:(S,N,K)
- *note: I did not say to hit backwards twice because you cant run
backwards, if you hit backwards twice you will do essencially the same
as a backwards dash.
- Running is a very fast way to get across the screen, you can
easily cancel the run into a move, stop it at any time (unlike dashing)
and even cancel the run into a roll (more useful than you think).
Air Guard (block in the air)
Grooves with this:(C.)
- Not much to be said... you jump...they attack...you block
Small jump (tap up, upforwards, or upback)
Grooves with this:(P,S,N,K)
- *note: you cannot do a special move during a small jump
- Small jump is just that, a tiny jump, its good for keeping
pressure up with the poker type characters. Allowing you to have a more
offensive strategy.
Counter movement (while blocking an attack, move the joystick either
forward or back and hit both LP and LK at the same time.)
Grooves with this:(N)
- Counter movement is usually a waste IMO, it eats up an entire
super and is only effective against long lasting supers where the other
character would be extremely open for extended amounts of time (i.e.
deadly rave). Not nessessarily a bad thing, but it's a decent addition.
Counter attack (while blocking an attack, hit forward and MP and MK at
the same time.)
Grooves with this: (C,A,S,N)
- Slightly hard to pull off, your character will do a predetermined
move which does little damage and will never K.O.. But the real point
of this even being here is to stop characters that like to put pressure
on top of you (poking type characters and small jump abusers).
- *note: uses some of your guard break meter
Dodge (LP and LK hit together)
Grooves with this: (S)
- Dodgeing is very useful, much like rolling where you can
"sidestep" an attack, it lasts a decent amount of time, enough to evade
nearly any attack. It is also very hard to distinguish between a
characters regular animation and his/her dodge animation (a good or bad
thing depending who you are). Also, when you do it your invincible the
whole time through, from the time you start and end, very useful.
Rolling (LP and LK at the same time)
Grooves with this: (C,A,N)
- Rolling is used as a means of going through an attack. When you
roll, you are invincible throughout the beginning and middle, as you do
some sort of animation (usually the character rolls). You do move
forward when you roll which can also be used to get from one side of the
character to the other, or the more common, rolling through fireballs.
Tactical Recovery (when your on the ground, hold all 3 punches)
Grooves with this: (C,S,P)
- This is usefull as a confusion move, if your opponent is the type
who likes to send fireballs toward you as you start to get up you can
use this to stay on the ground for an extra second and have a slower get
up. Its mainly used as a confusion move and serves no real other purpose
beside that.
Safe Fall (when you are about to hit the ground, hit down, and all 3
punches)
Grooves with this: (A,N,K)
- Safe fall is a good way to put some distance between you and the
other character. After you input the command for the safe fall, your
character will sort of hop away from the other character giving more
distance. This is also good since it lets you take slightly less damage
from a "fall" because its safe (heh heh).
C - Groove
Abilities:
Dash
Roll
Air guard
Counter attack
Tactical recovery
C groove is very much like the gauge used in the alpha series, as
well as CvS1. It allows you to stock up to 3 supers, and can use them as
a level 1,2 or 3 super (LP/LK, MP/MK, or HP,HK respectively). C groove
also has one advantage that is exclusive to C groove, and is also
extremely useful. You have the ability to during the animation of a
level 2 super, do another level 1 super, or a regular move and the level
2 super will stop, and the level 1 super or the regular move will take
place, allowing for much more damage than a level 2, or even a level 3
(sometimes).
Character type analysis:
Basically any character that leans on the defensive, will
definitely benefit from this groove. It really cater's to characters
with supers as counters (geese,todo) seeing it as how you almost always
have a level 1 super ready for use.
Pro's:
+ Air blocking
* Cant block supers, or some special moves ( i think ), but it is a
big plus that is exclusive to C groove.
+ Fast charging gauge
* Your super gauge seems to charge up in no time, usually by the end
of a match (same ratio) your bar will be charged up to max
+ More of a overall good, newbie groove
* This is a good thing, if your just starting out it has a few of the
more safe, defensive movements that allow for average manueverability
Con's:
- Lack of run
* IMO this groove would be one of the best if you could run. when the
other grooves have the ability to run, and roll, they can *literally*
run circles around you
- More of a overall newbie groove
* Doesnt get too advanced, the groove is good, but it lacks a few
things that really allow it to move forward, in any ways. The level 2
canceling helps to save it but the groove really is just lacking in the
offensive area.
A - Groove
Abilities:
Dash
Counter attack
Rolling
Safe Fall
A groove overall isnt either defensive or offensive. It lacks a
lot of both offensive and defensive abilities, allowing it to play the
middle field not relying on either rushing down your opponent or playing
a keepaway game. The guage allows you to do up to 2 level 1 supers, but
also, when your guage is full it allows you to activate a custom combo.
Custom combos are activated when your bar is completely full, and
you hit both HK and HP at the same time. Your bar will slowly start to
deplete as you can do basically any combo you want, if the move your
gonna do hits, you can cancel it into another move immediately (for
instance, you can trap a character in the corner with ryu and do about
20 fireballs, all connecting while your guage runs). Also, while in the
custom combo, you can do a super at any time during the activated guage,
allowing you to finish with a super (even if theirs close to no bar
left, if you have ANYTHING it will work).
Character type analysis:
The more balanced characters are good with this groove. By
balanced I mean not relying on offense or defense (such as ryu, kyo,
rugal) heavily, but can be either offensive or defensive depending on
the situation. The characters own moves are usually what helps out this
groove the most, it really gives nothing too special besides custom
combo's.
Pro's:
+ Custom combos
*They do large amounts of damage, provided you pull it off
+ Moderate charging bar
*doesn't really charge fast or slow, but enough to give you a level 1
when you seem to need it, but getting a full bar seems to take a long
time.
Con's:
-Lack of abilities
*having to rely on a characters own abilities shouldn't be a con, but
it just is because other grooves give characters so much more power that
this groove really should be done with a character who can both counter
anything thrown at them, and be able to dish it out themselves
P - Groove
Abilities:
Dash
Small jump
Tactical recovery
Okay if you're a newbie to this game, stay away!. P groove gives
one of the most dominating abilities exclusive to P groove, and that is
parrying. You can parry absolutely anything, anywhere. Needless to say
this already sounds overpowered but it is very difficult to pull off
successfully and if your not good, will get you pummeled.
The parry is executed by pressing forward (yes forward) right
before an attack hits you, or down if it's a low attack. Your character
will go through a very fast animation, and have no lag time after wards,
allowing you to parry, then shoryuken or another counter move of your
choice. You can also parry in the air, also by pressing forward.
Your super bar charges up pretty slow, usually after 1.5 matches
it will charge up to full, allowing you to do a level 3 super. You also
should be able to gain some super bar when you parry, although, I never
notice a large difference between the bar before and after a parry.
Character type analysis:
This groove really caters to any character who is more offensive,
ryu and zangief are a few deadly examples of how strong a character can
be if they use parry correctly. You really don't get a lot of abilities
in this groove, so you really must rely on parrying every chance you
get.
Pro's:
+ Parry
*this is a huge bonus, the ability to stop an attack and use your own
is an incredible plus
Con's:
- Lack of movement
*yeah yeah, I already said that a-groove was lacking but P groove is
even worse
- Slow super bar
*you would be surprised how much the lack of always having a super can
affect your gameplay
S - Groove
Abilities:
Run
Dodge
Small jump
Counter attack
Tactical recovery
S groove is in a class all its own, it shifts from the defensive
to the offensive very rapidly. The dodge ability is very useful (as
already explained) and abuseable.
The super bar is very unique, you hold down HP and HK to manually
charge your meter bar. When full, it allows you to do a level 1 super.
As another bonus, when your life is in the red and flashing, it gives
you unlimited level 1 supers, and if your fully charged and have red
life, it gives you a level 3
Characters type analysis:
Characters with very abuseable supers that come out of nowhere
(rock,ken,iori) can benefit from the limitless level 1 supers.
Pro's:
+ Unlimited level 1 supers
*definitely a good thing, watch the lag time though.
+ Dodge
*very useful
+ Very complex combo's
*doing a level 3, then a level 1 and (if still possible in this game),
another level 1.
Con's:
- Must charge bar manually
*not really a very bad thing, but if you forget to do it once and a
while it can sometimes become a factor between winning and losing
- Level 3 supers only available at red life
*not to mention you have to charge the bar as well, most people can see
your supers coming a mile away, if you can combo, do it
N - Groove
Abilities:
Run
Roll
Small jump
Counter movement
Counter attack
Safe Fall
Just looking at all of the abilities that N groove offers, gives a
good idea of what this groove can do, but there is not much more.
Instead, N groove gives you a lot of abilities and the only ability
exclusive to N groove is counter movement which (already explained
above) isnt the greatest thing in the game.
N groove is not bad by any means, in fact, its very good, but
unlike the other grooves where something unique sets it apart from the
rest, it has a lot of abilities to help it compete.
The super bar is also unique, it's a lot like the advance mode of
kof 98. Once your bar fills once it will deplete and you will have a
super stocked, you can stock up to 3 supers. With that super you can
either now do a counter movement, or power up (HP and HK) which will
give you a slight boost in power. Or if you have 2 supers stocked, you
can power up, and do a level 3. The power up itself is an actual power
up this time, giving you a decent amount of power for a good amount of
time.
Character type analysis:
IMO, the characters that benefit most from this groove are the
ones who by themselves, are slow (zangief, raiden). They can really
benefit from the large array of abilities N groove offers, not to
mention the power up is good too.
Pro's:
+ Lots of abilities
*time to run circles around your opponent
+ Power up
*usefull even if you don't have another super stocked, can give you an
edge in playing.
+ Level 3's
*level 3s only take 2 stocked supers, unlike C groove where it
completely depletes.
+ Complex combo's
*like in S groove, it can allow you to do a Level 3, then a level 1.
Con's:
- Nothing unique (and good)
*N groove lacks something that sets it apart from the other grooves.
- Your super's will not build when powered up.
*not much else to say, this is a bad downside
K - Groove
Abilities:
Run
Small jump
Safe Fall
Like A and P groove, K groove suffers from the lack of mobility.
Although, unlike A and P groove, K has run. K groove also has the
ability to Just Defend an attack, to JD an attack, block at the last
possible second and a cool effect will happen. When you JD something,
your super bar raises, and your life slightly...just barely gets
something.
K grooves super bar is almost straight out of samurai showdown.
When you get hit, your super will charge up, and that's the only way
(besides JD) to charge your super bar. And when your bar is competely
filled, you will get a massive power up and the ability to do a level 3
super (considering you do it before your bar runs out, which will do so
relatively slowly).
Character type analysis:
A lot of the faster, poker type characters (hibiki, rolento,
nakoruru) benefit a lot from this groove, not only from the JD, but from
the power up you receive.
Pro's:
+ Massive power up
*It is massive at that
+ Just defend
*parrying, but safer if your time it too early
Con's:
- Mobility
*run is about its only way to get around
Thank you's:
Okay in no real inparticular order, I'd like to thanks out to
www.shoryuken.com - for their media and content
www.gamefaqs.com - and cjayc for posting this
www.fighterzen.homestead.com/main.html - fighting site to be, big thanks
to andy for supplying me with...stuff
