(or Big Scary-Looking Undead Guys with Three-Bladed

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(or Big Scary-Looking Undead Guys with Three-Bladed
Death Frisbees on a Chain on the next Geraldo...)

Version 1.1 -- 1/21/95

Maintained by Ethan Butterfield
[email protected]

online at http://leahi.kcc.hawaii.edu/~ethan/basara.html

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DISCLAIMER: I am not a SS3.god. I cannot come to your local arcade and
whup you silly. I am, in fact, much much better with Jubei. I just
play Basara on SS3. The information in the FAQ is stuff that I've come
up with for playing the game. It could be wrong. It might not work for
you. Just to let you know...

Looking for good combos. Apply within.

Feedback always welcome. I'd especially like to know whether or not this
has shown up ok on your newsreaders. - Ethan

CONTENTS:
* 1. Changes/History List
* 2. Acknowledgments/Thanks
* 3. Introduction
* 4. Background (Char intro, stage, poses, SPOILER for ending)
* 5. Move-by-move Breakdown
* 6. Combos (No, not the snack.)
* 7. Individual Versus Strategies
* 8. Credits

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1. CHANGES/HISTORY LIST

- 12/14/95, v0.9b - Initial write-up, release. Much work
needed.

- 1/15/95, v1.0p - Prerelease of first complete release, with text on
both Slash and Bust moves. Added
Disclaimer, fixed Stage description,
added more Strategies.

- 1/21/95, v1.0 - First real release.

- 1/ , v1.1 - Tricked it up using HTML, a couple more
new things.

********************

2. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS/THANKS

Need to send out some general thanks first...

- Shawn Holmes ([email protected]), maintainer of the
SS3 TapFAQ, whose FAQ I shamelessly copied and gave to
many people who play the game. It also ends up here in
parts, generously referenced, of course. :)

- Damone ([email protected]), maintainer of the SS3 WWW site
(http://styx.ios.com/~damone/ss3page.html), whom I got
the TapFAQ from in the first place.

- Kaimuki Cue and its inhabitants, who possess 2 machines
for SS3, both of which currently have working joysticks,
AND for lowering their price to a quarter/game.

- Paul S. Kim @ Dartmouth, for the wonderful Basara e-mail
conversation we had. :)

****************

3. INTRODUCTION

Well, I play Basara. That kind of goes without saying. After the
rotten, stinking, LIMEY HOSING BASTARDS (*grin*) at SNK neglected to put
my man, Jubei, into the new game, I had to pick someone else. First off,
I wanted someone new. Secondly, I didn't want to play an annoying cute
female. (Scratch Rimururu.) Ryouga was out almost at the same time. Gaira
was a little amusing, but I was never any good with the big hulking
chars. And I find Amakusa to be just *wrong*. The three-bladed Death
Frisbee on a chain was a big plus in Basara's direction, too.

Why a FAQ? Because I was bored, no one else had written a Basara FAQ,
and everyone seems to be either crowing about how overpowered Ukyo is
(That's something new?) or how cheap Hanzo is. (Bakuen Ryu -> SPD. Use
it.) In any case, enough with the small talk...

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4. BACKGROUND

(Intro, parts of stage and ending taken from Shawn Holmes' TapFAQ)

BASARA THE EXECUTIONER

--> Killed by Zankurou, along with his lover. This character's hatred
for the demon was so powerful, he rose from the dead to destroy that
which Zankurou took away.

Full name is Kubikiri Basara, which is what the announcer says at the
beginning of matches and when you win. The kanji characters chosen to
represent Kubikiri mean, "throat cut".
(Thanks to Galen Komatsu for this one!)

Basara's Stage - Masoleum - Midnight

Basara's stage looks like a real old run-down house. You fight on a
floor and there's LOTS of things to break. *grin* In the background, part
of the house is open and there's a real nasty evil red glow that comes
into the house. When Basara wins, the red glow turns to a nice deep blue.
In the third round, when both players hit the redline, the screen
darkens, and lit candles provide the only illumination. Every so often
spotlights run up and down the background, highlighting some dragon
pictures.

Finishing Quote - "Let's do the death dance!"

(Ugh. They could've done better.)

Finishing Poses -

Slash Basara: Stands in stage entry pose, ghost of his dead lover
floats to his side.
Same as above, except ghost turns into a skeleton,
which disintegrates. Basara wails in despair,
then falls to his knees.

Bust Basara: Stands straight, brings blade up, and then to his
side, then brings up one hand in a clenched fist.
Stands sideways, bends slightly backwards, brings
Death Frisbee up to his side.
Stands straight, draws blade across chest, rubs
fingers in blood, tastes it. (YES!!!!!!!)

Ending - Basara finds only darkness.

His lover slain,
all emotions spent,
the battle has concluded.
He finds only gloom.
Hate, his last emotion,
is now but a remnant.
Darkness. All is darkness.

But within the cool dark,
shines a pale light.

5. MOVE-BY-MOVE BREAKDOWN

Some terminology:

UB U UF
\ | /
B --O-- F
/ | \
DB D DF

Commas separate parts of moves (d, db means down, then down+back.)
Plusses mean motions happen together. (A+B means press A and B.)
When together, joystick motions are in lower case -
e.g. d + D means down + D button.
b + C means back + C button.

FB - Fireball motion (d, df, f)
RFB - Reverse fireball motion (d, db, b)
HCF - Half-circle in a forward direction (b, db, d, df, f)
HCB - Half-circle in a back direction (f, df, d, db, b)

SLASH BASARA:

Stabbing Feet - d + D (in air)

Basara comes straight down at the time this motion is finished.
He has a glowing ring around his feet, and hops off the
opponent a-la Chun Li from SF2. Cannot interrupt once in move.
Excellent combo opener, or getaway move.

Friendly Rip - HCF + A (extreme close range)

Basara grabs opponent, and a *large* hole opens up underneath
both. Basara and grabbed foe disappear into hole. A split
second later, the foe is catapulted out of the hole on the
end of Basara's blade. Basara jumps out soon after.

A close-in throw, a-la Hanzo's SPD. Can be done at a dead run,
just like the SPD. Good move if you get the timing right.

Shadow Stitcher - HCB + A, B or C (on ground)

A hole opens up under Basara, and he slings his blade into it.
It reappears across the screen, and twirls out at the
opponent. The button pushed determines distance away from
Basara.

Great move to pull out when people are jumping at you. Be
warned, though, that even the C button will not cover the
entire screen. If you and your foe are at opposite sides of
the screen, you will miss.

Soul Sucker - RFB + D (Anywhere on ground)

A hole opens up under Basara. He laughs and disappears into
the hole. The hole moves across the screen and Basara raises
out of it. After the move's motion you can hold the joystick
towards, or away from the opponent in order to determine where
you want to end up. Makes a great escape move, and I've broken
out of CPU combos with it.

Airborne Slash - FB + A (or B or C) (at top of jump)

Hanzo's Aerial Shuriken, except it's Basara's Death Frisbee
coming at you. Timing is exactly the same as the Shuriken.
Different buttons determine where the blade flies to. Not
much use as an offensive attack, but great as a surprise
or defensive maneuver.

Ground Slash - FB + A (or B or C) (on ground)

Basara whips his blade at you, very close to the ground. This
is a low attack, and, since low blocks are still iffy, tends to
hit a lot. Good to take an opponent off their feet, but
recovery is too slow to follow up.

Soul of the Beast - b, df, d, db + C

Basara leans back, arms outstretched. A fiery orange ball
emerges from his chest and arcs out across the screen. When
it hits or is blocked, it changes into a orange butterfly
which flies away. (Ghost of his dead lover, methinks.)

The ball has a very high arc, and ends up covering about half
the screen. If they're right in the middle of the arc, the
ball will go over their head. Takes a while to do, though,
so don't rely on being able to snap it off.

WARNING: The move for this is almost exactly like the Shadow
Stitcher. Until you get the timing right, chances are you'll
get the C-button Stitcher about 50% of the time.

SPECIAL: Shadow Dance Payback - HCF, b + AB

Basara bounces backwards, then flies towards opponent. He
latches on, and starts a series of blade slashes. About every
other slash is punctuated by a ghostly image of his dead
lover. Ends with a pause, then a nasty hit with the chain
of his blade. Basara poses.

One of the only *useful* special moves that I've seen in the
SS series. You actually aren't Spam(tm) if you miss, as if
blocked, Basara bounces off the opponent and back about half the
length of the screen, out of the range of most attacks. His
recovery time is also excellent. You can (and I strongly
suggest it against the cheating futhermucker of a CPU)
continuously bounce off of the opponent for as long as your
Power meter is full. I've done it 6 or 7 times in a row to
the CPU before it gives up and lets me wail on it.

BUST BASARA:

Stabbing Feet - d + D (in air)

Basara comes straight down at the time this motion is finished.
He has a glowing ring around his feet, and hops off the
opponent a-la Chun Li from SF2. Cannot interrupt once in move.
Excellent combo opener, or getaway move.

Friendly Rip - HCF + A (extreme close range)

Basara grabs opponent, and a *large* hole opens up underneath
both. Basara and grabbed foe disappear into hole. A split
second later, the foe is catapulted out of the hole on the
end of Basara's blade. Basara jumps out soon after.

A close-in throw, a-la Hanzo's SPD. Can be done at a dead run,
just like the SPD. Good move if you get the timing right.

Shadow Exit - f, db, d, df + A (or B or C) (on ground)

Basara drops through a hole in the ground, which moves over to
the opponent. Basara jumps up from the hole, blade extended
to do a multiple-hit uppercut. This is the projectile-killer
move. The moment you see your opponent rearing back for a
projectile, snap this off with a C. Not only will you hit,
if you're lucky, you'll get 5 or 6 hits in it. Follow up with
a Stabbing Feet (d + D), then a low-aerial C (Windmill Slash).
Miss, though, and you're so much toast.

Soul Sucker - RFB + D (Anywhere on ground)

A hole opens up under Basara. He laughs and disappears into
the hole. The hole moves across the screen and Basara raises
out of it. After the move's motion you can hold the joystick
towards, or away from the opponent in order to determine where
you want to end up. Makes a great escape move, and I've broken
out of CPU combos with it.

Airborne Slash - FB + A (or B or C) (at top of jump)

Hanzo's Aerial Shuriken, except it's Basara's Death Frisbee
coming at you. Timing is exactly the same as the Shuriken.
Different buttons determine where the blade flies to. Not
much use as an offensive attack, but great as a surprise
or defensive maneuver.

Ground Slash - FB + A (or B or C) (on ground)

Basara whips his blade at you, very close to the ground. This
is a low attack, and, since low blocks are still iffy, tends to
hit a lot. Good to take an opponent off their feet, but
recovery is too slow to follow up.

Shadow Feint - f, b, f + any button (ground)

A clone of Basara will jump out and run across the screen. I
really haven't seen too much use for this move, aside from the
scare tactic. Will get back to you all.

SPECIAL: Shadow Dance Dream Pull - HCF, b + BC

Basara hops backwards, then launches himself across the screen
at the opponent. If it hits, he latches on and blades the opponent
all over the place. Ends with a small delay, then a wicked slash
with the blade's chain. Basara jumps off and poses.

One of the only *useful* special moves that I've seen in the
SS series. You actually aren't Spam(tm) if you miss, as if
blocked, Basara bounces off the opponent and back about half the
length of the screen, out of the range of most attacks. His
recovery time is also excellent. You can (and I strongly
suggest it against the cheating futhermucker of a CPU)
continuously bounce off of the opponent for as long as your
Power meter is full. I've done it 6 or 7 times in a row to
the CPU before it gives up and lets me wail on it.

6. COMBOS

Due to the nature of the game, I'm forgoing any percentage ratings
on the combos. There's just too many variables (Power level of
you and opponent, whether or not it's a counter-move, etc.) to
compensate for, and I don't want to make a huge table. So I'm
going to a system of vague descriptive words. I will most often
use Low (less than 20% or so on average), Moderate (20%-50%) or
High (50%+). If you see something like Ultra-Disgusting, you'll
get the idea.

Right now I've only got two "real" combos. I'm still finding more
and if any of you out there have some, feel free to e-mail them.
Hey, you'll get your name in the Credits. :)

First off, Basara's move is a jumping C. I call it the Windmill
Slash. In air, Basara describes an arc with his blade, which does
pretty good (~10%) damage. Great for people who rely on air
throws, as it can hit them from a mile away. There is a slight

delay on the move, though, so it's real easy to have it come out
late. Recovery time is moderate, but you normally bounce off the
block and out of harm's way. If you're lucky enough to hit at
close range with it, it'll hit twice.

Also, a plain D kick, when close, can hit up to 6 times (at least,
that's the max # of hits I've gotten with it.) on your foe.

Combo #1 - Stabbing Feet (d + D) into Windmill Slash (aerial C)

This isn't as much of a combo as a good combo ender. After
hitting (or being blocked) with the Stabbing Feet, wait until
Basara reappears on the screen before going into the Windmill
Slash, otherwise you'll miss completely.

Combo #2 - Shadow Exit (f, db, d, df + A or B or C) into Stabbing
Feet (d + D) into Windmill Slash (aerial C)

WARNING: DO NOT RELY ON THIS COMBO!!!!! Getting the second
and third parts of the combo off is solely a matter of luck.
Most of the time you don't get enough air off of the Shadow
Exit to convince the computer that you can do another move.
I seem to have better luck with this combo when the
opponent is cornered...

Do *NOT* start this combo unless you know the Shadow Exit is
going to hit. Otherwise you just died. Best to do when your
opponent is rearing back in his/her fireball motion. Chances
are that unless your opponent is stunned they'll block
the Feet. However even if blocked still go into the Windmill
Slash, *especially* if they jump up after you. Then they're
just asking for it. >:>

7. INDIVIDUAL VERSUS STRATEGIES

(This area is under some serious construction. - Ethan)

Note that these strategies are for playing against the CPU, which
can be very predictable in its cheating. Against a human opponent,
well, *some* of these tips can still apply. Most of them, though
leave you asking for a 6-hit combo.

vs. Amakusa Shiro:

One of the easier matches you'll have. The only real problems
you'll have with Amakusa is if you're cornered (duh.), or if
he starts pulling out his overhead crystal ball move. (He'll
kneel down, and whip his ball directly overhead.) That move
tends to take you out of the air and delivers lots of damage.

CPU Amakusa likes to move around a lot. He'll teleport like
crazy when you're in the air, and tends to do his ball-of-fire
bit, too. It may be hard to get a hold of him, but when you do,
he's toast.

vs. Basara:

This turns out to be an incredibly fun (IMHO) match. Watch
out for low blade attacks, and try to stay off the ground.
The CPU Basara seems to like Airborne Slices quite a lot.
Don't attempt to throw the CPU, because it seems to have
an affinity to abort-to-Friendly-Rip. Keep him at a
distance, fake him out so he lobs his blade, then close in
and mash him.

vs. Galford:

When Galford goes into his drop-from-the-ceiling move, it's
the perfect opportunity for mega-damage. Block, jump after

him and beat him to a pulp. I'm still attempting to see if
it's possible to go into a Shadow Exit after the block. Also,
as normal with Galford, beat him senseless when he goes into
A Plasma Blade or a Poppy maneuver. When at the Round 3, both
fighters close-to-death stage, Galford seems to double in
speed and go totally berserk. Simply back away, block, and
*calmly* wait for him to make a mistake. Panicking when he goes
ballistic is a sure way of dying.

vs. Hanzo:

Hanzo tends to teleport when you're trying to do the Power
Special. When he does this, he always seems to teleport
directly behind you. (Funny...) Watch out for the Bakuen
Ryu -> SPD combo, as the CPU loves to use it. CPU Hanzo likes
to move, and very rarely stands still, except in early fights.

vs. Nakoruru:

She loves the Windmill Slash. She begs for it. Every time
she attempts to hit you, jump and WS. If she doesn't want
to come close, Shadow Feint and then WS. Also, jump in and
WS when either Slash or Bust Nak jumps onto her pet. For
about a second after landing on the pet, Nak is totally
vulnerable. Nak is prolly the easiest fight you'll have with
Basara. (Unlike Nak from SS2...)

vs. Rimururu:

You're in trouble. Her throw-an-ice-cube-that-hits-you-no-
matter-where-you-are-on-the-screen is a real problem. She
also tends to block incessantly. You don't want to stay
close with her, 'cause her Sub-Zero Ground Freeze will mess
you up too. My suggestion is to master pulling a Shadow Exit
(Bust Basara) out when she starts her ice cube motion. I
also suggest prayer.

Rimururu is one of the two characters that suffers most
from what I call "transparent-itis". This is the condition
that happens when attacks literally go through the other
fighter. (No, they're not AB sidestepping.) You tend to
see this problem with multi-hit or large-arc moves, such
as Basara's standing B or jumping C. What can you do about
it? Nothing. It's in the game.

vs. Senryo Kyoshiro

Kyoshiro seems to like jumping at you, naginata outstretched.
Basara, though, jumps higher. WS the bejeezus out of Kyo,
especially when he tries his flame breath. His nagi has range
on almost all of your moves, though, so don't be alarmed when
you get hit while across the screen. As with all projectile
throwers, hit Bust Kyo with a Shadow Exit when he tosses his
ground wave at you.

vs. Shizumaru Hisame

Two words: Uh-oh.

Shizu will block a lot of your aerial moves, then hit you with
his charge. He also likes to take you out of the air with his
twirling-sword uppercut. Tossing your blade is also asking
for death.

Try to sucker him to come in at you with a standing or crouching
B. He likes jumping at you, and rarely blocks in mid-air, unless
he's one of the later opponents.

Shizu is the other of the two characters that suffer from
"transparent-itis". Don't be alarmed if your attacks go
straight through him a lot.

vs. Ukyo Tachibana:

The CPU Ukyo is a sucker for a Shadow Feint. He'll block and
immediately go into his Shadow Clones move. Jump over and
whack him with a Windmill Slash. Try not to use the Stabbing
Feet on him, as he'll tend to use that nasty vertical slice
he's got. Beware of Bust Ukyo's fireball, as he tends to use
it as you emerge from a Shadow Exit/Soul Sucker.

Still working on: Genjuro
Gaira Caffeine
Haohmaru
Zenkurou

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8. CREDITS

Credit where it is due...

Shawn Holmes ([email protected]), maintainer of the
SS3 TapFAQ.

Damone ([email protected]), maintainer of a big honking SS3
WWW site. (http://styx.ios.com/~damone/ss3page.html)

Jimi & James + the regulars @ Kaimuki Cue (my favorite
arcade for 10 years+ now!)

Galem Komatsu ([email protected]) for Basara's full name
and translation of the kanji.

r.g.v.a, which, once you sift through the garbage, has
a bunch of real good posters, lurkers, and content.

Once again, this FAQ is available at:

http://leahi.kcc.hawaii.edu/~ethan/basara.html
and if you have feedback, moves, hints, etc, feel free to e-mail me at
[email protected]

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