Date: Mon, 1 Mar 1999 17:00:52 EST
V-Cody FAQ v. 4.20
Street Fighter Alpha 3
By Ziggy (
[email protected])
Table of Contents
1. Intro
2. Moves Key
3.1 Normal Moves Description
3.2 Not-so-normal Moves Description
4.1 Combos
4.2 V-Combos
5.1 VS Strategy
5.2 General Strategy
6. Thanks
This FAQ is the property of Jeff "Ziggy" Berg (c) 1999 all rights reserved,
and is for personal use only. It is not to be used commercially in any
way, shape or form. It may be used and distributed by anyone so long as A.
I am contacted, B. this disclaimer appears, and C. it is not used in any
profitable endeavor. Street Fighter Alpha 3 and Final Fight are copyrights
of Capcom Japan and Capcom America.
Don't plagerize, snip, borrow, or steal this FAQ or any section thereof
without my consent. I'm a really nice guy, just let me know
LAST UPDATE Feb 24
-changed V-combo section to cut down on the amount of page flipping the
reader has to do
-added infinite combo
-changed vs. Sagat strategy due to a severe ass whooping last week.
-FIXED E-MAIL ADDRESS. Man that's embarassing, I actually got my own
E-mail address wrong. If you mailed me something and got ignored or
bounced, please send it again.
1. INTRO
Um.. Cody's like... cool and stuff. Now that the home versions out and
he's catching on, I thought I'd share some of the knowledge I've gained
(stolen). Right now this FAQ is V-Cody only, because V-Cody's dodging
ability drastically changes his strategy, so adding A, X, and No-ism would
require a lot of completely different information, not just added combo's.
I would like to eventually include all ism's, but it will take a while.
2-THE KEY
All of these directions apply to the entire FAQ, with the exception of the
Combos section, which has some special notations. You'll see when you get
there. I kept the abbreviations to a minimum and used common terms for
moves and directions, so unless you are very new to SF, skip this part. I
didn't abbreviate the names of the punches or kicks, didn't seem too
important at the time. Here's the layout anyways, in case you understand
the wp, hp or the 1, 3 version better.
Start
Jab(wp)1 Strong(mp)2 Fierce(hp)3
Short(wk)4 Forward(mk)5 Roundhouse(hk)6
st. -standing
cr. -crouching
j. -jumping/in mid air
pp -any two punches
kk -any two kicks
+ -press simultaneously
XX -cancel into
Here's the direction abbreviation for a player facing the right.
ub u uf
b f
bd d df
3.1-NORMAL PUNCHES AND KICKS
Jab-
Standing-It's a standing jab. Enough said. As far as standing jabs go,
it's a pretty nice one though. It's decent at anti-air, and swats ANY
dashing attack if it's well timed (i.e. Blanka's ball, Honda's torpedo,
etc.)
Crouching-Same as above. A standard crouching jab. Use it as a
counter-poke or in a combo.
Jumping-You jump. You stick your hand straight out. Not an important
move.
Strong-
Standing-This punch goes practically straight up. Cody's safest anti-air
if the opponent is very deep. Likewise, you have to be standing on your
opponent's toes to get it to connect on the ground, so don't bother unless
your going for style points.
Crouching-A damn good punch. Kind of a low blow/gut check looking thing.
It's range is good and it's priority once it's out is great, even if it
does come out a tad on the slow side. It will counter almost anything, use
it as a safe pseudo-poke. You can combo it into everything but the rock
throw too.
Jumping-A standard downward punch. There's nothing wrong with it, but Cody
has better air-to-air and better air-to-ground, so there's not much use for
it.
Fierce-
Standing-My personal favorite in Cody's anti-air arsenal. It cancels well
in a juggle, and is the most balanced between priority and range. Don't
use on a grounded opponent though, it'll whiff like nuts.
Crouching-For an upward attack, this one has excellent horizontal reach.
Use to stop hurricane kick-style moves from below. Best to combo it into
one of the ruffian kicks, roundhouse against an airborne opponent, short in
a ground combo.
Jumping-Outstanding air-to-air qualities, decent combo starter.
Short-
Standing-A quick kick to your opponents shins. A good poke for when you're
right on top of your opponent.
Crouching-THE combo starter. Quick with good range, even if it does no
significant damage.
Jumping-The jury's still out on this one. The kick is pointed practically
straight up. So you'd think it would be good anti-air if you jumped
straight up and used it, but I've never had much luck.
Forward-
Standing-Cody's only real poke. Great range and priority for Cody. It's
still mid tier as far as the rest of the characters are concerned:( but it
doesn't cancel. Stop's low attacks like crazy though. Use a lot to soften
your opponent up, get them jumping.
Crouching-A slide that doesn't knock down. A staple of many decent
V-Combos, it doesn't have many other uses because his criminal kicks have
more range, power, and the quickness difference is microscopic.
Jumping-All around the best air attack Cody has. His only practical
cross-up, incredible reach, great air-to-air priority. Jump straight up
and stick this out often, it'll swat things that are all but un-swatable,
like Sim's drill and Akuma's dive kick. The only reason to use anything
else is if you have a guaranteed jump in and you want the damage of a
fierce or roundhouse.
Roundhouse-
Standing-A very quick, very high kick. Great as anti-air against a shallow
jump-in, but it won't cancel. Don't use on grounded opponents. Ever.
Crouching-Useless. It's range sucks. Every time you throw it, it whiffs
by an inch, and then your opponent throws a sweep of their own, you fall
down, and there goes your guard meter. And even if it hits, the opponent
can often flip out?!? If you absolutely need to floor your opponent, use
the short criminal kick instead.
Jumping-Good for starting combo's, does great damage and is very safe. Not
as good as the forward, but still note-worthy.
3.2-NOT SO NORMAL MOVES
f+strong-another basic standing punch, the range kinda lame, but it comes
out quick and cancels, so it has a few uses.
f+roundhouse-The almighty crack kick. Three cheers for this move. Use it
often, especially against turtles. If you can start mixing it into your
standard combos and ticks, your opponent will be overwhelmed. If you get
predictable with this move, you will be punished, plus there a certain
characters that it won't hit unless they jump into it, including Blanka and
Chun Li. But if you use it smart, like interrupting other combos with it,
you can pressure your opponent into making a mistake. Learn to follow it
with a wide variety of moves, you'll force a guessing game that's in your
favor.
3.3-SPECIAL MOVES
Criminal Upper d, db, b+any punch
Cody does an uppercut, then a tornado rises behind his punch. The jab hits
4 times, strong hits 5, fierce hits 6, all counting the original punch. I
consider them separate because if the uppercut hits them right, the tornado
won't hit. This move=juggle, it's easy to combo into, and if you do it
deep enough to a blocking opponent, the tornado will connect and you can
hit them before they even come out of block stun.
Ruffian Kick d, df, f, any kick
This is actually three different moves with three different uses. First
off, the short is a powerful sliding sweep. It leaves you the safest of
the three, but you will still be vulnerable if you use it stupidly. It has
excellent priority, use it anywhere you would use a cr. roundhouse. It
sets up a cross up j. forward perfectly. Next, the forward is a sliding
middle kick. It has the most range of the three, and comes out the
quickest. Best used for surprise after your opponent blocks a combo, or
after your opponent's "safe" combo, or especially after a dodged
projectile. Last, the roundhouse is a sliding anti-air kick. I'm pretty
sure it won't hit a grounded opponent no matter what, but even if it does,
don't bother. The safest anti-air Cody has, but you need to anticipate the
jump well in advance to use it best. Combo's well after normal anti-air.
Bad Stone d, df, f+any punch
Cody's projectile. It travels forward with a slight arc. The jab stone
will land two character lengths away from you, strong will travel just over
half the screen, fierce travels the entire screen. You can hold the punch
button to delay throwing the rock by tossing it up in your hand. After
three tosses, Cody throws the stone automatically. You can only combo into
it in extremely special circumstances, don't bother trying. Don't use it a
close range, it will sail right over a crouching opponent, and besides,
it's start-up time will get you killed anyways. It's high arc makes it
very hard to jump over, and even if the opponent gets the timing down
perfectly, you can hold the rock for one toss and then let it go. The rock
can be hit out of the air by many normal moves.
Fake Bad Stone d, df, f +start
Cody will bend over and grab the ground just like he would for a bad stone,
but he will come up with nothing and be able to attack instantly. This
move is actually very useful. Don't use it for no reason, but if your in a
long distance fireball war, which you should be winning because of the
stones trajectory, throw him a fake and then jump in. If he tried to jump
the fake, you can swat him with a j. forward, if he's still throwing
fireballs, well, you know what to do. You can also hold a fake stone just
like you would a normal bad stone.
Bad Spray b, bd, d+any punch (after being hit into the air)
You can use this any time you could use a PP recovery, and after
air-blocking. It can't be used after sweeps and most throws. Cody flips
over in mid-air, but continues to fall normally. Only the most careful
observer will see it coming. You then hit the ground, stay down for a
split second, then shovel a handful of dirt at your opponent as you get up.
You are vulnerable while you lay on the ground. The ultimate wake up
attack, if you use it at the appropriate time. For example, don't use it
after being beaten out in an air-to-air attack, because your opponent will
land right next to you and expect you to land on your feet, and will attack
anyways, basically kicking you while your down. So don't use it anytime
your opponent expects you to land on your feet, because they'll attack your
regardless, and if they hit you it counts as a major counter. But it rules
after certain moves, moves that floor you and leave your opponent close by.
Some examples include Dan's gale kicks, Rolento's baton twirl, Zangief's
spinning clothesline, any dragon punch, flash kick or similar attacks.
Your opponent will see you hit the ground just as expected, and won't think
to attack. Boom, they get hit with the dirt. PS, try to hit them into the
corner with this one. If you manage to dizzy them with this move (yeah
right), you can do the infinite. See Combo section
Knife Grab d+PP (while standing above the knife)
Once Cody has picked up the knife, all of his punches are now stabs. He'll
drop the knife if he's hit, or if you do a taunt or super move. His jabs
and strongs share the same animation while standing or crouching, a quick
standard stab. His jabs are now like Hugo's from SF3:2I, you can chain
three or four together easily. Strongs are similar but are slower, better
pokes. His fierces keep their original animation's, just with more range.
His crouching fierce is now particularly dangerous. All jumping punches
look the same, and are pretty useless. Upon first picking it up, you can
cancel the "taunt" animation by pressing any punch or doing any punch-based
special move. You can use this to sucker people in then surprise 'em. If
there's a fireball coming in fast, cancel into a jab criminal upper.
Regardless of what button you used, all punches done during the pick-up
will have the same strength and reach, but you can control whether you are
crouching or standing. This punch is bufferable. Watch your feet. If you
rely solely on stabs while carrying the knife, you will be very vulnerable
to low pokes. Mix in kicks and special moves if you want to succeed.
Knife Throw d, df, f+any punch (once you've grabbed the
knife)
Once you've grabbed the knife, you can't throw rocks until you lose it.
Doing the bad stone motion will cause you to throw the knife instead.
There's a sizable start-up as Cody flips the knife over in his palm before
throwing it. The fierce travels incredibly fast, it's debatably the best
non-super projectile in the game. It travels through other projectiles,
and it's great speed plus it's small lag time means that you will usually
hit them but dodge their projectile. The jab is VERY slow, it is somewhat
useful in pinning your opponent down while you move in. It won't hit
crouching opponents. If you do the knife throw in a V-Combo, your shadow
will throw rocks instead.
Fake Knife Throw d, df, f+start (once you've grabbed the knife)
Just like the fake Bad Stone, but a little more useful. It's such an
obvious gesture that your opponent is bound to react. He'll either jump in
and eat a st. fierce, or turtle and allow you to jump in. Just don't use
it within a certain distance.
Alpha counter f+p+k of same strength (immediately after blocking
an attack)
V-Cody's AC is a crouching roundhouse. For emergencies only. Using an AC
will cost you half your VC meter, your guard meter will lose one block
permanently, and bring your remaining guard meter down to nothing. Don't
AC against an opponents VC, if you have enough meter for an AC then you
have enough for a counter VC, which is better. Use it only if you have no
choice, are about to die, or need to finish off an opponent.
1st Throw f/b+pp (when close)
A shoulder throw. Sends your opponent very far, useful for putting them in
the corner, but not very powerful.
2nd Throw f/b+kk (when close)
Cody jumps on his opponent, somehow gets his foot up on their head, then
stomps them into the ground with all his weight. Extremely powerful,
definitely the throw to use unless you are specifically trying to corner
your opponent.
Air throw f/b+kk (in air, when close)
The same animation as the 2nd throw, but with a lot farther to fall. Very
high priority for an air throw. Use it to stop cross ups or as a
particularly nasty juggle finisher.
The dodge hold b/db as your opponent throws middle attacks
There's a section dealing with the strategy of the dodge later on, but here
are the specific rules of the dodge. You dodge any attack that hits
neither high or low. Any attack that could be blocked from both a standing
and ducking position. Anything else, you block like normal. You will also
block any attack that is part of a combo in which the first move hits high
or low, for example, in a low forwardXXfireball combo from a shoto. You
will also only dodge five times in a row, like if Rolento does a baton
twirl, you will block the first 5 hits, but the last seven will be blocked.
Taunt start
Cody pulls his wrist out of one of the handcuffs and shakes it out for a
second, then puts the cuff back on and continues the fight. He says
something like "No way", but the sound on my machine is too low too be
sure.
4.1 COMBOS
I had to modify (butcher) an old combo system to best explain some of
these, cause in A3 there are true combos and there are some pretty nasty
pseudo-combos. This is a bastard version of someone else's combo system,
so if the person who created it is reading this, please mail me. I would
love to give credit where credit is due, or change it if need be. Here's
the rough breakdown.
XX means a true cancel, a normal move into a special.
-> means to chain. Part of a true combo.
, means the true combo is over, but you can still hit the opponent with the
following moves, even though you may be reversed. The best example is in a
juggle.
( ) as always, gives any prerequisites, i.e. (opponent in air), (in corner)
/ indicates that more than one move can be used at that point in the combo
I've started all of these combo's with a j. roundhouse (it's like the
default air attack of the SF community), but any air attack would work if
done correctly. You'll probably find that a j. forward is his best air
attack anyways.
1.j. roundhouse->cr. jab->cr.shortXXjab criminal upper.
Bread and butter. Skip the jab if you want, but you won't win with Cody
without using this one. If the entire thing is blocked, you can
usually surprise your opponent with a forward criminal kick. After you
connect, you can...
a. Do combo 1, st. fierceXXroundhouse ruffian kick
b. " " , (in corner)st. fierceXXfierce criminal upper
c. " " , walk forward, KK air throw
d. " " , st. roundhouse (for safety)
e. " " , walk forward, crack kick, try to repeat until the corner
2.j. roundhouse->cr. strongXXany criminal upper/short ruffian kick/forward
ruffian kick.
Use jab uppercuts for the best juggle opportunities or fierce uppercuts for
the most damage up front. If you use jab, then the above juggles can be
used. Use ruffian kicks only if your far from the opponent.
3.j. roundhouse->cr. fierceXXfierce criminal upper/short ruffian
kick/forward ruffian kick.
I recommend using the ruffian kicks unless your in the corner. Use short,
because it is a knockdown and sets up a cross-up very well. If you finish
with the fierce criminal upper in the corner, you can follow it with
another cr. fierceXXfierce criminal upper for a powerful 14-15 hit combo.
4.j. roundhouse->cr. jab->cr. jab->cr. shortXXforward ruffian kick
Okay, this ones kinda hard. The timing is slower than most other versions
of the same combo (the jab, jab, short chain). If you skip one of the jabs
or the jump in, it becomes much easier. The forward ruffian is a hard strike that is useful for putting your opponent in the corner.
5.(knife grab, opponent in corner) j. fierce->cr.fierceXXfierce criminal
upper, st.fierceXXfierce knife throw.
My own personal five fierce combo. I realize that the opportunities to
land this one will be rare, but I include it because it's practically a
guaranteed dizzy. I've landed it approximately a dozen times, always
against scrubs, and it has only once failed to dizzy them. Plus the last
two hits make this really cool squishy noise:)
6. j. roundhouse (should be blocked)->cr. short, crack kick (must be
ducked), cr. jab->cr. shortXXjab criminal upper
Not a true combo, but a very effective attack. Most Cody users basic
offense is based on this. If you do the crack kick deep enough, it's
possible to hop completely over your opponent but still be able to start
attacking as soon as you land, making it very difficult to block. But even
if you don't hop over, doing the crack kick will probably cause your
opponent to flinch long enough for the rest to land.
7. j. roundhouse (should be blocked)->cr. short, crack kick(must be
ducked), PP or KK throw
Okay, we all know about this one. It's very effective, but it makes you
look like a scrub and gives all us decent Cody players a bad name. If you
use it more than once a fight, I guarantee everyone watching will think
that you're just a scrub with one cheap trick, no matter how good you
really are. And I know that winning at all costs isn't that important to
you, or else you wouldn't be using Cody, now would you. But if you REALLY
need the damage, mix this one up with #6 and you will frustrate the hell
outta any opponent.
8. (opponent in or very close to the corner) j. roundhouse->crack kick*,
st. fierceXXfierce criminal upper, st. strongXXroundhouse ruffian kick.
*a quick note. This isn't like the above two combos, where you want the
opponent to block the air attack and duck the crack kick. This time, you
want the jump kick into crack kick to connect as one combo.
The first part (jump kick->crack kick->fierce->criminal upper) is probably
the easiest and most effective juggle in Cody's arsenal. There is a very
small window for you to hit your opponent after the crack kick, which means
an equally small window for them to flip out. Then the second juggle can
only be connected in two ways. First, if your opponent flips out and their
not juggle-proof (i.e. Dhalsim, Akuma, Chun-Li), walk under them, all the
way to the edge of the screen. The strong punch goes straight up and
cannot be air-blocked, so most characters normal air attacks will be
useless. Second, if you were not completely in the corner during the first
part, but close enough for it still to connect, you can add the second
juggle even if they don't hop, but since 99% of the time they will, don't
worry about it too much.
9. (opponents back to the corner, about 1/2 screen distance away from it)
j. roundhouse->cr. jab->cr. short->jab hurricane uppercut, f+roundhouse,
st. fierceXXfierce hurricane uppercut
If you started from about half a screen's distance out of the corner, you
can connect the whole thing regardless if they hop out or not, but if they
do, just adjust your timing accordingly. Remember that if they do hop out,
you can tack on more hits after the last hurricane.
10. (opponent in corner) dizzy them with a bad spray, then cr. jab, cr.
jab, cr. jab, cr. jab, cr. jab, cr. jab, cr. jab, cr. jab, cr. jab, cr.
jab, cr. jab, cr. jab, cr. jab, cr. jab, cr. jab, cr. jab, cr. jab, cr.
jab, cr. jab, cr. jab, cr. jab, cr. jab, cr. jab, cr. jab, cr. jab, cr.
jab, cr. jab, cr. jab, cr. jab, cr. jab, cr. jab, cr. jab, repeat from cr.
jab:)
The infinite. Amazing, but almost totally useless. The odds of actually
dizzying a real opponent with the bad spray in the corner are so small it's
ludicrous. It works cause after you dizzy someone with a bad spray, you
will not be pushed back as you attack your opponent until you are done
comboing them. But watch yourself, you can't just mash the button.
Remember that these jabs have to actually combo, and the window for you to
chain one jab into another is small. You either have to time each one
perfectly, or slam that button till it hurts. It actually does. I got a
rash from this combo. It also works with the knife, and is much easier and
more powerful. If you don't believe me and want to test this yourself, get
a buddy to pick Gen. Follow him into the corner and hit him with four st.
fierces, followed by three st. jabs (I'm assuming that different damage
settings don't affect dizzability). Then have Gen do his kick dp (without
any extra kicks) and bad spray him as you hit the ground. This will dizzy
him.
4.2 THE V-COMBOS
Odds are this is why you are reading this FAQ, and you skipped here from
the very beginning. Since the home version's come out, V-combos have been
springing up all over the place, so this section will undoubtedly be
updated in the near future, but for now it's kinda skimpy.
V1. (To be used when you start in the open screen if opponent doesn't
block)
(jab + short) cr. short->fierce criminal upper->roundhouse ruffian kick
(repeat from fierce criminal upper till you reach the corner)->fierce
criminal upper->st. roundhouse (repeat from fierce criminal upper till your
are almost out of meter)->st. fierce->roundhouse ruffian kick.
Exact timing is paramount. Start with the short->criminal upper, then wait
just a second to be sure they haven't blocked it. Then do a quick
roundhouse ruffian. You want this to hit them as they are still on the way
up. Then, and this is the most important part, cancel into another fierce
criminal upper instantly. I mean don't even wait for them to clear your
foot. You want that tornado to have come and gone by the time your
opponent falls back into ruffian range, and you want to make sure that both
you and your shadow are hitting them with the ruffian kick. If you only
hear one smack per kick, your starting them to early and need to wait just
a little longer before ruffian kicking. Repeat this pattern all the way to
the edge of the screen. Then, end on a fierce criminal upper, and instead
of a ruffian, throw a normal standing roundhouse. Then repeat this pattern
with whatever meter you have left. Remember, two hits per kick and the
upper misses entierly. For a tiny bit more damage and some style points,
end with a st. fierceXXroundhouse ruffian.
V2. (To be used when you start with your opponent in the corner and
opponent does not block)
(jab+short) cr. short->fierce criminal upper->st. roundhouse (repeat from
st. roundhouse till your are almost out of meter)->st. fierce->roundhouse
ruffian kick.
The same as the above combo but without the middle man. I put this here
cause you get alot of opportunities for this kind of comb, especially if
you hit your opponent into the corner with a forward ruffian kick or crack
kick.
V3. (To be used when you start in the open screen if your opponent blocks)
(jab+short) cr. short->fierce criminal upper->forward ruffian kick->cr.
forward (repeat from forward ruffian kick till you reach the
corner)->fierce criminal upper->forward ruffian kick (repeat from fierce
criminal upper till opponents guard is broken)->fierce criminal upper->st.
roundhouse (repeat from fierce criminal upper till your meter is almost
gone)->st. fierce->roundhouse ruffian kick.
As stated in V-combo #1, do the shortXXcriminal upper and wait to see if
they've blocked. If they do, instead of a roundhouse ruffian, you need to
do a forward ruffian. Then switch back and forth between forward ruffians and cr. forwards till they reach the corner. If you think your too far out, throw in a few
extra forward ruffians to get real close, then start switching back and
forth between forward ruffians and fierce criminal uppers. You have to
cancel the fierce upper into the forward ruffian very quickly, or else you
will be pushed out of range by the upper. Be sure that once your opponents
guard is broken, you do no more forward ruffians, cause if you do it once
they're in the air, you will zip beneath them, and performing the corner
juggle will be very difficult. Then comes the corner fierce upper to
roundhouse juggle, again, just like in V-combo #1.
STRATEGY
5.1 VS. STRATEGY-
Don't you love it when you read a Vs. other chars. guide and they say stuff
like, "If Ken misses a fierce dragon punch, use this combo". I get that a
lot. So I'll leave out anything that obvious. If you can't figure out how
to punish a whiffed dp, you should be using Dhalsim:) heh-heh. This is
only the character specific strategy, further down is the general strategy.
That's where you should do the most studying, cause not many people know
how to fight a decent Cody.
Ryu-Any decent Ryu is gonna realize that he can't throw fireballs within a
1/4 screen distance, so there goes a big chunk of offense for him. Expect
a lot of hop kicks. Counter with a preemptive crack kick if you see it
coming a mile away, a cr. strong or cr. forward if you wanna trade late
hits. If he's a low poker, usually cr. forwards, just keep walking up to
him and stuffing him with st. forwards, or use a crack kick to clear them
and then punish him accordingly. Use a cr. strongXX roundhouse ruffian
kick to punish a ground hurricane kick, or a st. fierceXXroundhouse ruffian
kick against air hurricanes. From a full screen away, use jab criminal
uppers to counter fireballs rather than dodge them. It fills up your VC
meter faster.
Akuma-Is the current Cody killer. You can't counter his dive kick from the
ground, and if you try a jumping forward, you usually end up eating air
hurricane. Counter his hop kicks the same as you would Ryu's, but you
probably won't see as many opportunities. I'm convinced that Akuma has an
anti-Cody trap based on a "glitch" that I've seen, but I've yet to have a
person use it on me to it's full extent. If I'm right, the only way out
(other than a VC) is to let him combo you, so you could lose anywhere from
1/10 to 1/2 of your life bar, and he'll probably have you right back in it
a second later. And it's so simple it's frightening. So obviously I won't
be telling anybody what it is:), but if your not brain dead and you play
V-Cody VS. Akuma enough, you'll see it eventually. Besides, by the time I
finally finish this damn thing, it will probably be common knowledge
anyways. You can win this fight, but you have to take the offensive.
Rather than react to his moves, control the pace, corner him, and get the
most possible damage out of every hit, cause you won't get too many
chances.
Dhalsim-Man, that Akuma thing was depressing, wasn't it? I was gonna do
all the shoto's first, but right now I need some cheering up. Dhalsim is a
fun fight. V-Cody is the Dhalsim killer. It's not a guaranteed victory,
but Cody has a better shot than anybody. He can't hit you. The only limbs
that hit are crouching fierces, you know, the ground scrapers. Jump them,
they're very easy to predict now that they're all he's got, or crack kick
over them for style points. Most Dhalsim's gave up on thinking a long time
ago, they just follow the same patterns over and over, so you're probably
still gonna be dodging limbs like crazy. I'm not calling Sims stupid, I'm
just saying that their pattern players, and that their used to that pattern
working very well. Punish whiffed limbs with forward ruffian kicks, or cr.
fierces after they've cleared. Crack kick over the low slide trap. In the
air, VC through a standing jab. Don't try to juggle him after a criminal
upper, but walk forward and block the inevitable drill. You want it to hit
at as high an angle as possible, so you can combo him as he lands.
Ken-I'll be honest, I've never seen a really good Ken, outside of the few
tourney's I hid in the back to watch. Sorry, I never really got into Alpha
2. Ken's the scrub default where I play, on every version of SF we have.
What I have to say is based on the computer, so if this advice is
inadequate, your input is always welcome. Cr. strongXXroundhouse ruffian
kick against the hurricane kicks as always. Throw out short criminal kicks
often, you might catch him rolling. That massive roundhouse poke he has
whiffs, counter it.
Zangief-Screw sequential order. I'll do these characters in whatever order
I want. Anarchy, Woo-hoo. Anyways, I never had much use for the held bad
stone or the fake bad stone, 'till people started using this oaf. If you
can mix up the standard throw, the held rock throw, and the fake throw,
with all three punches, you can keep him pinned in the opposite corner for
the entire match. Follow the fake throw with a jump in, if he tried to
jump over the rock you can tag him with a j. forward, if he stayed on the
ground then cross your fingers and go for a combo, you've got decent odds.
If he starts to get close while your shoveling rocks at him, use a
f+roundhouse. If you time it right, it can hit him even at the peak of his
jump.
PS. Zangief is one of the only fighters that the Bad Spray (dirt throw)
actually works well against. Use it if he tries to get close after a
Spinning Lariat or hitting you out of the air.
Blanka-Okay, this dude crushes guard bars for a living. STAY ON YOUR DAMN
FEET. I think your gonna have to go turtle on this one. I know, I know.
I don't like it either. Your jab stuffs the ball attack 100%, a single
well timed one, though. Yours aren't rapid enough to just jam on the
button like some chars. Stand back and dare him to roll. After a few of
these, he's gonna start jumping. Use st. roundhouses to counter, he's got
too much air priority for anything else to work. Don't throw rocks. Don't
try to counter a blocked ball. All of your cool dashing attacks stop a
hair short and you'll get a beating. If he goes for that
pseudo-poke-combo-of-guard-bar-death, use cr. strongs or cr. jabs to break
it up. But above all, GUARD YOUR FEET AND STAY OUTTA THE CORNER.
Charlie-The dodge screws with Charlie more than any other single player in
the game. Charlie relies on the strength of a single pattern and on his
opponents inability to get around it. Mess up their gameplan and they fall
apart. Example. Charlie throws a sonic boom after a set pattern of 3-4
pokes, and then goes to follow it in. You will of course dodge it. The
poor guy forgets what to do now. You were supposed to be knocked back and
he was supposed to continue the pattern. What now? Any decent Charlie
will try to follow his booms, you can easily counter him with a well timed
short/forward ruffian kick. Jump in on him often, but don't attack,
airblock his flash kicks and counter. If you sweep him, try to jump in so
that your on the ground by the time he throws his predictable wake-up flash
kick. If he's smart he used short, the hardest one to counter even if it's
blocked, but you didn't block, you dodged, and now your at point blank
range.
Chun-Li- This fight sucks. She's just got too much priority. Her j.
forward beats all your anti-air with the exception of a st. strong, and
that only works if she jumped in very deep. But this does mean that she'll
have a tough time crossing you up. That
j. forward also means she is all but juggle-proof. Once again, don't get
swept. You can't out poke her, you need to try and get inside on her.
The corner trap works very well against her. If you feel the need to crack
kick, be ready to throw, cause the kick whiffs even if she's standing?!?
Chun-Li likes to stand close to you after you've fallen down, her standing
strongs and fierces do well against wake-up's. If your opponent uses this,
the dirt throw will come in handy. But only use it at the right time (see
the special move section above).
Vega-A tough fight. Find out as early as possible if it's safe to jump or
not, meaning jump in often and see if your opponent can counter. If he's
good at using Vega's V-flipkick or A-super flipkick, your gonna be fighting
an uphill battle. You dodge his claw pokes but not his slides. Try to
slide in quickly if he throws a strong or fierce, easier said than done, I
know. If he bounces off the wall, duck at first, to make sure he's not
doing the quick spring, then stand your ground and throw a st. strong. It
will beat him unless he comes in very shallow or EXTREMELY deep. Block his
V-combo and counter with one of your own, but always start with a cr. jab,
cause you need a quick, high priority move or else he'll roll right over
you. If he likes Vega's quick jump and is flying all around you trying to
cross you up, jump straight up and air throw his ass. He has a very tough
time breaking up your corner trap, so long as you don't jump in.
Sagat-In an earlier version of this FAQ I called Sagat a joke cause he
couldn't throw fireballs against you. How little did I know. A good Sagat
can and will beat you without throwing a single fireball. I had played
several Sagat's and thought I knew how to beat him, then some guy shows me
the power of X-Sagat, with all that constant kneeing and uppercutting. You
still dodge his long, slow pokes. That's something. Obviously you don't
want to play wake up games against this guy. Don't try to counter blocked
Tiger Knee's unless he is extremly deep, cause he can follow one with an
uppercut almost instantly. Stay low and watch for those uppercuts, then
counter. Remember if he does chuck a fireball, short ruffian kick past it
so you get the easy cross up.
Birdie-This just might be your easiest fight. I can't believe they made
him Cody's mid-boss. The computer is a free win, a human opponent might be
a little harder. You can dodge his headbutt, but it's not that great since
you could punish that even if you didn't. Birdie has a V-Cody trap much
like Akuma's, but his is much harder, less damaging, and costs HIM
something too. Plus nobody knows about it yet. Crack kick to get inside,
don't jump in. You can't miss something that big. Other than that, just
use basic combo's and strats and you'll win.
Guy-He can't FF chain you as long as your blocking, if the first hit
whiffs, the rest won't come out on time. If he likes to dash in, ala the
computer mid-boss, just keep stuffing him with st. forwards and cr. strongs
and fierces. Your st. fierce beats his air throw hop?? (it does, I'm just
not sure what the move is called) Just keep walking up and poking, you'll
trade hits with his st. forward often, and you don't have to worry about
him jumping your pokes cause of how far his jump goes. And you dodge the
turnaround punch, so make him regret overusing that damn move.
Sakura-See Chun-Li. Don't ever try to juggle her, you'll lose to her j.
short/forward? Respond to her hurricane kicks with a cr. shortXX into a
forward ruffian if she is far away, or a jab criminal upper if she is deep
enough. Anti-air is a real problem. The roundhouse ruffian will stop her
cold, but you have to see her jump coming. St. roundhouse if she's coming
in deep, st. strong if it's shallow. Pray she throws lot's of fireballs,
hers are easy to counter.
Gen-If he's good, I'd advise you bend over, grab your ankles, and think
happy thoughts, and get it over with, cause your gonna get... whoops,
sorry kids. A talented A-Gen can out poke you on the ground, eat through
your anti-air, anti air you all day, and if he hits one of those fat super
combos, ooh boy. The crack kick is the only viable weapon you have at this
point. If he goes for that repeated kick dp crap, just throw a rock at
him. And if he tries to combo into his air grab super,(this is so cool)
you can PP escape and then VERY QUICKLY activate a V-combo through his
grab. Other than that, your probably gonna die. Alot.
Thats all the characters I really know how to fight, for the rest I would
just be making stuff up. If you need help with a character not included,
or if you have advice on someone else, mail it to me.
5.2 GENERAL STRATEGY
Using the dodge
People who fight against V-Codys but never use him love to bitch about the
dodge. If you've been using him then you know. But the dodge takes some
getting used to, especially with that puny guard meter. True, you aren't
knocked back by your opponents attack, but the dodge has a lag. If, for
example, Sakura just walked up and kept poking at you with st. jabs and
shorts, even though she's not really comboing you, you're stuck there in
dodge animation. Countering a jab or short after dodging it is very hard
if not impossible. Also, the dodge lag makes you tick bait for the
grapplers. Always counter dodged attacks with a cr. short combo, for the
best chances of connecting. Another thing to think about when using the
dodge is when to counter. For example, you will dodge a full Rekka Ken
from Karin, but anyone could punish her after one of those. You should try
to counter somewhere in the middle, when she isn't expecting it. Don't
mail me to tell me that you can't counter in the middle of a rekka ken, I
know you can't. I'm just using it as an example. Also, when you ruffian
kick through projectiles, you don't have to wait for the fireball to
completely clear you before you attack. You can actually start the attack
just before the projectile hits you and still dodge it. Experiment to find
the exact timing.
Charging V-combos
I always hated it when Wolverine from the VS series would just start
super-jumping all over the place and jam on middle punch for a free level
of super. So now that the shoes on the other foot, I feel kinda guilty.
Once you know the tricks, V-combos charge up so fast it's scary. If you're
controlling the fight, it just happens automatically. Just keep attacking
and you'll be amazed at how often you can throw small, 50% v-combos. If
you ever have to retreat, or if your opponent's playing keep-away, whiff
some throws. Just keep holding back and tapping KK, you can charge around
4-5 units a second, and it looks real funny too. If they throw projectiles
from a full screen away, stop them with criminal uppers rather than dodge.
The Crack Kick
The word crack appears twenty seven times in this FAQ. Is it any wonder
that I useCody:) It is your best friend. You shouldn't rely soely on it, but if you
structure your attack around it, you can pressure the hell outta anybody.
Think of the crack kick as a very powerful, instant jump-in attack. If it
hits, you can juggle with a second crack kick, but if they duck it, you
have priority, whether you choose to throw or combo. Anytime you see your
opponent walking in, meet them with this move. Seriously. The only way
you get beat is if your opponent is already at the peak of a jump, or if
they throw a well timed middle poke. Use it A LOT. Crack, crack, crack,
crack, CRACK!
Juggling
This is extremely confusing. I took a fun and simple concept like juggling
and turned it into an advanced psychology course. Read on, if you dare.
Cody is THE juggler of A3. Akuma can kiss my arse. Always end your ground
combos with a jab criminal upper. And remember to cancel normal attack
juggles into special move juggles.
Here's the basic rules on juggling, and your opponents ability to escape.
Out in the open screen, you can hit your opponent into the air and continue
hitting them till they reach the corner. You have unlimited "turns". A
turn is any attack or combination of attacks during which Cody does not
return to neutral. When you return to neutral, you can move, jump, attack,
etc. A normal attack is one turn, a single special attack that hits once
is one turn, a single special attack that hits multiple times is one turn,
and a normal move canceled into a special move is one turn, because even
though they are separate moves, Cody does not return to neutral between the
two. A V-combo that is constantly canceling between special moves is a
single turn, even though it may contain dozens of attacks. Turns are
important to remember, because your opponent can only hop out between
turns, when Cody has the ability to move around. After a fierce criminal
upper sends your opponent up, he cannot hop out until the tornado's lag
has ended, and Cody returns to neutral. After Cody returns to neutral, they
can flip out, and you can hit them with another turn. If you hit an
airborne opponent with a st. fierceXXfierce bad stone, your opponent will
be unable to flip away from the stone, even though they are in the air,
because the fierce and the stone throw were a single turn, and they will be
unable to flip until the lag from the bad stone has ended. It's confusing
I know. Well, it gets even more complicated. After your opponent tags the
corner, you can hit them with one more "turn", after which you cannot hit
them any more, and they lose the ability to flip. But your opponent is
guaranteed one flip, so even if they're being juggled in the corner, if
they haven't tried to flip before, they can now. But if they break the
rules and flip in the corner, you get to break the rules to, and you can
now start hitting them once again. Only for one turn though, after that,
they fall and there's nothing you or your opponent can do to stop it.
The Corner Trap
Cody is also a very adept corner trapper. Unlike Rolento, who has pretty
much a set pattern, Cody's trap is a flexible attack based on two things,
the block stun of your jab criminal upper and the speed of the crack kick.
When done in the corner, a blocked jab upper keeps them pinned longer than
your lag, giving your an opportunity to land another attack for free, while the
crack kick gets you back inside, as long as they block. This is not a 100%
fool proof trap, it can be escaped, particularly during the crack kick start up,
but it's still very powerful. A basic corner trap would look like
(opponent in corner) j. roundhouse->cr. jab->cr. shortXXjab criminal upper,
crack kick, repeat from cr. jab.
You can vary your tactics off of this string depending upon the situation.
Some examples include...
1. If the crack kick connects, juggle your opponent ala Combo #8 or V-combo
#2.
2. After the upper, f+strongXXjab bad stone, then a forward ruffian kick or
crack kick to reset.
3. Activate a guard crushing V-combo after the upper.
4. Follow the crack kick with a cr. fierceXXfierce criminal upper for
better crushing with higher risk.
5. Do a st. short and/or st. forward after the upper, then crack kick to
increase the chances of connecting.
These are just a few examples. Just remember that you can do whatever you
want after the jab upper as long as you do it quickly, and that the crack
kick resets the attack. Adjust your attack according to the activity level
of your opponent. Against an opponent with quick reflexes, all you might
be able to do is...
j. roundhouse->cr. jab->cr. shortXXjab criminal upper, f+strongXXforward
criminal kick
Not that much guard damage, but very safe and impossible to escape till the
end. Against a turtle with no reflexes, you might be able to get away
with....
j. roundhouse->cr. jab->cr. shortXXjab criminal upper, tap f, st.
shortXXjab bad stone, st. forward, crack kick, repeat from cr. jab.
Much better looking, more damaging, and you can reset it, but you will be
vulnerable at times.
This is the end of my V-Cody FAQ, for now. I was planning a long
miscellaneous section on outfit colors and victory quotes and such, but I
haven't had much time recently, and would like to get this thing out before
someone else beats me to it.
As I have said all along, I really would like feedback, no matter how
insignificant it might seem. Send me combos, strats, flames, compliments,
tell me there's a typo on page 7, anything.
6. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND THANKS
Kian Tat-
[email protected]
For maintaining Cody Convicted, an all Cody sight that is much like this
FAQ, but more in depth and with pictures. Some similarities between his
page and this guide are expected, as I borrowed some info from him, and him
from me. If your a Cody fan, definitely check this sight out at
http://members.tripod.com/a3cody.
Evil Ryu-
[email protected]
For posting his V-ism FAQ, that had not only several very useful Cody
combos, but also many other combos for most of the characters. Definitely
worth a look if your into V-ism.
Jack Lin- Zangief
[email protected]
Most of you probably already know this, but Jack did us all a big favor and
translated some of the Alpha 3 Gamest Mook, which contained several useful
Cody combo's, and even though we already knew some of them, it seems only
fair to give the man some credit.
And the anynomous masses of alt.games.sf2, some of whom gave advice on
Cody, and others who drove me to use him with their constant putdowns.
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