The King of Fighters Ex 2 - Howling Blood Jun FAQ by Tiago Lopes, aka Charade
(Version 1.00)
Got suggestions, criticisms, questions or just plain chit-chat? Feel free to
mail me at
[email protected]
It's my very first FAQ so please don't take it hard on me...
1. Legal Disclaimer
2. Revision History
3. Who is Jun?
4. Move Analysis
5. Special Moves
6. DMs
7. Striker
8. Strategy
9. Miscellaneous
10. End Notes
***************
1. Legal Disclaimer
***************
The King of Fighters saga, Jun Kagami and other mentioned characters are the
property of the allmighty SN...ahh crap....in this case it's actually property
of Playmore Corporation, so don't mess with their copyright for your own good.
This FAQ is the intelectual (yeah right...) property of Tiago Lopes, I'm a Law
School student, don't mess with me!!!! You all know the drill:
"Don't reproduce this document without the permission of it's
author...yadayadayada...". Heck, I DARE YOU to reproduce this crap, no, I
DOUBLE DARE YOU!!!
Copyright 2003 Tiago Lopes
***************
2. Revision History
***************
21st June, 2003 (it's Saturday over here!!!) - the horror begins
4th July, 2003 - added "Alternate Strategy" against Sinobu and updated Jun's
strategy and Jun's strategy against the previously mentioned
************
3. Who is Jun?
************
I dunno...why do you think I'm asking? Who is Jun? Unfortunately I don't know
much about the character since I couldn't get my hands on a official profile
(help here, H-E-L-P). The storyline revolves on some weirdo, Gustav Munchausen,
trying to ressurrect Goenitz's spirit on some guy, Sinobu (the end boss) who is
the brother of Miu, one of Jun's teammates, the other being Mr. Congeniality
himself, Iori Yagami.
There's a lot to the general plot, they speak of the Ten Orochi Treasures, and
I'm getting the idea that Jun and her teammates are three of those treasures
(that's the idea I got from the in-game plot of Iori Team...), heck, these
P(l)aymore dudes sure can make weird stuff!
Mr. Congeniality is, as always trying to kill Kyo, the Gothic Lolita is looking
for her brother and I'm assuming that Jun is only tagging along for the fun.
Jun's a fashion model and her last name's Kagami, that's just about all I know
of her...
Also, IMO, she isn't the bimbo she looks like since she knows the entire Orochi
story.
For the illiterate fans of Jun, if you can't read or just get way too
distracted with the pretty pictures, she's the one that looks like a cross
between Angel (KoF 2k1) and Sonia Romanenko (Rage of the Dragons), she's got
tan skin, purple/lavendar short(ish) hair and a red outfit like Sonia and she's
just über-goofy and laid back like Angel. (if you've never seen any of those
mail me and I'll send artwork of 'em)
Reasons to pick Jun:
a) she's hot
b) she's really fun to watch (just check out her hoochie mamma stance and walk
animation)
c) she's a new character and that's always a good thing (unless you happen to
be at KOF 2000 and answer to the name Ramon...)
Pros & Cons of Jun:
Pros:
+ she's fast
+ does decent damage
+ she's a grappler, pardon me, a fast grappler!
+ she's got a few sneaky moves that can catch must opponents off guard
Cons:
- she's tall, aka big target ("Being tall isn't all that's cracked up to be,
you know?" - Clark to Jun)
- her air game is kinda lame
- few special moves and only ONE DM (oh, the criminy!)
- her SDM is actually the same crap as her DM!!! (more damage and a little more
hummm into it, but it's even the same bloody animation!!!)
Overview of Jun
All things considered...she's not that much (I thought "crap" would be a little
too harsh), she hasn't got that special something a few characters have that
allows them too be sure-winners with little effort, I believe the term is
"scrubbyness", she isn't scrub-friendly and it will take a few rounds to get
the hang of her but as soon as you can balance her pros and cons and take
advantage of those of your foes she's a force to be reckoned with!!!
In general terms I recommend Jun for those who actually like her, she's fun to
play and that's the reason to pick her, assuming you've got Iori on your team
things aren't THAT bad!
*************
4. Move Analysis
*************
Legend:
P - Punch
K - Kick
dp - dragon punch motion
hcb - half circle back
Weak Punch
standing - a quick elbow to the face with very short range, it's only
usefulness is to stop rushing opponents, but isn't an unblockable command throw
much better?
crouching - quick knife chop with decent range, good for poking and pressuring
jumping - utter crap, avoid like the plague (attack is the same as crouching)
Weak Kick
standing - really quick kick to the thighs/ balls/Choi's head, very good range
and an awesome poking/stuffing weapon, at close range Jun aims at the shins and
you can combo two or three of these. Highly recommended.
crouching - quick all-too-generic footsie we all know and neglect, I think it's
faster than crouching punch...
jumping - same as above only in air now
Strong Punch
standing - nasty hook right in the noggin, fast, high priority, good damage and
dizzying properties, one of her best weapons to stop predictable rush-ins and
to throw out in those bitch slappin' situations (just don't try it with
Chang...). Highly recommended.
crouching - turns her back and elbows just like Mai, short range but it's
really fast, feel free to whip out two in row when you're pressuring. Highly
recommended.
jumping - generic, "I've-already-seen-this-in-Mortal-Kombat" air punch, decent
damage, range and priority.
Strong Kick
standing - looks like a kick in the balls to me (ouch!), long range, damage and
priority aren't that much. Takes some time to recover. Use sparingly.
crouching - Jun extends her leg to sweep the opponent, use it like you would
use any other sweep, with caution and within hit range.
jumping - dropkick aiming downwards, decent priority and damage. It takes some
time so throw it as soon as you jump or at the highest peak of the jump.
Front + Weak Kick - two-hitter axe kick. Jun does a standing split!! (fanboy
drooling) Fast overhead with good dizzying properties and good range. Excellent
against turtlers.
Punch Throw - looks like a German Suplex at first but instead of busting their
heads against the concrete Jun tosses the opponent way too far and does a pose
after getting up (her girly scream as she does this is a killer!). My
suggestion: do the pose as well when connecting this move! Yay!!! (I won't be
held responsible if you: a) look like an ass and b) drop your Game Boy in the
process)
Kick Throw - Jun picks her opponent and slams him back first right in the
ground, looks kinda like a power bomb...
Knockdown (Strong Punch + Strong Kick)
standing - really good move for a knockdown since these tend to be short ranged
and slow, that isn't the case of Jun, she kicks her opponent hard in the gut
fully extending her leg so range and priority are a plus here. It's not ultra
fast but like I said, knockdowns aren't famous for being fast but this one
moves at a decent pace, you're not totally safe but are still safer than most
of the other characters!
jumping - same animation as her Sunrise Drop (cheap scapes...) meaning it's an
all too well known kung-fu style flying kick, since Jun isn't all that much
when it comes to aerial confrontation this is a decent choice if you happen to
cross paths with your opponent in mid-air.
*************
5. Special Moves
*************
Chop Buster - (near opponent) hcb+P
yer ever-useful command throw, Jun hits her opponent hard in his head with her
fore arm knocking him down and proceeds to fall on top of him (sigh) elbow
first just like in wrestling (take back sigh). It will be best used to punish
any missed or blocked moves but since Jun is rather mobile and if you see the
chance, run up and grab the bastard!!!
Revolver Drop - dp+P (anti-air throw)
what's to say about this? If you see your opponent jump at you go for it! Jun
grabs the opponent and falls on top of him with her knees on his gut. Needless
to say you need good reflexes for this kind of moves (personally I suck at
this) but once you prove your opponent you can grab him any time he jumps,
believe me, he won't try it again and since you're a grappler keeping your
enemy on the ground is a good thing (btw, this goes for Clark as well!).
Sunrise Drop - hold K for 2 secs. then release
too bad it's a hold move...Jun jumps fast in a forward motion and kicks the
opponent violently knocking him down. Good damage, good priority, awesome
surprise factor, horrible disgusting abonimable and every icky gooey word you
can think of command! If this thing wasn't a hold Jun would kick too many
asses, ah well....hold the button and remember you can still use punches.
Note: I bet if this move was for Kyo or those Art of Fighting scrubs they had a
fireball motion for the friggin' move!!!
Sunset Low - dp+K
Save!!! Jun shows some latent baseball fanatism by dirting herself with this
oh-so-cool sweep. Previously I said Jun wasn't scrub-friendly...weeellllll,
that isn't quite totally true, you see this move is kinda abusable, not to the
extent of having her being mistaken with Takuma but the CPU tends to fall for
it a lot, but don't think you can pull this off continuously coz you may end up
eating a super since this move tends to have a world of recovery time when
blocked. This move is abusable in the sense that it's easy to catch someone off
guard with it and you can perform it in the middle of a dash which is vewy vewy
good.
******
6. DMs (where Jun was reeeeaaaaaaalllly screwed!!!)
******
Chop Buster Special - (near opponent) hcb, hcb+P
Your opponent standing next to you? Got a Super charged? Then what are you
waiting for, dumbass?!!?
Jun starts by bashing her opponent in the noggin like in her Chop Buster but
instead of doing the elbow drop she kicks him high in the sky (sometimes I wish
I could actually do this to someone...What? You too?). This move does mucho
damage and stuffs anything in your path, godly priority, but then again look at
the friggin' command, personally I wouldn't expect anything less!!! Indeed
pulling this off is a struggle on it's own.
SDM
Chop Buster Excellent - (near opponent) - hcb, hcb+MAX (A+B default)
same as above, double the damage
Note: those guys at Playmore are such cheap scapes!!! Watch this move and feel
the lazyness of it's creators!!!
WHY THE HELL JUN IS THE ONLY CHARACTER WITH ONLY ONE SUPER!!!???!!!
WHY???!!!??? TELL ME, GOD DAMN YOU!!!!!!
*******
7. Striker (Weak Punch + Strong Kick)
*******
Jun is a limited range Striker and only attacks characters within half-screen
range yet it's really cool looking (one of the best in the game IMHO), Jun
strikes with the feathers (?) in her gloves which extend in the process
throwing the opponent in the air, she follows up with a Messatsu Gourasen type
attack (Akuma's ascending hurricane kick) making 2/3 hits and ending with a
part of her axe kick (basically she kicks her opponent down). Even though it's
Recycled Sprites R'Us it still kicks ass!!!
WOULD IT BE THAT DIFFICULT MAKING A SUPER OUT OF THIS?
*********
8. Strategy
*********
First things first. I'd like to give you all a few hints that will prove useful
in just about every fighting game.
1. Don't fall for that "he's too slow/his moves have too much lag/ recovery"
crap advice, must people tend to have this in mind while fighting and that's
BAD. REALLY BAD. My advice is "There aren't slow moves." Period. Most people go
overconfident to battle against characters they think are too slow and Bang!!!
You just got you're skull cracked by Chang's iron ball. Of course moves have
recovery but don't be overconfident to the point of underestimating your
opponent's ability to surprise you. My best example is Potemkin's front+high
slash (if you've played Guilty Gear X you know what I'm talking about), one hit
can stun you, four or five can kill you, it's one of those so called "slow
moves", yet he can whip it out and absolute rape your life bar in a flash if
you're distracted.
2. Don't get "CPU broken". What's this? "CPU broken" is a concept I invented,
probably some of you call it something else, it's a wordplay from "housebroken"
and it basically means if you play too much with the CPU you'll end up playing
like him. That's my case, I'm CPU broken and I'm still trying to fight it. Why?
I've been playing fighting games ever since Street Fighter II in the
Megadrive/Genesis system, I've noticed I was rather good at fighting games, my
friends did too, and basically deserted me (fighting games aren't even slightly
popular in my country, rather all out ignored) since I mauled them continously
(they still won't play with me because they think I'm undefeatable or somethin'
like that. I'm not. I'm really not that good.) so I got stuck with the CPU, for
years and years. I played so much with the CPU I basically assumed it's tactics
(coreographed attacks, patterns, totally neglected some moves, etc.) which was
crippling in my creative spirit.
This proves fatal in matches against another human since my mind is adapted to
respond to set patterns. A friend of mine usually plays with me just for fun,
he himself says he's crap and will consider himself happy by just ripping out
1/2 my lifebar. True he had no knowledge of whatever game we played but I
panicked while playing with him due to my accostumization with set attack
patterns.
My advice, always try playing with human opponents no mather how weak or bad
they are or you think they are. Fighting human opponents will make you think
more in terms of creating your own traps and attacks against all sorts of
situations.
3. Most will say "don't pick a character just because of his/her looks", hell
with that, I say "Pick a character because of his looks!!" You're playing the
game to have fun nothing more or else you'll end up like those poor dudes who
just pick some guy they aren't particular fond of just because they can hang
more than five minutes in the ring with him. That's castrating, not to mention
all out boring since it takes the fun of training hard with the character you
think looks the coolest and turn that apparent underdog into a killer machine.
Personal example: Voldo from Soul Calibur. First time I played with him I
thought he was utter crap, I had my ass absolutely owned in there, but I
thought to myself "This guy is so cool, it's a crying shame to let him go like
that...". When I bought a Dreamcast and got the game I spent about three or
four hours in training knowing everything there was to know about that guy. The
effort did pay off, and it's a whole damn more gratifying winning with a
character I actually like.
OK, what about Jun?
I really don't have a specific strategy with her, I tend to poke with her weak
kicks, mercilessly haunt them with her standing Strong Punch (this move is that
good!), grab them when they make any mistakes, Super when they're dizzy,
nothing special.
I do tend to abuse her Sunset Low when I find myself in "vital disadvantage",
since the CPU tends to fall for it. Hey, if it works...
My best advice is to make up you're own strategy since I think it's awful and
rather arrogant of me trying to teach you all how to play effectively.
Alternatively you can play like a careless ten-year-old, jumping like mad and
jabbing the opponent to death (beat someone with this and he´ll die of
embarrassment!!!).
The best thing I can say is that Jun isn't the combo type so you must mainly
rely on throwing whenever possible and landing clean hits.
Extra - beating Sinobu
Don't pick Jun. That's it. Really, you can try using Sunset Low but he'll fry
you halfway through.
OK, I'm probably exagerating but if you make a smart use of Sunset Low, her
roll to cover distances and Chop Buster whenever you can close in on him,
there's a good chance you can own his windy ass!!!
Sinobu, as you should know Timmy, is an SNK boss, so it will take the cheapest
to beat the cheapest, fortunately each team has a member or two with a certain
move that Sinobu will always fall for.
step 1 - always be at the other end of the stage, he can't reach you since he
lacks convencional projectiles
step 2 - get it over with and be EXTREMELY CAUTIOUS
Hero Team
Moe - her qcb+K windup punch, an exception here, cornertrap Sinobu and perform
this move as soon as he's up
Fatal Fury Team
Mai or Terry - projectile, nothing to it, Mai is best since she has a
projectile super
Ikari Team
Leona - her earring bomb (this will bore you to death, believe me)
Korean Team
Chang - his charge move, hold it to the max, take full advantage of the damage
and auto-guard, throw him if he gets too close
Art of Fighting Team
Yuri or Takuma - Yuri's fully charged fireball, I don't know about Takuma since
I hate the bastard, but it should work
Psycho Soldier Team
Athena - she has two projectiles, they're big and do considerable damage, throw
them at different speeds to break his timing
Iori Team
Miu - easy-cheesy, toss feathers, perform feather super as soon as you have
gauge
Alternate Strategy (works with just about everyone as long as your careful...)
- roll around to get close and throw him
Note on beating Sinobu - don't feel bad for having to resort to these methods,
he's an SNK boss, so the possibility of beating him fair and square are
absolutely zero, believe me, every time you even try moving in his direction
he'll create a hurricane covering the screen (vertically) which takes about a
fourth of your lifebar.
*************
9. Miscellaneous
*************
Start Pose - Jun points at her opponent in a rather menacing fashion whilst
saying "Ikeyo!" (is that correct?) - "Let's go!"
Taunt (Select button) - Jun, with eyes shut, gestures with her shoulders (awful
description here)
Striker Call - points at her opponent while turning her back to them
Win Pose - Jun triumphantly lifts her arm making the gesture imortalized by a
certain British Prime Minister after a certain World War, she winks her eye and
smiles saying "Yatta ne!" - "I did it!"
Win Quote - "Did I want to take you out in earnest?" (honestly, I don't get
it...)
Alternate Color (Strong Punch) - turquoise blue top, boots and gloves, light
grey pants (looks really neat!)
***********
10. End Notes
***********
If you feel something here is wrong or missing feel free to mail justifying
your point, your opinion will must certainly be taken under consideration.
Note: I'm aware I didn't ad the Game System, because a) I'm lazy and b) if
you're a REAL KoF fan you'll know it by heart even with the changes year from
year. About combos it's because a) I don't really know any, that's it.
I hate Kensou.
Feel free to mail as well if you wish to discuss other stuff besides gameplay
aspects, KoF or fighting games in general.
I'd really love to see Ron in KoF 2003. Really. Really. Really. Really. Ok,
that's enough.
Reiji is a pedophile, he called Miu "babe" 0_º (jokes aside, Reiji can kick
some serious butt!)
I'd like to make a sort of a request here, if any of you have a decent sized,
good quality full body artwork of Jun it would be a real treat if you could
send it to me since I can't find it anywhere. Fanart is welcome as well. :)
(all for my private collection) If any of you wants to trade game related art
(I'm not talking screenshots, people!) I am more than willing.
I hate Bao but then again everybody does...
I've got about 100 sprites of Jun I ripped myself, if you manage a
videogame/KoF/spriteripping site or just like Jun mail me if you're interested
(the folder is 2.6Mb).
I never did like the Art of Fighting team. Actually, I hate their guts,
especially that no good, ultra-cheap, monotonous bastard, Takuma!!!
On a side note if any of you readers is Portuguese (my country) please contact
me since I've never met any KoF fan from my country.
I think Mai has definitely seen better days.
Much love to Playmore for keeping up this magnific franchise that is The King
of Fighters and making a kickass game. Thank You!
Truckloads of Kudos to the wonderful people at Gamefaqs.com. You Rule!!!
And a very special thanks to You, the reader, this was all for you and I really
hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writting it.
I really doubt this was useful but I hope it was entertaining at least. Heck, I
read FAQs for games I don't even own, so...
Thank you for your time, now go out and kick some ass to make me proud!!!
Tiago
Lopes