New Japan Pro-Wrestling: Tohkon Road: Brave Spirits
or Toukon Road: Brave Spirits or Toukon Retsuden FAQ (N64)

v 0.06 01.05.05

by niniendowarrior
[email protected]

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History:

Jan 5, 2005:
version 0.06
Added some info from BioHazardandTsukino's contribution

Feb 26, 2004:
version 0.05
Added info on options menu

Feb 15, 2004:

version 0.04
Added authorized list of sites:

Feb 12, 2004:

version 0.04
Added a bit on Secrets
Added Pause menu in match
Added info on matches
Added Resources section

version 0.03
Found the Official Website of Tohkon Road: Brave Spirits
Added some stuff on types of matches

Feb. 11, 2004:
version 0.02
Fixed some typographical errors and had minor additions.

version 0.01
Started the FAQ.

Table of Contents:

1.0 Introduction
       1.1 Review
       1.2 Resources
       1.3 Authorized Lists of Websites

2.0 Wrestler List

3.0 Controls
       3.1 Basic Controls
       3.2 Counter System
       3.3 Pause Menu

4.0 Menus and Translation
       4.1 Exhibition
       4.2 Title Road
       4.3 Title Match
       4.4 Option
       4.5 Match Proper

5.0 Secrets

6.0 Credits

=====================================================================
1.0 Introduction

Tohkon Road: Brave Spirits is the predecessor of the import-only
success, Tohkon Road 2 (also entitled Tohkon Road: Brave Spirits 2:
The New Generation).  The N64 series of New Japan Pro-Wrestling games
are usually branded as Toukon Retsuden, much like the PS/DC counter
parts.  However, let us get this fact straight, in the box, and in
the title screen, it's clear that it is written as Tohkon Road.

TRBS is a NJPW-licensed wrestling game and was one of the first ones
to come out for the Nintendo 64 (Released in January 4, 1998).
Highly regarded as the stop-over title until 'the next THQ wrestling
game comes out', this is by no means a point of failure for TRBS.
Brave Spirits features a decent list of wrestlers for its time, and
uses a totally different engine than other TR games.  The graphics
maybe muddy, and the sounds are undoubtably midi, the game delivers
the action and that's what counts most.

Due to the lack of information on this game (and there is a
tremendous lack of such), things become really hard to find out what
this game is all about.  Since it's been a very, very long time since
I've played it, I have done some research to find and rediscover some
information about the game for those who still own the fine little
black machine with the 3D N (It was originally black, right?).
Research includes finding the box art and reading up on Yukes'
website.

1.1 Review

Graphics (4/10)

The graphics are very muddy and the grains the N64 is known for
really shines here.  Wrestlers are hard to distinguish, especially
when the wrestlers use the strong style wrestling tights Inoki is
known for. The background is rendered pretty cheaply and a 2D sprite
graphics for the stadium is employed.  Very undistinguishable and
very hard to appreciate.

Sound (6/10)

Fair.  Atleast the songs are recognizable.  However, the background
music gets old pretty fast.  This is definitely not the best
department.

Controls (8/10)

Surprising it is for many, TR uses the control stick for moving and
it doesn't feel bad.  The controls are tight and responsive, and the
game really has this pick-up-and-play style, making it easily
accessible.

Game Content (7/10)

There aren't much to unlock here but TRBS has a good amount of
gameplay.  Fun is really the most important thing about a game and
TRBS delivers.

AI (5/10)

The AI does give a certain amount of challenge but it rarely is
enough to give you a run for your money.  However, the AI does get
cheap when it manages to counter 90 % of your moves.

Replayability (5/10)

This game really doesn't help players in this factor.  There's not
much to do.  However, if you have a very big love for NJPW and you
don't have the sequel, this game should keep you busy with your
friends.

OVERALL (6.5/10) NOT AN AVERAGE

This game really has its ups and downs and really works for a nitch
market.  However, during the time of its release, it really is the
substitute to big upcoming games from THQ and Acclaim.

1.2 Resources

Finding resources on TR: BS is extremely difficult.  I have decided
to change my focus from providing an in-depth FAQ to providing some
resources for everyone to find.  So far, only the Hudson website is
available.  It took me a while to find this website and it ain't that
helpful too.  At least it reminded me of the Sparring option, which
I rarely use anyway.

http://www.hudson.co.jp/gamenavi/gamedb/softinfo/tohkon/index.html

FYI: the four images at the website shows four wrestlers and appears
in the order below:
Kensuke Sasaki, Naoya Ogawa, Manabu Nakanishi, Rikki Choshu.

Long ago, Yukes' had an official website for the sequel, which
probably meant they did have one for this game.  However,
unfortunately, they've decided to take it down.  Since Yukes' is the
only real source of information, it means that no information will be
available on the net.  Unless the roms work for the emulator or
Hudson and Yukes' decide to re-release TR on the iQue player.  I've
tried browsing over some reviews but there's really not much reviews
on the game and no one seems to have ample information on the game.
I'm lucky to have played it and seeing it is a very rare find and
that I do not own the machine anymore.  It's indeed a sad fate for
such a satisfying product.

BioHazardandTsukino was kind enough to point to me another website
although it is unfortunately, also in Japanese.  He did provide me
a reliable translation of the secrets of the game detailed in the
website.

http://www.64databank.net/index.cgi?db=nus-ntoj

1.3 Authorized Lists of Websites:

Only these websites are authorized to post this FAQ.

GameFaqs
Neoseeker
www.cheats.de

2.0 Wrestler List

Brave Spirits has a pretty small number of wrestlers when compared to
the behemoth Wrestling games THQ is known for.  But it's decent.
Based on the box art... (finding screenshots is tremendously
difficult, as well as finding English Information on the game...)

Shinya Hashimoto
Kensuke Sasaki
Keiji Mutoh
Masahiro Chono
Tatsumi Fujinami
Manabu Nakanishi
Shiro Koshinaka
Hiroyoshi Tenzan
Naoya Ogawa
Satoshi Kojima
Jyushin Thunder Lyger
Tiger Mask
Rikki Choshyu ??

Power Warrior (Secret Character ??)
Great Muta (Secret Character)
Super Strong Machine (Secret Character)

3.0 Controls

The new wrestling engine employed here requires some getting used to,
but it should be easy to pick up and play.

3.1 Basic Controls

Control Stick:  Move

====Strikes:

A: Punch Strike
A,A (means quickly tap A twice in succession): Punch Strike 2

B: Kick Strike
B,B: Kick Strike 2

A+B: Hard Strike

*NOTE: Strikes are performed on these possible positions:

1.) Both standing.

2.) Foe is down, Player is standing.

3.) Foe is down, Player is on top of turnbuckle.

4.) Foe on turnbuckle, Player at the other corner.

5.) Foe outside, Player near ropes.

6.) Foe outside, Player running.

====Grapples:

Z+A: Grapple 1
Z+A,A: Grapple 2

Z+B: Grapple 3
Z+B,B: Grapple 4

Z+A+B: Grapple 5

*NOTE: Grapples can be done on these possible positions:

1.) Front (meaning the foe is facing you)

2.) Back (meaning the foe's back is facing you)

3.) Corner (the foe is resting on the turnbuckle)

4.) Running (YOU are the one running towards the foe)

5.) Downed (The opponent is down and the upper section or the
lower section are facing you)

**NOTE:  Like all TR games, TRBS uses a groggy system, and the
grapple moves are used on 4 possible states:

1.) Normal

2.) Small Groggy

3.) Medium Groggy

4.) Large Groggy

***NOTE: If opponent falls outside, the foe state moves to groggy.

====Taunts: (Must confirm these)

L (R) - Taunt 1

L, L (R, R) - Taunt 2

Taunt moves:  This requires you to perform a Taunt and do a grapple
move in succession.  The timing is tricky and very difficult.

====Actions

ANY C-button near opponent: Irish Whip
C-button when far from opponent: Run

C-button on downed opponent
(facing either head or foot of foe): Pick up
(this will transition into any of the Groggy states)

C,C on downed opponent
(facing either head or foot of foe): Pick up with back facing you.

C-button on downed opponent
(facing either side of foe): Flip opponent.

Z+C: Pin.  ???

C-button
(while pinning or a submission move): To release a hold or pin.

C-button near your partner: Tag partner (in Tag Team)

R - Change Focus on Battle Royal

3.2 Counter System

The counter system of TRBS requires you to know much about opponents
and their moves as well as your own.  If you notice, everytime you
perform a move, the name of the move appears at the bottom and the
button presses are also shown.  To counter a move, you have to toggle
the control stick and then press the button that corresponds to the
button pressed by the opponent.

Example:

1. When the opponent does a Z+B,B grapple, you have to press B and
tilt the control stick to counter.

2. When the opponent does Z+A+B grapple, you have to press A+B and
tilt the control stick.

3. When the opponent does a A,A strike, you press A and tilt the
control stick to counter.

and so on...

3.3 Pause Menu

During the match, you can pause the game.  The only thing you can do
in the pause menu is to quit the match.  The default selected is
'No'.  I'm basing it on memory so I'm not 100 % sure.  Someone better
verify this.

4.0 Menus and translation (I'm not totally sure about the arrangement
and the content anymore... someone double check this)

The items appear left to right.  The dashed line between numbers
signify a new row of menu items.

Main Menu
=========

       1. Exhibition
       2. Title Road
       --------------
       3. Title Match
       4. Option


Exhibition
==========

       1. Single
       2. Tag
       ---------------
       3. Battle Royal
       4. Sparring

From the selections above...
-> Goes to player and cpu selection screen -> Wrestler Selection ->
Start of Match

Title Road -> Select Wrestler -> Starts Title Road
==========

       1. IWGP Heavyweight Title
       --------------------------
       2. IWGP Tag Title

Option
======

       1. Game Level
       2. Sound
       --------------
       3. Time
       4. Controller Pak
       -----------------
       5. Number of Falls
       6. Controller (Tutorial)??

4.1 Exhibition Mode

Exhibition mode allows you to go through either single or tag
matches.  So you can pit any wrestler against each other and lock
horns.  Standard stuff.

The Battle Royal allows four players to square-off.  In Battle Royal,
it's an elimination style match so the winner is the last man
standing.

Sparring is for testing out your skills and finding some specific
moves.

4.2 Title Road

This section allows you to go through the champion's road on either
the IWGP (International Wrestling Grand Prix) Heavyweight
championship or the Tag version.

Basically, you go through a series of wrestlers and then win the
title.  Even after you win the title, this mode doesn't change,
except that the game records the fact that you've won the title
already.

If you lose one match, you can simply continue and go through that
match again.

*NOTE:  ANY LOSES WILL BE RECORDED IN THE PROFILE!

**NOTE: One weird occurrence that happened to me only once, is that
the road became many, many, many times more difficult and that it
became unusually long.  It also featured 2 new wrestlers called
Metal Warriors.  Basically, these are Wrestlers that are covered in
metallic skin (Like Dural in VF).  They are very, very strong, and
very, very difficult to beat.  These wrestlers never appeared on the
roster, and never appeared on the Champion's Road again.  Weird!

4.3 Title Match

This mode requires 2 players, and 2 controller paks.  Theoretically,
you put your title on the line against your friend.  How it actually
works I have no idea since I never did own 2 controller paks.

4.4 Option

In Option, you can:

1.) Game Level:  You can change the difficulty setting of the game.
Menu Items in this screen (Again, I'm not sure about the Jap
translation):

       1. renhou (easy)
       2. yasashii (normal) -default
       -----------------------------
       3. hufuu (hard)
       4. mutsukashii (super hard)

2.) Change Sound:  Mono or Stereo.  (Can't decipher yet.)

3.) Time: Set time limits of the match.
Menu Items in this screen:

       1. 60 minutes (default)
       2. 30 minutes
       -------------
       3. 40 minutes
       4. 20 minutes

4.) Controller Pak:  This looks at the win-loss record of the
player profile in the controller pak.  It also shows you the title
you have won already.  Win-loss counts exhibition matches as well as
matches on the Champion Road.  There's a separate Win-Loss Record for
Tag and Singles.
Menu Items in this screen:

       1. Fighting Data
       ----------------
       2. Championship Belt

5.) Number of Falls:  You can set the number of falls in the match.
It can either be a 1-fall or 3-fall match.  (3-fall match means you
have to win 3 times, I think)
Menu Items in this screen:

       1. 1 Fall
       ----------
       2. 3 Falls

6.) Controller (???):  I don't know this.  Must be some sort of
tutorial.

4.5 Match Proper

When the match starts, there isn't much information shown in the
screen.  As far as I remember, the only information in the screen
are:

1. Wrestlers names - At the left side is player 1 and at the right
side is player 2.

2. Time - Time can be seen in the middle.

3. Moves - Moves flash on the bottom portion along with the key
presses.

5.0 Secrets

1.) Unlocking the Secret Wrestlers:

I didn't really understand how it's done.  But I have two theories,
one is that you have to beat the champion road (which I have done
countless times), second, is that you have to rack up the wins.  In
any case, it involves you playing this game over and over again to
unlock everyone.

BioHazardandTsukino provided a good translation of the website he
gave me.  Here is his translation.

New Wrestlers:  (Not tested)
If you win 21 or more matches in the IWGP title mode, you start
unlocking wrestlers.  You can do it with the IWGP Heavyweight Title
or IWGP Tag Team Title. Here is what happens if you do the IWGP
Heavyweight Title:

21 Matches: Great Muta
31 Matches: Power Warrior
41 Matches: Super Strong Machine
51 Matches: Metal Wrestler 1 (Osamu Nishimura)
61 Matches: Metal Wrestler 5 (Seiji Sakaguchi)
71 Matches: Naoya Ogawa
81 Matches: Jushin Thunder Liger
91 Matches: Tiger Mask
101 Matches: Metal Wrestler 2 (Shinjiro Otani)
111 Matches: Metal Wrestler 3 (Koji Kanemoto)
121 Matches: Metal Wrestler 4 (El Samurai)

Here is for the IWGP Tag Team Title:
21: Great Muta + Masahiro Chono
31: Power Warrior + Kensuke Sasaki
41: Super Strong Machine + Shinya Hashimoto
51: Metal Wrestler 1 + Jushin Thunder Liger
61: Metal Wrestler 5 + Naoya Ogawa
71: Metal Wrestler 2 + Metal Wrestler 3
81: Tatsumi Fujinami + Metal Wrestler 1
91: Jushin Thunder Liger + Metal Wrestler 4
101: Random
111: Random
121: Random

Metal Wrestler:  (Not tested)
You can change your wrestler into the metal form by pressing Down on
the D-pad during the Wrestler introduction.

This would explain how Metal wrestlers don't seem to be readily
visible in the wrestler selection screen.

NOTE:  I double checked the website BioHazardandTsukino gave me and
it seems his translation is logical and quite acceptable.  What gives
me some doubts about the websites information is the list of
unlockable wrestlers.  I think what the actual list details is the
wrestlers you will be able to compete with in the championship road.
However, since these have to be verified, it's all speculation.
Check out the website and judge for yourself.

2.) Alternate Costumes:

When you hold the triggers L, Z, or R and choose your character, you
will be able to use the alternate costumes of the character you
chose.

BioHazardandTsukino adds some more information regarding this.
Here's his exact translation.

Color Change:  (Not tested yet)
During the wrestler introduction you can supposedly change the color
of your wrestler by holding the Z button and then pressing L, R, or
the C buttons. This might be Costume change also (some wrestlers have
costumes that changes colors instead of entire outfit changes)

To add to his contribution, as far as I remember, only color changes
happen.  Outfits don't entirely change.

3.) Knowing which Music will play during Tag Matches:

When you select your wrestlers, the second wrestler selected is
always the entrance music theme of the tag team.

4.) Shoot Matches:

When Naoya Ogawa is selected, the match is always adjusted to Shoot
rules which is submissions only.

5.) Post Match Beat Up:

After the match, the wrestler who got the victory will strike a
winning pose.  After that, you gain back control over the wrestlers.
If you aren't very careful here, the game prompts you to restart the
match or not.  This happens when the start?? button is pressed.  If
you don't press the button, the game gives you a bit extra time to
beat up the opponent(s), take a beating, or take revenge over the
loss.

6.0 Credits:

Yukes for making this game.
Hudson Soft for publishing this game.
Nintendo for the great console.
BioHazardandTsukino for his contributions.

Copyright 2005 NiniendoWarrior

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