King of Fighters '97 Joe Higashi FAQ
by Kabeer Ali
Joe Higashi
First Appearance: Fatal Fury
Other Games: Fatal Fury series, KoF series
Place of Birth: Japan
Heritage: Japanese (but spent much of his life in Thailand)
Fighting Style: Muay Thai (Thai Kickboxing)
Age: 25
Height: 180 cm
Weight: 72 kg
Background Info: Joe's the fun loving kickboxer who knows
how to have a good time. He's a showman, and is determined
to show his audience how a real fighter fights! He met Andy
During a tournament while Andy was training.
Andy was the only one to beat the champion kickboxer.
A legend in his time, he's out to prove he's the hero and
The best of the best. He is still the current Kickboxing
champion.
Normals:-
Far standing jab punch: (Far, standing, A)
Good for stopping specials, hits high and has
fairly good priority, only use if playing defensively,
mashing will result in monsoon punches special move.
Time it!
Far standing fierce punch: (far, standing, C)
Fairly good poking move, non combo'able like
hell, Fast and fairly long reach gives it good poke
potential, can be used to replace far standing jab punch.
Most effectively used against Robert's HSK kicks. Must be
timed!
Standing fierce kick: (far, standing, D)
Long ranged but slow poke move, not as useful as
it was in '96, but can still be used effectively, mostly in
a middle of the screen battle.
Far standing jab kick: (far, standing, B)
Slow, short ranged but with HIGH priority.
can't be ducked, switch between standing B and forward + B,
and standing B, straight hop D, to confuse your opponent,
they wont know where to block.
Close standing jab punch: (close, standing, A)
Fast, but who wants to use this if you can throw
a close standing fierce punch?, basically to stop special
and super attacks, say you're really close to some1 and they
throw a special your way a well timed jab punch or a
reflexive A press can save your hide.
Trust me it's happened.
Close standing fierce punch: (close, standing, C)
Fast and strong combination attack, however on
the flip side, it has horrible priority and requires you to
buffer quickly, else no combo.
Beware!
Crouching jab punch: (Crouching, A)
Read standing jab punch.
Crouching jab kick: (crouching, B)
Good combo material, horrible poke, priority too
low, is fairly fast, but go for the crouching A instead..
Tap tap.
Crouching fierce kick: (Crouching, D)
A sweep shot. Never use this except when fighting
grapplers, Joe is a combo character, if you sweep them,
you're hurting yourself too much, only use to poke.
Poke them with this and cancel with a hurricane upper, to
poke, poke and then poke some more! :)
Crouching fierce punch: (crouching, C)
Finally, Joe's main offensive move and his greatest friend,
the crouching fierce punch is fast, long ranged, high
prioritized, and fully combo'able from any range. Use it all
the time, it is your most useful attack. :)
Jumping jab punch: (during hop/jump, A)
Good for stopping jump up attacks. Good jump in
potential to stop Clark's jump up knockdown blow .
Jumping jab kick: (during hop/jump, B)
Unbelievably high priority on this attack, I
remember stopping Kyo's firefist finish deadly move with
this. Use it if you jump in and they throw their high
priority move, I can't guarantee success but it certainly
can't hurt to try. :)
Jumping fierce punch: (during hop/jump, C)
Um, I dunno. Good air to air I suppose. :-/
*shrugs shoulders*
jumping fierce kick: (during hop/jump, D)
jump in of choice, hits at an amazingly low
angle and makes up for some good combos. Also doing a back
jumping fierce kick can be very useful and annoying. ;)
hehehehe
standing knockdown blow: (standing, C and D together)
Hits high and is extremely slow, still 1 guy
said he used it to juggle off a screw upper, could open up
some new combos, it may have a use after all.
Jumping knockdown blow: (during hop/jump, C and D together)
Hits high, is almost if not instantaneous, puts
you underneath it, and out of the range of return attacks is
most useful air defense in the game, if they jump at you,
just jumping knockdown them out of the air, quite good, but
it has it's drawbacks: it hits too high, meaning if the
opponent doesn't jump, your goose is cooked.
Ground circle shot: (forward and B)
Every muaythai enthusiast will note this to be
among the most powerful tools in professional fighting, here
it is no different. The forward + B command attack is one of
Joe's finest combo weapons and is extremely cool looking,
makes for more damage!. Hits low if not combo'ed and is
extremely useful in guessing games.
Also, maybe not a real combo but when your opponent is
blocking high, do a
CD, fwd + B, then hella tap D, damn that looks cool! :)
Slide: (forward down and B)
A forward down + B activated attack which attacks low,
and knocks your opponent down, so far useless unless trying
to get close to your opponent to corner trap him, do far:
fwdwn + D, fwdwn + B, A hurricane upper to get close enough
to follow with a crouching C, A hurricane upper corner trap.
That's it actually, looks cool, and has very long range,
and is readily combo'able.
Grabs:-
knee hell: (close. back or forward + C)
Grabs opponents and knees them several times, 1 of his
mash moves, the more you mash, the more he hits. so spaz out on
the controller and the C button if you get this to connect.
Leg Toss: (close. back or forward + D)
Grabs opponent's midsection in his legs and kind of
fankensteiners them. ? looks fairly good, but the C grab is
cooler, does more damage, and takes up more time.
Specials:-
Hurricane upper: (half circle towards opponent and A/C)
The A button version throws a fast quick
recovery near reaching hurricane at your opponent, is most
useful in his corner trap, the C button version throws two
laggy startup, and ending hurricanes which knockdown, but
do considerably more damage.
Useful in corner combos, and other finishing combos. Looks
very cool since it has some of the most fluid animation
sequences in the game.
And I have to say this,... if you hit some1 jumping with the
double hurricane upper in the air, and both connect, you get
a great feeling. :)
Slash kick: (half circle towards opponent and B/D)
The B slash kick is useful for getting close to your
opponent, while the D button version is reserved for
combination use , You can also use it to go over some ground
projectiles, Iori's and Kyo'94 come immediately to mind, note:
this is immediate ground projectile punishment, so if ever some1
takes Kyo'94 and keeps using his hella fast ground fireball,
you can do a D button slash kick to nail him :)
Tiger knee: (uppercut motion and B/D)
Rather useless air defense, and even worse ground
move, if you hit some1 with this while he's on the ground,
no matter how close he is, you're dead since it doesn't
knockdown. However reports of juggles after just about
everything, from a Screw upper to a slash kick have reached
me, so far I have been unable to confirm these, mostly due
to my habit of NOT using the tiger knee. :|
Golden heel hurter: (quarter circle backwards and B/D)
useful move, new uses include adding it to
your combos for extra damage, other uses are, juggling, he
has an infinite juggle, and you can use the D golden heel to
go over low projectiles, then again, you can also use his
D slash kick to go over ground projectiles, still, it's a
useful move,and should be used often
Monsoon Punches: (tap A/C repeatedly)
Looks cool!.
A button overhead elbow monsoon punch finisher: (half
circle towards and A)
Doesn't knockdown, but is reliable.
C button high roundhouse monsoon punch finisher:
(half circle towards and C)
Is also pretty reliable now, even though it
wasn't in '96. Knocks down so you can reposition to deliver
more damage. Always use this unless it's the final blow in
which case the A button version looks cooler, just end with
the C button win pose afterwards. You're hyper :)
Supers:-
DM LEVEL:
Screw Upper: (quarter circle forward, quarter circle
forward and A/C)
Useful in combos, can be juggled after. Hehehehe
:)
Muaythai Storm: (quarter circle towards, half circle
backwards and A/C ( shortcut: quarter circle backwards,
quarter circle backwards and A/C))
Useful for finishing some1 off with style, part of a HUGE
corner combo. Use carefully.
SDM LEVEL:
Reggaemesseeaaaahh: (quarter circle forward, quarter
circle forward and A/C)
Pretty useless, however getting some to block two of these
in a row will initiate a forced eating. The second usually
guard cancels, which is a good technique when your opponent
only has 30% left. Hehehehe :)
Muaythai Storm: (quarter circle towards, half circle
backwards and A/C( shortcut: quarter circle backwards,
quarter circle backwards and A/C))
Useful little move to be added to corner combos
when you go hyper.
Hehehehe, hehehehe :)
Links: (stolen from moonrun's link faq)
Joe has some decent liks.
Basically these are it:-
1> crouching A x 3
2> crouching B x 2, crouching A
3> crouching B, crouching A x 2
4> close standing C/ crouching C, fwd + B
5> close standing C/crouching C, fwdwn + B.
there are some others but you really don't need to bother
yourself with those. Just remember the last two. :)
Combos: (some stolen from kensou's combo faq)
Jump in D/C, close standing C/crouching C start all
combos so I'm removing the notation of these from them and
replacing them with the word startup, you'll just have to
remember them. * notes a corner combo. @ notes an
unconfirmed/rumor combo. ^ notes a juggle.# notes power
stock, and ## notes SDM level.
1> Startup, A/C hurricane (half circle towards and A/C).
2> Startup, B golden heel hurter (quarter circle backwards
and B).
3> Startup, B/D slash kick (half circle towards and B/D).
note: in corner combos with both DM and SDM marks, remove the
command attacks, as they whiff unless inputted very fast.
More later as they become available. I think I forgot some
things...put it in if I haven't.
I think one of these is a TOD. Not that Joe needs 1.
General strategy:
Your general strategy is to win. Simply put! No?
:)
Oh, that's not what you meant?, I'm sorry.
Try to apply pressure on your opponent, get them into a corner,
any corner, if you're in the corner, and they're attacking you,
you have just as much chances of killing them as if they were in
the corner and you were attacking.
Read the winning tips section.
Winning tips:
Combo everything.
Joe is a pressure cooker waiting to explode, once your
opponent is in the corner you can pretty much destroy him in
your sleep with a little practice of the corner trap, and
some of the larger corner combos.
the corner trap is: while opponent is in corner, Startup, A
hurricane, crouching C, A hurricane repeat until close
enough to throw crouching C, then crouching C, A hurricane
upper... etc. etc. if they attempt to move from their corners.
simply C grab them if they're still on the corner side, or D
grab them if they somehow manage to get past you. this is a
very effective technique, and I don't recommend using this
unless you have to, or you hate your opponent.
A more skill requiring tactic: Make them attack you, and back
up into a corner, as soon as they go for a laggy/ late
recovering, or just plain running attack, get behind them so
that you're facing their back, and they're facing the corner.
you can do this by these methods..
1> Rolling, works best against Leona's jumping Slicey move. Ryo/
Robert DM/SDM. Kim's DM if blocked.
2> Jumping Straight up: works best against Iori's crescent slash.
Choi's rushing DM. anything fast...
3> get them to jump at you, then walk underneath them.(most
risky with Grapplers)
once you've accomplished this, you can keep throwing A hurricane
uppers into their back to kill them. neat no?
Also if you manage to land a CD counter in the corner. Don't
miss the opportunity to dizzy your opponent using the B golden
heel hurter, repeat infinite air juggle.
the trick to good combo'ing is to buffer the next move VERY
quickly, you must interrupt the normal as soon as it hits,
finish buffering your special move as soon as the normal hits.
you wind up interrupting the push back of the normal move, which
is the secret to really big combinations with joe, just
interrupt the push of the normals to take out your special/DM/SDM.
happy combo'ing
Note: these techniques are not to be used openly, as to use them is
togeneralise them, and we don't want EVERYbody to be doing them, so
use them as a last minute ditch effort, or if you really REALLY hate
that charater or person.
Die Choi/Chang/chin!!
Thanks:
Special thanks goes to every1 on the King Of Fighters
Sie Kensou: some combos
K. Megura: for trying to help :)
Jeff Jerome: for picking up where I'm leaving off, hopefully.
Andy Park: for his inspiration.
Deuce: for nothing. I just like his nick.
YOSHA!: for trying :)
JGPalanca: for the information
YuriMai: for being completely nutty.
Onaje Umeme Everett: for giving me hell :)
Adeel(Japanese): for saying that Joe is Cheap.(Damn what a rush)
Adeel(Mexican): for saying "What kind of game is this, you just
force me into a corner and throw fireballs all day long. come
and play in the middle of the screen". incidentally, Adeel(Mexican)
also says "Grapplers are kind of CHEAP in '97"
Hammad; for replying to Adeel(Mexican)'s second comment by saying
"Of course! they're so cheap, you can't even block their attacks."
(HAHAHAHAHAH AHAHA HAHA AHAHAAA HAA HAA), Adeel(Mexican) didn't
get it, but Hammad and me cracked up.
DArren TAy: for being secretive. :(
A general apology goes to every1 on the King Of Fighters
Mailing List for torturing them everyday. Hehehehe ;-)
Oh yeah! And of course SNK for making Joe the way he is in
KoF'97. "Awesome!!"
Am I forgetting any1?, let me know if you want your name
added here.
