B-Boy Guide - Version 1.02 - 19 Feb 2015 - by Barticle at hotmail dot com
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01 THE INTRO 09 THE DISPLAY / /
02 THE TITLE 10 THE MOVES / /
03 THE MENU o Move List /_________/
04 THE LIFE o Toprock
o Movebook o Footwork 12 THE STAGES
o Practice o Power Moves 13 THE TUNES
o Laptop o Freezes o The Tracks
o Wardrobe o Special Entries o The Album
05 THE JAM o Disses and Finishing Move 14 THE CODES
06 THE MEDALS 11 THE DANCERS 15 THE END
07 THE HYPE o Jam Mode Characters o Contact
08 THE BUTTONS o Life Mode Crew Partners o Thanks
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| Section 01 | THE INTRO s01 |
'------------'-----------------------------------------------------------------'
This is a guide to the 2006 Playstation 2 game B-Boy, a rhythm game which gives
an authentic recreation of the Hip-Hop dance style of b-boying (breakdancing).
I still remember when I first saw the game back in 2006. I've bought all my
games online for many years now but I was visiting Cambridge and happened to
pass through the games section in the HMV store there and I saw it on a shelf.
This was the first time I even knew that the game existed so it was a nice
surprise and, without hesitation, I bought it (as soon as I got home!).
I was disappointed to find that there wasn't a B-Boy guide on GameFAQs, both in
2006 and again the following year when I re-played the game on my PS3 Phat.*
However last year I kinda got bitten by the guide-writing bug so I've decided to
set things straight and give B-Boy the guide it deserves!
B-Boy was made for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) by a development
studio here in the UK called FreeStyleGames.** It was released for both the PS2
and PSP in Europe and Australia in 2006 and reissued in America in 2008, and I
think in Korea in 2007 too. This guide specifically covers the European PS2
version of B-Boy but I think most (if not all) of the information here should
apply to all the various editions.
In this guide I will use the term "b-boy" when referring to a dancer but equally
I could be referring to a b-girl; it just saves me typing "b-boy or b-girl" all
the time. You should certainly not infer any lack of respect or admiration for
all the b-girls out there! :)
To jump to any section of this document use your browser's Find function (with
Ctrl+F on a PC or Cmd+F on a Mac probably) and search for the letter S followed
by the two-digit section number, for example s04 to find Section 04.
This guide is designed to be viewed using a monospaced (non-proportional or
fixed-width) font, preferably Courier New. Some sections of the document will
display incorrectly if you are using a proportional font like Times New Roman.
*The first generation of PS3 consoles (Japan and US launch models) contained PS2
CPU and GPU chips which gave full backwards compatibility with all PS2 discs.
The second generation (Euro launch) lacked the PS2 CPU and instead used software
emulation which made it possible to run many PS2 titles (including B-Boy).
All PS3 iterations since then however - including the most recent Slim and Super
Slim models - will not run any PS2 game discs.
**FSG have since gone on to big things, becoming part of the Activision group
and producing the latest game in the Expensive Controller genre, DJ Hero!
------------.-----------------------------------------------------------------.
| Section 02 | THE TITLE s02 |
'------------'-----------------------------------------------------------------'
Sony should be commended for releasing this game with the title B-Boy. A lot of
people (potential game buyers) will be familiar with the word "breakdancer" but
not with "b-boy" so they might be missing out on a few sales.
It's widely acknowledged that the terms "breakdancer" and "breakdancing" are
products of the commercialisation of the scene during the 80's and consequently
most practitioners today use "b-boy" and "b-boying" (or possibly "breaking")
instead. I guess Sony are well aware of this from their association with the
scene, for example their long-term sponsorship of the UK B-Boy Championships and
affiliation with the old Breakstation studio in Shoreditch, East London.
So what does the B stand for...? Well, it depends on who you ask. It could be
Bad, Bronx, Boogie, Battle or Beat. In his excellent new book Foundation (Oxford
University Press 2009), Joe Schloss quotes testimony in support of both "beat"
and "Bronx". Most folks, though, will credit the creation of the term (and the
very concept of Hip-Hop itself!) to Kool DJ Herc and he says that "b-boy" is
short for "break-boy".
Back in The Bronx in the early 70's, Kool Herc had the biggest soundsystem and
threw the biggest parties; he'd also rap on the mic, dance and write graffiti
so he practised all the elements of what would later be recognised as Hip-Hop
culture. He observed that the serious dancers at his parties would wait for the
instrumental break on a record before bustin' their moves on the dancefloor and
this lead to him playing only the break sections, either with different records
or two copies of the same one (such extended/looped drum breaks would go on to
become the percussive backing of Hip-Hop music). Herc referred to these dancers
as his "break-boys" or "b-boys".
The term doesn't refer to the instrumental break on a record though. Instead it
can be traced back to Bronx slang where someone who went crazy or wild would be
described as "breaking". In interview on Israel's awesome documentary DVD 'The
Freshest Kids' Kool Herc explains: "It didn't come from 'breaks' of the record.
It came from... the man went, I'd say, 'go off' [...] lost his head [...] he
went to a point - a *breaking* point, you know what I'm saying?". His dancers
were going wild on the dancefloor so they became the "break-boys".
Sorry, this is supposed to be a game guide rather than a history lesson, isn't
it? Time to get back on track...!
------------.-----------------------------------------------------------------.
| Section 03 | THE MENU s03 |
'------------'-----------------------------------------------------------------'
This section briefly explains the main menu of the game. It has four options...
o Livin' Da Life
The top option is used to play the main game in which you design your own
character and take them on a journey from the Street Scene up to the dizzy*
heights of the Pro Scene.
When you select this option you are given two choices - New Game or Continue.
You can only have one game in progress at any one time so be careful not to
overwrite your save with the New Game option!
Livin' Da Life mode is explained in Section 04 below.
o B-Boy Jam
If you fancy a quick game then this is the place for you. There are five game
modes here which are played using (mostly) real b-boy characters.
B-Boy Jam mode is explained in Section 05 and the playable characters are
covered in Section 11.
o Options
Selecting this option gives you options! :)
Audio Options - use this to change the language spoken by the MC (English,
French, German, Spanish and Italian) plus the overall volume
and individual sound levels for the MC, music and sound FX
Cheats - you can input a range of cheat codes here (see Section 14)
Autosave - you can turn it on or off
Load a Save Game - also pretty self-explanatory
Controller Vibration - turn it on or off, on either joypad
(the rumble option is unavailable on PSP)
o Extras
This sub-menu has four choices...
Tutorials - access the tutorials that teach you the basics of the game
Promo Movie - play the title sequence
Sync via USB - if you own the game in both formats you can transfer your B-Boy
save data between a PS2 and a PSP using a USB link
Credits - see who did what, and to who!
Revisiting this guide almost exactly five years later, I now have a PSP and
a copy of B-Boy PSP... but now my PS2 is in storage and my original PS3 died
so I have a PS3 Slim model which lacks backwards compatibility and once again
I am unable to test the connectivity function!
However I will at least note that you need to use a "Mini-B USB" cable which
is the type you use to connect the PS3 controller to the console. If your PS3
is one of the original models with backwards compatibility then it will use
virtual memory cards and I assume you'll need to make sure you have the right
one assigned to a slot (check Game \ Memory Card Utility in the PS3 menu).
*Quite literally dizzy if you do too many headspins. :)
------------.-----------------------------------------------------------------.
| Section 04 | THE LIFE s04 |
'------------'-----------------------------------------------------------------'
Livin' Da Life is the "career mode" of the game. You create your own character,
battle against other b-boys, learn moves from them, enter tournaments, pick up
sponsor deals and gradually work your way up through the ranks. You begin in the
Street Scene and, through winning tournaments and challenges, progress up to the
Club Scene and finally the Pro Scene, with the difficulty increasing on the way.
Before you can start playing Livin' Da Life you need to set up your character.
You can select several aspects of their appearance: gender*, race, height, head,
eye colour and hairstyle; if you make a male character you can also specify
their build and facial hair. You can change your hair later but everything else
is fixed. You can use the left stick to rotate/move your character, [L1] to zoom
in and [R1] to zoom out (the same applies when changing their clothes later).
A b-boy's name is very important to him - some think carefully before choosing
one, many have their name given to them and a few even battle to earn the right
to use it. So, you'll be wanting to give your character a cool name, right...?
Well, you can't. Sorry! Your character is named "Custom" and you're stuck with
it. I can only assume that you can't enter your own choice of name because then
the MC wouldn't be able to announce/pronounce it, but they could at least have
given us a few different options, surely? :6
The hub for Livin' Da Life mode is your apartment which is known as "The Lab".
You can access the four options here by pressing [left] or [right] and selecting
your movebook, the dancefloor area, your computer or the ladder leading up to
the loft. Each of these options is discussed in detail below.
In order to complete Livin' Da Life mode you need to win all twelve events in
the Pro Scene (plus any move/sponsorship challenges remaining) and then beat the
"Final Battle". Do you get any cool rewards for doing this? New moves...? Secret
characters maybe...? Nope! You get a twenty-second cut-scene and the credits.
And the warm glow of satisfaction, I guess!
*Don't be surprised to hear the host of a tournament using male pronouns in
their commentary if you're playing with a female character. I guess they didn't
want to record two sets of voiceovers.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| Movebook |
'------------------------------------------------------------------------------'
It's crucial that you understand how the Livin' Da Life mode's movebook works
because this is where you choose which of your learnt moves to use and which
button combos you want to assign them to.
Selecting the "check out your movebook" option gives you a book view with six
sections, as follows...
o Base Moves
This shows your four fixed Base Moves which will always be Toprock, Six-Step,
Windmill and Baby Freeze. You can switch between them by pressing [down] and
[up]. Pressing [circle] will show extra detail for the selected move, i.e.
what level it is (from * up to *****) and how many of the maximum possible
transitions are available. Moves can be levelled-up by using them, either in
a battle or by practising (see Practice below).
o Moves
This the most important part of your movebook; it has four pages, each of
which covers one of the four categories of moves - toprock, footwork, power
moves and freezes. You can switch between these pages with [L1] and [R1].
Each page has a grid with three columns and four rows, with each of the twelve
boxes corresponding to a unique button combo. The first column is for Easy
moves, the second column is for Medium moves and the third is for Hard moves.
The rows are for [up], [down], [left] and [right] combos respectively, so for
example on the freezes page, [up square] is at the top-left of the grid and
[right right right square] is at the bottom-right. (see Section 08 below for
an explanation of the controls)
When you select a box and press [cross] the game will list all the (learnt but
unassigned) moves which you can assign to that combo (if any), for example if
you select a box in the first column on the footwork page it will list all
your available Easy footwork moves. Press [cross] again to assign a move.
When you start the game you will have no moves available. You need to complete
challenges in order to learn moves which you must then allocate to combos in
the movebook before you can use them.
There are two more things to note. Firstly the eight moves on the toprock page
are pre-assigned and cannot be changed. Secondly the row of little boxes at
the bottom of the screen shows how many slots are available - you can only
have a maximum of twenty-four moves in total across the footwork, power moves
and freeze pages at any one time, i.e. it is not possible to fill all thirty-
six slots. The red ticks show how many slots you've used, and if you have any
flashing ticks this means that you have new learnt moves but have not yet
assigned them to button combos.
Just like the Base Moves page, you can press [circle] to view the current
level and number of transitions available for the selected move.
I like to assign as many moves as possible to only the "up" and "down" combos
since I find that makes it easier to remember them. Also if possible I match
the combo to the move, for example I might put Headspin on [down down circle]
as your head goes *down* to the floor and put Flare on [up up circle] since
your legs go *up* in the air. :) (...well, it works for me!)
See Section 10 for details of the moves available in Livin' Da Life mode.
o Disses
This shows how many Diss moves you've learnt. These are allocated to the four
directions of the left stick but you start with only one (Killing It). I don't
think the game tells you when you gain a new one, so check back here.
o General Movement
This pages just shows a few basic controls. Nothing too exciting!
o Special Entries
This shows the Special Entry moves your character has learnt; like the Disses,
these are automatically assigned to the four directions on the left stick.
At first you will not have any entry moves available - you have to learn them.
o Opponents
This page shows the moves that you can make during your opponent's turn. You
can press the d-pad buttons to do basic (t)oprock, use the left stick to diss
or shoulder buttons to switch between your two characters in a crew battle.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| Practice |
'------------------------------------------------------------------------------'
You can select the option to "practice [sic] your moves" to try out your newly
learnt moves (after adding them to your movebook) and to experiment with new
transitions and putting together routines.
Practising your moves causes them to level-up* which means that you can hold a
move for longer and you'll get more transitions in/out of the move too. Using
your moves in a battle also counts as practice but if you want to focus on one
or two moves it's easier to do it in practice mode. It takes a few minutes to
level-up a move but it's hardly a Warcraft grind and it's well worth the effort!
The five medals (see Section 06) will be shown at the top of the screen and will
flash each time you do something that contributes to that judging category, for
example the Foundation medal will flash when you do an Easy move and the Rhythm
medal will flash when you press L1 or R1 on the beat.
If you [hold up] on the left stick this will end your turn (just like it does in
a battle) but instead of quitting the practice mode it will switch to your b-boy
partner who was lurking in the background so you can practise using their moves.
You can press start to access the pause menu which lets you view the move list
for the current character (see Section 10) or quit out of practice.
Practice mode is also a good opportunity to familiarise yourself with the beat
marks and the positions of the freeze sections on the songs. You can choose
which music to play during practice from your laptop (see below).
*In practice mode the game will pause and give a pop-up message each time you
level-up a move. You also get notification if you level-up one of your techs
during a battle but this happens after the battle has ended.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| Laptop |
'------------------------------------------------------------------------------'
When you "jump on the computer" (not literally!) you get an interface with four
sections. You can navigate around these with the d-pad and L1/R1 buttons.
o Messageboard
Actually it's more of a private inbox. You get a range of different messages
here which can contain advice, information, challenges, tutorials, etc.
A message with a subject like "footwork challenge" links to a simple one-round
battle against another b-boy. If you win the challenge you learn a new move
in that category, so a "footwork challenge" is not specifically a test of your
footwork, but passing it will add a footwork move to your arsenal of moves.
A "tournament invite" is quite straightforward - it means you can enter a
battle with multiple phases against a number of other characters.
A "new music" message means that you've unlocked a new song for your playlist.
A "sponsorship opportunity" links to a task which will unlock a new set of
clothing from one of the four sponsors when you complete it (see below).
A "lab upgrade" means that your pad has changed a little. (big deal!)
You'll often have several messages arrive at the same time (as many as eleven
at once!) but be sure to check them all - the tutorials and tips are good and
you'll get a lot of helpful info.
o Schedule
This is like a calendar which shows all the events currently available to you
which will include all challenges and tournament invites you've received, and
the option to practise is always listed here too. Once you win a tournament or
complete a challenge it will no longer be shown.
You can access an event directly by clicking on it here, or you can launch it
from the corresponding message in your inbox.
B-Boy isn't like, say, one of the Kengo games where you can only access events
on specific days. You can access any event listed here at any time.
o Wall of Fame
This page shows the current league standings for the twenty characters in your
current "scene". You start at the bottom and work your way up...
The amount of "respect" that each character has is shown on the right.
The standings in each of the three scenes seem to be pretty much fixed and you
just work your way up through them. You'll notice that the top of the Street
league overlaps with the bottom of the Club one and the same with the Club and
Pro scenes. (These are the orders from my most recent play-through; YMMV.)
Street Scene Club Scene Pro Scene
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
1. Tano Benny Hong 10
2. Outlaw Darkness Lilou
3. Nuvo Ivan Kmel
4. Mexika Ruen Crumbs
5. Dee Rock Garin Physicx
6. Monk Spider Kazuhiro
7. Minus Solo Mouse
8. Selene Skill Roc Sonic
9. Origin Mellow D Dino Flo
10. Kool Rock Source Tiva
11. B Funk Tano Benny
12. Katana Outlaw Darkness
13. Money Nuvo Ivan
14. Duke Mexika Ruen
15. Statix Dee Rock Garin
16. Rosa Roc Monk Spider
17. Frankie Minus Solo
18. Zuna Selene Skill Roc
19. Juno Origin Mellow D
The 20th character in each league is Custom (you!) who starts out at the
bottom of the Street Scene at the beginning of the game.
o Jukebox
Despite the name, you can't actually play music here. What you can do is view
all the songs you've unlocked and choose whether they are in your playlist or
not (scroll to a track and press [cross] to remove it - the star on the right
will turn off). This governs which of your songs will play during practice.
After you've been playing the game for a while you might like to come here and
de-select some of the old tracks from your jukebox playlist so you can focus
on learning the beat patterns on your new ones. (also you might be sick of the
old ones by then!)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| Wardrobe |
'------------------------------------------------------------------------------'
The final option is to "change your gear" - specifically your top, trousers,
shoes and hat, plus your hairstyle.
The interface is a little awkward in that you can't browse the available items
without actually changing the ones your character is wearing and you can't quit
without accepting the changes you've made either. You use the d-pad direction
buttons to navigate through the options, pressing [left] or [right] to cycle
between the options and [down] to drill down to a lower and more detailed level,
for example you might choose (from top to bottom) Legs, Pants, Style 2*, Cargo.
Then press [cross] to confirm and return to The Lab.
The clothing options are a little limited at first, with only plain and FSG**
branded tee-shirts, but as you play through Livin' Da Life mode you'll encounter
the sponsor challenges which will unlock new clothing sets from Dope Ammo,
Armory, Tribal*** and Adidas which include new designs for tees, etc, and even
new categories like vests, tracksuits and headspin hats.
Each clothing set has a logical name, for example Adidas Club is the name of the
Adidas set which you can access during the Club Scene phase.
Most of the sponsor challenges are quick solo tests where you simply have to
fill a gauge for one specific medal. The last two are the exception - to earn
the Tribal Pro clothing set you have to beat Ivan in a battle, with two throw-
downs each, competing for the Blow Up medal (I just held an Airflare for as long
as possible, switched to the Jumping Airflare variant, then repeated). Then to
gain the final set, Adidas Pro, you have to win a four-person elimination
battle, just like the Open Circle option in B-Boy Jam mode (try to avoid going
first and keep your Hype level up - see Section 07).
*You can have one trouser leg rolled up for extra b-boy flava. :)
**One of several name-checks to B-Boy developers FreeStyleGames in the game.
***I liked one of the Tribal tee-shirts so much that I bought the real thing!
------------.-----------------------------------------------------------------.
| Section 05 | THE JAM s05 |
'------------'-----------------------------------------------------------------'
The B-Boy Jam mode is effectively the "arcade mode"; you can jump in for a quick
play with a pre-built character in one of five game modes (described below). At
first only seven b-boys are available (okay, actually six b-boys and one b-girl,
sorry Rosa!) but you can unlock the rest in Survivor mode - see below.
The key to success in B-Boy Jam is learning the moves for each character and how
to use them. It's a good idea to start in the practice mode, pause the game and
access the move list from the pause menu (NB: the move list is explained later
in Section 10). You can explore the list to learn the character's active button
combos and then un-pause to try them out. Once you've performed a move, its name
will be displayed in the move list and that will make it a lot easier to see
what's going on, then you can start studying the transitions that the character
can use and maybe begin sketching-out a routine. Unlike Livin' Da Life mode, you
cannot learn new moves or assign your own button combos.
(If you're playing on PSP you'll have the additional option of Network Battle
which lets you play with up to four people via Ad Hoc Mode (local wi-fi). Each
player will need a PSP and their own copy of the game and the consoles will need
to be configured to share the same wi-fi channel. Domination, Round for Round,
Showcase and Open Circle modes are available for local multiplayer games.)
o Domination
In this mode you have to win the most medals (see Section 06) by the end of
the game. Medals carry over from one round to the next so you can win one,
lose it, win it back again, etc. There is no time limit on your throwdowns,
instead you keep going until your Hype bar is empty or you choose to finish
(to stop [hold up] on the left stick).
You can choose a 1-on-1 or 2-on-2 contest and also select the number of rounds
and which of the five medals are available.
o Round for Round
Your objective here is to win the most rounds, so medals don't carry over.
You can choose to play 1-on-1 or 2-on-2 and select the number of rounds, the
round length (from 20 to 300 seconds) and which medals are in play.
o Showcase
This is like Domination but with a time limit; medals carry over.
You can specify 1-on-1 or 2-on-2, the number of throwdowns and their length
and which medals are available.
o Open Circle
This one's a bit different - each contestant starts with a number of lives and
the b-boy that comes last in each round loses a life. If you lose all your
lives then you're eliminated. The "last man standing" is the winner.
In each round you fight over a single medal in one of the five categories. The
character who does best gets a gold version, second best gets silver and, yes,
third best gets the bronze, but if they keep going they can swap it for the
silver, and then the gold. As in Domination, your turn continues until you run
out of Hype or you choose to end it (if you think you've done well enough).
You can choose to compete against either two or three other characters, the
number of lives each (1, 2 or 3) and which medal to use (or a random choice).
o Practice
For this you just pick a character (and a stage) and you have unlimited time
to learn their moves and experiment with putting them together. It works very
much like the practice option in Livin' Da Life mode.
o Survivor
This is the most important of the B-Boy Jam modes because beating it unlocks
songs, stages and characters; the stages and characters can then be used in
any of the B-Boy Jam games (and the songs are added to the playlist).
At Easy and Medium difficulty you have to win three consecutive one-round
battles and at Hard diff you have to win four (or occasionally five); in each
battle you always go second and you compete for two specific medals.
The medals and opponents are always the same for any given player character
and difficulty - for example playing as Hong 10 on Medium you battle Selene
for Flow and Foundation medals, followed by Nuvo for Creativity and Blow Up,
and finally Mellow D for Rhythm and Creativity - but you choose the stage and
the music is selected randomly. At Hard difficulty your penultimate opponent
is usually Crazy Legs (for Rhythm and Foundation medals) and the final one is
the character that you can unlock (so for Hong 10 it's Kazuhiro).
- Completing Survivor mode with a character on EASY difficulty unlocks Medium
difficulty for that character and (usually) a song for B-Boy Jam mode.
- Completing Survivor mode with a character on MEDIUM diff unlocks the Hard
diff option for them and a stage.
- Completing Survivor mode with *some* characters on HARD will unlock another
character. In some cases you need to unlock one character in order to unlock
another, for example you have to complete Survivor mode on Hard with Ruen to
unlock Kmel and then beat it with Kmel, again on Hard, to unlock Crazy Legs.
All the unlocks are summarised in the table below...
| Song | Stage | Character
-----------+------------------------------+----------------------+-----------
Benny | Rated X | Notorious IBE | Sonic
-----------+------------------------------+----------------------+-----------
Crazy Legs | Rock Creek Park | Rock Steady Aniv. | -
-----------+------------------------------+----------------------+-----------
Crumbs | Soul Clap | Urban Outlaws | -
-----------+------------------------------+----------------------+-----------
Darkness | The Phuncky Feel One | Urban Games | Physicx
-----------+------------------------------+----------------------+-----------
Hong 10 | Blow your Head | UK Champs | Kazuhiro
-----------+------------------------------+----------------------+-----------
Host 1 | Give it up or Turnit a Loose | Downtown Night | -
-----------+------------------------------+----------------------+-----------
Ivan | - | Battle of the Year | Crumbs
-----------+------------------------------+----------------------+-----------
Kazuhiro | Don't Sweat the Technique | The Tower Night | -
-----------+------------------------------+----------------------+-----------
Kmel | Open Sesame | Stormdrain Night | Crazy Legs
-----------+------------------------------+----------------------+-----------
Lilou | Get on the Good Foot | S/side Harbour Night | Host 1
-----------+------------------------------+----------------------+-----------
Mellow D | Say it Loud, I'm Black and.. | The Jam Down | -
-----------+------------------------------+----------------------+-----------
Mouse | Brother Green | Grand Jam | Lilou
-----------+------------------------------+----------------------+-----------
Physicx | Cold Sweat | FSS Korea | Rack
-----------+------------------------------+----------------------+-----------
Rack | Yellow Sunshine | City Park Night | -
-----------+------------------------------+----------------------+-----------
Rosa Roc | Think (About It) | FSS USA | Mellow D
-----------+------------------------------+----------------------+-----------
Ruen | Juice (Know the Ledge) | Street Final | Kmel
-----------+------------------------------+----------------------+-----------
Sonic | Love to the World | Red Bull: K.O.T.R. | -
A few of the characters also have a song unlock on Hard diff, e.g. beating the
Survivor mode with Darkness unlocks the song 'Funkier than a Mosquito's Tweeter'
in addition to the Physicx character, and Ivan unlocks 'Call Me Super Bad' as
well as Crumbs (even though he doesn't have a song unlock on Easy).
------------.-----------------------------------------------------------------.
| Section 06 | THE MEDALS s06 |
'------------'-----------------------------------------------------------------'
I'm going to devote a couple of sections to explaining two important concepts in
the game: the medals (this section) and Hype (next section).
In every battle or challenge in the game you will be competing for one or more
of the five medals and they determine who wins so you need to know how they
work. Each of the medals is awarded for a different aspect of b-boying, so
various actions will contribute towards different medals.
The medal/s available in a battle will usually be shown greyed-out at the top of
the screen in the centre. When the first b-boy to dance does something to earn
credit towards a medal, a little horizontal bar under the medal will start to
fill with a bronze (orange!) colour. When the bar becomes full they have secured
that medal at bronze level and it moves across the screen, under their name, and
they can then work towards the silver (grey) and then gold (yellow) medals,
again filling the little bar in the appropriate colour.
However when their opponent takes to the floor they can try to steal it back!
Whenever the second b-boy does something to gain credit towards the same medal
category it will start to eat away at the bar under the medal. When it goes
back to being a bronze-coloured bar the medal returns to the centre of the
screen and then when the second character fills the bar they claim the medal for
themselves. In a battle with two throwdowns each the same medal/s can switch
back and forth between the two sides several times.
If you crash during a move then you lose the medal progress you had just gained.
At the end of the battle the game shows who has the most/best medals and is
therefore the winner, although it will be clear who's won from the body-language
of the final b-boy to go down (i.e. if they look "stoked" or not).
Here's a summary of the five medals and which actions give credit towards them:-
o Blow Up - denoted by a hand grenade
Credit is awarded here for the big "crowd pleasing" moves and technical techs!
- Hard moves (moves which require three d-pad presses to initiate)
- Variations (moves launched by pressing only d-pad directions)
- Hold these moves for longer to gain extra credit
- Special Entries
- Finishing Move
The many variations you learn for your Six-Step and Windmill techs are an easy
way to get some credit towards this medal and if you do several in a row then
it'll add to the Flow medal too (see below).
o Rhythm - denoted by a loudspeaker
It's important to remember that b-boying is a dance style and therefore that
as many moves as possible should be done on the beat, in time to the music.
Also a b-boy should learn the structure of specific songs so that they can do
moves to coincide with events in the music. This is recognised in the game by
the Rhythm medal category.
- Tap the L1 or R1 button in time to the markers on the beat wheel; this will
also make (most) moves last longer
- Transition between moves on the blue beat markers (on the 1-beat in the bar)
- Hit freezes on the yellow sections that appear on the beat wheel (you need
to enter the freeze move *during* the yellow section - if you are already in
a freeze when it appears then it won't count)
o Creativity - denoted by a light bulb
This category is about creative choreography.
- Use transitions that jump between move categories and levels, for example an
Easy-level footwork move into a Hard-level power move
- Try not to repeat a move and if you do then don't enter it from the same
move the second time you do it
When you do the "execution test" to trigger a move (see Section 08) look out
for the little light-bulb icon and stars underneath - the more stars, the more
Creativity points you'll get for doing that transition. For example going from
Six-Step into a CC (i.e. the footwork Base Move into a footwork Easy move) is
only worth one star but a Headspin into an Invert (power Medium into freeze
Hard) is worth five stars!
o Flow - denoted by three links of a chain
The icon here is quite apt - it's all about creating the longest possible
"chain" of moves.
- Do a chain of as many consecutive moves as possible without stopping
It doesn't matter how long you hold each of the moves, or if you repeat them.
The length of your current chain is shown on the counter at the bottom-right
of the screen. Cycling through all your toprock steps is an easy way to add to
this medal.
o Foundation - denoted by a sneaker
This category is about keeping it real and using the more traditional and
simpler breaking techs rather than the big "blow up" moves.
- Use Easy and Medium level moves (also Base Moves)
- Hold these moves for longer to gain extra credit
Once you get past the easy battles it becomes crucial to tailor your routines to
match the medals you're fighting over. If you're battling for the Foundation and
Rhythm medals there's no point doing a Special Entry or using Hard moves. If you
need the Creativity and Flow medals then there's no point holding one move for a
long time - instead do as many moves as possible, with interesting transitions.
If you go second in a battle then see which medals your opponent has won and if
they are bronze, silver or gold. The bronze one/s will be the easiest for you to
steal back from them. If you're battling for all five medals then maybe choose
to focus on three of them which will give you the win.
When the game gets harder (e.g. in the Club and Pro Scene in Life mode) you will
probably want to start planning routines in advance. I would suggest making a
"creative power" set with novel transitions and Hard moves to get the Creativity
and Blow Up medals and a "creative foundation" set with cool transitions but
mostly Easy and Medium moves for when you need to go for the Creativity and
Foundation ones. Hold the moves for longer to get the Blow Up or Foundation
medal, or do them more quickly if you're going for Flow instead.
------------.-----------------------------------------------------------------.
| Section 07 | THE HYPE s07 |
'------------'-----------------------------------------------------------------'
Back in the day, Public Enemy told us "don't believe the hype" - but if they had
been able to play this game back in 1988 then they would have realised that the
Hype is a very real, tangible and generally quite believable concept! :)
You'll have noticed the bars at the top of the screen during play that look like
the health bars in a beat-'em-up game - these show the Hype for each character
and indicate how "hyped" they are.
There are several ways to gain Hype...
- you usually start a battle with some Hype, and you have more if you go first
- "pulling off unique moves and making the crowd go wild" (quoting the manual)
- pressing the d-pad buttons in time to the music during your opponent's turn
makes your character do basic toprock steps and adds a small amount of Hype
- tap the left stick to diss your opponent during their turn either when they
repeat a move (shown in red on the list) or when they crash - this adds a big
chunk of Hype to your bar and removes some of theirs
And there are also a few ways to lose Hype...
- if you diss your opponent at the wrong time during their turn then you will
lose a large amount of Hype (only diss when they repeat a move or crash)
- if you crash during a move you will lose all your Hype
- if you repeat a move and get dissed by your opponent
- "if your moves fail to impress the crowd and judges" (from the manual again)
So, what is it good for? Well, if your Hype bar is at least half full at the
start of your turn then you can use a Special Entry move and/or if it is totally
full then you can end your throwdown with a Finishing Move (both of which will
contribute to the Blow Up medal). Conversely if you correctly diss your opponent
and reduce their Hype it can stop them using these moves.
Hype also has an effect on some of the B-Boy Jam game modes where your turn ends
when your Hype bar becomes completely empty.
------------.-----------------------------------------------------------------.
| Section 08 | THE BUTTONS s08 |
'------------'-----------------------------------------------------------------'
The basic controls are common to all the various modes in the game, although
some aspects will need to be unlocked if you're playing Livin' Da Life mode.
o Face Buttons
Each of these buttons corresponds to one of the four categories of moves...
Triangle = toprock
Square = freezes Circle = power moves
Cross = footwork
There's only four to learn, but if you need a mnemonic then remember that tops
is at the top, footwork (done on the floor) is at the bottom, freezes are on
the square which has a flat base so it's well balanced and power moves are on
the circle which... er, is round like a Halo. (both the b-boy move and the
thing that angels wear!)
Simply pressing one of the buttons will launch the Base Move for that category
which will be vanilla Toprock, a Windmill, a Baby Freeze or Six-Step if you're
playing in Livin' Da Life mode (so you'd press [square] for a Baby Freeze).
o D-Pad
If you want to use one of your other moves from a category you need to add one
or more d-pad presses before you press the appropriate face button, so for
example you might press [down down square] for a Head Hollow freeze.* It's one
press for an Easy move, two for a Medium one and three for a Hard one.
______/\______ Most moves require you to perform an execution test after
/______/\______\ you've pressed the button combo. This will either be the
/ \ "Beat/Balance" type or, less commonly, the "Power/Power
Beat / Balance Balance" type. In both cases there's a moving green bar and
you have to stop it by pressing a face button (it doesn't
______________/ matter which one) as close as possible to either the centre
/______________/ (Beat/Balance) or to the right side (Power) avoiding the
/ red zone. This determines whether you successfully initiate
Power / the move and how good it is - the game will tell you if you
Power Balance were DOPE! or FRESH! or even SICK! or perhaps only WHACK!
Some moves (notably Six-Step and Windmills) also allow you to do variations
with d-pad presses after you've initiated the move, for example you can press
[cross] to start a Six-Step followed by [down down down] to do the Six-Step
Elbow Rock variation (if your character knows that move).
With some variations you can revert to the original move by pressing the
opposite direction, for example you might do an Airflare, press [down] to do
the Jumping Airflare variation, then [up] to return to a normal Airflare.
If you input a combo and you hear a short vinyl scratch sound this means that
you cannot do the move. This occurs when you a) input an incorrect combo, b)
attempt a disallowed transition or c) already have your next move queued in
your move chain. Sometimes you can have two moves queued but I think this only
happens when your current move is about to end (transition).
If you are not performing a move which allows variations then single presses
of the d-pad buttons can be used to move around the stage/circle as follows...
Up = move towards opponent
Left = move around opponent (left) Right = move around opponent (right)
Down = move away from opponent
It makes no difference where you dance though so this would be a waste of time
unless you're just doing it for show. Also some of the six-step variations let
you move around the stage and they add to your chain of moves too so these are
a better alternative.
The d-pad buttons can also be used to dance** while your opponent takes their
turn on the floor. Each of the four directions does a different move, although
I find that pressing [left] and [right] alternately looks best. Doing this in
time to the music will add small increments to your Hype meter.
o Shoulder Buttons
The main use for the L1 and R1 buttons (or L and R on PSP) is to hit the beats
- pressing either of the shoulder buttons in time to the markers on the beat
wheel around your character is the key to making your moves last longer and
taking the Rhythm medal in a battle.
The same buttons are also used to adjust your balance when you perform either
a freeze or another balance move like an Open Headspin or a Kneespin. You need
to tap or hold the buttons to keep the marker in the centre, although you will
eventually reach a stage where you can't hold it any longer. You can also hit
beat markers during a balance move if you press the button at the right time.
In a two-man "crew" battle you can also press either button to switch between
your characters while the other crew is taking their turn.
o Left Stick
At the very start of a battle you can press the left stick in one of the four
directions to use a Special Entry move, as long as a) your Hype meter is at
least half full and b) your character has the appropriate entry move for that
direction. The four Special Entries can be learnt during Livin' Da Life mode.
During a battle, while your character is dancing, you can tap the left stick
to deliver a Diss (gestural insult) to your opponent. If you [hold up] on the
left stick this will end your turn with either a random Diss or, if your Hype
meter is totally full and your character has learnt it, the Finishing Move.
Purple trails on your character's limbs indicate that they're stopping.
You can also use the left stick to diss your opponent during their turn. If
you do this either while they are repeating a move (shown in red on the list
at the bottom-right) or when they have just "crashed" then you will gain a big
chunk of Hype, but do it at other times and you'll end up losing Hype.
During a practice session in Livin' Da Live mode, holding the left stick [up]
will end your turn, letting you practice with your partner character.
o Start Button
Pressing [start] during a battle pauses the game. No surprises there!
The pause menu gives you the option to quit or restart the current battle or
practice session, or to view the move list for the character who is currently
on the floor (see Section 10). You can access options there too.
You'll also need to press [start] and choose the "Exit Lab" option if you want
to quit out of the Livin' Da Life mode and return to the game's main menu. You
can turn the autosave function on or off there as well.
*You can only use moves and transitions that are shown in your move list. In
Livin' Da Life mode you will need to assign your moves to button combos by
adding ones that you've learnt to your movebook. In B-Boy Jam mode each b-boy
has a predefined set of moves which are already allocated to combos.
For more information about moves see Section 10 below.
**The game describes the dance moves you make during your opponent's turn as
"OpRock" but I wonder if this is a typo for either Toprock or Uprock...?
------------.-----------------------------------------------------------------.
| Section 09 | THE DISPLAY s09 |
'------------'-----------------------------------------------------------------'
This section explains the elements that appear on the screen during a battle.
At the top of the screen you can see the names of the b-boys that are currently
competing; your character/s always appear on the left. Along with their names
you can also see each person's Hype bar (see Section 07 for more on Hype). When
a Hype bar is full it flashes in time to the beat markers (see below).
In some of the B-Boy Jam game modes you will also see rows of small green stars
up here. These count consecutive wins in Survivor mode or indicate the number of
lives remaining in the Open Circle elimination mode.
In the middle near the top of the display are the medals (see Section 06). Only
the available medals for the current battle will be shown - there could be as
few as one or as many as five. Once a medal has been won by a character it moves
under their name.
The "beat wheel" that appears around the active character on the dancefloor is
very important. Pressing [L1] or [R1] each time a blue or orange beat indicator
reaches the white I-shaped marker is the main way to win credit towards the
Rhythm medal; each song in the game has a unique sequence of beat markers - some
are quite simple (I think 'Holy Ghost' is the only track to maintain a straight
4:4 beat) and others are rather more complex.
Correctly tapping the shoulder buttons on the beats also lets you hold a move
for longer. When you initiate a move, a white circular bar will appear around
your character. This indicates how long you can maintain the move - it will get
shorter as time passes. When you hit a beat this will add to it, extending your
time, but when you miss a beat (on any move that doesn't involve balancing) the
wheel will flash red (and the controller will vibrate) and you'll lose some
time. When there's not much bar/time left it will turn red and you'd better
transition into another move quickly otherwise you could end up crashing.
Some spinning balance moves (like the Kneespin and 2000) have an orange bar;
this will disappear pretty quickly so you should have your next move ready.
The other thing to look out for here is the yellow sections which indicate the
parts of a song where you can do a freeze move to score extra Rhythm points. You
need to enter the freeze while the "I" cursor is inside the yellow part - before
or after is no good.
At the bottom-right corner of the screen is a list of moves. The one on the
black banner is the current move, the three below it are the three most recent
moves in the current chain and the (usually only) one above it is the next move
to be performed. If a move name is shown in green this means that it has not
been used by the dancer in the current throwdown but if it's red it means that
they're repeating a move and liable to get dissed by their opponent. Under the
history list is a counter which shows the number of moves completed in the
current chain - as the number gets bigger this will add to the Flow medal. After
about five moves the dancer will get white trails off their limbs - I think this
indicates that they have built up a certain amount of momentum.
Finally the text that appears at the bottom-left of the screen shows the artist
and title of each new music track as it begins.
------------.-----------------------------------------------------------------.
| Section 10 | THE MOVES s10 |
'------------'-----------------------------------------------------------------'
What really impresses about the game is the accuracy with which is recreates a
wide range of b-boying moves (and the transitions between them). Unsurprisingly
the moves were programmed using motion-capture equipment from real b-boys, many
of them being the ones who appear in the game. Check this link to see some of
them in skin-tight suits getting mo-capped!
--->
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ri1HfGSl1ZM
After this introduction, the first part of this section of the guide describes
the move list which plays an important role in the game. The Toprock, Footwork,
Power Moves, Freezes, Special Entries and Disses sub-sections below list all the
moves which you can learn during the game's Livin' Da Life mode.* I'm not going
to write in detail about the moves for the characters in B-Boy Jam mode here
since there are loads! However they are all at least listed in Section 11.
The difficulty level of each move is given in brackets after its name, so for
example Bicycle Pump in the Footwork category is an Easy move so it can be
assigned to a combo starting with a single d-pad press, for example [up cross].
Medium moves require two presses, e.g. [left left square], and Hard moves are
mapped to combos with three d-pad presses, e.g. [up up up circle].
Speaking of d-pad presses, I've also listed in square brackets the button combos
for moves if they are fixed, e.g. for the Base Moves, for the toprock steps and
for the variations. All other moves need to be assigned to a combo of your
choice in your movebook (when playing Life mode).
The variations (or "accents") are listed after the description of the main move.
For example if you do a Bicycle Pump you can then press [down] to do a Bicycle
Pump Check.* You can often access variations from other moves - for example in a
Flare you can press [down] to transition into a Forearm Flare but you can also
do this move with a "shortcut transition" by pressing [up down circle] from a
1990, Headspin, Windmill, etc - but here I have only listed each variation once,
under the move from which you can enter the variation using only d-pad presses.
You'll notice below that within each of the Footwork, Power Moves and Freezes
categories there are four Easy moves, four Medium moves and four Hard moves so
you have enough to fill all twelve combo slots for your favourite category (if
you want) but keep in mind that you can only assign a maximum of twenty-four
moves overall at any one time.
If you attempt and pass all the move challenges in Livin' Da Life mode as soon
as they appear (and I suggest you do - the more moves the better!) then you
should find that you gain the techs in approximately the following order...
Street Scene: Helicopter, Backspin, Brooklyn Rock and Cross Step (pair), Three-
Step, Headstand, Crazy Rock and Lil' Crazy Rock (pair), Baby Love,
Handstand, Turtle, Burst! (your first Special Entry), Kneespin,
Airbaby, Headspin, CC, Chair, Flare, Pretzels, Head Hollowback,
Halo, Sidebaby, 1990, Coin Drop (your first Hard move), Invert,
2000, Finishing Move!
Club Scene: Zulu Spin, Shoulder Freeze, Swipe, Bicycle Pump, Forearm Freeze,
Munchmill, Floor Rock, Web, Air Freeze, Handhop, Forearmspin, Air
Flare, Head Swipe, Handstand Walk!, Elbowtrack, Moon Kick 360!,
Airchair, Torpedo Dive!
There are also four Hard difficulty toprock techniques which you gain during the
Pro Scene (I got them as a set of four after completing the Tribal Pro sponsor-
ship test).
Pro Scene: Butterfly Twist 540, Butterfly Twist, Moon Kick, Ariel
In total you learn twelve footwork techs, twelve power moves, twelve freezes,
eight toprock moves, four Special Entries and the Finishing Move. After starting
with only one, you also learn the other three Disses but you don't have to
complete challenges for them and you're not told when you've gained a new one.
*You will need to complete the challenges to learn the moves, then to assign the
moves to button combos in your movebook in order to be able to use them and then
to practise/use the moves until they are levelled-up before you have access to
all the variations listed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| Move List |
'------------------------------------------------------------------------------'
When you pause the game, either during a battle or in practice mode, you can
access the move list for the b-boy who is currently on the floor (if it's your
opponent's turn then you view the move list for that character, not yours).
The move list shows all the moves that the character knows and, crucially, which
ones can be connected together - when you go from one move into another this is
a "transition". When you first learn a move in Livin' Da Life mode it will be
undeveloped (indicated with one star) and the number of permitted transitions
into it and out of it will be fairly small. As you use that move, both during
battles and in practice mode, it will improve (up to five stars) and the number
of available transitions will greatly increase which gives you a lot more
freedom in constructing routines and the potential to score more Creativity.
When you access the move list it will show the four Base Moves for the b-boy (in
the four move groups) unless the character is currently performing a move in
which case it will automatically select that move.
There are three parts to the move list display. In the centre is the currently
selected move, on the left are all the moves that can transition into it and on
the right are all the ones that you can transition into from it. It might be
helpful to think of it (from left to right) as past, present and future.
All the moves are colour-coded: toprock is in green, power moves in dark orange,
freezes in pink and footwork in blue (you'll notice that this corresponds to the
colours of the four face buttons on the joypad). The Base Moves are listed at
the top and the others are below, usually with standard moves and variations
grouped together.
Above the selected move in the centre you'll see illustrations of one or more
button combos (often only one but sometimes as many as six). You can scroll up
and down the moves on the left - the combo you need to press in order to go from
the highlighted move on the left to the selected move in the centre will be the
one that's flashing. Sometimes there will be more than one button combo that can
be used to go between the same two moves.
You can move left/right between the "past" and "future" lists and up/down to
highlight any move. If you then press [cross] you select that move and it then
becomes the move shown in the middle of the screen, again with the moves that go
into it on the left and the ones you can go into on the right. In this way you
can work through the character's repertoire and build a routine in advance.
Alternatively you might panic in the middle of a battle, not knowing what move
to transition into, but you can pause, access the move list and it will show you
your available options (if you do that too often though you'll miss a lot of the
beat markers and get less Rhythm medal credit).
I like to plan a couple of sets for each character (see end of Section 06) and
I'll write these down in a basic notation and then put it next to the screen so
that I can refer to them quickly mid-battle. Here's an example I've made up...
<<<O! - ^ - >>[] - ^X - >>O(s) - <
It starts with a Hard power move (three d-pad presses followed by [circle]), a
variation (d-pad press only), a Medium freeze, an Easy footwork move, a Medium
power move and finally a variation of that. The exclamation mark on the first
move alerts me to the fact that it has the trickier "power" execution test and
the (s) on the second power move means that it's a short move like a Headspin.
Remember that in Life mode you can only use moves that you've set up in your
movebook (see Section 04); the movebook will also show you the level of all your
learnt moves (* to *****) and the number and types of transitions that are
available for each. Once moves have been assigned to combos in the movebook they
will then appear in the move list. In B-Boy Jam mode each character's moves are
pre-assigned to button combos and cannot be changed (there's no movebook).
There's one final thing to mention about the move list which perhaps I should
have said a little earlier! In both Life and Jam modes all move names (except
for the Base Moves) will be replaced by "???" until you've performed that move!
You can still see the button combos so you can use these to work your way around
each character's move-set in B-Boy Jam mode and this will cause the names to be
displayed (as you do them). This is a good way to become familiar with their
moves but it's a bit of a slow process so I have no qualms about using the cheat
code which displays all move names in the move lists (see Section 14). It's not
cheating, it's just saving you some unnecessary time and effort!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| Toprock |
'------------------------------------------------------------------------------'
In simple terms, toprock is the part of breaking where the b-boy is standing and
has only their feet on the floor. It can be made up of any number of different
cross-steps, side-steps, back-steps, kicks, shuffles and spins, in time to the
music, and with the arms usually swinging from the centre to the sides.
Toprock (or "tops") serves many purposes: it's used to enter the circle, perhaps
clearing a little space, to express your style and how you're feelin' the music,
to move around the circle during a set in order to re-centre or face off against
your rivals, and maybe to catch your breath after a big move!
Although it's not required, I always start a routine in the game with toprock.
Going straight from tops into a Hard move will give a good Creativity bonus.
All of your toprock moves, apart from the Base Move, are automatically maxed out
on level, so you don't need to practise them.
Toprocking is pre-dated by the style of rocking (Brooklyn rock or uprock) which
includes mimed attacks known as burns. You'll sometimes see the characters doing
this in the game when they face off before a battle begins.
Your toprock moves are pre-assigned to button combos including the triangle
button, as shown below. The four Medium-level moves can be learnt during the
Street Scene if you work through all the move challenges. The four Hard moves at
the bottom - all acrobatic jumping kicks - are learnt during the Pro Scene.
o Toprock (Base) [triangle]
o Salsa Front (Easy) [up triangle]
o Salsa Back (Easy) [down triangle]
o Indian Step (Easy) [left triangle]
- Indian Step Right [up up]
o March Step (Easy) [right triangle]
- Star Step [up up]
o Cross-Step (Medium) [down down triangle]
o Crazy Rock (Medium) [left left triangle]
o Lil' Crazy Rock (Medium) [right right triangle]
o Brooklyn Rock (Medium) [up up triangle]
o Butterfly Twist (Hard) [down down down triangle]
o Moon Kick (Hard) [left left left triangle]
o Ariel (Hard) [right right right triangle]
o Butterfly Twist 540 (Hard) [up up up triangle]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| Footwork |
'------------------------------------------------------------------------------'
The essence of b-boying is footwork, also known as the groundrock or downrock
(as opposed to toprock or uprock).
From toprock you use a "go-down" or "drop" to descend to the ground where you
can perform a range of moves which basically involve having your hands and feet
(in various combinations) on the floor.
Your footwork moves can be assigned to button combos including the cross button.
o Six-Step (Base) [cross]
The footwork move that truly defines b-boying is the Six-Step. In a crouching
position you move your legs around your body in a series of six steps (do you
see where the name came from?!) which takes you back to the starting point.
Like all the footwork moves, it can be repeated indefinitely and it can be
performed in either direction although in the game it's clockwise.
When you first learn the Six-Step (in real life) you find that your body turns
with each set of six-steps but in time you learn to keep your body oriented in
the same direction. Oddly this beginner's Rotating Six-Step is one of the two
Hard variations of this move in the game!
Including that one, the Six-Step has thirteen variations in total which gives
a cheap way to build your Flow medal points. You can also use some of them to
move around the dancefloor without breaking your combo.
- Back Shuffle [down]
- Front Shuffle [up up]
- Shuffle Right [right right]
- Hop Left [left]
- Hop Right [right]
- Roll [down down]
- Switch Up [up]
- Switches [cross]
- Rewind [cross]
- Crouched Switch [cross]
- Criss Cross [cross]
- Rotating Six-Step [up up up]
- Six-Step Elbow Rock [down down down]
o Bicycle Pump (Easy)
You start out crouching on your hands and feet, like you're about to start a
running race, then alternately extend one leg then the other - kinda like
you're using an invisible StairMaster machine but facing the floor!
- Bicycle Pump Check [down]
o CC (Easy)
In a CC (or Cee-Cee) you extend one leg and then balance on that foot and the
hand on the same side while you twist you hips, wrapping the other knee over
the top. This serves to counter the flow of your Six-Step footwork - if you're
doing Six-Step clockwise then the CC will add counterclockwise motion. The CC
can be repeated so that you use first one leg and then the other.
In Joseph Schloss's book Foundation, the president of the Mighty Zulu Kings,
Alien Ness, says that the correct and original name for CC's is Russian Taps
(since they were inspired by the early "Russian dance" footwork).
There are three variations of the CC available. The CC Roll is quite similar
to the movement used in the Zulu Spin (see below).
- CC Roll Right [right]
- No-Handed CC [down]
- CC Hop [up]
o Helicopter (Easy)
In this move, sometimes known (more recently) as the Coffeegrinder, one leg
sweeps almost horizontally around the body while the supporting hands and the
foot of the other leg hop over it as it goes around (like one of the rotors on
a helicopter).
o Baby Love (Easy)
With your hands on the floor and your face towards the floor you walk your
feet around your hands in a series of steps. This move is sometimes - perhaps
incorrectly - referred to as Twelve-Step.
The Baby Love was named after the b-girl who invented it.
o Pretzels (Medium)
This consists of a right leg sweep in a counterclockwise direction then a roll
over, followed by a clockwise left leg sweep and a roll over, etc.
"Give the pretzels them!" ...Sorry, that's a pretty obscure geek joke! B)
o Zulu Spin (Medium)
These are performed in a crouch, close to the ground, repeatedly spinning
around, briefly touching the floor with your hands to maintain balance.
Zulu Spins are also known as Tornadoes.
o Kneespin (Medium)
Guess what? You spin on your knee. It can be done with the torso and legs in a
horizontal position but in this case the body is upright.
To hold this move you need to use a balance meter, just like a freeze.
o Three-Step (Medium)
This is like an abbreviated version of the standard Six-Step. By incorporating
a couple of shuffles you reduce it to a three-step sequence which can be
performed a lot faster than Six-Step.
o Web (Hard)
Web Mills, also called German Mills or Tapping Mills, are a variation of the
Windmill where you tap one foot on the floor once per rotation.
o Floor Rock (Hard)
Lying on the floor, your shoulders remain in contact with the ground while you
walk your feet around your body.
- Belly Roll [up]
- Floor Rock CC Left [left]
- Floor Rock CC Right [right]
- Hook Left [left left]
- Hook Right [right right]
o Head Swipe (Hard)
This is a two-footed version of a Swipe (listed below as a power move) in
which your head remains in contact with the floor throughout.
o Coin Drop (Hard)
The Coin Drop is a go-down move - you start in a standing position, leaning
forwards, and then roll on your shoulder onto the floor (like a transition
from standing into a Windmill). As you hold the move you roll back up to
standing again and repeat.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| Power Moves |
'------------------------------------------------------------------------------'
These are the more dramatic "crowd-pleasing" moves which usually require
strength and some pseudo-gymnastic ability. The definition of "power moves" in
the game is pretty broad, encompassing spins, air moves and floats.
Like the footwork moves, the power moves involve circular movement so you can
transition between most of them without losing momentum.
Your power moves can be assigned to button combos including the circle button.
o Windmill (Base) [circle]
The classic power move is the Windmill or Continuous Backspin, invented (by
accident) by none other than Crazy Legs.
With your legs held in a "V" shape, you basically roll sideways from your back
onto your front (essentially into a Baby Freeze) and back again.
The variations involve performing a Windmill with the hands positioned in
various places, e.g. behind the back (handcuffs), crossed over the chest like
a dead body (coffin) or protecting the family jewels (nutcracker)!
- Australian Windmill [down]
- Tombstone Windmill [left]
- Coffin Windmill [up up]
- Nutcracker Windmill [right]
- Grab Windmill [down down]
- Handcuff Windmill [left left]
o Swipe (Easy)
This is the one-footed version of the classic Swipe move invented by b-boy
pioneer Spy. From a loose crab-walking position, basically the two halves of
your body rotate independently. One arm reaches over so that you have both
hands on the floor, that's 180 degrees of rotation for your top half. Then,
with one leg sticking out straight in the air throughout, you kick your other
leg around it making 360 degrees of movement until it lands back onto the
floor. Finally the top half of your body rotates the remaining 180 degrees to
put you back where you started. (In practice there's more of a flow to it.)
For a two-footed Swipe - where you start and end with both feet on the floor -
check out Ivan's moves in B-Boy Jam mode.
o Turtle (Easy)
This is a float move. With both palms fairly close together on the floor you
support and balance your body weight by pressing your elbows into your abdomen
(in the same way you use one elbow in the Baby Freeze - see below). Then by
switching your weight from one arm to the other you "walk" your hands around
and your body rotates in a horizontal circle.
- U.F.O. [right]
- Cricket [down]
- Jackhammer [left]
o Munchmill (Easy)
This is based on the Windmill but your legs are bent and crossed together.
They extend out and retract each time you go round. Also known as Baby Mills.
o Backspin (Easy)
Another vintage b-boy tech, this one invented by Jo-Jo, one of the founders of
the Rock Steady Crew. Using the momentum from your previous move you flip onto
your back, tuck in your arms and legs and spin around for as long as possible
(probably not very long).
- Backspin Tucked [down]
o Flare (Medium)
The Flare is based on the gymnastic move of the same name (which is often
performed on a pommel horse). While balancing on both hands, head upright,
you swing both legs around your body, alternately raising one hand and then
the other to let your legs go past. You could think of it as being like a two-
legged Helicopter.
In the harder Forearm Flare (or Elbow Flare) variant you balance on your
forearms instead of your hands.
- Forearm Flare [down]
o 1990 (Medium)
Put simply, the 1990 is a spinning one-handed handstand.
- 1990 Drill [down]
- Open 1990 [left]
- Hooked 1990 [right]
o Headspin (Medium)
A classic b-boying move, invented by Kid Freeze. It's like a spinning Head-
stand, with the hands used occasionally to maintain balance.
In the "open" variant the hands are not used at all so you have to control a
freeze-style balance meter to hold the move.
- Headspin Open [down]
- Forearm Headspin [left]
o Halo (Medium)
A Halo is kinda like a Windmill but with the head remaining in contact with
the ground. The spread legs constantly rotate while the upper half of the body
rotates quickly, stopping briefly facing downwards with the hands supporting.
You could also think of it as a non-vertical Headspin where the circumference
of your head traces a circle on the floor. Halos are also known as Trax.
o Forearm Spin (Hard)
A Headspin with both forearms resting on the floor.
o 2000 (Hard)
Recognised as a move in its own right (with its own name), the 2000 is a
variation of the 1990 (see above). It's a spinning one-handed handstand with
the free hand positioned on top of the balancing hand on the floor.
o Airflare (Hard)
You could describe this as a continuous no-footed Swipe. Both legs remain in
the air, spread apart, while the top half of your body rotates. Half the time
you're in a Handstand, the other half you're rotating unsupported in mid-air.
With the Jumping Airflare you rotate about the axis of your body which results
in you taking a couple of extra "steps" with your hands in each revolution.
- Jumping Airflare [down]
o Elbowtrack (Hard)
This is like a lower version of the Airflare - you support your weight on your
forearms instead of your hands.
- On Point Elbowtrack [down]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| Freezes |
'------------------------------------------------------------------------------'
Freezes are moves that involve using strength and balance to hold the body in a
fixed (frozen) position, often used at the end of a chain of moves or a set.
In B-Boy you can gain extra Rhythm medal credit for hitting a freeze on one of
the occasional yellow sections on the beat wheel which always coincide with a
gap or other event on the song.
Your freeze moves can be assigned to button combos including the square button.
During a freeze you need to use the L1 and R1 buttons to control a balance meter
- if the marker touches either end of the meter then, unless you're doing a
basic Baby or Sidebaby, you will crash.
o Baby Freeze (Base) [square]
This is a basic and simple freeze, hence the name. You balance with both palms
and the side of your head on the ground. The elbow of your strong arm presses
into your abdomen, supporting your body weight.
You can press [square] a second time to switch your legs which looks cool but
it doesn't add to your move chain (otherwise you'd have a quick/cheap way to
build up your Flow medal).
o Shoulder Freeze (Easy)
This looks kinda like a fallen Headstand! You balance on the side of your
head, your shoulder on one side and the hand on the opposite side.
o Sidebaby (Easy)
This is a minor variant of the standard Baby.
o Chair (Easy)
The iconic Chair Freeze can be entered from the Baby Freeze by twisting your
hips until one foot touches the floor behind you; the ankle of the other leg
then rests on the knee of the first leg, like you're sitting cross-legged.
The elbow of your balancing arm presses into the side of your torso and the
other hand is lifted from the ground, usually placed on your hip.
o Headstand (Easy)
Erm, it's basically an ordinary Headstand! Your legs are bent and you can move
them to maintain balance.
o Handstand (Medium)
Another obvious one - a good ol' fashioned Handstand. Like a Headstand but
with your arms straight and head off the floor; also your legs are splayed in
a "V" shape.
o Airbaby (Medium)
Here you balance on one hand with the knee of the leg on the same side sitting
on the elbow of the supporting arm. In the game though it's depicted with the
other arm and both legs hanging freely.
o Head Hollowback (Medium)
This is a kind of Headstand, where the back of your head touches the floor and
your supporting hands are positioned behind your back. Your legs are suspended
on the opposite side to your head, although in the "invert" variant they move
over to the other side.
If you can do this move without using your head for balance then it's just
called a Hollowback.
- Head Hollowback Invert [down]
- Head Hollowback Open [left]
o Forearm Freeze (Medium)
A Handstand with flava! You balance on your hand on one side and on a forearm
on the other.
o Invert (Hard)
This is an inverted Hollowback; Kmel has a similar move which is actually
labelled as a Hollowback Invert. You could also think of it as being like the
invert variation of the Head Hollowback (see above) without the head!
o Handhop (Hard)
In a one-handed handstand you repeatedly kick upwards with your legs and hips
so that your hand keeps hopping off the ground. No, it's not really a freeze.
Handhops are also called Rabbits.
o Air Freeze (Hard)
This is simply a one-handed Handstand. (Simple to describe at least.)
The spinning version of this move is the 1990 (see above).
- Tucked Air Freeze [down]
- Air Freeze Grab [left]
o Airchair (Hard)
This move takes its name from the fact that it's like a Chair freeze but with
your head and foot lifted off the ground! You have one hand flat on the floor,
the elbow of this arm pressing into your side, supporting your entire weight.
Your free arm and both legs point vertically upwards - keeping them close to
your centre of balance.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| Special Entries |
'------------------------------------------------------------------------------'
Special Entries (or Special Entrances) are moves which can be performed at the
start of a throwdown as you enter the circle/stage. This dramatic entrance will
contribute about a third of a bar towards the Blow Up medal.
Each of the four Special Entries always transitions automatically into one of
the four Base Moves and they are initiated by tapping the LEFT STICK (during the
3...2...1 countdown) in the direction that matches the button position for that
move group. For example the "Torpedo Dive!" entry ends in a Windmill, which is a
power move, which corresponds to the circle button, which is on the right so you
tap the left stick [right] to do the move! I hope that makes sense. :)
Burst! [up] Toprock [triangle]
Handstand Walk! [left] Torpedo Dive! [right] Freeze [square] Power [circle]
Moon Kick 360! [down] Footwork [cross]
Using a Special Entry will cost you half your Hype bar so, obviously, your Hype
bar must be at least half full to be able to do this. If you win the Who Goes
First "spin the bottle" test at the start of a battle or tournament then you
will have enough Hype to do a Special Entry, but often your Hype level will
carry over from one round/battle to the next after that so if you're not going
for the Blow Up medal then save your Hype and don't do an entry.
At the start of Livin' Da Life mode your character doesn't know any of the
Special Entry moves but you can learn one (Burst!) during the Street Scene. In
B-Boy Jam mode all the famous characters have their own entry move which is
called "Blow Up!"; again this will transition into one of the Base Moves and is
launched by tapping the left stick in the corresponding direction (see Section
11) or you can simply rotate the stick to hit all four directions! The four
fictional characters have one each of the four named Life mode Special Entries
which are listed here.
o Burst! [up]
Your character skips into the circle holding out their arms horizontally like
the wings on an airplane. Erm, that's it! It transitions into Toprock.
o Handstand Walk! [left]
The name is self-explanatory: in a Handstand, the b-boy "walks" into the
circle before dropping down into a Baby Freeze (so be ready to either maintain
the balance or transition into another move).
o Moon Kick 360! [down]
Easily the most dramatic of the entry moves, your character jumps up into a
roughly horizontal form and kicks so that they spin 360 degrees around their
body's axis. They then land, quickly drop down to the floor on one leg and
into Six-Step footwork.
The original Moon Kick tech and name is inspired by the "Chuta na Lua" move
from Capoeira - the Afro-Brazilian martial art / dance style.
o Torpedo Dive! [right]
The character dives onto the floor and into a Windmill.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| Disses and Finishing Move |
'------------------------------------------------------------------------------'
A diss is a mimed attack (like a "burn" in uprock) which you use to insult your
opponent. You can perform a diss by tapping one of the four directions on the
LEFT STICK between move chains.
If you [hold up] on the left stick this will end your turn. Doing this when you
have a full Hype bar will end your turn with the Finishing Move! Be careful with
this - if your Hype bar is maxed out and you want to save it for the next battle
then don't use this option, you can't end the turn without the Finishing Move!
o Killing It [tap up]
Your character makes a throat-cutting gesture. When you start out in Livin' Da
Life mode this is the only diss your character knows.
o Slice and Dice [tap right]
Your character mimes grabbing your opponent, cutting them with a knife and
then sheathing their imaginary weapon.
o Blow you Away [tap left]
Your character mimes firing a shotgun at your opponent, with the recoil
causing them to jump back in the air. This is my favourite. :)
o In Your Face [tap down]
Your character makes a popular - but rather rude - b-boy gesture!
o Finishing Move! [hold up]
This is a sort of Windmill-into-Swipe-into-crouch type thing which ends your
turn theatrically. You need a full Hype bar in order to be able to use this
and it will empty it but you will gain a large chunk of Blow Up medal credit.
------------.-----------------------------------------------------------------.
| Section 11 | THE DANCERS s11 |
'------------'-----------------------------------------------------------------'
This section describes the available characters in the game - the seventeen
playable characters in B-Boy Jam mode and the nine crew partners which you're
consecutively paired with in Livin' Da Life mode.
I've listed the move-set for each person, with the Base Move (see Section 08)
for each category given at the start of each list in CAPS. (well, except 1990!)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| Jam Mode Characters |
'------------------------------------------------------------------------------'
The characters for B-Boy Jam mode (see Section 05 above) are listed below in the
order they appear on the menu. When you start the game only seven are available
- Darkness, Hong 10, Ivan, Mouse, Rosa Roc, Ruen and Benny - but the others can
be unlocked by completing the Survivor mode on Hard difficulty with other people
(see notes here or table in Section 05).
Most of the characters are based on real b-boys with the exception of, I think,
four people - these are the ones that each have one of the four Special Entry
moves that you can learn in Livin' Da Life mode. The others each have their own
entry move, although they are all simply named "Blow Up!" - these automatically
transition into their Base Move of the category given in brackets, for example
Hong 10's "Blow Up!" move is a freeze move so it segues into his Halo Freeze.
o Host 1
This guy is all about the old skool, with his Kangol-style hat and Adidas
sneakers and tracksuit, all co-ordinated in red. He doesn't have the biggest
range of techniques and is pretty lacking when it comes to power moves.
Host 1 can be unlocked by completing Survivor mode on Hard with Lilou.
Toprock: TOPROCK, salsa back, salsa front, indian step, march step, brooklyn
rock, cross-step, crazy rock, lil' crazy rock
Footwork: SIX-STEP, kneespin, bicycle pump, three-step, baby love, helicopter,
cc, zulu spin, pretzels
Power: WINDMILL, turtle, swipe, backspin, headspin
Freezes: BABY FREEZE, shoulder freeze, forearm freeze, head hollowback,
chair, headstand, handstand, sidebaby, airbaby
Entry: Burst!
o Darkness
Top Korean b-boy Darkness, formerly of the Gambler crew, is known for his
freezes so it's no surprise to see that he has an extensive range here with
lots of variations.
Toprock: TOPROCK, brooklyn rock left, brooklyn rock right, indian step left,
indian step right, star step
Footwork: THREE-STEP, one-handed three-step, three-step mini-swipe, three-step
sweep, six-step, baby love, rollover, shuffle, cc, criss cross, w,
popout
Power: 1990, hopping 1990, inverse 1990, flare, checked flare, headspin,
swipe, handglide, windmill, halo, shoulder halo, buddha, 2000, ufo,
spinning airchair, shoulderspin, icey ice
Freezes: HANDSTAND TUCK, handstand, forearm freeze, one-armed forearm freeze,
shoulder freeze, baby freeze, baby with a gun, one-armed baby,
footbaby, footbaby grab, dark sidebaby, airbaby, kicking airbaby,
power float, hollowback, airchair, kicking airchair, y-freeze,
y-freeze right, y-freeze left, y-freeze tuck, y-freeze plank,
gambler, tucked headstand, kicking headstand, elbow freeze, pencil
elbow freeze, handhop
Entry: Blow Up! (freeze)
o Hong 10
One of the biggest names in international breaking is Korea's Hong 10 whose
victories include the Red Bull BC One solo (Brazil 2006), FSS Korea (2004) and
consecutive crew titles at the UK B-Boy Champs. Known for his complex freezes,
his move-set here includes several of his signature moves such as the Chair
Flare and, of course, his own Hong 10 Freeze.
Toprock: TOPROCK, brooklyn rock left, brooklyn rock right, side-step left,
side-step right
Footwork: THREE-STEP, one-handed three-step, three-step scissor kick, shuffle,
six-step, zulu spin, baby love, bridge, one-legged bridge, bridge
track, bridge thread, criss cross, floor rock, floor rock head
thread, floor rock threads, floor rock worm, cc, handspin
Power: FLARE, chair flare, windmill, bellymill, 1990, halo, one-handed
nutcracker halo, double halo, one-handed halo grab, elbowtrack, one-
handed elbowtrack, headspin
Freezes: HALO FREEZE, open halo freeze, halo freeze track, open halo freeze
jump, halo freeze switches, halo freeze tap, halo freeze swipe, one-
handed halo freeze, threaded halo hop, baby freeze, head hollowback,
invert, side invert, open invert, forearm freeze, one-armed forearm
freeze grab, air chair, handcuff air chair, air chair grab, air
chair twisted grab, high chair, hong 10 freeze, hong 10 freeze hang,
hong 10 freeze l-kick, hong 10 freeze side-kick, air freeze, twisted
grab air freeze, piked air freeze, air freeze salute, handstand,
headstand, twisted headstand
Entry: Blow Up! (freeze)
o Ivan
America's self-proclaimed "Urban Action Figure" focuses mainly on the more
acrobatic techs, with lots of power moves and some gymnastic "toprock" but
little footwork and only one freeze.
Unfortunately Ivan is perhaps now best known outside the b-boying community
for his appearance on the US television show America's Got Talent where he
attempted a trampette jump over a row of chairs and bailed badly.
Toprock: TOPROCK, left hand spring, back sum, layout, high layout, piked sum,
the i-flip, don't front, back flip ankle cross
Footwork: SIX-STEP, right hook, three-step, knee swipe, cc, drop-kick, zulu
spin, kneespin
Power: WINDMILL, handcuff windmill, confusion windmill, windmill reach,
windmill startrack, supaman mill, supaman returns, munchmill, 2000,
1990, backspin, headspin, headspin drill, pointing headspin, u.a.f.
headspin, blind headspin, power headspin, star headspin, headspin
grab, egg beater headspin, illusion headspin, halo, one-handed halo,
two-footed swipe, one-footed swipe
Freezes: BABY FREEZE
Entry: Blow Up! (footwork)
o Kazuhiro
Representing the foundational styles, Kazuhiro out of Japan's King Ark crew is
keeping it real with a good selection of footwork moves. Aged 30 at the time
of the game's release, he gives the younger dancers a run for their money!
Kazuhiro can be unlocked by completing Survivor mode on Hard with Hong 10.
Toprock: TOPROCK, side-step turn, side-step accent, brooklyn rock
Footwork: SIX-STEP, commando six-step, rotating six-step, six-step wave, six-
step hip switch, sweeping six-step, three-step, three-step kick,
three-step hop, three-step swipe roll, three-step mini-swipe, baby
love, baby love knee roll, baby love turnout, turnout pose, pop out,
twist, macaca, shuffle, handspring, zulu spin, applejack, switches,
cc, king kickout, kingspin, switch kick, knee stall
Power: WINDMILL, munchmill, swipe, air swipe, backspin, halo, flare, air
flare
Freezes: BABY FREEZE, airbaby, forearm freeze, chair, shoulder freeze, air
freeze, handstand, switch handstand, twisted handstand
Entry: Blow Up! (toprock)
o Kmel (or Kamel)
Kmel hails from the U.S. of A. and dances for the Boogie Brats crew, hence the
"Brats" on his jersey. Listed, along with Crumbs (below), as one of the modern
b-boys most admired by legendary breaker Frosty Freeze (RIP), Kmel has a big
selection of footwork and freezes but he can still drop a few power moves when
the need arises.
Kmel can be unlocked by completing Survivor mode on Hard with Ruen.
Toprock: TOPROCK, brooklyn rock, brooklyn drop, cross-step, knee jive, blade
kick, leanski, intrigue flip
Footwork: SIX-STEP, six-step 8 ball, rotating six-step, six-step king ness,
corkscrew, kickout, get 'em gump, kneespin, double kneespin, three-
step, kipup, baby love, baby love knee roll, baby love turtle step,
baby love kick, turtle walk forward, turtle walk back, turtle walk
left, turtle walk right, zulu spin, knee rock, pretzels, head swipe,
floor rock origami, floor rock belly roll
Power: BELLYMILL, windmill, backspin, backspin tucked, halo, one-handed
halo, headspin, flare, high flare, swipe, 1990, turtle
Freezes: BABY FREEZE, baby brat, baby gun, headstand, forearm headstand,
chair, head hollowback, forearm head hollowback, head hollowback
hang, head hollowback crossed, bridge, one-handed bridge, forearm
freeze, double forearm freeze, handstand, twisted handstand, air
freeze hang, air freeze grab, twisted air freeze, hollowback,
hollowback tuck, hollowback invert, hollowback crossed, airchair,
left armchair, elbowchair
Entry: Blow Up! (footwork)
o Lilou
Depicted here wearing his distinctive shemagh, Lilou from France has a unique
style of technical and, frankly, somewhat frenzied breaking. He's a founder
member of the Pockemon crew who took the UK B-Boy Champs crew title in 2006.
Last year he become the first person to win the international Red Bull solo
title for a second time.
Lilou can be unlocked by completing Survivor mode on Hard with Mouse.
Toprock: TOPROCK, side-step left, side-step right
Footwork: SIX-STEP, six-step run around, six-step thread, six-step elbowrock,
sweeping six-step, three-step, rotating three-step, baby love, baby
love knee-step, criss cross, criss cross thread, criss cross tap,
double criss cross, kneespin, double kneespin, cc, cc front, cc tap,
cc double, pretzels, pretzels threads, shuffle, crouch, applejack,
coin drop, floor rock, floor rock back thread, floor rock slide
thread, floor rock corkscrew
Power: FLARE, threaded flare, windmill, windmill thread, headspin, headspin
drill, headspin grab, elbowtrack
Freezes: AIRCHAIR, airchair grab, elbow airchair, airchair arm link, airchair
grab behind, airchair thread, lotus airchair, high chair, headstand,
headstand balance, headstand grab, headstand thread, twisted head-
stand, sidebaby, one-handed sidebaby, sidebaby rolling thread, elbow
freeze, elbow freeze thread, air freeze, twisted grab air freeze,
air freeze thread, lotus air freeze, spider, half spider, tortoise
spider, spider alpha, spider threads, cradle, tortoise cradle, lotus
cradle, invert, lotus invert, tucked invert, forearm freeze, forearm
freeze thread, forearm freeze grab, one-armed forearm freeze, baby
freeze, baby kick, airbaby, airbaby grab, footbaby grab
Entry: Blow Up! (freeze)
o Mouse
Filipino b-boy Mouse is based in the UK and a member of the Soul Mavericks
crew, although he achieved solo success with UK titles in 2005 and 2006. Like
the previous two characters, he has a decent range of footwork and freezes.
Toprock: TOPROCK, bounce left, bounce right, salsa step left, salsa step
right
Footwork: THREE-STEP, three-step turnout, three-step shuffle, three-step kick,
three-step swipe, three-step mini-swipe, helicopter, pretzels, criss
cross, criss cross stall, criss cross scramble, coin drop, floor
rock ninja, floor rock threads, floor rock back rock, baby love,
baby love turnout, switches, switched on, cc, cc dip, double cc, cc
rollover, cc uprise, cc front, cc shuffle, topspin, six-step, back
rewind, front rewind, run around
Power: WINDMILL, bellymill, munchmill, swipe, swipe turnout, halo, double
halo, 1990, 2000, flare, airflare, munch airflare, elbowtrack, drill
Freezes: BABY FREEZE, baby gun, baby switch, elbow freeze, one-armed elbow
freeze, spider, chair, crazy chair, forearm freeze, forearm freeze
l-kick, air freeze, air freeze grab, piked air freeze, tucked air
freeze, headstand, lotus headstand, forearm headstand, one-handed
headstand, handstand, open handstand, lotus handstand, handhop,
handhop switches, head hollowback, open head hollowback, tucked head
hollowback, lotus head hollowback, airchair, airchair grab, invert,
l-kick invert, lotus invert, crossed invert, tucked invert, side
invert, invert hop
Entry: Blow Up! (freeze)
o Physicx
Straight outta Korea, Physicx is looking fresh with a two-tone (Windrunner?)
jacket and matching cap! He's a member of the Rivers crew but was also part of
the multiple UK Champs-winning crew Project Soul. He's since expanded his
range to incorporate more foundation, but in the game he's a little limited on
the footwork, instead favouring the power and freezes.
Physicx can be unlocked by completing Survivor mode on Hard with Darkness.
In addition to being a playable character in B-Boy Jam mode, Physicx is also
one of the crew partners who becomes available during the Pro Scene phase of
the Livin' Da Life mode.
Toprock: TOPROCK, phyz step right, phyz step left, bounce right, bounce left,
side-step right, side-step left, cross-step right, cross-step left
Footwork: SIX-STEP, baby love, zulu spin, bicycle pump, cc, criss cross, hand-
glide
Power: ELBOWSPIN, shoulderspin, windmill, elbowtrack, flare, airflare,
piked airflare, headspin, 1990, inverse 1990, rivers 1990, turtle,
2000, hollow 2000
Freezes: BABY FREEZE, airbaby, hanging airbaby, handstand, handstand hang,
headstand, shoulder freeze, planche, planche cross, head hollowback,
hollowback, hollowback cross, hollowback plank, inverted hollowback
open, inverted hollowback cross, y-freeze, handhop, handhop grab,
air freeze, forearm freeze
Entry: Blow Up! (freeze)
o Sonic
Raised in Colombia but now living in Copenhagen, Denmark, "Sonic da Humanoid"
represents and choreographs the Natural Effects crew. Although not exactly
lacking in footwork and power, his specialist subject here is clearly freezes.
Sonic can be unlocked by completing Survivor mode on Hard with Benny.
Toprock: TOPROCK, rocking, indian step, bounce right, bounce left, star turn,
side-step
Footwork: THREE-STEP, six-step, mini-swipe, macaca, elbow rock, knee rock, cc,
cc switches, commando cc, knee twist, applejack
Power: BACKSPIN, swipe, munchmill, 1990, turtle, headspin, headspin glide,
tucked headspin, headspin drill, future float
Freezes: BABY FREEZE, baby hop, baby jump, baby crickets, sonic rock, sonic
rock v2, forearm freeze, one-armed forearm freeze, forearm stand,
air freeze, headstand, shoulder freeze, pencil freeze, jazz split,
handstand, kicking handstand, scissor handstand, hollowback, head
freeze, twist freeze
Entry: Blow Up! (footwork)
o Rosa Roc
As you can see below, Ms Roc is pretty light on techs and, of the few she has,
only two of them are classed as Medium and none are Hard. This makes for a bit
of a challenge in her second and third battles in Survivor mode on Hard diff
where you have to compete for the Blow Up medal! I recommend collecting and
saving your Hype for a Special Entry in both of these battles, using your two
toprock variations (Indian Step Right and Star Step) and hoping that both your
opponents under-perform!
Toprock: TOPROCK, salsa back, salsa front, indian step, indian step right,
march step, star step
Footwork: SIX-STEP, cc, baby love, three-step
Power: WINDMILL, backspin, swipe
Freezes: BABY FREEZE, chair, headstand, sidebaby, shoulder freeze, handstand
Entry: Handstand Walk!
o Ruen
American b-boy Ronnie Ruen doesn't waste time with toprock - it's straight
into an impressive array of power moves, as demonstrated when he took the solo
title at the UK B-Boy Champs a few years back. His talent for the power move
category is such that his Base Move is the Airflare! :o
Toprock: TOPROCK
Footwork: MINI-SWIPE, elbow mini-swipe, three-step kick, six-step
Power: AIRFLARE, tombstone airflare, munch airflare, airflare tap, airflare
hop, airflare glide, headspin, headspin drill, headspin pump, 1990,
1990 drill, halo, halo tap, illusion halo, halo glide double grab,
ruened halo, halo glide grab, windmill, bellymill, munchmill, coin
drop, airtrack, flare, elbowtrack, hopping elbowtrack, elbowtrack
walk
Freezes: INVERT, piked invert, chair, baby freeze, forearm stall, hollowback,
head hollowback, halo freeze, headstand, double forearm freeze
Entry: Blow Up! (footwork)
o Crumbs
Like Ruen above, Crumbs comes from America and is part of the Style Elements
crew. He has a wide and well-balanced range of moves in the game, including
variations of his own "Sick-Step" footwork and a decent number of freezes.
Crumbs can be unlocked by completing Survivor mode on Hard with Ivan.
In addition to being a playable character in B-Boy Jam mode, Crumbs is also
one of the crew partners who becomes available during the Pro Scene phase of
the Livin' Da Life mode.
Toprock: TOPROCK, typewriter left, typewriter right, head flip
Footwork: SICK-STEP, travelling sick-step, sick-step run around, sick-step
rollover, sick-step elbow rock, three-step, three-step mini-swipes,
cc, cc sling, sweeps, baby love, kneespin, floor rock, applejack
Power: 1990, 1990 drill, style 1990, thread 1990, windmill, killa windmill,
killa thread, flare, matrix, coin drop, coin drop moon-kick, elbow-
spin, headspin
Freezes: HANDSTAND, ninja, floor ninja, air freeze, jazz split, jazz split
thread, jazz split roll, headstand, headstand kicks, chair, plank,
elbowstand, elbowstand press, baby freeze, switch baby freeze, head
hollowback, head hollowback cross, airbaby, airbaby plank, scissor
freeze
Entry: Blow Up! (freeze)
o Crazy Legs
I would hope that the most famous b-boy in the world needs no introduction,
but I better give a quick one anyways. Legs was one of the earliest members of
the legendary Rock Steady Crew and became its president in 1981, now leading
its numerous chapters worldwide. His appearances in the movie Flashdance (both
the street scene and as a body-double for the lead actress at the end!) played
a key role in raising international awareness of breaking; he also appeared in
the classic Hip-Hop movies Wild Style, Style Wars and - during the infamous
battle at the Roxy - Beat Street.
He was one of the lead consultants for FSG during the development of the game
and he appears in it as a playable character in B-Boy Jam mode, as the host of
the UK B-Boy Champs stage and in a mentor role in Livin' Da Life mode. As you
might hope and expect with an OG of the scene, his move-set showcases a number
of old skool breaking moves.
Crazy Legs can be unlocked by completing Survivor mode on Hard with Kmel.
Toprock: TOPROCK, salsa back, salsa front, indian step, march step, brooklyn
rock, cross-step, crazy rock, lil' crazy rock
Footwork: THREE-STEP, six-step, crazy commando six-step, zulu spin, scissor
kick, cc, knee switch, macaca, knee rock, floor rock, criss cross,
float, elbow walk
Power: BACKSPIN, continuous backspin, web, swipe, bellymill
Freezes: SHOULDER-FREEZE, shoulder rock, shoulder steady, chair, elbow chair,
deck chair, ground hero, grounded, head bridge, baby freeze, jazz
split, w freeze, rocksteady
Entry: Blow Up! (footwork)
I put together (I guess the correct term is "choreographed"!) a routine for
Crazy Legs the last time I was playing the game. It's not optimised for any
particular medal achievement - it's all about original old skool boogie-down
Bronx flava! If you do the transitions as quickly as possible then it should
fit exactly into a standard 45-second throwdown.
Crazy Legs Old-Skool Combo
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Toprock [triangle]
Brooklyn Rock [down down triangle]
Three-Step [cross]
Scissor Kick [down down cross]
CC [left cross]
Chair Freeze [down square]
Head Bridge [up square]
Elbow Walk [left left left cross]
W Freeze [up up square]
Knee Switch [right cross]
Knee Rock [left left cross]
Backspin [circle]
Grounded [up down square]
I don't intend to give sets for other characters but if you'd like to send me
one I'll try it out and add it with a credit - if it's any good!
o Benny Kimoto
German b-boy Benny is part of the Flying Steps crew who also run their own
dance academy in Berlin and have released several albums!
What he lacks in tops and footwork he certainly makes up for with an excellent
selection of both power moves and freezes. I'm pleased to see that Benny's
moves include several headspin variants since he set the world record in the
year 2000 for the most headspin rotations in a minute. (sixty-two!)
In addition to being a playable character in B-Boy Jam mode, Benny is also one
of the crew partners who becomes available during the Club Scene phase of the
Livin' Da Life mode.
Toprock: TOPROCK
Footwork: CC, three-step, six-step, pretzels, step-over, back rock, body
thread
Power: WINDMILL, tombstone windmill, superman windmill, munchmill, 1990,
1990 grab, 1990 l-kick, inverse 1990, inverse 1990 grab, airflare,
airflare tap, airflare hop, halo, elbowtrack, elbowtrack tap, one-
handed elbowtrack, headspin, headspin glide, headspin grab, headspin
ball, flying headspin, power headspin, forearm spin, inverse forearm
spin, jackhammer, swipe, 2000
Freezes: L-KICK, l-kick grab, l-kick thread, forearm l-kick, forearm thread,
forearm leg switch, handstand, handstand leg switch, benny freeze,
killamoto, handhop, handhop kicks, forearm freeze, forearm freeze
leg switch, forearm leg switch (sic), headstand, headstand cross,
no-handed headstand, hollowback, twisted hollowback, shoulder
freeze, one-armed shoulder freeze
Entry: Blow Up! (power)
o Mellow D
Making up the numbers near the end of the list is b-girl Mellow D. Not much to
see here, with very few footwork moves or freezes.
Mellow D can be unlocked by completing Survivor mode on Hard with Rosa Roc.
Toprock: TOPROCK, salsa back, salsa front, indian step, indian step right,
march step, star step
Footwork: SIX-STEP, baby love, helicopter, zulu spin
Power: WINDMILL, turtle, elbowtrack, swipe, backspin, halo, munchmill,
airflare, headspin
Freezes: BABY FREEZE, chair
Entry: Torpedo Dive!
o Rack
The final character on the roster is Rack. Despite being a somewhat chunky
fellow he can still pull off a Moon Kick entrance and Airflare!
Rack can be unlocked by completing Survivor mode on Hard with Physicx.
Toprock: TOPROCK, salsa back, salsa front, indian step, indian step right,
march step, star step, brooklyn rock, cross step, crazy rock, lil'
crazy rock
Footwork: SIX-STEP, three-step, baby love, cc, helicopter, zulu spin
Power: WINDMILL, munchmill, flare, airflare, turtle, elbowtrack, swipe,
1990, 2000, backspin, halo, headspin
Freezes: BABY FREEZE, shoulder freeze, chair, headstand, handstand
Entry: Moon Kick 360!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| Life Mode Crew Partners |
'------------------------------------------------------------------------------'
Once you reach a certain stage in Livin' Da Life mode the game will introduce
you to the concept of crew battles. Don't expect epic routines with six or seven
b-boys on the floor at the same time though - you only ever have a two-person
"crew" and only one person goes down at a time.
Crew battles have two throwdowns per side. Your first one will always be with
your main character (Custom) and by default the second throwdown will go to your
current partner but it's important to note that you don't have to use them.
Pressing [L1] or [R1] while your opponents are down lets you toggle between your
two characters and chose who to use in the second stint. To be honest, I always
use my own character because s/he usually has a better range of moves and I'm
more familiar with the button combos and possible transitions.
Your first crew partner will be Kool Rock - the dude in the hat who acts as your
guide and mentor. After a while though another b-boy will offer to join forces
with you and, if you beat a "crew partner challenge" (a battle against them with
one throwdown each and all five medal categories), they will become your new
partner, much to Kool Rock's displeasure. Haha!
The practice mode in "The Lab" always begins with your main character but if you
hold the left stick [up] to end your turn it will switch to your current crew
partner so you can practise using their move-set.
A number of crew partners become available as you play through the Club Scene
and then the Pro Scene. I've listed them here in the order they appeared during
my most recent play-through of the game.
o Kool Rock (default)
He may have the full set of toprock steps but he don't got much else!
Toprock: TOPROCK, salsa back, salsa front, indian step, indian step right,
march step, star step, brooklyn rock, cross step, crazy rock, lil'
crazy rock
Footwork: SIX-STEP, three-step
Power: WINDMILL, munchmill, flare, turtle, backspin, halo, headspin
Freezes: BABY FREEZE, chair
Entry: n/a
o Garin (Club Scene)
My man Garin is looking fresh with an old skool three-stripe Adidas tracksuit
and a baseball cap worn at a jaunty angle. He's quite an improvement over
Kool Rock, having a reasonable range of both footwork techs and freezes and
only one less power move.
Toprock: TOPROCK, salsa back, salsa front, indian step, indian step right,
march step, star step, brooklyn rock, cross step, crazy rock, lil'
crazy rock
Footwork: SIX-STEP, kneespin, bicycle pump, baby love, cc, coin drop, three-
step, helicopter, zulu spin, web, pretzels
Power: WINDMILL, flare, turtle, swipe, backspin, headspin
Freezes: BABY FREEZE, shoulder freeze, chair, headstand, handstand, airbaby
Entry: Moon Kick 360!
o Spider (Club Scene)
The Spiderman wears a distinctive orange Armory tee with a grey long-sleeve
shirt underneath. He also wears a helmet so it's no surprise to see that Head-
spins are part of his repertoire! I guess he's a fairly good all-rounder with
a slight bias towards power.
Toprock: TOPROCK, salsa back, salsa front, indian step, indian step right,
march step, star step, brooklyn rock, cross step, crazy rock, lil'
crazy rock
Footwork: SIX-STEP, three-step, baby love, cc, zulu spin
Power: WINDMILL, munchmill, flare, turtle, elbowtrack, swipe, 1990, 2000,
backspin, halo, airflare, headspin
Freezes: BABY FREEZE, head hollowback, chair, headstand, handstand, airbaby
Entry: Torpedo Dive!
o Solo (Club Scene)
The fourth crew partner is called Solo, which is a bit ironic. :) He's missing
a couple of tops steps and is pretty light on the freezes and power.
In theory each new crew partner is an upgrade but you have to wonder... Also I
got these last three characters in the order they appear in the league chart,
going from top to bottom! (Garin is above Spider who's above Solo)
Toprock: TOPROCK, salsa back, salsa front, indian step, indian step right,
march step, star step
Footwork: SIX-STEP, kneespin, bicycle pump, three-step, baby love, helicopter,
cc, zulu spin, pretzels, floor rock, head swipe
Power: WINDMILL, turtle, backspin, headspin
Freezes: BABY FREEZE, chair
Entry: n/a
o Benny Kimoto (Club Scene)
(see details in previous section)
o Dino Flo (Pro Scene)
This is the little kid with the woolly hat. His emphasis is on footwork (with
four variations on the Six-Step) but overall the range of his move-set is
pretty limited compared to Benny before him!
Toprock: TOPROCK, salsa back, salsa front, indian step, indian step right,
march step, star step, brooklyn rock, cross step, crazy rock, lil'
crazy rock
Footwork: SIX-STEP, back shuffle, front shuffle, hop left, hop right, zulu
spin, helicopter, cc, baby love, three-step, pretzels, kneespin,
coin drop, floor rock, headswipe
Power: WINDMILL, turtle, cricket, backspin
Freezes: BABY FREEZE, chair, headstand
Entry: n/a
o Tiva (Pro Scene)
Tiva is very limited when it comes to freezes but she has a full set of tops
techs and a decent range of footwork and power including lots of useful Six-
Step, CC and Windmill variations.
Toprock: TOPROCK, salsa back, salsa front, indian step, indian step right,
march step, star step, brooklyn rock, cross step, crazy rock, lil'
crazy rock
Footwork: SIX-STEP, back shuffle, front shuffle, hop left, hop right, shuffle
right, roll, switches, rewind, crouched switch, criss cross, switch
up, rotating six-step, six-step elbow rock, kneespin, three-step,
baby love, cc, cc hop, cc roll right, no-handed cc, helicopter, zulu
spin
Power: WINDMILL, grab windmill, australian windmill, tombstone windmill,
nutcracker windmill, coffin windmill, handcuff windmill, u.f.o,
turtle, cricket, jackhammer, backspin, backspin tucked
Freezes: CHAIR, headstand
Entry: Burst!
o Physicx (Pro Scene)
(see details in previous section)
o Crumbs (Pro Scene)
(see details in previous section)
------------.-----------------------------------------------------------------.
| Section 12 | THE STAGES s12 |
'------------'-----------------------------------------------------------------'
I wasn't sure what to call these... there are twenty-two "places where you can
dance" in the game, or twenty-seven if you count the nocturnal versions, but for
now I've decided to call them "stages". In some cases it's a literal stage - at
a major international tournament - while in others it's a much less formal arena
for performance, like a local park or city centre.
In Livin' Da Life mode each event, like challenges and tournaments, is scripted
and will always take place on the same stage. In B-Boy Jam mode you can select
which stage to use; some are available from the start of the game and others
have to be unlocked by completing Survivor mode on Medium difficulty with a
specific character - I've given their names below in square brackets, or see
Section 05 above for a full list of Survivor mode unlocks.
The formal tournaments usually have an MC who commentates during the battles,
making comments on the dancers' performances (e.g. when they win medals or don't
use a certain move group). The characters Host 1, Rack and Crazy Legs all appear
as MC's on these stages (Legs introduces the UK Champs, just like in real life
where he co-hosts the annual event with Afrika Islam).
o Southside Harbour / Southside Harbour Night [unlock Night with Lilou]
A paved area next to the sea, with cardboard on the ground and graffiti throw-
ups and tags on the walls.
o Subway
An abandoned subway station platform with cardboard on the ground, an oil-drum
brazier burning, graf-bombed walls, an old train with a wildstyle piece on it
and an old skool boombox providing the tunes.
o Stormdrain / Stormdrain Night [unlock Night with Kmel]
A spot under a bridge in a stormdrain - probably inspired by the LA River.
There's plenty of graffiti around, including a large "FSG" on the ground.
In the nighttime version there's cardboard on the ground, braziers burning and
several street-racer cars, one of them with a big soundsystem in the back.
o Gym
A classic American school gymnasium, with a wooden floor, basketball markings
and basket, bleachers and a stage at the back. There's also a graf mural and
a boombox playing.
o Grand Jam [unlock with Mouse]
This looks like it might be at the same gym? There's a DJ playing on stage.
o City Park / City Park Night [unlock Night with Rack]
A traditional b-boy spot in an urban park, next to a statue, with a large
roll of lino on the ground.
o IBE [unlock with Benny]
This is the International Breakdance Event, also known as the "Notorious IBE",
a (usually!) annual event held in the Netherlands. You dance on the floor in
front of a large crowd, with the decks and DJ on a stage.
--->
http://www.thenotoriousibe.com
o The Tower / The Tower Night [unlock Night with Kazuhiro]
A perfect ordinary b-boy venue - on a helipad on top of a skyscraper! :9
o Urban Games [unlock with Darkness]
This is the Sprite Urban Games event which was held annually on Clapham Common
in London and included BMX and skating competitions in addition to b-boying.
It's an outdoor stage with a DJ and large soundsystem, tiered seating on both
sides and some comprehensive advertising coverage for Armory!
o FSS Korea [unlock with Physicx]
This is an outdoor FreeStyle Session event in the Far East. There's a wooden
floor, a FSS banner, a DJ in the corner and a crowd watching.
--->
http://www.freestylesession.com
o The Jam Down [unlock with Mellow D]
A sunken tiled dancefloor in a club with some stylish inset strip-lighting.
There's a DJ playing on stage behind a "Big Smoke" banner.
o Downtown / Downtown Night [unlock Night with Host 1]
An intersection in a pedestrianised city centre, going down on cardboard. I
would describe this as a Chinatown location but there's some Japanese katakana
text in the background so I guess it's supposed to be either a "Little Japan"
district in a US city or somewhere actually in Japan?
o Urban Outlaws [unlock with Crumbs]
A raised stage resembling the "dohyou" ring used for a sumo wrestling contest.
There's a Freestyle Battle logo on the floor, large crowd and DJ with a video
screen behind him.
o Graffiti Beach
A paved area next to a beach with a lifeguard tower and 4x4, dancing on card-
board. Contrary to the name, there's very little graf in evidence!
o FSS USA [unlock with Rosa Roc]
The FreeStyle Session again, this time in America. The venue has a black and
white checked floor (which reminds me of the Radiotron in LA - or a masonic
lodge!) and stairs leading up to the balconies.
o Adidas Stage
An outdoor stage in a large city with a big crowd. If it wasn't already clear
from the name, the design makes it pretty obvious who the sponsor is! Even the
DJ booth has been made into a giant Adidas* trefoil logo.
o UK Champs [unlock with Hong 10]
This is a pretty accurate recreation of the main stage at the UK B-Boy Champs
which is held annually at the Brixton Academy in London, specifically the 2005
championships which was the tenth anniversary year. The only things missing
are the sponsor logos on the backdrop and host Crazy Legs, promoter Hooch and
the judges sitting along the back, although you do get commentary from Legs
(which can be a little weird if he's battling too as you get him commentating
on his own performance!).
--->
http://www.bboychampionships.com
o The Plaza
A city-centre spot between a staircase with a graf piece on it, a cafe and a
construction site.
o Battle of the Year Cypher** [unlock with Ivan]
On the floor at the BOTY crew event in Germany, in a dimly-lit circle, amidst
a crowd. The main stage is visible in the background.
--->
http://www.battleoftheyear.de
o Rock Steady Anniversary*** [unlock with Crazy Legs]
A reunion event for the legendary Rock Steady Crew with a wooden floor, large
crowd, DJ on stage and RSC banner behind. In the game, Crazy Legs describes
the location as being "in New York city, the Mecca of Hip-Hop culture".
o Red Bull: King of the Ring [unlock with Sonic]
A large Red Bull-branded boxing ring with a wooden floor and large crowd at
one of their 'King of the Ring' events
o Street Final [unlock with Ruen]
Finally an outdoor urban basketball court by night, with a broken concrete
floor and plenty of graf on the walls.
*Adidas are also one of the four sponsors available in Livin' Da Life mode so
you can unlock some old skool tracksuits and classic three-stripe sneakers. :)
**The "cypher" is another name for a b-boy circle; the term originates from The
Nation of Gods and Earths but is commonly used in Hip-Hop.
***The Rock Steady Crew celebrated their 29th anniversary in 2006, the year that
the game was first released.
------------.-----------------------------------------------------------------.
| Section 13 | THE TUNES s13 |
'------------'-----------------------------------------------------------------'
I have to say I think the music selection in the game is really good. There's a
top selection of classic b-boy Funk breaks tracks from the 70's, some quality
old skool Hip-Hop and some nice new stuff too. I've been playing the game a lot
while writing this guide and, far from getting tired of hearing the same tracks
over and over, they're still growing on me.
I'm not the only fan of the music in the game. B-Boy was nominated in the sound-
track category at the UK's BAFTA Video Games awards in 2006 and, according to
the Babe Ruth website no less, it won Best Music Game (PSP) and runner-up Best
Music Game (PS2) at E3.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| The Tracks |
'------------------------------------------------------------------------------'
There are in total thirty-six music tracks included in the game, although in
both modes some have to be unlocked. In Livin' Da Life mode they are unlocked as
you progress through the three "scenes" and can then be viewed in the "jukebox"
on your computer (which lets you modify the playlist for the practice mode). In
B-Boy Jam mode you can earn them by beating Survivor on Easy (or in a few cases
Hard) difficulty with different characters (see Section 05 for a list).
The tracks are listed below in the order in which they unlock in Life mode (at
the start you only have the first three). I've given tempos (beats per minute)
for each track but these are only approximate (those live drummers may be funky
but they can't always maintain an even speed!). You'll notice that the tracks
unlock roughly in order of tempo, which makes sense - the faster tracks add to
the difficulty a little.
You may find that some of the tracks skip, perhaps once per throwdown, knocking
the beat markers out of sync. I assume this is a technical fault but I like to
imagine that it's a b-boy's heavy landing making the record needle jump! If you
wait a couple of seconds you should find that the beat markers refresh and move
back into the correct place.
1. 'The Phuncky Feel One' by Cypress Hill (110 bpm)
Released as a single in the summer of 1991 and also featured on their debut
self-titled LP in the same year.
The original demo version has B-Real alone on vocal duties.
2. 'Energy Level' by B.T. Express (133 bpm)
This is the closing track on their third LP - 'Energy to Burn' from 1976,
their first album to be released on a major label (Columbia).
Before I knew the title, I always used to think the vocal was "hey fella"!
3. 'Brothers on the Slide' by Cymande (116 bpm)
One of the British band's biggest tunes, this was released on their third
(and final) album, 'Promised Heights' from 1974.
Cymande described their unique blend of Funk, Soul, Reggae and Afro rhythms
as "Nyah-Rock".
4. 'Soul Clap' by Showbiz & AG (104 bpm)
The first official release of this track by the NYC duo was in 1991 on
Showbiz's own label. The original release is rare and quite valuable now.
Showbiz produced KRS-One's infamous 'Sound of da Police'. (whoop whoop!)
5. 'Bringing it Back' by the Black Eyed Peas (104 bpm)
Released in 2000 on their double-LP 'Bridging the Gap'.
I guess this track's place on the game soundtrack was helped by the line
about "all b-boys breakin' and bustin'..."
There are several freeze markers to watch out for on this one.
6. 'Make Room' by Tha Alkaholiks (105 bpm)
An early single from the west coast group, released in 1993 both as a single
and on the album '21 & Over'.
In keeping with the group's name, the image on the cover of the single was a
photo taken outside a liquor store.
7. 'Way Cool' by Freestyle Fellowship (106 bpm)
B-side to their 1993 single 'Hot Potato' and also featured on their LP
'Innercity Gruits' from the same year.
Is it my imagination or is there a reference to "six-step" in the lyrics?
This is another track with quite a number of spots where you can throw a
freeze for extra Rhythm medal points.
8. 'Watch Out Now' by The Beatnuts (110 bpm)
Released in 1999 as a single and on their 2LP 'A Musical Massacre'.
The track is noticeably censored - I counted ten words removed and replaced
by sound effects. The single includes both "Clean" and "Real" mixes so I
guess we get the former in the game!
9. 'Holy Ghost' by The Bar-Kays (110 bpm)
This was released as a single back in 1978 and they also included two
versions of it on their six-track LP 'Money Talks' in the same year.
Most of the band tragically lost their lives in 1967 in a plane crash (the
same one that took Otis Reading) but the two surviving members were able to
find new members and went on to write this classic.
Some folks might recognise the break as one of the samples used on 'Pump up
the Volume' by M|A|R|R|S in 1987.
10. 'Same Old Thing' by The Meters (110 bpm)
Included on their 1970 album 'Struttin'.
This track was sampled on Del tha Funkee Homosapien's track 'Same Ol' Thing'
on his 'I Wish my Brother George was Here' album.
11. 'I Believe in Miracles' by the Jackson Sisters (110 bpm)
First released in 1973 but reissued a few times since.
All I can say is, what a tuuuune! :)
12. 'Give it up or Turnit a Loose' (Remix) by James Brown (115 bpm)
The original, written by JB's manager Charles Bobbit, was released as a
single in 1969 but it's the later versions, such as this remix, that include
the all-important "clap your hands, stomp your feet" breakdown section.
This was popularised by Kool Herc back in the day, using two copies to
extend that break.
13. 'Get on the Good Foot' by James Brown (110 bpm)
First released as a single and on the double LP of the same name in 1972.
The track was co-written with Fred Wesley and Joe Mims. Coldcut sampled the
horns from this definitive Funk track on their 'The Music Maker' single.
14. 'Don't Sweat the Technique' by Eric B & Rakim (110 bpm)
The single release was in 1992 and it was also the title-track on the duo's
fourth album which came out in the same year (this was to be their final
album before they split). It's also the title music for this game.
The track copies the horns from 'It's Just Begun' by the Jimmy Castor Bunch,
a massive b-boy anthem (the one glaring omission on this list).
15. 'Juice (Know the Ledge)' by Eric B & Rakim (115 bpm)
Released in 1991 for the soundtrack of 2-Pac movie 'Juice' (there are clips
of the movie in the video) but also included - simply as 'Know the Ledge' -
on the same album as the previous track.
The solid breakbeat here makes it a dancefloor-friendly track. As with that
other tune from the duo, they make great use of bass and horns too.
16. 'Cold Sweat' by James Brown (114 bpm)
This was the title-track on an LP by James Brown & the Famous Flames. A
seminal release back in 1967, some view it as being the first proper track
in the Funk genre.
This is one of five James Brown tracks included in B-Boy; this turned out to
be a fitting tribute as The Godfather died on Christmas Day in 2006 - just
three months after the game's launch.
17. 'Say it Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud' by James Brown (115 bpm)
Originally released as a 7" in '68 and then included on an album of the same
name in the following year.
This was the first James Brown song to feature Fred Wesley (see track 31) on
trombone. Wesley went on to become the bandleader for James Brown's band,
the JB's, in late 1970.
18. 'Organ Donor' by DJ Shadow (115 bpm)
The original short version of this track is from his (absolutely essential)
1996 Mo Wax album 'Endtroducing...' but this is essentially the 'Extended
Overhaul' remix from the 'High Noon' EP in the same year, sped up a little.
There's a wicked organ hook on this tune (hence the punning title) and a
great breakbeat but the latter does make for a complicated pattern of beat
markers in the game. 'Organ Donor' was reworked heavily into a house track
by Trevor Loveys entitled 'Organ Grinder' a couple of years ago, notably
with a Hexstatic video compiled from vintage Monty Python clips! :)
19. '(This is) Something for the Radio' by Biz Markie (115 bpm)
Released as a single and on his 'Goin Off' album, both in 1988.
'Goin Off' was his debut album, produced by influential Hip-Hop artist and
producer Marley Marl.
20. 'The Mexican (Millennium)' by Babe Ruth (116 bpm)
Taken from their 1972 debut LP 'First Base', recorded at the famous Abbey
Road studios in London, 'The Mexican' features a big guitar riff based on
Ennio Morricone's theme to spaghetti western 'For a Few Dollars More' and
vocalist Janita Haan belting out lyrics about a soldier serving under Santa
Anna during the 1836 Texan Revolt.
This track is proof that not all the big tunes at the birth of Hip-Hop were
by black American Funk acts - Babe Ruth was a white rock-band from England!
Discovered by Hip-Hop's founding father, Kool DJ Herc was first to play this
in The Bronx,* including it as part of what he called his "merry-go-round"
segment where he would play only the instrumental breaks of records in order
to get the dancers - who he dubbed his "b-boys" - hyped on the dancefloor.
It went on to become one of the biggest and best loved anthems of the b-boy
scene and it's also seen as a major rocking track so you'll often see some
dancers busting some uprock to this song.
The influence of the track is such that it's inspired several cover versions
over the years, with a disco version by The Bombers in 1978, freestyle cover
by John "Jellybean" Benitez (featuring the original vocalist) in 1984 and
even German metallers Helloween paid tribute in 1999 on their covers album
'Metal Jukebox'; more recently Marc Hype & Jim Dunloop released their own
cover version in 2006 too. Other artistes to be inspired include Todd Terry
whose 1988 warehouse rave anthem 'Dreams of Santa Anna' copies the Morricone
hook and has a few vocal samples from 'The Mexican', Afrika Bambaataa & the
Soulsonic Force whose massive 1982 electro track 'Planet Rock' also uses the
Morricone bit and The Funky Four whose 'Feel It (The Mexican)' from 1983 on
Sugar Hill copies some of the guitar and percussion parts and uses the same
lyrical metre (but different words).
That all important break is actually very short on the original track but in
the game it's been extended and watch out for the two sets of doubled beats
per bar (dum d-dum dum-dum d-dum). The break has been sampled for a few Hip-
Hop tracks in the past, notably 'Africa (Goin' Back Home)' by Doug E Fresh
and 'On The Run' by the Jungle Brothers - both from 1988 - and 'Prisoners Of
War' by Organized Konfusion from 1991.
'The Mexican Millennium' version of the track was put together in 2006 (the
same year as the game) for inclusion on 'Que Pasa', the band's first album
release since 1976! This album was finally released last year (2009).
PS As you might've guessed from the length of this comment, I'm a big fan!
*In their fantastic book Last Night A DJ Saved My Life: The History Of The Disc
Jockey (Headline Books 1999) Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton describe an event
from the early days in The Bronx. Sometimes DJ's would battle to see who had the
most powerful system and Kool Herc's mighty "Herculoids" rig was recognised as
the clear victor. Jazzy Jay of Afrika Bambaataa's Zulu Nation organisation says
"Kool Herc used to just destroy people" and relates the story of one night when
his crew were playing at a party, rockin' the house, ...and then Herc arrived.
He took his time setting up his soundsystem and then started talking over it,
repeatedly asking Bam to turn his system down - each request louder than the one
before until pretty soon it's drowning out the Zulu speakers. ...And *then* he
drops a record and it's 'The Mexican' with its heavy b-line and it just totally
blows them away!
Although Herc is credited with bringing 'The Mexican' to The Bronx I think it
hit Manhattan somewhat earlier. As reported in Bill and Frank's book, the band's
'First Base' LP proved most successful in Canada where it was heard by Steve
D'Acquisto during a visit to Montreal; this lead to it getting played at David
Mancuso's legendary NYC venue The Loft where it became a firm favourite with
party-goers before later getting picked up by other DJ's across the city.
21. 'Rock Creek Park' by The Blackbyrds (115 bpm)
This was the opening track on their 1975 album 'City Life' and also included
on the album 'Night Grooves' and as the B-side on a couple of their singles
three years later. Often played by Bambaataa back in the day.
You'll sometimes hear members of the Rock Steady Crew singing "Rock Steady
Park" (instead of the correct lyrics) in memory of the playground at W98th
and Amsterdam where they used to meet. I like to think that's why this track
is the one you can unlock with Crazy Legs in Survivor mode.
More trivia... The title inspired one of many puns on Ninja Tune's 'Trumpet
Riffs' album where one of the tracks was named "Rock Creak Parp"! The group
was formed from students of Donald Byrd (who had previously released an
album entitled 'Black Byrd') hence the spelling of the band's name.
22. 'Express' by B.T. Express (115 bpm)
One of their biggest early singles, 'Express' was released on 7" in 1974
and included as the opening track on their first album, 'Do It ('Til You're
Satisfied)' in the same year.
I think it's a really pretty tune. The beat pattern in the game is really
sparse, with only three markers per bar.
23. 'Hot Pants (I'm Coming, I'm Coming, I'm Coming)' by Bobby Byrd (115 bpm)
This one came out as a single back in 1972.
Did you know that "Bobby Byrd Hot Pants I'm Coming" is an anagram of "My
moth trips dancing b-boy Bob"? I'm guessing you didn't. *8^)
Watch out for all the little yellow freeze sections on this track.
24. 'Love to the World' by L.T.D. (114 bpm)
This was the title-track on the Carolina band's 1976 album, also released as
a single with 'Get Your It Together' on the flip.
Trivia fans will be keen to learn that the band's name L.T.D. stands for
"Love, Togetherness and Devotion". (awwh!)
For the first ten seconds or so this track has only one beat marker (the
one-beat) for each bar of music.
25. 'Think (About It)' by Lyn Collins (115 bpm)
Lyn Collins, a.k.a. "The Female Preacher", released this classic in 1972 as
the title-track on her debut LP. The album was produced by James Brown and
I believe he wrote and arranged this track too.
This tune is just packed full of killer breaks and consequently has been
sampled hundreds of times. The most widely known is the "woo yeah" break
which was the basis of many tracks in the Hip-House scene and beyond. In the
game the beat wheel has only three beat markers per bar so do your best to
hit all three on each revolution.
Like 'Rock Creek Park' above, this track was included on the playlist of the
in-game rare-groove radio station in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
26. 'Champ' by Breakestra (115 bpm)
This take on The Mohawks' 1968 Funk classic 'The Champ' was performed by the
west-coast Funk covers band Breakestra and released on their album 'The Live
Mix Part 2' around 2001.
27. 'Brother Green (The Disco King)' by Roy Ayers Ubiquity (120 bpm)
This song's the opening track on the band's 1975 Polydor album 'Mystic
Voyage', also reissued on CD in 1993.
'Brother Green' was included on one of Street Beat's Ultimate Breaks & Beats
compilations in 1987 which led to the song getting sampled for a number of
Hip-Hop tracks in later years (like many of the tracks in the game).
28. 'Apache' by Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo Band (120 bpm)
This is a cover version of a hit by The Shadows which topped the UK charts
in the summer of 1960 (which was, in turn, inspired by the Burt Lancaster
movie of the same name). The Bongo Band's version was on their 'Bongo Rock'
album, first released in 1973, which lead to the track sometimes being known
as "The Rock".
'Apache' is unquestionably one of the biggest anthems in the breaking scene,
if not the biggest. Credit for its "discovery" in the Hip-Hop world goes,
once again, to the legendary Kool Herc. Here's a great quote from Hip-Hop
pioneer Grandmaster Flash referring to the early days of the scene in The
Bronx, taken from Alex Ogg's excellent book The Hip-Hop Years: A History Of
Rap (Channel 4 Books 1999)...
"We were playing obscure records but we really didn't have an obscure record
that stood out. And 'Apache' just stood out. [...] Herc had me and Bam going
when he played that song. We was trying to look at the label. He kept that
quiet for a long time until eventually I found out what it was. A monster
record. Very important."
In the game the track has been blatantly cut up to extend the break.
29. 'Open Sesame' by Kool & the Gang (120 bpm)
This is the opening track on the band's LP of the same name from 1976.
It was included on the soundtrack of motion picture 'Saturday Night Fever'
the following year.
30. 'Yellow Sunshine' by Yellow Sunshine* (120 bpm)
This is the title-track on the band's only album which, obviously, was self-
titled! The song was released on LP and single in 1973.
'Yellow Sunshine' is very popular in the rocking scene, a fact which b-boys
acknowledge by doing their own brand of uprock to the track. The version in
the game has a long percussive introduction so if you throwdown first in a
2x45" battle you'll pretty much be dancing over the instrumental drum intro.
*When it comes to weather, yellow sunshine is preferable to yellow snow! ;)
31. 'Blow your Head' by Fred Wesley & the JB's (125 bpm)
Taken from the 1974 LP 'Damn Right I am Somebody' produced by the late great
James Brown; he co-wrote this tune with Fred too.
Watch out for the obvious sample on 'Public Enemy No 1' on PE's first album.
32. 'Call me Super Bad' by James Brown (125 bpm)
This was released in 1971 and included on his 'Soul Classics' collection the
following year.
The "watch me" vocal is another of the many samples used on 'Pump up the
Volume' by M|A|R|R|S and the Super Bad break was used on 'Bring Forth the
Guillotine' by UK Hip-Hop act Silver Bullet in 1989. The "up and down, and
round and round" lyrics seem appropriate for a breaking game.
Like 'Express' and 'Think (About It)' above, this track has only three beat
markers per bar.
33. 'Rated X' by Kool & the Gang (129 bpm)
'Rated X' is taken from the band's fifth album, 'Good Times' from 1973. It
also appeared on their 'Greatest Hits' compilation two years later.
The horns were sampled in 2004 by nu-skool breaks act the Plump DJ's on a
track called 'Creepshow'.
34. 'The Life of the Party' by Jackson Five (129 bpm)
This track is at the beginning of the B-side of the guys' 1974 Motown LP
'Dancing Machine'.
The album cover features a quincunx of Jacksons. :)
35. 'Love the Life you Live' by Black Heat (132 bpm)
This is the final track on the A-side of Black Heat's 1974 album 'No Time To
Burn' which was reissued in 2001 as a 2CD release (with their self-titled
album from 1972 on the other disc).
'Love the Life you Live' also appears on the third compilation album in the
excellent 'The Breaks' series on UK label Harmless.
36. 'Funkier than a Mosquito's Tweeter' by Nina Simone (140 bpm)
Taken from Nina's 1974 album 'It is Finished', this track also gave its name
to a later Ike & Tina Turner compilation.
With its mad drum work-out, this is perhaps a little heavier than you might
expect from Nina S. In this game the track starts about two minutes in,
skipping the long intro, and it was played the same way at the 2002 UK B-Boy
Champs where co-host Crazy Legs was feelin' it so much that he asked the DJ
to drop it again so he could take to the stage to bust some classic toprock
steps to it, losing his pocket-change in the process! :)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| The Album |
'------------------------------------------------------------------------------'
A CD compilation album featuring eighteen songs from the game and entitled
'Music from B-Boy' was released in 2006, shortly after the game's Euro release.
The tracklist is as follows...
1. 'I Believe in Miracles' by Jackson Sisters
2. 'Think (About It)' by Lyn Collins
3. 'Blow your Head' by Fred Wesley & The JB's
4. 'Bringing it Back' by Black Eyed Peas
5. 'The Life of the Party' by Jackson Five
6. 'Love to the World' by L.T.D.
7. 'Organ Donor' by DJ Shadow*
8. 'Hot Pants (I'm Coming, I'm Coming, I'm Coming)' by Bobby Byrd
9. 'Open Sesame' by Kool & the Gang
10. 'Don't Sweat the Technique' by Eric B & Rakim
11. 'Brother Green (The Disco King) by Roy Ayers Ubiquity
12. 'Get on the Good Foot' by James Brown
13. 'Brothers on the Slide' by Cymande
14. 'Holy Ghost' by The Bar-Kays*
15. 'The Mexican Millennium' by Babe Ruth
16. 'Rated X' by Kool & the Gang
17. 'Cold Sweat' by James Brown
18. 'Funkier than a Mosquito's Tweeter' by Nina Simone
*Unfortunately the album features inferior versions of these two tracks, not the
ones that appear in the game. 'Organ Donor' is the original short version from
'Endtroducing...' and 'Holy Ghost' is the "Reborn" remake from 'Money Talks'.
------------.-----------------------------------------------------------------.
| Section 14 | THE CODES s14 |
'------------'-----------------------------------------------------------------'
There are a number of numeric cheat codes for B-Boy which can be used to turn
off certain features or unlock content. These can be input by going to the main
menu then choosing Options followed by Cheats. If you enter a code successfully
you will get an on-screen message telling you what effect it had.
You should note that the codes for Livin' Da Life mode (at the bottom of the
table below) only take effect after you start a new career and this will over-
write any progress on your current save so you might want to think about using
another memory card* for a cheat save file.
26939 | Deactivate all cheat codes
-------+-------------------------------------------------------------
56239 | Hide "beat wheel" display during game
-------+-------------------------------------------------------------
41549 | Hide "beat wheel", set list and chain counter during game
-------+-------------------------------------------------------------
15483 | All characters have full Hype bar
-------+-------------------------------------------------------------
43649 | Moves are never hidden with "???" in move lists
-------+-------------------------------------------------------------
93665 | Unlock Crazy Legs character (B-Boy Jam mode)
-------+-------------------------------------------------------------
83083 | Unlock "Red Bull: King of the Ring" stage (B-Boy Jam mode)
-------+-------------------------------------------------------------
92750 | Unlock all stages (B-Boy Jam mode)
-------+-------------------------------------------------------------
85363 | Unlock all characters (B-Boy Jam mode)
-------+-------------------------------------------------------------
85872 | Unlock all songs (B-Boy Jam mode)
-------+-------------------------------------------------------------
34589 | Unlock all stages, characters and songs (B-Boy Jam mode)
-------+-------------------------------------------------------------
50361 | Unlock all moves (Livin' Da Life mode)**
-------+-------------------------------------------------------------
78727 | Unlock all songs (Livin' Da Life mode)
-------+-------------------------------------------------------------
20014 | Unlock all clothes (Livin' Da Life mode)
-------+-------------------------------------------------------------
39572 | Unlock all moves, songs and clothes (Livin' Da Life mode)**
-------+-------------------------------------------------------------
17345 | Jump to Club Scene (Livin' Da Life mode)
-------+-------------------------------------------------------------
11910 | Jump to Pro Scene (Livin' Da Life mode)
*This is easy/cheap if you're playing on a backwards-compatible PS3 as you can
create as many virtual PS2 memory cards as you like. I have loads! :)
**Not only do these codes unlock all the moves but each move will also be fully
levelled-up (five stars) and have the maximum number of transitions available.
------------.-----------------------------------------------------------------.
| Section 15 | THE END s15 |
'------------'-----------------------------------------------------------------'
All good things must come to an end, including this guide! ;)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| Contact |
'------------------------------------------------------------------------------'
I welcome feedback, corrections and contributions for this guide and questions
about the game.
You can email me at barticle at hotmail.com - obviously changing the "at" to an
@ and removing the spaces. It would be helpful if you include the word "B-Boy"
in the subject line to get my attention!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
| Thanks |
'------------------------------------------------------------------------------'
I would like to thank the following...
o FreeStyleGames for making the game (I always cringe slightly when I read notes
like that at the end of a game guide but sincerely, guys, good job!)
o xpertise311 and ChamillionLive for posting good advice
o everyone on the bboy.org forums
o Channel 4 for their TV coverage of the UK B-Boy Champs national finals
o whoever decided to name all the streets on Bohan island (i.e. The Bronx) in
Grand Theft Auto IV after b-boying moves - respect! :)
I will be happy to give credit and thanks to anyone who makes a contribution.
I'm looking forward to a short break from guide-writing now but with the Euro
launch of the Nintendo DSi XL next month I'll be back with a vengeance soon!
Peace,
Bart
--
B-Boy Guide
Copyright 2010 James R. Barton
Initial version 1.00 completed 16 February 2010
Current version 1.02 completed 19 February 2015
All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their
respective trademark and copyright holders.
This guide may be downloaded and printed for personal, private, non-commercial
use only. This work is subject to copyright. It may not be hosted online or
otherwise distributed publically or reproduced either in whole or in part
without the advance written consent of the author. Any violation would
constitute an infringement of copyright and is strictly prohibited.
The only websites with the author's consent to publish this guide are GameFAQs
(www.gamefaqs.com) and its affiliates (i.e. Gamespot) and psp.MMGN.com in Oz!
If you find this file hosted on any other site I would be grateful if you would
inform me at the email address given at the top. Thanks!
