HOW TO BEAT FATAL FURY WITH RELATIVELY LITTLE PAIN
Written by Michael W. Dean (
[email protected])
February 16, 2006
Final Version (unless I think of something else to add)
Note: This document is Copyright 2001 Michael W. Dean. This document is
for private use and may not be reprinted in part or whole without
permission of the author. Fatal Fury and its roster of characters are
trademarks of SNK, and I lay no claim over them, but the text of this FAQ
is another issue.
INTRODUCTION
Back in 1991, when Street Fighter II was ruling the arcades, the Neo Geo
gave us a head to head fighter of its own: Fatal Fury. Fatal Fury was a
simpler game than Street Fighter II, featuring only three attack buttons,
three selectable characters, and eight enemies. The game went mostly
unnoticed, heavily overshadowed by its famous competitor. Little did we
know that this humble game would spark numerous sequels and off-shoots,
including the popular King of Fighters series. Fatal Fury also launched
SNK's dubious tendency towards cheap, insanely difficult fighting game
bosses. He's the first, and still one of the best: Geese Howard.
These days, the game that gave us Joe Higashi and the Bogard brothers is
something of a curiosity to SNK fighting game fans, a sort of living
museum piece. More than a few of the newer fans have given Fatal Fury a
spin, just to see how far things have come, only to be flummoxed by the
game's difficult CPU characters. Then there are those of you who have
played the game for years, but have never figured out how to get past
Raiden or Billy Kane or, most likely, Geese Howard himself.
This FAQ is loaded with anti-computer strategies that have served the
author well since the game was fresh in the arcades. Perhaps they can
help you out as well.
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BASICS
Joystick legend (these directions are relative to the opponent's
position):
d = down da = down-away
a = away ua = up-away
u = up uf = up-forward
f = forward df = down-forward
Buttons:
A = punch
B = kick
C = throw (only works if the joystick is pressed forward)
D = not used
As is the case with most 2D fighters, moving the joystick down causes the
character to crouch, up causes him to jump, while forward and away cause
him to walk toward and away from the opponent, respectively. Moving the
joystick away and down-away also causes the character to block incoming
attacks. Up-away and up-forward cause him to jump away from and toward
the opponent, respectively.
Each character's punches and kicks change depending on how close the
character is to the opponent when the strike is executed. Terry Bogard,
for example, throws an aerial spinning side kick with the B button at long
range, a roundhouse kick at medium range, and a knee strike at close
range.
Fighting in Fatal Fury takes place in two rows: one in back, one in
front. When your opponent is a different row, pressing the punch or kick
buttons causes your fighter to leap at the opponent with a strike. The
strike will usually knock the opponent down, but if blocked, leaves you
very open to a counter. To change to your opponent's row without a
strike, simply press the joystick up (to move to the back row) or down (to
move to the front row). This is the safest way to change rows.
Throws in Fatal Fury are very powerful, taking off about 25% of the
opponent's energy per successful application. Against the computer in
particular, always be ready to throw; it is one of your best weapons!
A word on crouching attacks: while the three main characters each have a
crouching punch and a crouching kick, none of these are sweeps or
knockdown moves. You must remove any ingrained sweeping strategy from
your thinking when you play the game. Instead, use the crouching attacks
as components of your combos.
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CHARACTERS
All three of the selectable characters are of equivalent striking power
and speed. Andy is perhaps a little bit faster than the others and Joe
has the best range, but aside from that there's little difference between
them. It is their special moves that set them apart the most. A look at
each individual character follows:
TERRY BOGARD
Terry wears a red ball cap and jacket, with sneakers and blue jeans. He
is the most balanced of the characters in terms of range and speed. He
has good combos and some powerful special moves. His Burning Knuckle is
particularly fast and strong. Details of his special moves follow:
Power Wave - d, df, f + A
The Power Wave is a slow but powerful projectile attack. It travels along
the ground and automatically snuffs out after it reaches about two thirds
distance. It can be used in combos, but is generally best avoided...it's
just too slow to snuff the bad guys' quicker attacks.
Rising Tackle - d (charge), u + A
Terry inverts himself and leaps straight into the air feet first, arms
extended and body spinning. This is a solid anti-air move that can snuff
just about any jumper.
Crack Shoot - da, uf + B
Terry jumps forward and somersaults into an axe kick. Another anti-air
move, a little quicker and easier to use than the Rising Tackle. It can
skip right over most low attacks, but must be used at relatively close
range.
Burning Knuckle - d, da, a + A
Terry abruptly glides across the ground with one fist extended and
wreathed in energy. This knockdown move covers about two thirds of the
screen. It is fast and powerful, but you can be knocked out of it. It is
best used as a long distance counter after the enemy somehow leaves
himself open. More on this later.
ANDY BOGARD
Andy appears as a golden-haired fellow in a white sleeveless outfit with
orange boots. While quick, Andy suffers from relatively short range and
some strange attack angles. His long range kick is an odd sort of aerial
hook that hits higher than Terry and Joe's aerial spinning side kicks.
His specials are unremarkable, with the notable exception of the Zaneiken
rushing elbow, which is easily the best special in the game.
Hishoken - d, df, f + A
This is Andy's projectile, a standard fireball that travels about two
thirds of the screen before snuffing out. Most characters can jump it and
hit Andy before he can recover.
Shoryudan - d (charge), u + A
Andy leaps off the ground with his arms extended and spins. A good anti-
air move, similar to Terry's Rising Tackle.
Kuhadan - db, uf + B
Andy leaps forward and arcs toward the opponent with both feet extended.
This is a decent counter that can catch retreating enemies and skip over
low attacks.
Zaneiken - a, f + A
Andy does a rushing slide across the ground with an elbow extended. This
knockdown move travels about half the screen and is both fast and easy to
use. Once an opponent is knocked down, Andy can often cheap them to death
by executing another Zaneiken each time they try to stand.
JOE HIGASHI
Joe fights in his Muay Thai garb, which consists pretty much of orange
shorts, a headband, and hand-wraps. Often underrated by gamers, he is
actually a powerful character with some very good normal attacks. His
crouching B is a sliding knee strike that is actually quite useful, unlike
the crouching kicks employed by the Bogards. His crouching A elbow strike
and his sliding knee can be strung together for simple but lengthy combos.
Bakuretsuken (a.k.a. TNT Punch, a.k.a. Megaton Punch, etc.) - Press A
repeatedly
Joe launches into a long series of rapid fire jabs, ended with a hard
cross. Once Joe cranks this one up, he has to execute all of the punches,
which means he'll just stand there punching for several seconds. Be very
careful timing this. If the opponent backs away before you start hitting
him, you will be very open to counters.
Hurricane Upper - d, df, f + A
Joe throws a uppercut which launches a mini-tornado projectile. The
tornado travels about two thirds of the screen before dissipating. Like
all of the player fireballs, this move is of limited usefulness. It's
very big, however, and can be difficult to avoid.
Tiger Kick - da, uf + B
Surrounded by a fiery aura, Joe glides across the ground with one knee
extended for a strike. This is a knockdown move and travels about two
thirds of the screen. It is fairly powerful, but predictable, as Joe
pauses for a second before he throws it.
Slash Kick - f, df, d, da, a + B
Joe executes his typical long range B kick, but as he extends it he glides
across the screen while flame trails from his foot. This knockdown move
travels almost the entire length of the screen and is very fast. It
pretty much renders the Tiger Kick superfluous.
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ENEMIES
Most of the bad guys in the game are unbalanced; they are for the most
part very strong, but have weaknesses that the clever player can exploit
for a relatively easy win. Each character is detailed below.
DUCK KING
Duck King, an athletic punk with some seriously huge M.C. Hammer pants, is
one of the more balanced enemies. His offense consists mostly of spinning
and flying kicks, a sliding kick from the ground, and a powerful aerial
rolling body attack. His main weakness is his jump-in kick; it doesn't
knock you back if it catches you on the ground, so even if you fail to
block it, you can counter easily. Your best counter is a throw, if Duck
lands close enough. Once knocked down, Duck can be victimized by a long
range B attack as he stands up. More dangerous is Duck's rolling body
attack; it is pretty much invulnerable. Once blocked, Duck will bounce
off you into the back row (or the front row, if you're fighting in the
back one). The second Duck bounces off your guard, hit the attack button
to follow him into his new row. Most likely, your row-switch attack will
hit, and can be followed up by a quick crouching punch.
Fight Duck defensively, always ready to block. Sometimes you can nail
Duck with a standing A before he can launch one of his trademark spinning
kicks, but your best bets are to counter his jump-in kicks with throws,
and to follow his spinning body attack with the one-two combo mentioned
above.
RICHARD MEYER
A deceptive Capoeira fighter, Richard can be a bit confusing the first few
times you face him. He kicks at you from handstands and while hanging
from the ceiling, and will leap at you in a spinning flurry of
outstretched legs. He also crouches frequently for low kicks. Once you
get used to his tactics, however, he's really not so tough. His jump-in
pinwheel kick (you will know this when you see it) can be blocked into a
throw with little effort, and most of his regular moves can be stuffed
with simple standing A punches...watch for his crouching kicks, however.
When he jumps up and grabs the ceiling, don't try for a counter unless you
are out of his range; from there, a fireball is your best bet.
One particular trick of Richard's is to hit a handstand and just stay
there, lashing his legs out continuously. This tactic negates your
ability to throw him and makes standing moves difficult. However, if
you're playing as Joe, this is the perfect time to punish Richard with a
series of sliding knees. Do it until Richard gets the message and rights
himself. If you are Terry or Andy, crouching punches work reasonably well
instead.
As a general rule, Richard is a victim for rushing moves like the
Zaneiken, Burning Knuckle, or Slash Kick. You can use these almost
anytime Richard is on the ground and at a distance from you.
MICHAEL MAX
Probably the easiest CPU enemy to beat, Michael Max is a mean looking
boxer who takes you on by the seashore. Michael's standing punches are
fast and damaging and he has his own version of Joe Higashi's Hurricane
Upper (the perhaps more accurately named Tornado Upper). However, these
attacks are easy to avoid. All you have to do is jump in on Michael with
a kick, then follow up with a crouching strike. Rinse, repeat. If you're
using Joe, the sliding knee should again give you an especially easy time
of it. None of the characters should have too much trouble, however.
One word of warning: don't try to get in Michael's face and match him
blow for blow unless your blocking game is very good. His punches are as
fast or faster than anything the player characters can put together. It's
also very hard to get a throw in on him. Attack from the air or from the
ground, and be ready for counters.
TUNG FU RUE
Tung Fu Rue is two different characters. He starts out as an unassuming
little old man, but after taking a few hits he changes into a hulking
brute. He transforms into his roid rage form after you knock him down to
about 75% health. He transforms back to geezer form at about 25% health.
In geezer form, Tung is deceptively strong. He has no projectiles and no
moves that send him hurtling across the screen, but his punches and kicks
have very high priority and take off noticeable chunks of damage. In
addition, he's so short that most of your regular standing moves will
whiff right over his head. If you try to walk up to Tung and punch him,
you will miss and he will clobber you repeatedly. Jump-ins are the key to
approaching the old man, and your best bet once you close the distance is
to stay low and poke him with crouching shots. Again, Joe's sliding knee
is highly recommended. Tung has a way of changing rows if you try to hit
him with a special, but if you hit the attack button promptly, you will
jump after him. Most of the time you will get a hit in this way, and
often you can follow it up with a crouching strike.
During Tung's transformation into a gigantic twisted freak, he is
invulnerable. The change takes a couple of seconds, after which he will
assume his fighting stance; at that point, he can again be hit. Take
advantage of the transformation time and set yourself to get some shots in
on Tung before he starts fighting. If you're playing as Joe, one solid
move is to set up the rapid fire punch, timing it to go off just as Tung
becomes vulnerable. This will do decent damage, but Tung will usually
manage to block the second or third punch, which will scoot him away
before the combo is finished. He usually won't try a counter until Joe is
done punching, however. No matter which character you are playing, learn
to time Tung's transformation so you can get a free hit or two on him at
the moment his invulnerability wears off.
You cannot throw Tung in his giant freak form. In addition, he gains a
projectile (a hellish big one at that) and hurricane kick sort of move
where he flies at you spinning with both arms extended. Your best option
now is a cautious offense; come at Tung with a jump kick, immediately
crouch and follow up with a ground strike, then block. Tung will usually
counter after the second hit, which will knock you back into decent range
for another jump kick. Standing moves are not your friend against big
Tung; jump and crouch, jump and crouch.
Once you knock steroid Tung down to about 25% health, he will transform
back into his geezer form, and from there it should be your fight.
HWA JAI
Hwa Jai is another Muay Thai stylist; he's basically a palette-swapped Joe
with a different head. He has Joe's basic moves and after taking a few
hits, he gains a special called the Rocket, an improved version of the
Tiger Knee.
At the beginning of the match, Hwa Jai isn't much of a problem. He throws
a few punches and kicks, and occasionally leaps in with a punch. Once you
get him to about 70% health, however, a green-suited man (undoubtedly one
of Geese's lackeys) throws him a bottle of some dubious liquid. Hwa Jai
turns invulnerable as he catches the bottle and chugs it. Once he's done
he becomes vulnerable again, but his skin turns red, he starts drooling,
and he gains the ability to use the Rocket maneuver.
The juiced-up Hwa Jai is stronger and faster than he was in the beginning,
but it's the Rocket that's your real worry. The move is very quick and
has extremely high priority, and he can throw it over and over and over
again. It can knock a jumper out of the air and stuff almost any special
move. Hwa Jai can turn the tide of the match in a hurry with this move.
The first thing you want to do is weaken Hwa Jai as much as possible
before he juices up. The best recipe for this is a pair of throws. Two
throws in a row will have Hwa Jai at a mere 50% health before he starts
rocketing around the screen. Your best bet for a throw is right after Hwa
Jai jumps in with a punch; then you can do it cleanly.
Once again, Joe has an especial advantage in this fight. While Hwa Jai is
sucking down his joy juice, you can set him up to receive some rapid fire
punches once he becomes vulnerable again. With proper timing, this move
can finish Hwa Jai before he can do anything. You will have to practice
this a few times until you finally get the timing of it exactly right.
If you're playing as a Bogard or if you miss the timing on Joe's rapid
fire punch, you'll have to take Hwa Jai down the old fashioned way. Don't
give the guy any breathing room at all! You have to keep the pressure on
him at all times or he'll just Rocket you to death. Stay close to him and
throw quick strikes to stuff the Rocket before Hwa Jai can launch it. If
you're Andy, look for an opening to hit the Zaneiken, and give Hwa Jai a
taste of his own medicine.
RAIDEN
Raiden is a tremendous masked wrestler, and almost impossible to take down
in a stand up fight. Both his range and power are incredible, and he's
not nearly as slow as you'd expect. Aside from his punch and ground kick,
he has a throw with absurdly long range, a grab and choke maneuver, a
flying body splash, and the ability to spit a cloud of damaging mist.
If you attack Raiden head on, he will likely make you regret it. His
throw is a particular danger up close; he can apply it from well outside
of what most gamers think of as proper range. Instead, it is best to keep
your distance and counter Raiden with throws and special moves. It is
important that you learn the range of Raiden's mist attack; you want to
play just outside of that range, waiting for the big guy to give you an
opening.
Standing outside of mist range and throwing random punches often seems to
spur Raiden into action. Generally he will do one of three things: jump
at you with a body splash, spit his mist, or jump into the back row. If
he goes for a splash, block it and throw him as soon as he lands, then
back quickly out of his range. If he spits mist, wait for it to go away
and hit Raiden with a special: Terry should use his Burning Knuckle, Andy
should bust out a Zaneiken, and Joe should go for a Tiger Knee or a Slash
Kick. If Raiden jumps to the back row, immediately jump after him.
Typically, he will jump back to the front row to avoid you. Keep
hammering on the button so you follow him. Most of the time, you will
eventually hit him doing this, usually scoring a knockdown. After a
little practice, you'll get a feel for the method.
So, as an overview, you should never walk or jump at Raiden. You should
only approach him with a row jump or one of the specials listed above.
Otherwise, let him come to you and throw him. Sometimes you'll find that
Raiden is simply in the wrong range for one of these tactics, however; in
that case, block and look for an opening to back away. If you get
cornered, try to knock Raiden down with a special. This won't be easy,
but it is preferable to trying to match the big guy blow for blow. Once
in a while a desperate combo of regular moves will catch him off guard,
but this is in no way dependable and should only be used if you're having
trouble using a special.
BILLY KANE
Billy's a punk with a bandanna, motorcycle boots, and a big red staff. He
is a dangerous fighter who will poke you to death while remaining well out
of your range. He has two special moves, one of which is his greatest
strength and the other of which is his greatest weakness.
In Billy's strong special, he uses his staff to vault toward you and boot
you in the head. This move is fast and it hurts, and up close it seems
unblockable. The trick is, you have to press the joystick toward Billy to
block the move, which takes pretty sharp timing (Street Fighter 3 players
should be up for it, though). You can also jump over Billy as he vaults,
but you won't be able to get a clean counter in. If Billy uses the move
from long range you can block it normally, but it's tougher to get a
counter. Basically, at close range it's an automatic cross-up.
In Billy's weak special, he throws his staff and sends it spinning at you.
If you happen to be jumping at the time, the move will knock you down, but
otherwise it's a minor inconvenience at best. While Billy's staff can hit
a human being all day with no trouble, it shatters instantly when it hits
the ground. Without his weapon, Billy cowers with his hands over his
face, which for some reason renders him invulnerable. However, he cannot
attack...he just stands there, being invulnerable. This will end when a
green-suited fellow in the crowd - the same dickweed who gave Hwa Jai his
power drink - throws Billy a new staff. This is your chance to destroy
Billy Kane.
Billy leaps into the air to catch his new staff. As he comes in for a
landing, just walk right up and throw him. As he hits the ground he will
drop his staff again, where again it will shatter. Green Suit throws him
a new one, you throw him again, the staff shatters, and so forth. You can
easy spam this technique until Billy is done.
Otherwise, it's best to approach Billy from the air; unless he does his
staff throw, you can usually get in on him. Once you're close, you can
try for a throw, which will of course set up the pattern mentioned above.
If the throw isn't happening, low punches and Joe's knee slide are OK
offense, but never throw more than a couple of strikes in a row before you
start blocking. Billy does have some potent offense, and he can beat you
in a hurry if he catches you napping. Waiting him out works quite well if
you're good at blocking his vaulting kick special, but otherwise you're
going to have to give him a little offense to interrupt his specials.
Keep him off balance and always look for a
throw opportunity.
GEESE HOWARD
Here he is, it's the big man himself, and he makes every other bad guy on
this list seem about as tough as a wayward gang of Care Bears. He doesn't
look too bad; he's a moderately sized blonde man in a gi and hakama pants.
In addition, he only has two special moves...but let me tell you right
now, they are more than enough to get the job done.
First off is the Reppuken, Geese's projectile attack. It looks just like
Terry's Power Wave, except it's blue in color, much faster, travels the
entire length of the screen, and does somewhere around 40% damage! Geese
can only have one Reppuken onscreen at a time, but they are so fast it
will seem like he is throwing them in full autofire. The move has
absolutely zero recovery time; if you try to jump over it and boot Geese
in the head, you are liable to meet the Ateminage, Geese's second special
move.
The infuriating Ateminage is Geese's all purpose counter. You never see
it coming, it just kinda happens. You'll be tossing a move at Geese, any
move at all other than a fireball or a throw, and suddenly you will freeze
for a second and Geese will throw you for heavy damage. That's it, that's
all there is to the move. There are a few ways around it, which will be
discussed below.
The major rule when fighting Geese is DEFENSE. Always be ready to block!
Never jump at him...jump-in attacks are not defensive. Stand your ground
and stay on full alert at all times, ready to block at the drop of hat.
With Geese, you must choose your moment to strike very carefully.
There are basically two ways to deal with Geese, and both of them require
careful timing. The best method is to cautiously approach him, still
ready to block at any moment, and throw him. That's right, just walk up
and throw the guy. When you get close enough, he will typically try for a
spinning kick, but you can usually get the throw in beforehand. Don't use
any regular moves or specials, as Geese is too likely to use the Ateminage
on you.
The real trick here is the approach. When the match opens, Geese will
frequently start tossing Reppukens like there's no tomorrow. Jumping over
one towards Geese is a bad idea, as discussed above. Jumping straight up
is also ineffective, as you will just wind up landing on a second Reppuken
on the way down. Your best bet is to just stand there and block.
Although a blocked Reppuken takes off about 5% damage, you'll have to grin
and bear it. Eventually Geese will get tired of Reppukens and try some of
his other moves.
Study Geese as you fight him. You want to learn what the Reppuken
animation looks like so you can block it the second he starts to toss one.
If you can do that, you can approach Geese and set him up for a throw.
As a side note, you can get an easy throw on Geese if he tries to hit you
with a jump kick. Blocking the move leaves you in perfect throw range
almost every time.
A second side note: if Geese starts walking backwards as you approach
him, he's yours. March right up to him and throw him down hard.
The second anti-Geese tactic is generally inferior to the one mentioned
above, but it is included here to provide the reader with an alternative.
For this method, you must be very familiar with the maximum range of your
B kick. Approach Geese cautiously, in the same manner listed above, but
in this case you throw your B kick at the absolute outside edge of its
range. Most of the time Geese will go for a Reppuken to counter, but so
long as he doesn't start throwing the fireball before you start your kick,
you will hit him right out of it. After hitting him, reacquire the
correct range as soon as possible and repeat the method. He will very
rarely use the Ateminage when you're at this range...almost never.
Again, you must approach Geese cautiously; after you kick him away, he
will occasionally barrage you with Reppukens. You must ride out the
storm, then you can again try to get Geese in range for a swift kick.
Also, if Geese row jumps, use the joystick to roll to his row; there is no
sense in flying at him and leaving yourself open for pain.
BONUS STAGES
After every two matches, you get to do a short bonus stage for extra
points. It's the same stage each time...you challenge an arcade arm
wrestling machine. To win, all you have to do is jam on the A button like
a madman. If you lack the finger speed for this, try using the two-handed
approach: drum both index fingers on the button in an alternating
pattern. For some people, this increases their button-mashing speed
dramatically.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Some people enjoy writing gigantic author's notes, but I am not one of
them. That's it, end of FAQ...good luck!
