Wade Hitxon's Counter Punch Guide (3/25/4) by Zauron
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
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INTRODUCTION
I. GENERAL GAMEPLAY INFORMATION
A. Basic Controls
B. Game Overview
C. How to Fight
D. Challenges
E. Special Techniques
F. Hired Help
II. BOXERS WALKTHROUGH
A. Rocco McScrub
B. Sweetness
C. Jobu
D. Gus Incubus
E. Mimi Li
F. Evil Wade
G. Killa Gorilla
H. Don
III.EXTRA INFORMATION
A. Boxing System Exposed
B. Referee Hats
IV. VERSION HISTORY
V. CONTACTING THE AUTHOR
VI. LEGAL STUFF
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INTRODUCTION
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In case you're not sure what it is, Wade Hixton's Counter Punch is a boxing game
for the Gameboy Advance that heavily borrows from the concepts from Nintendo's
Super Punch-Out! for the SNES (copyright Nintendo). It's a great game for your
GBA library, especially for when you only have a few minutes to play (stuck in
line, waiting for the movie to start, etc.) and thus can't really get in to some
long RPG or something. At only $20, it's a great deal for anyone who remotely
enjoyed the Punch-Out! series. Unfortunately the publisher only made limited
copies of it, so it may be hard to find by this point.
This guide should tell you all you need to know to get the most out of the game,
including an in-depth analysis of the math behind the game in section III A.
Boxing System Exposed.
Some things to keep in mind while reading this - your opponent's left is your
right, and his right is your left. I try to say "your left" and "your right" or
"their left" and "their right" to be clear, but if I just say left or right,
assume I'm talking about yours and not theirs. Also, when I say A/B punch or
L/R punch, I mean ANY punch using the A or B button or any punch using the L or
R button applies equally in that case.
Have fun!
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I. GENERAL GAME PLAY INFORMATION
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I A. Basic Controls
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At any time press A+B+Select+Start to reset the game.
Town browsing screen:
Directions - Change location
A/Start - Enter location
B - Leave location
Select - Referee hats screen
L - Challenge Beeper
R - Stats Notebook
Challenge Beeper screen:
left/right - View other challenges
Up/Down - Scroll challenge text
A/Start/Select - Accept Challenge
B - Delete Challenge
R - Stats Notebook
Stats Notebook screen:
Directions - Change viewed boxer
Any other button - return to town view
During boxing match:
Left - Dodge left
Right - Dodge right
up - Block high
Down - Block low
A - Right body blow
B - Left body blow
Up+A - Right jab
Up+B - Left jab
L - Left Hook (note: Won't work if you are holding up/down)
R - Right Uppercut (note: won't work if you are holding up/down)
Select - Call for hired help
Start - Pause (with option to Give Up)
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I B. Game Overview
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You play the role of Wade Hixton, a redneck with a mullet and a skill for fixing
things with duct tape. When your car breaks down and leaves you stranded in the
odd town of Big Piney, you are soon dragged into a boxing match. You'll soon
face many other boxers who insist you fight them and prove your skill, all the
while waiting for your car to get fixed at the local auto body shop. If you
manage to defeat the champion of Big Piney you should have earned enough money
to pay for your car repairs and go home.
After the introduction and the first fight, you will be taken to a screen
showing the town of Big Piney. From here you can visit various areas which will
result in either a fight or a shop where you can purchase moves or hire help.
You can also view your challenge pager, boxer stats notebook, or the referee
hats screen using the L, R, and Select buttons respectively. If you enter
O'Reilly's you'll get a sub screen where you can select different people to talk
to. Many places will be closed to you at first until you defeat enough boxers
to go there.
Once you get in a fight, the boxing match is divided into 3 rounds of 90 seconds
each. Between each round both you and your opponent will gain back a bit of
health. The health meters are along the top of the screen (you each have 90
health - it doesn't really display that anywhere but you can figure it out
yourself with a bit of math). When your opponent's health meter is empty they
will go down on the mat and the referee will come on and begin a count. If the
referee gets to 10 then they are knocked out and you win the match.
The same applies to you - if your health meter is emptied you will fall to the
mat and the count will begin. If it reaches 10 you lose. While you are down,
rapidly press all buttons (including A, B, L, R, and all 4 directions) as
quickly as you can to build up your health meter and get back up. When your
opponent is down, you can also press these buttons to slowly restore your own
health.
In addition to the health meter, your health is also indicated by the color of
the border around Wade. If it's closer to green you are doing fine, if it's
closer to red you are low in health. This way you can tell how your health is
without having to look up at the meters.
If you are knocked down 4 times, you will not be able to get back up. Your
opponent can potentially be knocked down up to 9 times before being KO'd,
although it's very rare that they'd last that long.
If you just throw out random punches, often they will dodge or block your punch,
and sometimes counter attack themselves. Any time one of your punches is dodged
or blocked you lose Stamina from the small Stamina meter under your health
meter. If your Stamina gets low enough, you will start to pant for breath and
be unable to perform any actions until your Stamina goes back up.
Anytime you punch them OR they punch you, their special attack or "POW" meter
will go up (blue bar). When it gets full, they have the option to use a
special attack that is usually very painful. Using the attack drops their meter
back to empty.
You have a POW meter as well that goes up when you punch your opponent, but it
goes down when they punch you (doesn't seem fair does it? Theirs goes up from
hitting or getting hit, but yours goes down if you get hit..). In any case,
once you have a full meter you can use one of the special techniques you've
purchased (see section I E. Special Techniques for details).
If you win the match you will be given cash and sometimes it will open a new
area and boxer to fight. There's no real penalty for losing other than the fact
that it shows up on your boxer stats and your opponent will taunt you. Once
you've beaten a boxer you can go back and fight them again to get more cash if
you'd like.
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I C. How to Fight
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The basic way to defeat your opponents is to dodge or block their hits then
counter with punches of your own. Each punch they use can be dodged in only 1
direction or blocked in only 1 direction. The key is to memorize what each of
their punches looks like before they swing and then dodge/block in the correct
direction. If the punch goes low, block down. If the punch hits high, block
high. If the punch ends up with their fist on the left side of your screen,
dodge right. If the punch ends up with their fist on the right side of your
screen, dodge left. In most cases, they will move in the direction opposite
where their punch will go just before punching. So they'll move to your right
just before punching toward your left. Thus, in general you should dodge in the
direction you see them go before they punch (so they move right, you dodge
right, they punch to the left and you've dodged the punch).
After dodging or blocking their punch, use any A/B button punch to counter
attack and stun them. They will then stay stunned long enough for you to
perform up to 3 more punches (they will still be stunned after the 4th punch if
you just use A/B button punches, but any further punches will automatically be
blocked). If at any time you use an L/R button punch it will break them out of
the stun. Thus the most damage you can do in a counter is 3 A/B punches
followed by 1 L/R punch to finish the combo.
You can also punch them when they are just standing there thinking about their
next move, but this will not stun them. However, A/B punches do more damage if
you do them when they are just standing there. L/R punches do the same damage
either way.
Each boxer's special attack (when the blue POW meter is full) does have a way to
counter it by dodging or sometimes punching them at the right time. However,
keep in mind that if you do counter a special attack, it does NOT stun them so
if you keep punching they may dodge/block and hit you back.
If you counter punch a counter punch (meaning you swung at them while they were
standing there, they responded with an immediate dodge-then-counter move, which
you dodged and then hit them) it will NOT stun them.
Note that you fill their POW meter the same amount no matter which punch you use
(A/B or L/R). This means if you counter each of their punches with just a
single jab then an L/R punch (or just go straight to the L/R punch if you can
pull it off) you will knock them down at about the same speed but their POW
meter will fill much slower. However, you will have to dodge more of their
normal punches to use this tactic. It's all a matter of whether you find their
normal punches or their special attack to be a scarier proposition. If you have
trouble with their normal punches, stick to the 3-jabs then L/R finish tactic.
If you have no problem with their normal punches, try the 1-jab or 0-jab then
L/R finish tactic so you won't have to deal with their special as often. Both
techniques take about the same amount of time to get a knock down.
Many of the things explained in this and other sections do not apply to the
final boss boxer but work for every other boxer. See the section for the final
boss for details on how the rules change during that fight.
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I D. Challenges
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After beating a boxer in a regular match, they will often send you a pager
message offering a special bonus challenge. They will tell you what the special
conditions of the fight are and how much cash you will get if you win. Unlike
normal fights, if you lose the special challenge you will actually lose the same
amount of money you would have gained from winning. These challenges are
completely optional and you can decline them with no penalty. Press the L
button on the map screen to access them.
In all challenges, if you manage to knock them down once you will win, and if
they knock you down once you will lose. You can't use hired help during the
challenges but you can use your purchased techniques.
Here are each of the challenges you may get:
Don't dodge ("This is Big Piney, not Dodge City. Be a man and fight standing
still."):
This challenge can be quite tough if you are used to dodging all incoming
attacks. You'll have to block instead. But you can use Pretty Parry on each
incoming hit without penalty, as long as you don't accidentally dodge while
doing it. If you have any of the moves from Vic's Gym use them as soon as your
POW meter is full to knock them down and win instantly. Note that this
challenge is impossible to beat against Don, so if he challenges you to it just
decline it and save your cash.
Don't block ("You could build the great wall of China with all those blocks.
Ditch the defense and try and beat me!")
This challenge is pretty easy if you are used to dodging attacks anyway (which
most people do, as it's generally easier to dodge than block). You can also use
Pretty Parry on each incoming hit if you want since it doesn't count as a block.
If you have any of the moves from Vic's Gym use them as soon as your POW meter
is full to knock them down and win instantly.
Just dodge ("Dodge all the swings, without getting rocked and you're...good to
go!"):
This challenge is good practice for dodging defense. You don't hit them at all,
you just have to dodge every swing for 20 seconds. Get hit, block, use Pretty
Parry, or hit them once and you lose.
Get hit less than 5 times ("You don't score more points for taking hits. See if
you can make it without taking all my heat."):
All you have to do is knock them down once while getting hit less than 5 times
yourself. You can dodge, block, or use Pretty Parry. This challenge is pretty
much the same as any normal fight since you should be trying to avoid getting
hit in all fights. But it's a quick easy way to get extra cash since you only
have to knock them down once to win. If you have any of the moves from Vic's
Gym use them as soon as your POW meter is full to knock them down and win
instantly.
Knockdown in 20 seconds ("If you can beat me and the clock in under 20 seconds,
then you got skills."):
This is one of the hardest challenges but is pretty straightforward - just have
to knock them down before the time runs out. You can't really afford to make
many mistakes to get it done in time. Hit as quickly as you can and have a
perfect defense. If they stand still for too long smack them a couple times,
but don't overdo it or you'll get them locked in a defensive mode that wastes
too much time. If you have any of the special technique's from Vic's Gym they
can really help since they give an immediate knock down.
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I E. Special Techniques
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You can buy special techniques from Vic's Gym, the Arcadium, and Da Back Alley
using cash you've earned from winning fights and Challenges. Here each special
move will be explained.
Moves from the Arcadium:
Rapid Fire - $50, perform by holding A+B at the same time and pressing either
left or right when your blue POW meter is full. When used, you will do a bunch
of punches very rapidly for a few seconds. After you are done, your opponent
will be stunned long enough to do a maximum of 3 more punches (such as 2 jabs
and an L/R punch). Deals 24 damage (38 damage if you add in the extra punches
from the stun).
Piston Punch - $75 and can only be purchased if you already have Rapid Fire.
Performed in the same way as Rapid Fire and has the same result except you do
more punches for a bit longer. Deals 16 damage (30 damage if you add in the
extra punches from the stun). Note that this is NOT a typo - this move really
does do LESS than Rapid Fire. I think it's a bug. I don't recommend getting
this move until you can afford to go all the way up to The Jack Hammer.
The Jack Hammer - $100 and can only be purchased if you already have Piston
Punch. Performed in the same way as Rapid Fire and has the same result except
you do more punches for a bit longer. Deals 40 damage (54 damage if you add in
the extra punches from the stun).
Moves from Vic's Gym:
Supercut - $50, perform by holding A+B at the same time and pressing Up when
your blue POW meter is full. When used, uppercut's the opponent knocking them
high in the air. Deals 25 damage and causes instant knock down.
Airslam - $75 and can only be purchased if you already have Supercut. Performed
in the same way as Supercut. When used, uppercut's the opponent knocking them
high in the air, then you jump up in the air after them and punch downwards
slamming them down onto the mat. Deals 55 damage and causes instant knock down.
Mat Bruiser - $100 and can only be purchased if you already have Airslam.
Performed in the same way as Supercut. When used, uppercut's the opponent
knocking them high in the air, then you jump up in the air after them and punch
downwards slamming them down in the mat, than as you fall you land on them with
another downwards punch. Causes instant knockdown and empties their entire
health bar.
Moves from Da Back Alley:
Pretty Parry - $75, perform by holding down, then pressing Up+A at the same time
at the exact moment when your opponent's punch would normally connect. This
will cause you to automatically deflect the punch and counter with a punch of
your own to stun them. This works on any normal punch no matter what direction
it comes from (does not work on specials or the final boss though). It does not
require your POW meter so can be done as much as you want.
The Family Jewels - $150, perform by holding A+B at the same time and pressing
Down when your blue POW meter is full. When used, you will punch below the belt
causing your opponent to scream with pain and slowly sink down off the bottom of
the screen holding their crotch. It will never cause a knockdown though, at
most it will reduce them to 0 life. Oddly enough it does work on Mimi Li.
Deals 40 damage.
NOTE: These techniques cannot be blocked or interrupted, so it's safe to use
them as soon as your meter is full. You don't need to stun your opponent first.
My recommendation - it should be obvious that the best moves are the ones from
Vic's Gym and the Pretty Parry. I actually think Pretty Parry makes the game
too easy up until the last boss, since you don't have to worry about where the
punch is going if you master the timing on this move. It's also great for the
Don't Dodge and Don't Block challenges since it doesn't count as a block or
dodge. The Supercut/Airslam/Mat Bruiser has the best damage for your money,
especially Airslam and higher, and has the added bonus of giving you a free
knockdown. It's also a big help in many of the challenges. The other moves are
pretty cool or funny looking and I'd say get them when you have the cash, but if
you want moves that will help you win than these are it. Of course, you may
want to save your money and use Hired Help instead as outlined in the next
section.
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I F. Hired Help
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While in Da Back Alley you can also buy "Inside" Information for $40. This will
give you the ability to hire someone for $10 to help you out in the middle of a
fight. You call for help by pressing the Select button when you want to use
them. Once you've hired someone they will stay hired until you actually use
them, even if it is several fights later. However, once you use them you can't
use them again until you hire them again for another $10. Also, you can only
have one person hired at a time. Here is each of the people you can hire:
Ringgirl: Go to O'Reilly's and talk to Mona after getting the Inside
Information from Da Back Alley, and hire her for $10. When you use her in a
match (press Select) she will distract your opponent causing them to be stunned
(with hearts instead of stars above their head) long enough to be hit by 9 A/B
punches or 8 A/B punches and 1 L/R punch. If you use an L/R punch at all during
the stun it breaks the stun after it hits. This move does work on Mimi Li
despite her being female...
Referee: Go to O'Reilly's and talk to the barkeeper after getting the Inside
Information from Da Back Alley and hire him for $10. You can only ask for his
help while he is counting after you've been knocked down. When you press Select
he'll start to count at half speed giving you more time to get up. Note,
however, that if this is your 4th time being knocked down, you still won't be
able to get up even when using this. So if you have no problem getting up on
the first 3 downs, he's rather useless.
Mac: Go to Mac's Body Shop and you can hire Mac for $10 after getting the Inside
Information from Da Back Alley. When you ask for his help in a match by
pressing Select, he will throw a wrench at your opponent instantly knocking them
down and doing 50 damage (basically the same result as you using the Airslam
move).
My recommendation - Looking at the math, Mac is clearly the most useful hired
help. Ringgirl will net you a maximum of 26 damage from punches while they are
stunned, and the Referee is completely useless since you still can't get up on
the 4th down anyway and you ought to be able to get up on the 3rd down without
his help. But Mac takes off more than half their health and gives a free
knockdown giving you a chance to build up some of your health and making the
next knockdown have a bit higher chance of being a KO.
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II. BOXERS WALKTHROUGH
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Here each of the boxers are examined in detail, including how to fight them, how
much damage they do per hit, details on their special maneuver, fighting tips,
and a break down of each of their punches. Once you've fought a boxer once you
can go back and fight them as many times as you want to earn more cash.
The names of each punch are just made up by me. After the name in () is where
the punch hits, which you can use for dodging and blocking purposes. D=Down,
U=Up, L=Left, R=Right. Thus if a punch says (D&L) it means it hits down and to
the left. To avoid such a punch you could block low or dodge to the right.
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II A. Rocco McScrub
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Description: Garbage man that's picky about his seat in the bar. Carries a
garbage bag with him with a pet raccoon named Scratch inside.
How to fight: Automatically at beginning, or go to O'Reilly's and talk to him.
Damage per hit: 12
POW Special: Takes away half your current health.
Fighting tips: Rocco uses a good mix of left, right, high, and low attacks (in
fact he's the only boxer in the game with more than one punch that hits low).
It should be obvious which way to dodge for all his attacks (just dodge in the
direction he just moved in) and with his slow movement, weak special, and low
damage he should prove no challenge once you understand the basics of how to
play.
Punches:
Sweeping backhand (D&L) - Crouches down and to your right, then swings to your
left with a low backhand.
Body blow (D&R) - Crouches down and to your left, then punches low and to your
right.
Garbage bag (U&L) - Leans to your right and holds up his bag a bit, then swings
out the bag to your left.
Right Hook (U&R) - Leans to your left and winds back his right fist, then hooks
to your right.
Special move - Raccoon Scratch: Leaps back safely into the background, then
leaps forward again and opens his garbage bag releasing his raccoon pet to
scratch up your face. Takes away half of your current health if it connects.
Just dodge left or right when the raccoon flies out to avoid it.
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II B. Sweetness
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Description: A real Mac Daddy that owns Club Sweet. Wears your classic pimp
outfit and likes to use words like izzle fizzle schizzle.
How to fight: Enter Club Sweet at any time.
Damage per hit: 15
POW Special: Takes away half your current health.
Fighting tips: All but one of his normal punches can be dodged to the right, so
get in the habit of dodging right whenever you see him wind up a punch. The one
punch that needs to be dodged to the left starts with him moving a bit left, so
watch for it. He also hits high with all but one punch, but it's a bit harder
to block since some of his high punches look like they are coming in low. He's
not much more dangerous than Rocco.
Punches:
Side Slap (U&L) - Winds up his left fist (your right) and hooks to your left.
Tricky Left (U&L) - Leans a bit to your right and winds up his left fist, then
hooks to the left. Same as the regular hook except it starts from down low so
can fool you into blocking low if you are blocking.
Low Blow (D&L) - This is his only low hitting move, again with his left fist.
He leans to your right and crouches down and away from you quite a distance
before swinging to your left with a body blow.
Tricky Right (U&R) - This move is designed to throw off your defense. He leans
to your left and winds up what looks to be a low punch, but swings up and to
your right. Thus it can throw off your dodging since it's the only punch you
have to dodge left to avoid, and it can throw off blocking since it looks like a
low punch but actually hits high.
Special move - Pimp Slap: Takes off his hat and glides off the screen. Then
comes back on the screen and deals a back handed slap. Takes away half of your
current health if it connects. Dodge to the left when he swings to avoid it.
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II C. Jobu
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Description: An African tribal assassin that's sensitive about people stepping
on his flower garden and knows voodoo.
How to fight: Enter Jobu's Gardens at any time.
Damage per hit: 15
POW Special: Takes away half your current health.
Fighting tips: Jobu is the only boxer with more than 4 regular punches. Just
like Sweetness, all but one of his normal punches can be dodged to the right, so
get in the habit of dodging right whenever you see him wind up a punch. The one
punch that needs to be dodged to the left has him lean far out to the left
first, so it's pretty easy to spot. The only tricky punches are the two that
start with him crouching down first, since it's not obvious which way to dodge
or block when you first see them. Both of them are blocked high and can be
dodged to the right. He only has one punch that hits low, but it looks similar
to one of his high punches so can be a problem when blocking. His special is a
bit more dangerous (and cooler looking) than Sweetness’ since you have to hit
him to interrupt it at the right time rather than just dodging.
Punches:
Left Slam (U&L) - Leans far to your right, then punches hard to your left.
Right Slam (U&R) - Leans far to your left, then punches hard to your right.
This is the only punch he uses where you need to dodge left instead of right to
avoid it.
Stomach Punch (D&L) - Pulls back his left fist (your right) and punches low and
to your left. He doesn't lean very far for this punch compared to the Left
Hook.
Tribal Uppercut (U&L) - Crouches straight down just slightly, then comes up with
an uppercut.
Bull Rush (U&L) - Crouches down and a bit to the right, then thrusts his head up
in a head butt move using his nose horns for damage.
Special move - Voodoo Wade: Disappears in a puff of smoke, then reappears and
pulls out a Voodoo Wade doll. He punches the doll a couple times which damages
you instead (takes away half your current health). To avoid it, you must punch
him right when he reappears. Be careful though, punching him to stop this move
does not stun him, so he may immediately counter attack. Be ready to dodge
right after you interrupt him.
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II D. Gus Incubus
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Description: Claims to be the Prince of Darkness, lives in a volcano and has a
thing for hot dogs.
How to fight: Enter Devil's Peak after beating both Sweetness and Jobu.
Damage per hit: 25
POW Special: Immediate loss of all health and knocked to the mat.
Fighting tips: Gus is a big step up in difficulty from Sweetness and Jobu. He
hits a lot harder, has a really sneaky trick punch, and his special is the most
dangerous in the game besides the final boss. The real problem is his Psyche
Punch, which looks like it should be dodged right but is instead dodged left.
It also looks like it should be blocked high but is instead blocked low.
Punches:
Hell Slam (U&L) - Leans to your right, then punches hard to your left. Note
that this is his only punch where you need to dodge right to avoid it.
Evil Hook (U&R) - Pulls back to your left, then hooks to your right. The punch
looks like it would hit low, but it actually hits high.
Psyche Punch (D&R) - Moves up and to the right as if he's going to do a high
punch to your left, but instead he does a sudden uppercut type move right where
he's at. This move is his most dangerous, because when dodging you'll often
instinctively dodge right when you should dodge left and if you are blocking,
you'll often block high when you should block low. But if you concentrate on
avoiding this move too much then you'll probably be hit by the Hell Slam instead
since it is exactly the opposite.
Special move - Fire Breath: A very dangerous special that requires you to avoid
2 hits to avoid being immediately knocked down. He leaps back safely into the
background and takes a deep breath, then jumps forward and breaths fire on your
head. If the fire hits, Wade's hair is burned off and you will be stunned for a
few seconds. While stunned he will hit you with either a Hell Slam or Evil Hook
which you can't avoid, but either one will automatically take off all your life
and knock you to the mat. To avoid the fire, you must dodge left when he leaps
forward (even though it looks like you'd dodge right, dodge left!). Right after
he breathes fire, he is completely invulnerable until his next punch. Also note
that even if you dodge the fire, if the next punch hits you you'll still lose
all your life and be knocked down. To be safe, just block high after dodging
the fire (he'll never do the low-hitting Psyche Punch after breathing the fire).
Finally, if you do dodge/block the follow-up punch and counter punch yourself,
it won't stun him since the follow-up punch still counts as part of his special.
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II E. Mimi Li
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Description: Raver that fights with glow sticks, and the only female boxer in
the game (yet she still is affected by The Family Jewels and the Ringgirl hired
help for some reason...).
How to fight: Enter Hangar 33 after beating Gus Incubus.
Damage per hit: 20
POW Special: 3 hits that do 20 damage each.
Fighting tips: Mimi Li is the fastest moving boxer in the game, and the strobe
lights in the background can really mess you up. She's got a good mix of both
left and right punches and a point blank uppercut that's hard to see coming.
Fortunately her damage per hit is actually lower than that of Gus Incubus.
There's no real trick to her, you just have to have fast reflexes. It's best to
dodge instead of block if possible because her low hit move looks almost exactly
the same as a high hit move before the punch.
Punches:
Glowstick Uppercut (U&R) - Without really moving, pulls back one fist and then
brings it up in a spinning uppercut. Despite being right in the center it can
only be dodged to the left.
Left Zoom (U&L) - Jumps far to your right, then zooms to the left punching you
in the face as she goes.
Right Zoom (U&R) - Jumps far to your left, then zooms to the right punching you
in the face as she goes.
Low Zoom (D&L) - Jumps far to your right, then zooms to the left punching you in
the gut as she goes. This move looks almost exactly like Left Zoom at the
start, in fact I know of no way to describe the subtle differences. This move
makes the No Dodge challenge very hard to do with her. If you can dodge though,
just dodge the same as you would for the Left Zoom and you'll be fine.
Special move - Lights Out: The lights go out and Mimi's glow sticks fly toward
you in the dark. They come in from the right, then the left, then the right
again. Each time they hit you does 20 damage. To avoid them, dodge right,
left, right.
-------------------------------------------
II F. Evil Wade
-------------------------------------------
Description: A grayscale mean-looking version of Wade, that seems to be the
delusional result of one too many drinks on Wade's part...
How to fight: Enter O'Reilly's after beating Mimi Li and order click on the
"O'Reilly's Special" on the bar.
Damage per hit: 25
POW Special: Empties health bar leaving you at no health (but still standing and
able to fight).
Fighting tips: Evil Wade can be a handful. His special is the most painful
after Gus's and Don's, but it's pretty easy to avoid so it's not a big deal.
The problem is his moves come out fast and from all directions, and they hurt as
much as Gus's. He also tends to throw in short pauses often, making it hard to
predict when the next punch is coming. Most of his punches can be dodged by
moving left. When blocking his Right Hook and Body Blow look very similar which
can throw you off.
Punches:
Left Hook (U&L) - Leans to your right and winds up his left fist, then delivers
a mean hook to your left.
Right Hook (U&R) - Leans down and to your left and winds up his right fist, then
delivers a mean hook to your right.
Body Blow (D&R) - Leans to your left and winds up his right fist, then delivers
a low jab to your right. He holds the fist he's about to punch with up high in
this move, as opposed to the similar Right Hook where he holds his fist down
low.
Evil Uppercut (U&R) - Crouches slightly then delivers a right uppercut.
Special move - Mat Bruiser: The same as your own Mat Bruiser, except he starts
by jumping back in to the background giving you time to prepare. Then he leaps
forward with an uppercut that knocks you high into the air, jumps up after you
and slams you into the ground, then hits you again on the way down. This drains
all remaining health, however, you always immediately stand back up and keep
fighting with 0 health. To avoid this move, just dodge left when he does the
first uppercut.
-------------------------------------------
II G. Killa Gorilla
-------------------------------------------
Description: A 500 pound silverback mountain gorilla in a butler outfit. Don's
personal butler, chauffeur, accountant, and body guard.
How to fight: Enter Don's Mansion after beating Evil Wade.
Damage per hit: 30
POW Special: 3 hits that do 20 damage each.
Fighting tips: Ouch! Don't get hit by this big ape, it only takes 3 hits from
him to put you on the mat. He doesn't move much either, so there's no easy
indicator for which direction his punches will come from. Fortunately all but
one of his punches can be dodged to the right, and the one punch that you need
to dodge to the left is pretty easy to spot. Like all boxers after Rocco, he
also only has one punch that hits low if you prefer blocking. His special isn't
a big deal, fairly easy to avoid and not that dangerous anyway. Even so, his
high damage and good speed make him worthy of his spot as the most difficult
boxer besides Don.
Punches:
Tricky Ape (U&R) - Holds his right fist (your left) high in the air, then swings
it down and over to your right. This is the only punch where you need to dodge
left, so watch for that fist in the air.
Gorilla Jab (U&L) - Holds his left fist (your right) high in the air then does a
high straight jab to your left.
Double Hammer (U&L) - Puts his fists together down in the bottom right corner of
the screen, then brings them up in a slam to the face.
Gut Punch (D&L) - Winds his left fist (your right) back far to your right and
quickly punches low and toward your left.
Special move - Monkey Boy: Jumps in the air and hangs onto something unseen, and
then uses his feet to swing at you 3 times for 20 damage each. Swings left,
right, left so you can dodge it by dodging right, left, right (in the same
pattern and timing as Mimi Li's special).
-------------------------------------------
II H. Don
-------------------------------------------
Description: Undefeated champ of Big Piney and owner of a failing boxing
organization.
How to fight: Enter the Stadium after beating Killa Gorilla.
Damage per hit: 50
POW Special: Immediate loss of all health and knocked to the mat.
Fighting tips: Don changes all the rules you've come to learn thus far, and
seems impossible until you figure out how he works. Here's the lowdown on
what's up with Don:
- Every A/B or L/R punch swung at him when he's not stunned (other than the one
punch that does stun him) will do no damage and will result in him laughing for
a second and then doing a quick counter jab that must be dodged to the left.
- None of his moves can be blocked or Pretty Parry'd, only dodged (meaning the
No Dodge challenge is impossible with him).
- The only time he can be hit is when countering his special, while he's
stunned, or by doing an A/B body blow punch just after dodging one of his
punches.
- When he is stunned you can hit him 5 times instead of just 4 - so when you
dodge his punch, you have to body blow him once to stun him then you can hit him
with 3 more regular jabs (any kind) and finish with an L/R punch.
- When he hits you he gains more POW than other boxers do from hitting you.
- He seems to stay down longer once actually knocked down compared to other
boxers, so if you actually do manage to knock him down a few times he should
stay down.
- His special can only be stopped by hitting him with a body blow while he's
charging it up, and unlike other boxers' specials this will stun him for a full
length stun (5 hits total).
So the basic strategy is to dodge his punches, counter with a body blow followed
by 3 more regular punches then an L/R, and use a body blow to stun him when he
starts doing his special. You'll want to get him on the mat as many times as
you can as quickly as you can to take advantage of his low ability to get back
up. A big help is to start the match out by using Mac as your hired help and
knocking him to the ground with a wrench right away. This not only gets you a
quick knockdown to help with the KO later but also takes out half his life bar.
You'll also want to come into this fight with the Mat Bruiser move from Vic's
Gym and use it as soon as your POW bar fills up (remember it's unblockable and
uninterruptable and instantly knocks them to the mat with 0 life). A
combination that seems to work most of the time is Mac's wrench, then dodge and
counter until you take out the other half of his health bar and knock him down
again, then use Mat Bruiser as soon as you can for a third knockdown which will
probably KO him.
Sound easy? Not really, his moves are very fast, hard to avoid, and he only has
to hit you twice to knock you down!
One tip - his special is really nasty and easy to get hit with if you get too
twitchy with your dodging. So, if you are pretty good at dodging the rest of
his moves, try only countering his punches by using the one body blow and an
immediate L/R punch. You'll have to dodge him more often but you'll finish him
just as fast in terms of round time and your own POW meter filling up. But more
importantly, his POW meter will fill up slower so he won't be able to do his
special as often.
Punches:
Killer Hook (L) - Pulls back his left fist (your right) and slams it hard to
your left. He kind of grimaces as he's pulling back his fist. This is the move
most likely to cause you problems since it's the only move where you have to
dodge right. All his other moves you dodge left, so often you'll instinctively
dodge left and get hit by it. On the other hand if you watch for this move too
much you're liable to dodge right accidentally on some other move. This punch
seems to come out a little slower than his others, but Don would still be MUCH
easier without it!
Jaw Breaker (R) - Pulls back his right fist (your left) downward then brings it
up in a quick right to the jaw.
Double Jab (R) - Brings his fist straight back and jabs it forward right into
the camera a bit to your right. Then he pulls his fist back and does it again
for a second punch. Each punch takes off more than half your health bar, so
this move can put you on the mat by itself. It's best to dodge both before
countering with a body blow, but technically you can stun him after the first
one if you are really fast. Also, once you get hit with the first one you are
pretty much doomed, but if you time it perfectly you sometimes can dodge the
second punch. I've only managed this about once every 20 times though.
Counter Jab (R) - A single punch version of the Double Jab, he'll do this move
after a quick chuckle any time you try to hit him (except when he's stunned,
when countering his special, or when it's a body blow just after dodging one of
his punches). You can not hit him at all after he does this move, trying to do
so will just make him do it again.
Special move - Face Planter: Holds his right fist (your left) out to the edge of
the screen for a second, then brings it forward in a big sweep and catches you
(you can't avoid it). Then he slams you against each side of the screen and
then shoves your face into the camera. Results in all health lost and you on
the mat with the ref counting. The only way to avoid it is to punch him with a
body blow while he's holding out his fist before catching you. The big problem
is the time window for doing this is small enough that if you instinctively
dodge left when you see his fist fly out, by the time you get back from the
dodge it's too late to punch him and you're going down. You'll definitely want
to pay attention to his POW meter during the fight and be aware of when he might
pull this one out. The good news is if you do punch him to stop it, he'll be
stunned just as if you'd dodged a punch and countered.
---
Once you beat Don you'll see the (very odd) ending for the game. I don't know
if there are multiple endings or not, I haven't found any by trying different
things like beating it without losing once or never using any "dirty" moves from
Da Back Alley, so there doesn't seem to be any. After it's been beaten you can
go back and fight Don again but it won't show the ending or credits any more.
====================================================================
III. EXTRA INFORMATION
====================================================================
-------------------------------------------
III A. Boxing System Exposed
-------------------------------------------
All this information was obtained from hours and hours and hours of
experimenting with the game and doing a little math. I don't have any special
inside information or other guides to go off of, you can figure these things out
yourself if you work on it enough.
Each fighter has 90 health in a full bar (including Wade).
Every normal A or B punch does 2 damage if it's done as a counter punch (i.e.
immediately after dodging/blocking an enemy punch or while the opponent is
stunned with yellow stars around their head). It makes no difference whether
you punch high or low, left or right, alternate punches, try to punch in the
opposite/same direction they did, whatever, it's always 2 damage. Pretty Parry
also only does 2 damage from the punch.
Every normal A or B punch does 5 damage if it connects when it is not a counter
punch - i.e. when the enemy is just standing there or after avoiding their
special attack.
Every L or R button punch does 10 damage any time it connects, no matter what.
Whenever you do damage to an enemy (unless the damage is from a POW move or
hired help), the amount of damage you do is added to your POW meter. The POW
meter is full when it gets to 62 points. If you get hit by a regular punch from
the enemy, you lose 30 points from the POW meter. Most enemy special do not
affect your power meter (only Mimi Li's and Killa Gorilla's specials affect your
POW meter).
Your enemy's power meter goes up whenever you hit them by 2 points, no matter
what punch you use (except POW attacks or hired help which have no affect on
their POW meter). Also, whenever they hit you, they get either 12 or 16 POW
(have not found any particular reason why its sometimes 12 and sometimes 16, may
be random). Don gets 20 POW for each time he hits you.
Supercut does 25 damage and knocks them down.
Airslam does 55 damage and knocks them down.
Matt Bruiser does 90 damage and knocks them down.
The Family Jewels does 40 damage but will never knock them down even if it takes
them to 0 health.
Rapid Punch does 24 damage and leaves them stunned long enough to do 2 jabs and
an L/R move, which if done would be 38 damage total.
Piston Punch does 16 damage and leaves them stunned long enough to do 2 jabs and
an L/R move, which if done would be 30 damage total (I think this must be a
bug!).
The Jackhammer does 40 damage and leaves them stunned long enough to do 2 jabs
and an L/R move, which if done would be 54 damage total.
All POW moves are unblockable and uninterruptable.
Using the Ref's hired help makes the countdown take twice as long when you are
down, allowing more time to press enough buttons to get up. However, it still
won't let you get up after being knocked down for the 4th time no matter what.
Using the Ringgirl's hired help stuns your opponent for long enough to connect
with 9 hits. Using an L/R punch will immediately break the stun, so its best to
hit with 8 jabs then finish with an L/R punch for 26 damage.
Using Mac the Mechanic's hired help immediately does 50 damage to the opponent
and knocks them down.
When you are knocked down the first time, your opponent gains 6 health no matter
how long you are down for. The second time, your opponent gains 11 health. The
third time, your opponent gains 20 health. The fourth time you will always be
KO'd anyway, but if you manage to press your buttons fast enough to fill your
health all the way up they will gain around 40 health. Interestingly enough,
they only actually gain any health when YOU press buttons to gain your health,
however you have to press buttons in order to get back up thus you are forced to
give them the above amounts of health.
When either you or your opponent is knocked down, when you/they get back up they
will always have the same amount of health depending on how many times they've
been knocked down as follows:
First time up - 80 health.
Second time up - 76 health.
Third time up - 67 health.
Fourth time up - 62 health (Wade cannot get up after being knocked down 4
times).
Fifth time up - 58 health.
Sixth time up - 53 health.
Seventh time up - 49 health.
Eighth time up - 45 health.
(No one can get up if they've been knocked down nine times).
After a round change, each boxer (you and your opponent) gains 1/4th of their
current remaining health (so if they have 48 health at the end of the round,
next round they'll have 48/4=12+48=60 health, up to the maximum 90). However,
if they have less than 40 health, they'll automatically jump up to 45 health (so
even if they only have 2 health left at the end of the round, next round they'll
have 45 health).
Every boxer (besides Wade himself) does the same damage no matter what punch
they hit you with, except for their specials. Here is how much each boxer does
and what their special does:
Rocco McScrub - 12 damage per hit, 1/2 remaining health from special.
Sweetness - 15 damage per hit, 1/2 remaining health from special.
Jobu - 15 damage per hit, 1/2 remaining health from special.
Gus Incubus - 25 damage per hit, special takes all health and knocks down
automatically.
Mimi Li - 20 damage per hit, special is 3 hits that do 20 damage each (60
total).
Evil Wade - 25 damage per hit, special takes all health but does NOT knock you
down.
Killa Gorilla - 30 damage per hit, special is 3 hits that do 20 damage each.
Don - 50 damage per hit, special takes all health and knocks down automatically.
What determines how long they are down and whether or not it is a KO? This is
the biggest mystery in this game and one that I have not completely uncovered
despite several days of research. I have determined some things though.
Things that do NOT affect the down time:
- Variety of punches - using all one punch or mixing up punches has the same
results.
- Which punch used to knock them down (A/B or L/R) makes no difference (POW
moves and Mac do have an effect though).
- How soon/late in the round you knock them down has no effect.
- Stats like your health, stamina, POW, or enemy POW has no effect.
Things that DO affect the down time:
- Different boxers seem to be more or less likely to be down longer (not sure on
this one but it seems that way, especially for Don who tends to stay down after
only 3 knockdowns).
- How many total times they've been knocked down in the match across all rounds
determines the minimum amount of the count. It's always 1+number of knockdowns
total (including the current one). So the first knockdown will always be at
least 2 seconds. The 9th knockdown will always be at least 10 seconds which is
why they are guaranteed to be KO'd on the 9th knockdown.
- If they have health left on their health bar when knocked down (knocked down
from Supercut/Airslam/Mac) it will reduce the count they would normally have
gotten and prevent a KO unless they've already been knocked down several times.
- Knocking them down with a POW attack does make a difference, but it is NOT
necessarily always beneficial, in some cases a regular punch would have made
them go down longer. But it does make the random factor of the count different.
- The main part of the count seems to be a random number, and the random number
changes with each punch throughout the match, so most of it is just plain dumb
luck. Unless someone can find some rhyme or reason to how the random number
changes with each punch. I can't make heads or tails of it.
So the best way to get a KO seems to be to get lucky, knock them down as many
times as you can, and try to make sure their life bar is empty when they hit the
mat. There may be more to it but I've given up on figuring it out. If you find
some key to this mystery let me know.
-------------------------------------------
III B. Referee Hats
-------------------------------------------
These seem to be just things to spend all the extra money on that you earned
from random fights after you've beaten the game. To get to the hats, press
Select from the map screen. You can then purchase a hat for $25 a hat. You
can't see what the hat will be until after you bought it. Once you've bought at
least one hat, you can click on any purchased had to put a * symbol next to it.
From then on the referee will wear that hat whenever he appears to do a KO
countdown. I've not discovered any way to make him go back to wearing no hat
once you've given him one...
Many of the hats are actually more than just hats, but actually change the
appearance of his face such as adding a mustache.
There are 24 hats in total, and it would cost $600 to buy them all. Below is
the complete list of all the hats, starting with the first page of hats (the one
you get when you press Select the first time).
PAGE 1
Village People Gold Miner
Old Football Hard Rocker
Tough Biker Doctor Time
Rasta Man Graduation
PAGE 2
Da Irish Jig Iron Chef
Thanks Giving Fore Fathers
Roman Emperor King Tut
Fries With That? Ruby Turban
Page 3
Sombrero Sad Clown
Ming Dynasty Davie Crocket
Brown Durby Gang "Star"
Sir Isaac Meshunga!
====================================================================
IV. VERSION HISTORY
====================================================================
1.0 (3/25/4) - Completed guide. The only things I was not able to put in it is
the exact details on the mysterious formula that determines how long they are
down for when knocked down, and if there are any secret endings or characters I
have not found them.
====================================================================
V. CONTACTING THE AUTHOR
====================================================================
If you want to ask a question about the game, please don't. If it's not in the
guide I don't know, and I'm not going to go look it up for you. I really don't
have the time.
If you have a correction for the guide or a secret or other addition, or you
want to send compliments, that's great. I can't guarantee I will actually
respond to these, but I will give you full credit for any new information I use
from your e-mail (be sure to include whatever information you want in the
credits as part of your e-mail, including what name you want to be known as and
whether or not you want your e-mail address included in the credits listing).
If more than one person sends me the same info, I will only give credit to the
first person that sent it (judging by the date/time stamp on the e-mail).
That said, you can reach me at zauron (at) zauron (dot) net and you can view my
homepage at
http://www.zauron.net/
====================================================================
VI. LEGAL STUFF
====================================================================
Unpublished work Copyright 2004 Taron Millet (aka Zauron or Rubikant).
This document is protected by US Copyright Law, and the Berne Copyright
Convention of 1976. It is for private and personal use only. It is a free
document that cannot be used in any sort of commercial transaction, including
selling it or giving it away as a gift. It may be freely posted and distributed
as long as it is unaltered and full credit is given to the author. This
document was created and is owned by me, Taron Millet <zauron (at) zauron (dot)
net>. It can be found at (www.GameFAQs.com).
All copyrights and trademarks are acknowledged and respected that are not
specifically mentioned herein.
Wade Hixton's Counter Punch is © DSI Games.
