Sengoku Denshyo 2001 Perfect Guide ver 1.1 -This game also know as Sengoku 3- 12/10/2002 Unpublished work by Toxic (also known as Toxic Avanger) mail: el_baron_toxico@hotmail.com ICQ: 146473636 Ver 1.1 includes: - Added "Advanced Techniques" section. - Added "Ditching the Garbage" section. - Updated records. - Updated walkthough (pre-Goemon fight) It is impossible to find this guide unless you search at: - www.gamefaqs.com - http://cheats.de ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Index: ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.- Introduction 2.- FAQ Dictionary 3.- Game History 4.- The Characters + Your Characters + Interrupt Table + The Enemies + Advanced Techniques 5.- Survival Techniques + Tutorial + Ditching the Gabage + The Stages 6.- Miscelaneous 7.- Thanks ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Introduction: ----------------------------------------------------------------------- First of all, I am happy to see that Sengoku 3 did hit the streets on the city without semaphores... HA HA!!! Next to that I have to say that I am one of the few that can survive the travel that the game has to offer, most of the other players get walloped without clearing any stages; and after some analysis I have come to discover the reasons of my success and the reasons of their faliures, for that for about 5 of the 6 persons that can get to the 5 stage are my disciples... For other path I have also heard that my explanations are unclear and hard to understand... that's logical because I am an artist that always aim high, thus I will never build a simple text feeling good about it; also that might help you to understand more difficult texts, due that most of the time you have to do a comprehensive read of what I say, if I sound like a freak, is because I am. Of course that this guide is meant for free use and no personal profit, other than actually improving when playing the game; as usual all of my guides pretend to give several techniques that can allow the player to play in a way that will "please the crow" that might be looking, showmanship is at the escence, must I say; also I have believed this guide to be necessary because I have only seen only another guide on the net, thus variety of techniques was required; also I have saw this guide fit for the plain motives that I like to write, I like to play beat 'em ups, even I love them more when the toughness of the AI makes it impossible to survive, because I can survive and I will... more over I was bored, so now on to business. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FAQ Dictionary: ----------------------------------------------------------------------- A: Weapon attack. B: Punch attack. C: Jump. D: Throw item. up: Do you expect me to explain THIS??????!!!!!!?? dn: Down bk: Back fwd: Foward * Of course there are possible combinations with the directions, like uf for up-foward and so. * , : Means that the move is a follow up from a prior move. ; : Means that the move is different from pior ones. * : Means that there it will be notes somewhere. § : Also means notes. + : Also means that there are notes somewhere, I got tired if I see one symbol for notes through all the guide, you can sue me but my lawyers will eat you alive and spit your bones afterwards. All of the other issues are explained on "The Characters" section and/or the "Survival Techniques". ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Game History: ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The first two Sengoku games where about two brave mens fighting the devil emperor, the great Nobunaga; Nobunaga did enjoyed using his flying castle to travel through time and conquer all the lands on all the eras, thus a kind woman (suspiciously resembling to the "leader" of the heavenly dragons on X-1999 by Clamp) used her powers to send those two brave mens across all of the lands that where under the domain of the devil; the humans did used the power of spirits that the meet through the game (a samurai, a ninja, a dog, a mage that granted you the power of shooting beams, etc.)... The first two Sengoku games had some really neat aspects, like that the opposition always used original methods to enter the stage (running from the back ground, coming out from statues), the games environment was perfect, but the game play was HORRIBLE; those games where made for being impossible, even if you do survive for several stages the patterns that you could use to survive would be boring... On those games the opposition had always the upper hand over you... And not only on number, they where superior on power, range, skill movement... Crap, I have seen no one to survive long on those games... They are meant for you to lose. On Sengoku 3 we got that the issue has changed, there is not anything about time travel; the context that you got is that there it is a ninja clan that is always prepared for the rising of the Evil on this land, the English translation call this clan "Ninjas of Peace", within this clan you got 4 main members, members that you got the privilige of play and two betrayers; the "traitors" state that they have been falsely charged, but since the clan did not believed that they decided to flee and prove their innocence (in fact it is only one "traitor" but a girl left with him to help him); if the inmortal evil that is causing disaster this time is the same Inmortal Emperor Nobunaga, that I do not know, yet I still call him Nobunaga... Note that the intro of the game shows a "red moon"; I guess that THAT is the sign of the problems that are to occur on this world. Now on to the basic. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Characters: ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ++++ YOUR CHARACTERS ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ As a first note I can say that I can not recommed any character or saying something like "with this guy you only lose", everything gets to what kind of character you like and how do you intend to play, I have obtained excellents results with Kongoh (the slowest character) and with Kurenai (the fastest character), so I advise you to pick a guy that you like and get used to what he/she can do, not all characters play the same, believe me. At the beggining of the game you start with four selectable characters, after the third scene you can select again your characters, but with the difference that there are two new faces from where to pick, nice change for the game, must I say; by the way I will first explain the special moves that the characters have and then I will list the possible cancelations that you can use in the game in order to create chains. **** NOTES ************************************************************ Note that all the people share the same motions for all of their moves, that will be dn, dn + A for ninja trick 1, dn dn + B for ninja trick 2 and dn, up + A + B for the "desperation move", note that some characters, Kagetsura and Kongoh namely have an extra ninja trick performed when you can throw an enemy (either while holding an enemy or weither after three jabs); on the power bar you can have up to three bars, the ninja tricks wates a 40% of one bar while the desperation move wastes a full bar, take notice that I will not describe the dn, up + A + B move since it acts the same for all characters, but know this; when you perform any move your characters are invincible during the whole move, also note that the special moves can not be blocked by the opposition; finally it is the issue that the desperation move stops all enemies, I mean; they will cease to do what they where doing to recieve the move, also the move involves all characters on screen and the damage varies depending on the enemy that is affected by the move. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Kagetsura: The main man of the game, has a patch in the eye and seems suspeciosly similar to a character from the Samurai Spirits fame, this character is balanced. Special Move 1: He will cast a lightning on his sword and then slash the victim, this move hits twice. Special Move 2: He will run foward covered by electricity, this move has a HUGE range, hits three times the enemy and it will not work if the enemy is out of the screen and- or the enemy is on the air. Special Move 3: Using this Kagetsura will perform a move similar to Hanzo's signature special throw, you can direct the character to any place that you will like and this move produces and small explosion when it touches the ground, of course please note that this move is a throw, sad thing that Kagetsura can be hit after the move ends, but that doesn't mean that the move sucks or something for the matter. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Falcon: It is my understanding that this ninja comes from Spain, he is also balanced but I will say that this character is a little more focused on speed, he also seems to be suspiciously similar to another ninja from the fighting game circuit. Special Move 1: Falcon will 'create' wings on his back to later throw a fireball aiming foward, note that the wings can hit an enemy that could be approaching from behind. Special Move 2: Falcon will run foward, uppon impact he will change the move for an slash with an uppercut, we are talking about damage here; this move does not work if the enemy is out if the screen. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Kurenai: The cute little girl that has appeared on so many games (not the character but the stereotype), even though she looks familiar to me I can not relate her to any other character that I have seen, she carries two daggers and is a light character. Special Move 1: This girl will spin foward giving four slashes to finish the move with a stronger attack, this move seems specially suited for defense since it can 'drag' an enemy even tough if might seem that the move will miss on them because they where too far. Special Move 2: The girl will crouch to later throw shadows of herself in five directions covering almost every angle in a rect line, nice damage. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Kongoh: The typical Machomen of any group, Kongoh has a little more range than his cohorts, just for the record. Special Move 1: This lad will hit the enemy on the stomach and upon success he will perform a fairly damaging throw to the enemy, note that if the inital attack connected on several enemies only one will be thrown, even though the thrown enemy will fall in top of his cohorts. Special Move 2: Kongoh will throw his weapon foward hitting who ever meets it's traject, note that the initial impulse can hit a enemy that could be behind the character. Special Move 3: Kongoh will perform a typical Pile Driver throw, signature throw of Zangief (in hipotesis is from Haggar, since Final Fight meet the streets a few months earlier than Street Fighter 2), you can direct the character while the move is being performed, when the throw touches the ground it does product a small explosion that can damage enemies nearby, Did I mention that this move is a throw?? unfortunately the character will be left vulnerable for a moment after performing this, even with that fault the move is fairly good. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Byakki: This character seems to be the quiet type, after all he was involved on an incident and he was vanished from his clan, being falsely charged agaisnt the clan... I guess that THAT was for being to quiet, Huh?, No?, well, in any event this character is the brother of Kagetsura and it is also a very balanced fighter. Special Move 1: Byakki will summon a devil that will slash the enemy three times, this move can fail if the enemy is too close, since the move itself appears just in front of Byakki. Special Move 2: Byakki will summon a huge demoniachal hand that will attack the enemy, just as the other move this does appear in front of Byakki and can fail if the enemy is to close, but what it makes the move SO great is that it leaves the enemy open for more attacks. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Okuni: A more adult woman, Okuni is the sister if Kurenai and seems to have the thing for Byakki (As she left with him to help him probe his innocence), this character is quite agile. Special Move 1: This female will give a swing with her fan to later add a more powerful smash on the opposition. Special Move 2: This woman will throw a fireball foward that will hit twice, the sad thing is that this move will not work if the victim is in the air, yet it will still work in some circuntances (like juggling several enemies). ++++ THE INTERRUPT TABLE ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ________________________________________ | | | | | | | B B B | B | B | | B | Punches |_______|_______|______|______|________| | | | | | | | A | A | A | A * | A | Weapons |_______|_______|______|______|________| | | | | | | | First | Sec § | Thrd | Four | Last + | |_______|_______|______|______|________| * = This * means that the move needs to be delayed a little bit or other attack will be performed instead. § = This is here because Kagetsura and Kongoh hits twice with this move. + = This is here because Falcon, Kurenai and Okuni hits twice with this move. This is pretty much the "order" that your moves can trigger, you can manage several combinations with these moves; for example you can exchange a punch move of first order for a weapon move of first order, also you can change a third order punch move for a third order weapon move, if the explanation is not that clear (fairly frequent fact when I am the one that explains) you can watch the next example: If you attack with B successfuly several times you will have that the character will give three jabs, a stronger attack and then they will finish the combo with an even stronger attack; that will be: - B B B, B, B. Now, if you give weapons attacks continuosly you will get that the character will give three weapons attack (assuming that you did not used the delayed attack), that will be: - A, A, A. Finally, you just heard that you can combo the punches attack with the weapons attack, and you also know that they will have a particular order, so if you do: - B B, A, A, B, A. You will have that the character will give two jabs (1st order), will give a weapon attack (1st order), another stronger weapon attack (2nd order), then a punch attack (last order) with a finishing weapon attack (last order) Or to put it simple: - B B, A, A, B, A. 1st | 1st | 2nd | Last | Last Or you can do: - B B B, A, B, B, A. 1st | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Last As you might have noticed passing from punch to weapon does not affect the order but passing from weapon to punch does affect the order, also the order is altered if you use the same attack type on the enemy, with that knowledge the longest combo you can perform is: - B B B, A, B, A, A*, B, A. * Means that the attack is delayed. Note that all of the attacks, weither they are punches or weapon can be canceled with special attacks, and all the attacks EXCEPT a last order weapon attack can be canceled with running, also please do note that the third punch (from a first order B B B chain) can be canceled with a throw. Also note too that all the attacks leave the enemy vulnerable except from a last order weapon attack. With all of that in mind you can perform some crazy combos such as: - B B B, A, B, A, A*, B, running B; B, B, A, run & jump B, A; B, A, A, A*, run B; B, run A. * That A is delayed. "The sky is the limit", in this game is pretty easy to perform infinite combos (you could do running B all day), but the true fun is in creating huge wild combos that will involve several moves, so you can please the croud that is watching you play; and after all is sad but true, simple combos are just used by players that don't know how to play or by players that don't want to improve, and in any event players that don't want to improve ARE GARBAGE, I know because I live surrounded of them, and don't worry, getting used to this system is easy, just be patient and you will learn how to do it, if even after all this tiresome read you can't still understand the system I will now list a few extra notes and later some simple combos that anyone can do. + On the bottom of the screen there is a bar that gets filled a little everytime you attack the enemy, while that bar as energy the game will count the attack as a combo, weither it is or it is not actually a combo; that just means that when the bar is empty the number of hits will not increase, note that after this bar fills starts to falsh, during that time your characters do more damage, just a little, like a 5%, no maybe a 2% more per hit, it does not sound that neat but believe me, MORE IS MORE. + Bosses and tougher enemies will escape or block long juggles such as the one that I just described. + Note that jumping attacks can also be chained, for example you can give a jumping weapon attack, chain it into a punch and then give another weapon attack. + Throws will no leave the throwed enemy open, enemies hit by his flying body are the same history. + A jumping weapon attack will launch and leave the enemy open. + A running punch will leave the enemy open. + A running weapon attack will NOT leave the enemy open. + Running will leave the enemy open if it hits from close (you can check the range of that attack by pressing fwd, fwd, neutral). + For the character that the Last order A hits twice note that the first hit does leave the enemy open and thus it can be comboed with a special move. + "Tag combos", that is combos that include the attacks of both players are impossible in Sengoku 3. + "The attack must be delayed" means that the attack must be delayed (duh!), but delay it just a little, like half a second or something like that, if you tap the button wildly the move won't come out at all. + When using a juggle you can "direct" the direction where the enemies will be throwed, let's say that you gave a jumping A; if when you touch the ground you give an attack facing left the enemy will be thrown left, if by other chance after that jumping attack you give an attack facing right the enemy will be throwed to the right; and it does not matter in wich direction you connected the initial attack. + While the enemy is knocked on the air all attacks have the same properties that have on the ground, that is the order and the attacks that can leave the enemy open and the attacks that can't leave the enemy open, also you can throw an air bounced enemy, AS I SAID BEFORE, note that to perform more complicate juggles you have to time the attacks to the orbit of the flying body. Sample combos: - B, A, A, A*, A. * Delay that attack. - B, A, B, B, A. - B, A, B, B, running A; A, A, A. - B B B, A, B, A, A. - B B B, A, B, A, A*, B, running A. * This attack must be delayed for a brief moments. - B, A, running B; B, A, A, dn, dn + A*. * The effectiveness of this combo will vary depending on wich character uses the move, can also be replaced with dn, dn + B. - B, B, B, A, B, A, A*, B, A. * I have been bothering with this one for a while, right? remember to delay that one attack. - Hold an enemy, running B; B, B, A, run & jump B, A; B, A, A, B, run B; A, A, A.+ + Hold the enemy but don't throw them, instead cancel that with the run. * Kongoh can not use this combo. Remember that these are the basics, the rest comes with your creativity, also try that the enemy does not go outside of your range (that's why the running cancel is so important. ++++ THE ENEMIES ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Soldier: The most basic enemy that you will face through Sengoku 3, this enemy lacks any strong attacks the will make you watch out for them, but even though they do not produce much damage energy is energy and you must be careful not to be hitten, this enemy in particular hasn't any invincible attacks thus you can feel free to attack them without worries, within his attacks you have a "long range attack", that is a stab in the stomach, a "heavy attack" that knocks down and does a little more damage than the long range attack but it has less range, of course and a "jumping attack", that is just like the heavy attack but jumping, note that these characters have two pallete swaps, the green ones are "timid" while the blue ones are by far more aggresive. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Lancer: The other most basic enemy of Sengoku three, they use the same sprite that the Soldier but they had a lot of more range, they had the same attacks and the same characteristics, but there are two differences: they had more range and they have an attack on where they throw their spear to the front, so be more careful with them since they tend to put out of your range and then hit you with that damn spear, I remind you that these enemies do not stand up with any invincible attacks, these enemies have also two pallete swaps, being brown ones that are the more dangerous. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Samurai: A not so basic enemy that can give you more troubles, they have an extremely bothersome "running attack" that is fairly hard to hit, so I rather suggest you to dodge them when they do it, also they have two basic slashs, one in the stomach and one on the head, but I had noticed no difference between them, the main problem with this enemy is that they can stand up with invincible attacks, so don't get near them when they are on the floor, they come in two colors, yellow that has nothing special and green, that is the same as yellow but they can use a three hit combo. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Assassin: This girl looks like a thief, their jumps can cover a very big part of the stage, so be careful as they can surround you with ease, these enemies can throw bombs from time to time but that is fairly unusual, keep in mind the fact that these enemies had a lot of range and that they can stand up with an invencible attack WITH A LOT OF RANGE, so keep your distance, they come in two colors, brown that has nothing special and purple on where they can use a three hit combo, be afraid of their long range, also they usually will "parry" if you try to use a running weapon attack... Darn those Kunoichi. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Skull: A ratherly elusive enemy on Sengoku 3, this enemy acts like a fireball, it's duty is to pass by the screen attempting to hit you, dodge them and they will not comeback, they can be hit but it is fairly difficult to do so, they come in to colors, blue (travels in rect line) and gray (travels in rect line but rises, making it harder to jump), those enemies can't be throwed. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Vampire: This old man looks like a monk, they can shoot bats from under their sleeves and they can hit you with the draggers that they are holding, these enemies can stand up invincible so be careful also note that when you are using complicated juggles on them they will rather teleport to another side of the screen other than recieve all of the attacks, quick as hell and they can use a jumping attack. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Frog: These are one of the smallest enemies in Sengoku 3, they are so small that standard jabs will miss, but most of the other attacks works fine on them; they can stand up invincible so be careful with them; within their resorts they can use their thounge (fairly large attack, must I add) and they can throw a spit (that hits twice), please do note that these enemies can't be throwed, also note that these enemies are always 'flying' so there are attacks that won't work on them, I for one advise running attacks agaisnt these creatures. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Devil: These enemies can throw their head at you, so be careful, they can also slash you with their claws for some damage, those enemies are easy, I believe that they don't stand up invincible like most of the others, but since they usualy come in large groups and in conflictive situations you need to be careful with their heads. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Face: This creature can not be throwed and it is always flying so there are attacks that won't work on them; they can stand up invulnerable so keep that in mind, they can also shoot fireballs, and they had two tipes of rushing attack, one that can be hit (but it is hard) and one thay can't be hit, and you can difference them because the attack that can't be hit will make this enemy turn red upon performing. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Eagle: These enemies can stand up invulnerable so be careful -AGAIN- and they had a bothersome jumping attack that might catch out of guard; in "face to face" combat they don't have much to say, note that these enemies come in two colors, redish that has nothing to brag about and the blue one that can use a three hit combo. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Warrior: A very large man that carries an axe, this enemy can use a three hit combo and can throw his axe front to made some damage, but aside of that I have noticed that they have nothing to write home about, also note that they can not stand up invulnerable, so feel free to abuse. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Dogs: Dogs can be annoying like frogs but they can be hit by jabs, but in exchange they can use a jumping attack that is hard to avoid, they don't have many resorses so bash them quickly. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Half-Devil: Those enemies will only show up on the Gate mid-boss, they use the same sprite that the devil enemy but they had only two actions, attack and disappear, while they are traveling on the floor as a flame they can not being hit, by the way you can hit them as they transform to attack you (a basic jab works fine), they die with anything, weak creatures... ++++ ADVANCED TECHNIQUES ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ After reading that you should pretty much know everything that will become handy in surviving the game... But you know just the basic rules that apply to everyone, you have no idea of what so ever are the different characteristics of your characters, believe when I said this: If you try to play every character on the same way you will end up playing badly. Now I intend to tell my differents experiences with the characters and I will add some comments on how I think that things must be done; the characters are listed on no particular order: ----------------------------------------------------------------------- - Falcon: With this character I pretty much stick to simple strategies, he can hold the enemy on the air easily with a jumping 'B, A'; his fireball is excellent for defensive purposes, the only problem that I got when playing this character is that when I try to juggle with the weapon attacks I got to delay them a little. The second hit of his jumping A launches the enemy. I will say that is best approach to conflictive enemies is a running B; I will also add that in some situations is better to use a running attack instead of his last order A; because that uppercut might leave you in a conflictive situation if it miss and/or if there are too many enemies around; of course that if it hits everyone there is no problem, also note that his second order B does not hit small enemies (Frogs namely). * It is easy to give three or four air attacks with this character, I don't even need to advise a particular order. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- - Kagetsura: I play the same way with Kagetsura and Falcon, sadly that is not the most effective way to play them; in any event one of the advantages that I have noticed that his jumping A last the whole jump, I mean that if you tap quickly C, A the attack will last during the whole jump; besides the use of his special throw I have been not in the need of developing any special surviving techniques nor anything special; most of the time this character ditches damage with no shame. * To give three hits while jumping do A, B, A while on the air, you can make that a four hit juggle if you let the A hit twice. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- - Kongoh: * Kongoh takes more time than onther characters in building up the power bar * I have noticed that you must keep several things on mind when playing this character, thus I believe that his gameplay differs from the rest of the crew; first of all is the fact that his jumping A has the biggest range of any of your jumping attacks, so at a safe distance you can use and abuse as you like; a jumping A, B chain is my best approach to an enemy group, the only thing that you must keep on mind is that that attack comes out slow, so you must have space when you use it. Second of all is the fact that he can not run when holding an enemy, but that does not mean that you must be happy with a throw; when you hold an enemy what for them to free from the grab, and just when they touch the ground bash them with your chains, sadly this is only advisable of there are not many enemies around you; but is 'grab' is great (by grab understand holding an enemy without hitten them) because you can walk around with the enemy for a long time; for example on one of the toughest fights of japan I 'grab' an enemy and keep him alive while my partner destroy the rest of the opposition, this is great because instead of fighting with 4 enemies he have to fight with just two (because when there are three enemies more won't come until 1 or more are defeated) to successfuly do this you must grab again the enemy you where holding when you release him; don't grab him inmediatly but rather wait a little since after the grab he will be invincible against throws for a moment. When playing this character also keep in mind that his last order attacks take a long time to recover, so try not to use them unless you can attack everybody with them; also note that his last order B attack has very little range thus be careful with it. Also note that his dn, dn + B move won't connect from close (only one hit), and that might leave you in troubles. * It is hard to do three hits jumping with this guy, use A, B, A. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- - Kurenai: * Kurenai takes less thime than other characters in building up the power bar * I -for one- think that this character has the most unique game play from the whole crew, fist of all is the fact that his first order A attack has no back range, thus it will miss in some oportunities that other characters could it (like the enemy just on top of you) also is the issue that her last order attacks has less range than the other attacks, and also have that small gap behind the character; thus I won't advise you to use them from far, so against bosses I tell you to only use short chains to don't give them space to use any invincible attack; for example: + If you use a chain like B B B, A, B, B; dn dn + A and you are not at the closest range the boss might have time to interrupt you on the special move, since you both are invincible no one will be hit, but guess who will be on the upper hand?? The boss of course. + But if you use B B B, A, B, A, tap A you will be safe on most cases (tap A to avoid the delayed attack). * Remeber that any chain is safe against normal enemies, but you have to handle with care the bosses * Those look as some ungly disadvantages, right?? but Kurenai has one last resort to deal heavy damage, this resort is TOO GREAT in my humble opinion; you will see, Kurenai's jumping A attack is the quickest of it all, Of what use is this?? simple, you can give five attacks to the enemy; and not only if they are on the air, the five attacks can catch the enemy on the floor too; this small combo does A LOT of damage; most enemies will die ratherly easi with it; here is one example: + Give a "B B B, A, B, B" chain at the furthest distance, any other normal attack will miss; but you got time to input a running jump A, then interrupt it five times, with this you will have: * B B B, A, B, B; run & jump A, B, A, B, A Of course that this combo does not end here as the enemy is left open to more attacks, other characters like Kagetsura & Byakki can use this, but it is not nearly as deadly as it is with Kurenai. That air chain can be use with a running jump or with a normal jump, just remember that you must be somewhat far to use the whole chain, becuase her jump is too long, using it from close might leave the enemy out of range; most of the time I use a running attack to involve more characters on the juggle; note that to use this chain you got to be fast. After mastering this technique I got no troubles at all when playing with Kurenai... But remember not to jump the whole time, you got to "sort" the enemies and be sure that they can get involved on the chain, I will say it again; DO NOT JUMP ALL THE TIME, the jumping chain is strong, but if the first attack misses chances are that you are done for. * This character can do up to 6 hits while jumping, and that is like A, B, A, B, A, A. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- - Okuni: Okuni is as fast as Kurenai and does more damage than Kagetura or Falcon, the only drag you haveis that she does not build up the power bar as quickly as Kurenai, also you might have troubles with her last order A attack, because just as Kurenai; the first hit as very little range and might give the enemy space to attack (bosses only); her projectile is a very abusable attack so you might be sure to use it when there are tough enemies; I have finished of easily tough figths by just throwing a few fireballs here and there. Along with all the basic that you have learned from the three stages and playing the other characters you should have no troubles in commanding Okuni. * To give four hits on the air easily use B, A, B, A. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- - Byakki: Byakki deals damage, Byakki is not slow, the only drag that you got is that in his special attacks there is a small gap near him, the enemy might be safe if he stays close to you, but counting his advantages, like the only special move that leave the enemy open or a last order A attack that can not be blocked by bosses if inputted quickly enough this character has good chances in surviving the stages, just as Okuni, since you have developed yourself with other characters you can use that basis and adapt yourself to Byakki. * To give three hits on the air do jumping A, B, A. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Surviving Techniques: ----------------------------------------------------------------------- First I will review a few basic surviving techniques and then you can go to the fairly useless walkthrough, must I say that the only useful thing that the walkthrough includes are bosses strategies or the order of the food, other than that I found it not that helpful, then again you might disagree with me, the basic surviving techniques are mostly used during the whole game, if you need to know my personal record is getting to the second fight with the Fire Samurai with one credit and the machine set in level 4 with 01 lives (that's life 01 & life 00), also please do note that every name for the characters that appear here are made up by Papa Mono (except the ones for the bosses of Italy and Japan), ha ha ha ja ja ja ja!!, now on to our business. ++++ TUTORIAL +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ When playing Sengoku 3 you have to keep several things on your mind if you plan to survive, they should be considered the as basic rules of the game if you want to keep going... they work for me: General Tips: - Energy. Sengoku is a cheap game when it comes to energy, when clearing a stage you only get for about 40% and the food is hard to find, also note that the food quantity is the same for both, one player game or a two player game. - Items. This game contains several weapon items for you to use; if I am to rate the items I will go with 1.- Kurenai 2.- Bomb 3.- Shuriken 4.- Dish (They are crap), enemies can drop items, so save the more useful items for the right situation, Kurenais are so cheap because you can do combos like B B B, A, B, A, A; Kurenai x 9; special move. - Timming. Learn the timming of the chains and the combos, otherwise the opposition might retaliate when you are attacking them, braking a chain with an attack; of course remember that when juggling you have to change the timming of the chain to match the orbit that the enemies are taking, and please do note that canceling chains into running is escential for juggles and for surviving, people that does not have any muster on this technique meet disaster, I can not enphatize this detail enough. - All enemies have more range than you. Yes, there is no way around it, thus it is advisable to fight with big movements (running, jumping, etc.) other than stay still hitting. - Memorize the order of the enemies. Basic tip of every beat 'em up, shooting games and several other games, memorizing the order on wich the enemies appear will help you to avoid unnecessary damage and will also aid you to slay the opposition quickly. - The Oposition always try to surround you. I guess that you have noticed this, enemies are very threacherous when you just leave them be, they always try to put theirselves on good positions (behind you or out of your range), thus you can not spent much time without the enemy trying to do something; my personal secret to avoid this is the same "logic" that I use for shooting games, and that is 'never stare your character'; what I mean by that is that while you are hitting the enemy and the enemy can not retaliate don't look at your character, keep an eye on the other characters on the screen, thanks to that you can see if they are approaching to you with mean intentions or if they are just sitting around and waiting. - The power bar is precious. Don't be silly by using special moves everytime you got the chance, instead of that save those moves for dangerous situations, for example let us say that you are hitting a soldier, but a lancer is approaching and YOU KNOW that he will hit you with those damn long range attacks, in that moment you got three possible answers: run towards him -hitting all enemies- run away from them or use a special move; if there are too many enemies ready to attack the only answer will be a special attack; so save the move for that moment, also the desperation move is saved only for the most critical moments, like if you are cornered and there are enemies at the verge of conquering you... Sengoku is a game of possibilities and you have to quickly choose the one that will grant you the best outcome. - Don't fight furiously, try to protect yourself. A really important measure that you must always keep on the game, if you attack single enemies and fight furiously every time odds say that you will take damage often, and that is the way that the CPU plays, they drain your life little by little; so to avoid attacks you will rather fight with strategies, trying to sort all enemies together, when you got all enemies together you can use your most damaging juggles and combos to rip them apart. - Don't spent too many time with an enemy. This is what happens if you can't apply the other commandment, if there are enemies everywhere you don't want to spent too many time with a single enemy, becuase the rest of the enemies could try to surround you, for this there are two tactics: one is don't use long chains of single enemies (unless you are sure that others won't cooperate with them) or use strong attacks so you can dispatch them quickly, I have watched on the arcade guys who only use weak chains and juggles to be surrounded in no time and to be slayed in a minute, players like those can not even clear one stage, not even the easiest ones... - Don't corner the enemy outside the screen. The opposition is at it's finest when it is outside the screen, it is only logical, since the enemies have more range than you you will only recieve damage if you throw the enemy outside the screen; try it for yourself, throw any enemy outside of the screen and go to the edge hitting, in some oportunities the enemy will walk in to your attacks, but in other oportunities you will only see the blade of the enemy piercing you, and in this game you don't want something that works on a few circunstances, you want something effective. - Use the screen. One of the features that make Sengoku a different game from the rest of the beat 'em up fame is that movement plays a big role, first of all you have to know the little differences that exist within the characters (like the fact that Kongoh can fight more than other characters because his jumping weapon attack has HUGE range -so you can attack with a jumping attack and then a punch *both attacks on the air* and then follow with your preference juggle- or like the fact that Kurenai can hold the enemy on the air when juggling easily with a weapon, punch, weapon air chain), after you have control over your character particular style you have to know that you MUST take advantage on the issue that stages are so huge, a small example could be the end of the first part of the Italy stage, part on wich you have to fight three samurais on a very nasty formation, instead of risking yourself on that situation run away to the right, and when the samurai catch up with you you will see that they are all thogether waiting for you to slay them. That is a small example, but it is clear. - Coordination is the key. In one player game you have to coordinate your moves with the order of the incoming enemies, in two player game is by FAR more important to coordinate yourself with the other player, in my own experience I can say that in two player game, when both players focus on the same enemies they will soon meet disaster, yet when they fight away one from another, without giving any kind of help, they get to go far; but keep in mind that the players must respect each other (like giving the other player screen to finish of a powerful enemy even if it means to stop your combo, or always pointing out that in the corner is an enemy that you have not killed yet). As I said, that's the secret I and my parter use, never interfiere with the other player fights and give more importance to stronger enemies, using those secrets alone what have gone very far, in fact; some players have gotten far just by stick a low profile handling weak enemies while daddy does the hard job. ++++ DITCHING THE GARBAGE ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Once I was playing at my utmost confidence, showing my skills within the world of Sengoku 3, then one of those 'bonus' players aproached and I was so alert that I noticed (he was coming to the machine from the left side), I wasted no time in putting my knee to avoid the other player to insert the credit (when I got synchronized to play a solo game, it must be a solo game; if I get synchronized to play a tag game, it CAN'T BE a solo game), I did that not because I got one ugly mug; but also because he was going to ruin my concentration... ten minutes later another of these 'bonuses' arrived, I wasted no time -again- to prevent him to insert the credit "why don't you pull of the knee" it said, "because I like to play alone" I said "the machine is for 2p game" it said in response "I let you know if I care" I replied, "the machine is for everyone" it said... At time time I raised the tune too much and psichal confrontation seemed unevitable... Papa Mono just keep saying that I should leave the game and hit the guy... Of course that I did not do that and allowed him to play... By that time he said "good, because I want to learn how to play"... by that time I realized that this player will bring me defeat and accepted my future death with pride. Don't get me wrong, I don't care to play in company of a stranger, but I know that type of player, they just play with some 'animal instinct' and don't care for anything, they don't want to improbe, they hit the machine everytime they recieve an attack and they eat all the meal and do everything without asking... they should be called 'handicap', and it is not only that; but it is also that I got into a "parental" role and try to look for my 'handicap', but they gameplay is so bad that they will drag you to your death along them; believe me when I tell you that it is way harder to play with a lousy player than playing alone... And if you thing that I am some kind of cooky bastard let me tell you that I am... But is not only that, for the 'handicap' the phrase "I am recently learning how to play" is after the 200/300 credits... And I am not joking at that, they are THAT BAD. By that time I decided to do the same exact thing that the other player was doing, and that is PLAY AS BADLY AS POSSIBLE AND LET YOUR PARTNER TO BE KILLED... And it worked, the guy did not cleared one stage because he dropped death in an instant... I only advise you to do this when you are playing tag with one of the worst kind of players that you could met. If the player has somehow a future, I advise you to help him improve, who knows; he might save your credit when you need him to it. The few techniques that I used are somewhat hard to get a hold of... It seems that you need more skill to let another player die than to survive through the game. The first rule should stand proud now and say "NEVER ATTACK", that's right my friends, if you want the other player to be defeated don't make is life easier killing or holding some enemies, enemies that might possible attack him on your behalf... The only conditions on wich you are allowed to kill the enemies is that: a) The enemies are weak and can't deal with the other player. b) You need food as soon as possible. The second rule should be "SAVE THE ITEMS", by save the items I don't mean "save them for later", but actually I mean to save them from him/her; I have seen idiots to eat the 100% chicken when they just have been damaged by 30% (for these 'hadicaps' ANY damage is 'too much', it seems that they want to play an adventure game on where they can not be touched) you can do this in two simple ways: a) Move the screen to leave the food out of range. b) Eat it yourself first. * Note that one darn good to eat the food when he wants it is to leave him break the container and then eat it yourself, the other most critical meassure is to use your desperation move (dn, up + A + B) just after the container was broken, in that way the food will go away before he can ear it (is better to leave the food to be wated than having 'handicap' for more time) The thrid rule is "MAKE THE ENEMY HIT", this is not as simple as it sounds; you will notice that not all enemies attack the 'handicap', some of the enemies do attack you; thus it is necessary to hang around the 'handicap' to encourage opposition to attack him (like making sure that fireballs or running attacks are facing his way), for this it is necessary for you to use one of the several escapes methods that you should have developed if you are a decent Sengoku player... this is hard, but with effort you will see that this will pay off. That pretty much says everything, just keep one last thing on mind: If you are trying to make decent or promishing players to meet their fate... then it is you the garbage that needs to be ditched. ++++ THE STAGES +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Let us review the stages for once, I remind you that the first three stages can be selected freely and the later three stages must be cleared on a mandatory order, I will put the stages on the order that I use to clear them but of course you are not necessarily forced to follow that order: * If you can survive without using items I advise you to save the Kurenai item, it will become very helpful on the last scenes * ++++ ITALY (HARD) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The first "screen" or the first part of this stage is filled with basic enemies, that will be soldiers, lancers and samurais, on this first part you can move freely trough a very large part of the ground, the enemies first approach from the right and then from the left, on top of the table there is a pizza (10%) and in each of the two chairs there is a bomb item; samurais only appear once you have beaten the first group of enemies, I suggest to save the pizza and the bombs until you meet them, the enemies should not be a problem but keep in mind to stay near the center of the screen as lancers throw lances from the left at one part and as soldiers jumps with attacks from the same side later on, if you had memorized previously the order of the characters you have nothing to fear as you can hit the enemies as soon as they show up. The samurais appear on a conflictive formation at the furthest left side, I suggest you to run away from them (to the right) so you can catch them all on one side and beat the crap out of them avoiding unnecessary damage, for the record this first screen seems to be the street outside a restaurant. The second part is an alley of the same street, you will face several groups of enemies here but many of them have one thing on common, there is a samurai coming from the left at the center of the screen, on the barrels there is nothing to write home about at first you will face a group with three people (with a samurai appearing on the left-center of the screen running) and then you will fight in the same place a similar group (with another samurai doing the same), once you reach a dead end a samurai will warp on the left center of the screen, once that group is done for you will have to fight some assassins, but just as the other scene and as all others scenes you will have plenty of room to fight. The thrid scene looks like the "chore" of a river, the first group is some assassins, this fight is thought so I advise to use every resourse that you might had to fight them, the second group is some samurais and some assassins, another thought fight wich you must deal with care; note that in the barrels there are some shurikens and some score items, later the samurais come out running from the upper right and from the lower right once you can move the screen and since the assassins will came soon enough to bother you you will have to kill them swiftily. The fourth and last scene is a "square" next to the river, on the buzons there are some life (50 % energy) and score, the next fight is against some assassins, I am usually afraid of these enemies and advise you to be careful with them since they got a lot of range; the other fight is against the boss Okuni. ++++ OKUNI ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Okuni plays very similar to your characters, she has one very long range attack that you must keep in mind, it is a projectil that will travel foward, so don't keep a straight line between you and Okuni, just as any boss the main problem is not the boss, in fact bosses are pretty much easy on this game, the only problem is that there it will be enemies bothering you during the whole fight, and there is no point in killing the enemies, that in this case are assassins; note that as the enemies will show up until you kill the boss, also note that enemies usually try to surround you in order to finish you, so you mostly had to wait until you can get all enemies on the same place; but bosses won't come by their own free will towards you like other enemies, you will have to wait for a few moments until the boss decides to attack; also note that the boss does not comes right next to your attacks, but they put theirselves at a safe distance to attack; so you will mostly be waiting for the boss to come near where you are and then chase them with your attacks, also note that bosses can use combinations like you can so be careful with them and break the combo with a special move or with an emergency escape. ++++ JAPAN (HARD) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The first screen is a rooftop, easy fight with easy enemies; note that for you to reach the chicken (100 % healing) that is on top of the water tanks you must first jump on a block to the right and then jump to the water tanks, destroying a water tank will made impossible to adquire the food, the fights here are easy with basic enemies. The second screen I call a "construction area" but it is in fact just another roof top; the first fight is easy against some basic enemies, the other fight is a litter harder because it does include a tougher enemy, the vampire, so be careful on the first fight; also note that the vampire walks in with a jumping attack so be sure to dodge that; on the box there is a sandich (10%), the sandich can be saved for after the fight with the vampire; note that when the fight finishes you can adquire a Neo Geo Pocket item far to the right, hidden on the upper right (you'll have to jump to get where the item is and the conteiner that holds it is hard to break). The thrid place is the subway, the first fight is easy with even more basic enemies and later the things get a little to complicated as samurais run in to the stage; as you have noticed there are two levels on where to fight; enemies can access the lower level by walking to it but they can't jump to the upper level; so you can make thing easier by luring some enemies down and keep them there as you deal with the enemies on the upper levels, to lure the enemies your only chance is to walk down and wait for some enemies to go down, then return up so the other enemies do not go down there as well. Note that all enemies appear on the upper level, I DO advise to keep two soldiers alive on the lower level. The fourth and last scene is the street; on the sing there is a ice cream (50%) that you can save your second fight; the first fight is filled with lancers and samurais, so be careful and use all the resorts that you can to thwart them, be careful because lancers tend to throw their spears forcing you to be at the center or the upper/lower sides of the screen, the second fight is very short, only a few samurais so try not to lose the food if you where saving it, then it is the boss Byakki. ++++ BYAKKI ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Byakki fights similar if not equal to Okuni, so that means that the same strategies can be applied here, with the difference that Okuni was with some assassins and Byakki comes with some spearmans, that means that most of the time you will be waiting for the boss to approach while dodging or throwing out of the way his companions, Byakki also has a longe range attack but it does not travel the whole screen and it also travels on rect line; this fight can be won easily with patience and technique (yes, the same technique that you use to wipe out all the other enemies); remember that the bosses are invincible while using their weapon attacks so be careful and they can use combos like you do. ++++ CHINA (EASY) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ First there is an alley with basic enemies, there is some rice (meatbuns?) on the table (40%), and in a bicicle there is a sandiwch (10%) as at the end there is a pizza (10%); as I said there are only basic enemies here and your biggest threath is a samurai at the end of the street. The second part is a square, note that in the tables and chairs there is no food but there it might be some other items like coins, and at least they give you score, right?; just as the last fight you will fight basic enemies and at the end a few samurais that might give you troubles if you don't "pill them up together". The third scene is the out side of a temple, there is some rice (that triangle shaped rice) on the bank (30%) and there are some basic enemies to be fought, just keep yourself at the upper end or at the lower end of the screen as some skulls might pass by and they are hard to hit, if you can kill them they will leave items and if you leave them they be they will fly away. The inside of the temple holds some basic enemies, some rice (40%) and the boss, the rice can be saved for the boss. ++++ FIRE SAMURAI +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ This boss is the easiest of the first scenes, he posses only one dangerous attack wich consist in him being engulfed in fire and he begins to jump towards you, he give only three jumps, a small one, one a litter higher and a really high jump; since the jumps are directed towards you you can easily avoid them by moving to another place, and note that the boss only uses this move when you are far away, if you are close do not be afraid of him and bash him, his compagnions are only just some basic soldiers, so feel free to bash to them if you like, this boss can't use combos like the others and the jump is his only invincible attack (even thought he can still get up being invincible with some fire), just kill him the same way you kill an assassin. ++++ BRAZIL (HARD) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The first part is a chore, here there are some frogs and some devis, remember that frogs can not being hit by regular jabs since they are so small and remember that devils can "shoot" their heads towards you; do not be cheap and use all of your resourses on the fight, the pillars hold food (rice- 30%) and score, the food can be saved for the fight with the devils; note that after the fight you have two ways that you can choose, the high way can be reached by jumping and it is a short cut, the lower way has some enemies, some score and a lot of food, you can enter the lower way by breaking the wall that is on the right side, it seems that there is no point in taking the lower way unless you are looking for some action. ***** ALTERNATIVE PATH ************************************************ Let us assume that you took the lower path, this is a temple where you will meet the face enemy and you will have to make some "Ninja Gaiden" jumps on where you will have to be very precise or you will suffer damage if you touch the spines; I suggest you to give some running jumps to cross the spikes, but do not run and jump next to the spikes, just run and jump in a way that you will end up just behind the spikes, because in most cases there are severals spikes lined up one next to another and jumping wiyh fooly will only make you lose energy; but if you are controlling a more agile character (like the females) you will refrain from using this method and just jump between the lava, the spikes or what ever there it might be lurking on the floor; an even easier method to avoid the obstacles is to jump on diagonals, holding up-foward, this does works thanks to the perspective of the ground, also I suggest not to fight between the spikes or the lava, because when you do so the character "moves" thus it is possible that you will end up stepping the spikes because you where fighting near them, so the strategy here is corner yourself in a big space and then fight the enemies, also keep positions on the upper or lower level as a few blue skulls pass by flying; note that there is a pillar with some ice cream (40%) that can be saved to the end of the this screen; and note that the faces can shoot so don't stay put on a straight line next to them waiting to be hit. Next is the outside of the temple, here you will fight more faces and some devils, I remind you that devils are though so use all of your resources here, on the pillar there is a pain reliever (50%) that also can be saved for the end of the fight (unless you advance the screen to much and the character will leave, just like the stage before this one). *********************************************************************** Back in the main road you will end up in a hill, at the begining there are some frogs, on the pillar there is a sandwitch (10%), then later you will have to fight some lancers and a few samurais, lacers appear first near the top and the bottom of the screen and then at the center of the stage and they will all throw their spears, so keep on the upper or lower side of the screen as there you can dodge the lancers regardless their positions, I remind you that they appear several times so be careful; hard battle, later you will fight the Pheonix mid-boss. ++++ PHEONIX ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Just as any other boss complicated juggles will not work on the Pheonix, but he does not block the attacks like the other bosses, he will rather turn into fire and then fly foward in an attempt of hitting you, but you can still get some hits while he is on the air because he waits to be attacked a few times before teleporting, it all depends on the chain you used to set it on the air (he can resist for about 12 hits before turning into fire and escape, so handle with care this one), just as the vampire enemy, note that this boss will also teleport after being knocked down or if you are too far away, note that it's tail is in fire and it can hit you, so just approach him from the front, after the Pheonix telepots the technique to dodge it is to run on either the upper or lower level of the screen, and when you hear it scream go to the opposite level of the screen (low or high, not right or left), always keep the character running as it makes him smaller (except Kongoh) and moving up or down will made dodging the thing easier, note that some characters (like Byakki) can dodge the creature by just running without moving upwards or beneath, just running mades them small enough; to safely attack the boss just keep yourself up or down of it, and just after it fires go in front of him and bash him; in some oportunities the boss will throw meteorites to you, if that happens just keep close to him bashing him with attacks as it is vulnerable to attacks at that time and you will sure to be safe next to him; REMEMBER that when it turns into fire and teleports it can hit you and it is quite invulnerable, when two players face this enemy the got to coordinate similar movements to dodge this thing, otherwise they will take damage. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ After you bash the Pheonix you will have to fight a few samurais and and vampire, be careful but the advantage you got is that in the lower barrel there is a chicken (100%), but remember that if you are in good condition you can save the barrel for the boss fight; aside of that I encorauge to use as many resourses as you see convenient to slay these bastards; note that these are green samurais and the difference that they got with standard samurais is that they can use combos (only one of three hit), after the fight you will face the boss Goemon, note that this stage has a big image of Christ on the back (where you fought the vampire) and it is my understanding that that staute is famous in Brazil and that city (Río de Janeiro) has been the home to important business like a reunion of big personalities back in the '93 (I hope I got that right, it has been some time since then). ++++ GOEMON +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ * On the next scene you will recieve the Kurenai item x 2; so you can use 6 of the here and then restock for the next boss * The biggest pain you will suffer is that the enemy has several frogs on his side, beings that I found particulary annoying, so you better stick to any other attack aside from the basic jab, Goemon's sword attack is invincible and with his shoot he can cover the whole screen, not only in a rect line, the only way to escape the shoots is to time your jumps or to use one of the several invincible moves that your characters have; but since these are all the attacks of Goemon you can easily dispatch him with a simple pattern, stay close to him but not in rect line (as with any other enemy), when you see him pulling out his cannon run and jump behind him (as he can't shoot backwards) and then go close to him and bash him, even though Goemon is no danger in hand to hand combat he is very fast, so if you attack him with fooly he will run away and then shoot you leaving you in a dangerous position, as with any other bosses be careful with his compagnions because they are the main problem; I do remind you not to stay in rect line, as he can hit you with his sword even if you jump (in the case you mistake the sword for the shoot). ++++ (U.S.A.) HARDER ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ First you will be on a street, here you will fight some eagles, eagles are not that dangerous on close range but when you are far away they will attack jumping usually managing the hit, so be careful; later you will find some ice cream and a warrior with some green samurais, so be careful but on the sign there is a burger (30%), there is also some lancers and some eagles to take care of; this fight is darn though so I advise to use all of your resorts here, and after the fight is over you will have to choose between the upper path or the lower path. **** LOWER PATH ******************************************************* The lower path is full of faces, but be careful because they might surprise you, better fight them with everything that you got, note that in this path there is no food, also be careful because at some point there are some skulls that pass by flying, as usual dodge them by being in the uppermost or the lowermost part of the screen. The second part of this drain is full with electricity, on this part you have to use precision jumps or the technique that you used to dodge the spikes, and that is either run and jump but land just behind the electricity barriers or jump on uf, note that there are some faces and some frogs bothering you on this part and also there are some blue skulls that appear at the center of the screen; note that in all the fights you have a lot of space on where to fight, so you can escape when needed; at the end of this there is the boss. **** UPPER PATH ******************************************************* The upper path is filled with dogs and Purple Assassins, it also has some eagles bothering you, on this part there are two levels, just like the subway part of Japan, Eagles can attack you on any level, but Dogs and Assassins can not, well, Assassins can attack from the lower to upper level if you are standing near the edge, there is a burger (30%) on this scene, it is located on the upper part of the level, note that since you have so little room to move almost every fight on this part is hard, so I advise you to fight it out with everything, this scene seems to be the outside of a building, at the end of this scene there is a warrior with some dogs, those can also be a real pain, after you slay them and hidden on the upper level there is another Neo Geo pocket item, but it is from a different color and gives less score (A WoderSwan perhaps?), after this there is the fight with the boss. ++++ THUNDER SAMURAI +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ * If you don't like to use items, save some Kurenais for this boss, a long combo with them will make you your life easier * This is -in my opinion- the first actually hard boss, he has several traps to settle for you and he appears at first with two spearmans or samurais if the game is setted up at a high level, and that's a pain, so in this fight there isn't any meaning in killing his cohorts, the boss itself can be tricky as he can hit even if you are in an upper level or a lower one, the technique used to slay him is similar to the one that you used to dispatch Goemon, that is, wait for him to shoot and then jump and run behind him to catch him unaware, the space on where you fight is a little bit smaller and the enemies that come with him are more agressive than frogs, unlike other bosses I feel that is necessary to descrive his attacks for you to know what you have to handle, he has one basic slash that can cause damage, he can shoot a ground fireball, similar to the one that Kaede shoots in Last Blade, what mades this attack tricky is that he first cast a lightning on him and then he will shoot the power, when he is casting the lightning he is invulnerable, in fact the lightning hits you, and the move travels in rect line, after he shoots it there are still lightnings around him so do not think on jumping the attack and bash him; other move that you must take in consideration is a big serie of ground projectiles that this enemy can shoot, the method is similar to the other fireball, he will cast a lightning on himself (that can hit you) and then he will throw several fireballs at ground level, what mades this move so darn good is that the spheres bounces on the wall and they are kept on the screen for some time, this move can hit you on several angles, it is like the "muli-way shoot" from Contra games, or like a "three way shoot" that have made an appearence on some many games, the last and most bothersome attack is a teleport that this character can perform, he will cast a lightning on himself and then vanish, then several figures of him will appear around you, there are like 4 figures and they are all invincible, after they appear they will slash you, to avoid the damage you can use any invincible methods (obviously) or you should move quickly like crazy just as the enemy vanishes, usually a running jump can do the trick, be prepeared for this boss is a pain; by the way I have noticed that when you stay in rect line with him he will mostly use is rect line ground projectile, one of the easiest attacks to dodge and punish. ++++ TOKYO (OSOREZEAN HELL) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ [Osorezean Hell?? That was Mizuki stage on Samurai Showdown 2, and I think that the difficulty level is similar, I mean; rely only on randomness because the enemies will not just let theirselves beat] Well, I hope that you have enjoyed the game this far because it is here where the fun is over, it is here where the enemy throw it finest to slay you and it is on this scene where the difficulty is rised to higher limits, ha ha ha!; first of all you will be on a very big hallway, on this place you will find the more than usual formation of basic enemies with samurais, there it is also the possibility that you migh bump into some dogs (remeber that the variety the enemies that you can find does vary with the level of difficulty), after the dogs more samurais and a few warriors appear, if by this time you have not realized, the fight is difficult and you must give everything in order to win, also you might have noticed that after blue eagles jump in the fun is over; after the eagles there are more dogs and a warrior, the barrel contains life (buns, 40%), on this part and like many other you can use the trick of luring enemies and then retreat, so the numbers of enemies is less (remeber that in some parts enemies only show up when you reach certain points, retreating will make no new enemies appear until you reach that point), feel free to save the buns since the fight you will be facing is tough; with blues eagles and samurais, after that there is the mid-boss ++++ FUDO GATE ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I name this creature "Fudo Gate" because it reminds me somewhat of the fudo dogs that are used to guard the doors of temples or the important places, of course when someone more knowledgable than me read this will realize that the name is wrong; ha ha, now on the character allow me to say to you that there is no way of knocking it down, since it is a door, on this part you will have to fight some half-devils, I am yet to find an effective technique against this boss, also note that this boss can not move, so you will only have to be careful with the enemies and the whirldwinds that he tends to use, the whirlwinds travel on a zig-zag pattern that is fairly hard to dodge, one technique that has worked for me is to give a couple of strong hits and then run away from the enemy, deal with the half-devils (either you do it by launching an enemy on top of them or weither you do it using your "full screen" move, running or with a jab), remeber that when the gate lauches half-devils it can not hit you, but when it launches the whirldwinds they will hit you, that is because it is necessary to slay the devils a few times, because it will give you more time to attack, you can hide from the winds on the lower right part of the screen, do not discard the possibility of getting away and dodge them by your owns means, otherwise the enemies might corner you and that could be painful, as I have been saying there is no simple technique against this boss, only rely on your skills and in your luck, keep in mind that the lower path of the screen is safe against it's attacks and also remember that the boss only throws whirldwinds when you are in front of it. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The next room begins smoothly with some lancers and some soldiers, there are several lancers (6 on level 4) and they will all throw their spears, but they all come by the left -so be prepared- eventually you will bump up into some devils and later into some purple assassins, so you better fight carefully, remember never to attack blindly but rather to fight with fear protecting yourself, after fighting several assassins you will be rewarded with some ice cream (40%), and after that you will have to meassure strength with the first boss, the fire samurai. ++++ FIRE SAMURAI +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The enemy is the same, he is as easy as he was once before, but the problem is that the enemies that come with him are by far more aggresive, the only advantage you got is that this is not actually a boss fight, so the number of enemies is limitated (so if you want or can take care of the enemies be my guest), the problem that comes with that is that enemies are by far more varied, they are mainly lancers and green samurais, so they might not let you bash this creature easily like you did the first time, remember to use any cheap trick on the book to slay them, you want not to suffer damage. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ After battling the samurai there is another of those spikes scenes full of faces and skull, but we have faced that earlier, didn't we?, remember the method to avoid spikes, if not I will mention it again, with light character like the mademoiselles there is no need of anything strange, just jump the darn things -but be precise-, with the heavier characters you need to run and jump, but land behind the spikes, I recommend that because jumping without any extra impulse might be REALLY difficult with the guys, lastly the easier way to avoid the obstacles is to jump in uf, remember to stick into the upper or lower part as skulls always keep bothering you and remeber to "pile up" the enemies on a place where you can fight freely; after the fight your reward is another ice cream (40%); the problem is that with the food it comes the opposition, more faces; after that and a few spikes there is another barrel containing buns (40%), but save that for the battle that you will face, this battle has a little of everything, soldiers, lancers, green samurais, purple assassins to put a golden seal with two vampires, even though it is irrational to ask this try to save your ninja bar for the fight that you will face after this, also remeber to grab the food before slaying the vampires as just after them there is the fight with the boss of the game, I would say that this is "the revival of the Madman". ++++ NOBUNAGA +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The inmortal evil that this emperor represents can be a real pain in the ass, fortunatly with some simple techniques he can be a little less mischevious as he is supposed to be, first of I must say that he has a "full screen desperation move" just like you do and you can not hit him while he is doing it, afortunatly the move has a simple pattern that can be dodged with ease as long as the enemies are not in the way, the move consist on him summoning blue skulls from the ground in rows that cover most of the screen, they are blue skulls (even tough they are red) so they can be jumped, when he summons the skulls he mades it on a patter that allows a small space between them on where you can stay, on the first row the space is on the upper part of the screen, the first row comes from the left, the second row comes from the right and the openning is in the bottom of the screen, the thrid patter comes from the left again and the openning is also on the bottom, the last row comes from the right and the openning is in the top of the screen; so I suggest to stay on the bottom of the screen, jump the first row, ignore the second and the third but never forget to jump the last row; if there are to many enemies you can use your own "full screen" move and Nobunaga will stop his to recieve yours, fairly handy indeed (that is why you where saving the bars for this moment), in the fighting departament Nobunaga has nothing to say, he can shoot fireballs in a straight line and he can use a three hit combo, note that the first attack is invincible, also this boss will abuse from the invincibility of his desperation move, so keep near the bottom, you can also dodge it from the top of the screen with the inverse pattern (stay, jump, jump, stay), but I tend to fail on that one; so if you fail on that one too keep at the bottom (again, jump, stay, stay, jump); as I said, the first attack of the boss is invincible, I don't know about the second, but the third one can be hit; the main trouble when fighting the evil is that he will block after recibing certains attacks; (like a weapon attack), so you will have to resort to a more basic chain other than getting all the hits that you can get; I advise this becuase if the boss blocks any of your attacks you will be left open; the chain that I advise to use is fairly simple, use 5 punches and then run away from the boss, you can stop somewhat close to him and then repeat, but keep in mind that at some point the boss might use his desperation move, yes I know I have said it like 20 times, but try to stick to a safe place; other attack that the boss can use is a running attack, this attack inflicts heavy damage but I am sure that with the level of expertise that you have adquired through the game Nobunaga will not hit you easily, the last of your problems is that when the boss reachs his last bar (the green one) he will teleport to the center of the screen and then he will heal one bar, note that there is no way to avoid this, not even with your desperation move, but you can use the time he wastes in performing this move to gain more bars by beating up the current enemies, and that is; he does not appear to be that big and bad now, does he?. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Miscelaneous: ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Seiyuus: Koreya Nannda Yukihiro Fujimoto Syuusuke Sada Takahiro Araki Sayuri Koizumi Runnna Wasio Tika Iwami ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Character Design: Masahiro Maeda Yosikazu Nisikawa Nana Isiguro *********************************************************************** Overhault: What else can be said, Sengoku is a game that -I think- differs from other games of the genre, where intelligence and strategy goes over speed and strenght; in a way is similar to Tekken games, games on where it is necessary to perform movements across the screen to gain advantage over the opposition, the smartest movements wins, KoF is also about movement but is not that similar to Sengoku due to the fact that there are many other strategies alternative to movement ones (like stronger mind games and games with the lag time of the moves, plain old priority), of course Tekken also have those, yet movement is to notice over the others. ********************************************************************** Records: The machine has now been set to level 6, thus it is a little harder to get far, yet my present records are (lives 00 and 01), if someone else wants to post their personal records be kind enough to do so, point the character and remember that it must be achieved with one credit, mention the path and anything else that could be useful, of course be honest; if the game has more or less lifes point that so and if you can tell the level of the machine it would be nice (Tell me the lenght of the bar of Okuni and Byakki and I can tell the level of the game). Behold the records: +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Solo game: +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Toxico: Level 6: combo: 212 stage: After Beating the Fudo Gate. score: 1700000 (aprox.) Level 4: combo: 118 stage: After the second encounter with the Fire Samurai. score: 1400000 (aprox.) ************************************************************************ Fuu: Level 6: combo: 231 stage: Meeting with the Fudo Gate. score: 1400000 (aprox.) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Tag battle (with Fuu): +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Level 6: Toxico: combo: 45 stage: Meeting with the Fudo Gate. score: 800000 (aprox.) Fuu: combo: 94 stage: Meeting with the Fudo Gate. score: 900000 (aprox.) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Characters: Toxico: Fuu: +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Paths: Stage 1 = Italy Stage 2 = Japan Brazil = lower path U.S.A. = lower path This does not mean that one character is superior to another (even if I do think that Fuu plays a little better), this in fact means that I always step away and leave Fuu perform the big combos, I help with things like not hitting certain enemies or barrels and with stuffs like those. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks: ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Fuu: For being the only person that can catch up with me on Sengoku 3. Chupiler: You have to blaim this man for putting me on this business and for using excellent jokes. Henry Moriarity: For keeping a sharp site and even better message board at the mad man's cafe, of course; a big salute to the people of the cafe. Juan: For being insane, yes; that is enough to deserve credit from me. "Hey!! You are not up to Dodge Ball!!