THE COMPLEAT KUROKO FAQ (v. 1.5) Playing CPU Kuroko There are two ways to get Kuroko: The first is completely by random. I've gotten him after the third, fourth, fifth, and other opponents myself. Time, life left, whether you've continued, human opponents, and any other factors do NOT affect whether he comes out or not. Once I got him after beating third opponent Sieger through a timeout, when I had a sliver of life more than he had. This was a 2-1 match, after I had continued twice already. So playing quality has NOTHING to do with it! This second method is sure-fire, and was discovered by Greg Kasavin. For the 6th, 8th, and 10th opponents, you must beat your opponent in two rounds. For the second round, you must finish off your opponent with your Super Move, with under 20 seconds on the clock. Kuroko will come out after that. To make this easier, a human player can join in. If either wins 2-0, winning the second round through the conditions above, Kuroko will still come out. Also, a memory card saved at the appopriate opponent WILL work. So home players can get Kuroko easily by loading the saved position, and beating a "dummy" player while satisfying the conditions. How to beat Kuroko General tactics Kuroko uses--this is on my system, and I don't know if the CPU uses the same strategy in other systems, but I don't see why not. Most of the time, Kuroko advance toward you, or throw fireballs if you are far away. If you try to jump him, he will often hit you first with his ground slash, or leap into the air and hit you with an air slash. If you throw a fireball, he will often reflect it. If you do special moves, he will often retaliate with his chain extension. When he's hit, he will often do the "split" trick. I've noticed these two tactics he initiates: 1) Kuroko rolls in and tries to AB slash or throw you. He will often do this if you try making quick, non-low attacks against him; i.e. he rolls through your attack and hits you. A variant on this is when he sends out his electrical sphere, then rolls under it and tries to throw you. 2) Kuroko jumps at you, almost always with his C kick. As soon as he lands he either does an AB slash or throws you. When Kuroko's powered up, watch out. He will run up, then slide toward you. If you try ANY counterattack, he will cream you with his Super. If you block, he will keep on trying to slide into you, ticking off points. He will eventually throw you if he can't hit you with the Super. I'm not sure how to counter this. However, if he hits you, you will often be powered up afterwards (assuming you're still alive). Kuroko does NOT move after hitting you, so while going through your "mad" animation, you have a free throw against him while he's right next to you. To beat him, play conservatively most of the time. He seems to be the weakest in the air, because he insists on doing the C kick, even though his AB slash is much better. Also, I can get hit with the kick, yet STILL hit him in the air after that. Note that Kuroko doesn't have any low attacks except for his short-ranged crouch kicks. So you don't have to crouch all the time. Here's an almost sure-fire way to win with Charlotte: for most of the time, just thrust him to keep him away. Watch out, as he can hit you first occasionally with his AB slash. You will get backed into a corner. Kuroko will then start jumping at you--when he does, jump and AB him. You will get hit by his C kick first, but you can still jump up and cream him with your AB afterwards. If he splits into two, I can crouch AB the first one and still recover in time if it's the wrong half. You can't do anything about the fireballs he throws--they're too fast or big. Don't try jumping him unless you're desperate. Like Mizuki, he seems to eat the first AB triangle, but learns after that. After practicing, I can beat him 2-0 with Charlotte frequently, and I think this strategy will work with any character with quick air attacks. For those that don't but have a fairly slow jump, try the Kyoshiro strategy instead. For Kyoshiro, I fend off Kuroko with standing B-slashes. I eventually get backed into a corner. When Kuroko jumps up and does his C kick, jump straight up and get hit with it. It does little damage, and when Kuroko lands, he still does his AB slash. By the time Kyoshiro lands, he can throw the recovering Kuroko. This strategy works because Kyoshiro does a lot of throwing damage against Kuroko, for some reason, so Kyoshiro comes out ahead. Playing human Kuroko This will work for home Neo Geo systems only. You can only play him in a two player game. You cannot load any saved positions either. After either player wins, the game ends. Whoever wins gets his/her face shown on the "Game Over" screen, just as if he had won a normal game. To get Kuroko with either joystick, enter this code, courtesy of Geese Howard: O | O- O | -O + A (i.e. hold the joystick forward and press A) | O | O The joystick movements are the same for EITHER side--don't reverse them! Note you can play a mirror match with Kuroko. However, Kuroko doesn't have an alternate color, so the two will look exactly the same! Kuroko facts: Kuroko cannot have his weapons broken or lost in a clash. Kuroko cannot be thrown normally. He is thrown just like Earthquake. Note this still can do substantial damage! Kuroko can still be SPDed by the ninjas. Kuroko can be dizzied. If you split Kuroko in two, anatomical (not valentine's) hearts spill out. Taunts: AC -- Says "Ora! Ora!" (Ryo Sakazaki, AOF) BD -- Fans himself with a Japanaese fan (Mai Shiranui, FFS) Normal Attacks: Standing Far A and B -- Flag thrust AB -- Down slash (Haohmaru, SS) C and D -- High kick CD -- Slower high kick Standing Close A and B -- Elbow AB -- Up then down slash (Haohmaru, SS) C and D -- High kick CD -- Triple kick (Nakoruru, SS) Crouching Far A and B -- Short flag swing AB -- Up slash (Haohmaru, SS) C and D -- Crouch kick CD -- Longer crouch kick Crouching Close A and B -- Elbow AB -- Up slash (Haohmaru, SS) C and D -- Crouch kick CD -- Longer crouch kick Jump A and B -- Diagonal flag thrust (A flag is extended throughout jump) AB -- Down slash (Haohmaru, SS) C and D -- Down kick (C kick is extended throughout jump) CD -- Down kick Special Attacks: Adopted from the SS2 moves FAQ--all of these movements have been confirmed, and simplified in some cases. These are all of Kuroko's moves that I have seen. ,____________________________________________________________________, | | \ -O A Kohken (Ryo Sakazaki, AOF) | | O O | |--------------------------------------------------------------------| | O- | / A Double Kohken | | O O | |--------------------------------------------------------------------| | | \ -O B Mega Smash (John Crawley, AOF) | | O O | |--------------------------------------------------------------------| | -O | \ A HaohShoKohKen (Ryo, AOF) | | O O | |--------------------------------------------------------------------| | | \ -O | / O- A Kaiser Wave (Wolfgang Krauser, | | O O O O FFS) | |--------------------------------------------------------------------| | | / O- | \ -O BC Spikey Black Object | | O O O O | |--------------------------------------------------------------------| | / -O A Double Senbei Shuriken (Jubei | | O. Yamada, FFS) | |--------------------------------------------------------------------| | / -O BC Electrical Sphere | | O. | |--------------------------------------------------------------------| | | / O- A Flag Extension (dizzies and pulls | | O O closer) | |--------------------------------------------------------------------| | Tap C repeatedly Gekiho (Tung Fu Rue, FFS) | | | |--------------------------------------------------------------------| | -O ABC Missile Reflection | | | |--------------------------------------------------------------------| | -O BCD Reflection Slash (unlike above, | | will also hit opponent) | |--------------------------------------------------------------------| | ABC or BCD when attacked Death Fake | | ABC -- front half explodes | | BCD -- back half explodes | |--------------------------------------------------------------------| | O- / | \ -O (x2), D Super Deformed | | O O O | |____________________________________________________________________| ,_ Throws ___________________________________________________________, | -O B, AB, D, CD RessenKyaku (Tung Fu Rae, FFS) | |____________________________________________________________________| ,_ Power Specials ___________________________________________________, | -O \ | / O- -O AB RyuukoRanbu (Ryo Sazaki, AOF) | | O O O | |--------------------------------------------------------------------| | O- / | \ -O (x2), CD RyuukoRanbu (Kuroko pauses to | | O O O take a breather) | |____________________________________________________________________| Notes: The most useful fireballs are the Haohshokohken (HUGE--hard to jump over) and the Mega Smash (very fast). The Electrical Sphere is slow, and useful for setting up throws (like Hanzo's A slinky). The Sembei Toss and Electrical Sphere do not come out consistently at all, while the Double Kohken and Flag Extension can be easily mixed up, since their joystick movements are similar. To do the two moves consistently, try this: move the joystick B, DB, B, but NOT D. For the Flag Extension, move the joystick DF, D, DB, B. Basically, avoid doing a normal quarter circle either way. Despite the similar appearance to Mizuki's Curse Ball, the Electrical Sphere does normal damage and does NOT turn you into a pig. You can be hit after doing the Death Fake, if your opponent picks the right one to hit. Kuroko seems to have very high throw priority. Kuroko's Power Special is not easy to spot, because he slides toward you without any big warning. You can block it, taking a hit of blocking damage, but if you don't he nails you with his Super Combo. This move also does major damage, unlike a lot of other Power Specials. Credits: Galen Komatsu--various comments and suggestions Geese Howard -- getting Kuroko as human opponent Scott Fujimoto, Geese Howard, Galen Komatsu, Joab Kong -- Kuroko's moves Greg Kasavin (Shrike) -- getting Kuroko as CPU opponent `[1;37;43mRainbow V 1.07 for Delphi - Registered