Legend of Success Joe / Ashita No Joe Densetsu FAQ & Walkthrough Version 1.1 Unpublished Work Copyright (C) 2001-2002 Kitsune Sniper (David Silva García) Email: kitsune_sniper [at] hotmail [dot] com Unpublished work Copyright 2001-2002 David Silva García, using the pseudonym Kitsune Sniper. This FAQ and everything included within this file cannot be reproduced in any way, shape or form (physical, electronical, or otherwise) aside from being placed on a freely-accessible, non-commercial web page in it's original, unedited and unaltered format. This FAQ cannot be used for profitable purposes (even if no money would be made from selling it) or promotional purposes. It cannot be used in any sort of commercial transaction. It cannot be given away as some sort of bonus, gift, etc., with a purchase as this creates incentive to buy and is therefore prohibited. Furthermore, this FAQ cannot be used by the publishers, editors, employees or associates, etc. of any company, group, business, or association, etc., nor can it be used by game sites and the like. It cannot be used in magazines, guides, books, etc. or in any other form of printed or electronic media (including mediums not specifically mentioned) in ANY way, shape, or form (including reprinting, reference or inclusion), without the express written permission of the author, myself. This FAQ was created and is owned by me, David Silva García (kitsune_sniper [at] hotmail [dot] com). All copyrights and trademarks are acknowledged and respected that are not specifically mentioned in this FAQ. This copyright notice is based upon the one in Kao Megura's guide to creating an FAQ [Wham!]... all right! I just cut and copied it! Anyway, he wrote the original disclaimer. This FAQ is protected by copyright laws from the United States of America and Estados Unidos Mexicanos [That's México to you american readers ^^;] SNK, NeoGeo are a trademark of SNK, Playmore Corporation. Game Copyright 1991 Wave Corproration/Tetsuya Chiba Original Author / Asao Takamori Original Picture / Tetsuya Chiba The latest version of this FAQ will always be found at these addresses: Kitsune's Den http://vice.parodius.com/ GameFAQs http://www.gamefaqs.com/ ****************************************************************************** Table of Contents ****************************************************************************** 1 - So, how'd you learn of this game? - A special note regarding this FAQ 2 - Game Engine - Moving - Attacking - Defending - Time - Energy Gauge 3 - How To Play - Offensive Techniques - Defensive Techniques - Counter Punches 4 - Walkthrough - Stage 1 - Fight in Toko Special Boy's [sic] Reformatory. - Stage 2 - The fight against Shohei Inagaki. - Stage 3 - Wolf Kanagushi. - Stage 4 - Joe's rival, Toru Rikiishi. - Stage 5 - The Ruffian. - Stage 6 - Tiger Ozaki - Stage 7 - Carlos Rivera - Stage 8 - Kin Ryuhi - Stage 9 - Harimao - Stage 10 - Hose Mendoze [Jose Mendoza] 5 - Game Ending - Credits 6 - Dip Switch Information - Accessing the dip switches - Dip Switch information 7 - Special Thanks 8 - FAQ Revision History - Non-released FAQ version history 9 - Copyright Information ****************************************************************************** 1 - So, how'd you learn of this game? ****************************************************************************** A long long time ago, a fellow named David Lloyd created an online comic called Overclocked. And from that comic, a section called Mystery Videogame Theater 3000 was spawned. It featured the two protagonists from the comic, Pretzel and Green, reviewing really bad games in their own weird style, and sometimes guest writers came and helped out. Anyway, I saw a review of this game there (http://mvt3k.overclocked.org/episode011.htm), and laughed out loud when I read the things he'd written about the game. I laughed so much, I almost got kicked out of the Library for doing so! I'd never seen the game in any arcade to date, so I set about finding the rom and emulator to try it out at home. I got it, was horrified, and decided never to play the game again. Some time later, I managed to beat the game so I could contribute the ending to The Video Game Museum (http://www.vgmuseum.com). Being well, in a state of shock after withstanding the whole game... I decided to write an FAQ for it. Why, I don't know. I never thought I'd regret it... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A special note regarding this FAQ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This FAQ is riddled with spelling mistakes. I know of them. The Intro Quotes and Game Credits are written in bad English. I am quoting them directly. So please, do not tell me to fix the spelling. This was WAVE's fault, not mine. Thank you. Please, do enjoy. ****************************************************************************** 2 - Game Engine ****************************************************************************** ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Moving: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ You can move up, down, left or right in the stage to escape from enemies momentarily. You can't jump [this is a Boxing game, not a beat'em up]. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Attacking: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Press the A button to throw a punch. The attack will depend on which direction on the joystick you were holding and if you pressed the B button or not along with the A button. Please see the "Offensive Techniques" section to see the various attacks that Joe can execute. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Defending: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Press the B button to guard. Depending on which direction you were holding, you can either block high, low, or sway [evade]. Please see the "Defensive Techniques" section below for more information. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Time: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ You only have three minutes to clear a stage. If the time runs out, you'll lose the match immediately. Even if the enemy has a bit of life left and you haven't been touched, you'll lose. Kinda lame, but that's how it is. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Energy Gauge: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ You essentially have three lives per credit. The energy bar shows a picture of Joe and his energy, split into three bars. When one of the bars is depleted, Joe will go down for the count. Once all three bars are gone, you lose the game. The way they work is a bit different than what you would expect. If you win the fight but lose one half of your energy gauge, it will be filled up when the next fight begins. But if you lost one gauge, it will not be filled up. You'll start up with two bars [if you lost one], or even one bar [if you've lost two]. ****************************************************************************** 3 - How to Play ****************************************************************************** Joystick Layout UB U UF Walk up-backwards Walk up Walk up-forward \ | / [Up-back] [Up] [Up-forward] \ | / B-- * --F Walk back Neutral Walk forward / | \ [Back] [Forward] / | \ DB D DF Walk down-backwards Walk down Walk down-forward [Down-back] [Down] [Down-Forward] Button Layout B C D Block Not Used Not Used A Punch ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Offensive Techniques: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jab: Back / Up+Back / Down+Back + A It can only be blocked with a high guard. Doesn't do much damage. Straight: A It can only be blocked with a high guard. Does regular damage. Power Straight: A+B It can only be blocked with a high guard. Makes about three times as much damage as a normal Straight. Hook: Forward + A It cannot be blocked, only evaded with a sway. It has very little range. Does regular damage. Power Hook: Forward + A+B It cannot be blocked, only evaded with a sway. It has very little range. Does three times more damage than the regular Hook. Uppercut: Up/Up Forward + A This cannot be blocked, but can be evaded with a sway. Very effective if the opponent is crouching or blocking low. It does regular damage, but has a very low range. Power Uppercut: Up/Up Forward + A+B This cannot be blocked, but can be evaded with a sway. Very effective if the opponent is crouching or blocking low. It does three times as much damage as a normal uppercut, and it doesn't have as little range as the normal uppercut. This attack is extremely effective as a counter attack. Body Blow: Down/Down Forward + A Cannot be blocked high, only low, and cannot be swayed. Does moderate damage. Power Body Blow: Down/Down Forward + AB Cannot be blocked high, only low, and cannot be swayed. Does high damage, especially if used as a counter attack. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Defensive Techniques: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sway: Back / Up+Back / Down+Back + B Useful for evading most attacks. You'll find yourself using this very often. Guard: Up/Up Forward / Forward / Down Forward + B Blocks most attacks headed for your face, except kicks, hooks, and uppercuts. Low Guard: Down + B Blocks blows headed for the lower part of your body. Note: "Back" means that you should move the control lever towards the back of your character. Since you never change sides, "Back" is "Left". "Forward" is "Right". ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Counter Punches: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you manage to hit a Power attack while the enemy is throwing a punch, your attack will make twice the damage! Unfortunately, this holds true for their attacks as well... so watch out! ****************************************************************************** 4 - Game Walkthrough ****************************************************************************** ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stage 1: Fight in Toko Special Boy's [sic] Reformatory ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Intro Quote: "They were battling each other for the "boss" position at the Toko special Boy's Reformatory." This stage is easy. It's basically a training level so you can get used to the controls. Joe walks into the screen and there are three thugs waiting for him there. The first one has a badly done tan and is wearing a pair of sunglasses, a gray shirt and a purple suit. The second one is a dead ringer for Gerald Ford. Gerry's wearing a blue suit. Thug #3 is wearing a white shirt. Hit Thug #1 with any kind of punch immediately after the stage starts and the impact will take out Thug #2 [Gerald] as well. Thug #3 will get up, and yet again, one punch will knock him out. Keep going, and hit the thugs with straight jabs. Two guys, one wearing a gray suit and one wearing a black suit will come towards you. These guys can take two punches each. Behind them there's a sixth thug; he can only take one punch. Boss: ???? [A shirtless fat guy] The easiest way to defeat him is to keep swaying backwards to provoke an attack, hitting him with a Power Straight after he throws the punch. Occasionally, he'll lunge towards you; if he does this, try to land a Power Body Blow. If you manage to corner him, keep attacking with Power Blows until he falls down. After you win, an old man with a patch in his eye will say some stuff in Japanese, while Joe shows off his punches. This ends the stage. Note: If this is a boy's reformatory, why are the inmates using suits? They're too old to still be in one! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stage 2: The fight against Shohei Inagaki ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Intro Quote: "Joe Yabuki graduated from the boy's reformatory and was trained hard in boxing by Danpey Tange. He took the test for professional boxing and competed with Inagaki." A 1-on-1 boxing match, you have to fight Inagaki in order to win... something. The game is vague as to what is the purpose of this fight, so... Boss: Shohei Inagaki Use almost the same strategy as with the shirtless fat guy; keep swaying, and when Inagaki misses a punch, hit him with Power Straights or Power Body Blows. Repeat until he's down. When you win by TKO, Danpey will cheer, the camera will move upwards, and a shot of the last punch you connected on Inagaki will show up on the huge TV screen at the top of the arena. This ends stage 2. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stage 3: Wolf Kanagushi ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Intro Quote: "Joe Yabuki had the qualifications of a professional boxer, and soon he provoked Wolf Kanagushi, a new Bantam weight champion, to a fight." You start off the stage by fighting Wolf himself, while two of his bodyguards see the fight. Wolf attacks mostly with rapid jabs and uppercuts to the face. He keeps doing this until you land a punch. When you hit him, he'll pull back for a moment and then resume his attack. When you first see him, he'll fight you until either you hit him three times with Power Straights, deplete 2/3rds of his life, or he depletes 2/3rds of your life bar. If your life is less than three bars, he'll also leave. After this, his two bodyguards will attack you. From now on, the enemies you fight have one new attack: A face kick. This is an unblockable attack, so use straight punches to keep all enemies in this stage at bay. Block low; they will run and hit you in the stomach, like Stage 1's boss. The two bodyguards wearing blue suits have a combination attack which begins with a stomach attack, then they hit you with a kick in the face. The bald one has a two kick combination attack, as well. Keep them at bay with Straight attacks; they can only take two of these. The bearded guy in the back has a double stomach attack plus a mean uppercut. Block low to evade the stomach attacks. Keep him away too. He can take three attacks. After they are down, Wolf will come at you again. Repeat the strategy I wrote above until you defeat him. Be aware, though, that now he is especially weak against Power attacks for some reason. Two or three of them in straight succession will knock him down. Again, Danpey will cheer, you'll show off your skills at him, and the stage ends. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stage 4: Joe's rival, Toru Rikiishi ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Intro Quote: "Mr. Rikiishi, (Joe's Rival) reduced his weight from Feather Weight to Bantam Weight. He planned to obstruct Joe's success." Another boxing match. Rikiishi is very fast, and his uppercuts take out one quarter of your life. Again, keep swaying, and when he misses, counter with a Power Attack. When you knock him down for the second time, he'll become somewhat faster, and more powerful. He'll attack more too. So keep swaying, and hit him as fast as you can. After Rikiishi is defeated, he dies due to the massive injuries he sustained through the fight against Joe. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stage 5: The Ruffian. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Intro Quote: "Joe Yabuki regretted the last fight because Mr. Rikiishi died from his punch. In desperation, Joe provoked a ruffian." When the stage starts, a bald, bearded guy will attack you in the stomach; block low and hit him once to knock him out. The Ruffian will leave, and you'll be attacked by another person in a red jacket. A jab will KO him too. Then, another guy in a light bluish jacket will follow, repeat the same attack with him. These last two are especially fond of kicks to the face, so kill them as fast as you can. Two shirtless guys in red pants and a bald guy in a neon pink suit will come up to you. The first shirtless guy can only be hit with Power Straights and Hooks; Body Blows will rarely hit. Three of these will take him out. His double can only take one hit, thankfully. Both of them start up their attacks with a body charge, then they hit with three jabs to the face. The bald guy takes a bit of time to wind up for his attacks, so take advantage of that and hit him with two jabs to the face to knock him out. After they are done, three more enemies will appear. Attack the first one and try to make him take down the others when he falls down. All three of them can take two attacks. Boss: The Ruffian He plays very dirty. Evade as usual, and attack him when he misses a punch. He has two special attacks: He ducks for a split-second, and then he either uppercuts you or kicks you in the face. Sway backwards to evade them. His other one consists of a jump which takes him off the screen, and he dropkicks you when he falls down. Again, sway backwards or crouch and block to evade this attack. Crouching is a lot more effective. Repeat until he loses. When you win, Joe walks off and the stage ends. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stage 6: Tiger Ozaki ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Intro Quote: "Joe made a successful comeback to the ring. He challenged Tiger Ozaki who was the Bantam Weight Champion in Japan." Hoo boy, is he cheap or what? He is TOO FAST. He'll pummel you with quick hooks and jabs, and if you try to sway, he may hit you in the gut, draining half of a life gauge. And if that wasn't enough, he has an uppercut that does the same! And he has a nearly unblockable charge attack that is definitely illegal by real Boxing rules! But his weak spot is that he likes to crouch a lot. Because of this, Power Uppercuts do heavy damage. He also tends to retreat if you walk towards him. The problem is, he dodges most of your punches and counters with an uppercut of his own, following with the charge attack. The charge attack -can- be evaded, but it's more by chance than by skill. To do this, you have to evade at the same time he attacks. Difficult, but possible with good reflexes. Also, when he drops his guard, he can be hit to stop the charge attack. The pattern to his combo attack is simple: First he crouches for half a second, and then he'll perform his uppercut. Afterwards, he'll drop his guard for a split second, and when he lifts his arms, he'll do the charge attack. When he lifts them, sway and you'll be pushed back but won't recieve any damage. There's a way to kill him easily, if he falls into the trap. At the beginning of the fight, walk towards him to make him touch the ropes. Now, hit him with a Power Uppercut; he'll be sent back, bounce off the ropes, and fall in front of you, ready to hit him again! I've hit him up to three straight times with this tactic. On the fourth he'll do his Uppercut/Charge combo and try to knock you down. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stage 7: Carlos Rivera ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Intro Quote: "Joe Yabuki rose to a world ranked boxer. But he wanted to settle out of the ring with the Venezuelan hero, Carlos Rivera." Another street fight, this one pits Joe against Carlos and a blonde boxer. When the stage starts, don't move. Keep pressing backwards and sway when you see the blonde guy move. After that, tap the A button rapidly to keep throwing jabs. The blonde guy will keep running into them. 10 hits should be enough. He may connect one or two punches if he's lucky. If he starts hitting you rapidly, you'll be knocked down really fast. His power uppercut takes out half a life bar! If you don't defeat him [the blonde guy] in less than 20 seconds, Carlos will jump in and hit you with his right elbow. Just sway when you see him coming. You can't hit Carlos until you beat the blonde guy first. Carlos is tough, but not unbeatable. As usual, keep swaying to evade his normal punches. When you see him crouch, wait until he's starting to get up to sway. He'll either hit you with a kick or with the elbow, taking out half your life. His weakness is crouching. When he does so, he's vulnerable to Power Body Blows. A well timed one will drain almost half his life! When you win, Joe walks off and the stage ends. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stage 8: Kin Ryuhi ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Intro Quote: "Joe fought Ryuhi Kin(from Korea), who was the Bantam Weight Champion in the Orient and the Pacific. He was named The "Cold Computer"." Oh yeah. He's the champ, and it shows. He is vicious! He mostly follows a pattern of high attack, body blow. Sway the high attacks and block the body blows. After you do so, hit him with one power uppercut, body blow or hook. Keep doing that and watch out, if he hits you once, he'll keep pummeling you until you go down! One problem when you fight against him is that he sometimes times the body blows to hit right after you've stopped blocking. Annoying. Also, when you hit him right after you block the body blow, he will attack as soon as he regains control of himself after receiving the punch. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stage 9: Harimao ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Intro Quote: "Miss Yoko is chairman Shiraki Jim's daughter. She promoted the fight between Joe and Harimao, the wildest boxer in Malaysia. But they couldn't stop from fighting each other outside the ring at the airport!" You begin by fighting Harimao himself; keep swaying when you see him coming at you. If he jumps up, he may hit you with a dropkick just like The Ruffian did on Stage 5. If he doesn't come down with a kick, sway again to evade a standing kick to the face. If you see him roll, don't block - sway again and hit him with a power Uppercut or Body Blow when he is defenseless. After he drains 2/3rds of your first life bar or you do the same to him, he'll retreat and let his two bodyguards attack. They're simple to beat - keep throwing jabs and they'll run into them. The black haired one starts off with a blockable charge (block low) and follows up with a face kick. The bald one attacks with two succesive face kicks. They can only take two hits each. After they are down, Harimao comes back and fights in the same way. Repeat the above procedure to defeat him. When you win, Joe walks off and the stage ends. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stage 10: Hose Mendoze [Jose Mendoza] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Intro Quote: "At last, Joe Yabuki had the chance to win the world Bantam Weight Championship Belt! But first he must meet his rival, the strong Champion, Hose Mendose." Again, sway sway sway. José's not too hard to beat, but he has some special moves up his erm, gloves. He has -powers- :P His jabs, uppercuts and body blows glow green sometimes, and when they do, they dish out half a life bar in damage. Also, if he hits you with a glowing body blow, he'll follow up with two glowing uppercuts, if he hits you with a jab, he'll throw three uppercuts, and if he hits you with an uppercut, he'll follow up with two more! Strangely, when you knock him down twice, his hair color will change from brown to ... white? Keep repeating the above treatment until Mendoza is knocked out. Once he's beaten, the game credits roll! Note: BLARGH, STUPID JAPANESE TRANSLATORS! It's José Mendoza! >_< ... *cough* Sorry. ****************************************************************************** 5 - Game Ending ****************************************************************************** Joe runs as he does in the intro, with the sun to his back, as the credits roll. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Game Credits ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Original Author Asao Takamori The Original Picture Tetsuya Chiba A Chief Programmer Hirofumi Sakaue Assistance Programmer Takashi Iehara A Chief Character Designer Koji Tomoto Assistance Designer Kenichiro Matsumoto Total Producer Teruo Ohira Make A Plan Wave See you Again ****************************************************************************** 6 - Dip Switch Information ****************************************************************************** ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Accessing the Dip Switches ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ To access them in a real machine, go to the back of the machine and turn on the test Dip Switch. I don't think your arcade operator will let you do that without his permission though. ;) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dip Switch information ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Continue: This is the amount of times the player can continue the game. It can be set to Infinite, Without, or from one to ninety-nine times. Difficulty: It can be set from 1 [easiest] to 8 [hardest]. The default is 4. Credit: Turns on/off displaying the amount of credits the machine has. Default is On. Demo Sound: Turns on/off the sound while the game is running and no one's playing. Default is On. Instruction: Turns on/off the instructions before starting the game. Default is On. Blood: Turns on/off the blood when someone gets hit in the game. Default is Off. Note: This doesn't control the display of blood in the character's faces, both in the players and the faces in the energy bars. Weird. ****************************************************************************** 7 - Special Thanks ****************************************************************************** Barbara For being there, and keeping my sanity somewhat intact. Breakfast, lunch & dinner. [Yum.] David Lloyd [http://www.overclocked.org/] For writing the original review on this game. And maintaining the kickarse music remix site, Overclocked Remix. Kao Megura The person that inspired me to make FAQs in the first place. Oliver S., Nathan D., Stan M., Liz M. For being there when I needed them. Orochi K & krustster For the tips on improving the layout of this FAQ and other stuff. And I based the joystick & button layout on the one used in Orochi K's KOF2001 FAQ. ****************************************************************************** 8 - FAQ Revision History ****************************************************************************** Version 1.1a [May 4, 2002] Third release. I fixed up the email and the version number. The contents are still the same, though. Version 1.1 [April 25, 2002] Second release. I changed the contact email, fixed the width of the FAQ [and the paragraph width], and cleaned up a bit. Version 1.0 [March 27, 2002] First release. Walkthrough & game manual done. Included Dip Switch info as well. ****************************************************************************** 9 - Copyright Information ****************************************************************************** Unpublished work Copyright 1993-2002 David Silva García, using the pseudonym Kitsune Sniper. This FAQ and everything included within this file cannot be reproduced in any way, shape or form (physical, electronical, or otherwise) aside from being placed on a freely-accessible, non-commercial web page in it's original, unedited and unaltered format. This FAQ cannot be used for profitable purposes (even if no money would be made from selling it) or promotional purposes. It cannot be used in any sort of commercial transaction. It cannot be given away as some sort of bonus, gift, etc., with a purchase as this creates incentive to buy and is therefore prohibited. Furthermore, this FAQ cannot be used by the publishers, editors, employees or associates, etc. of any company, group, business, or association, etc., nor can it be used by game sites and the like. It cannot be used in magazines, guides, books, etc. or in any other form of printed or electronic media (including mediums not specifically mentioned) in ANY way, shape, or form (including reprinting, reference or inclusion), without the express written permission of the author, myself. This FAQ was created and is owned by me, David Silva García (kitsune_sniper [at] hotmail [dot] com). All copyrights and trademarks are acknowledged and respected that are not specifically mentioned in this FAQ. This copyright notice is based upon the one in Kao Megura's guide to creating an FAQ [Wham!]... all right! I just cut and copied it! Anyway, he wrote the original disclaimer. Portions of this FAQ were written originally by Mark O'Neill. This FAQ is protected by copyright laws from the United States of America and Estados Unidos Mexicanos [That's México to you american readers ^^;] SNK, NeoGeo are a trademark of SNK, Playmore Corporation. Game Copyright 1991 Wave Corproration/Tetsuya Chiba Original Author / Asao Takamori Original Picture / Tetsuya Chiba Yes folks, that's all! Thank you! GRACIAS POR LEER ESTO. Unpublished Work Copyright 2001-2002 David "Kitsune Sniper" Silva García