Racewing Productions Presents: A Hyper Combo Linking Guide Character: Hulk Game: Marvel vs. Capcom 2--New Age of Heroes Version: 0.75 -- 7/31/00 Author: Geson "Racewing" Hatchett (ghatch@panix.com) Updates: v. 0.75 (Yes, kiddies, this is the Gamma Crush update.): - More in-depth information on Hulk's Gamma Crush and getting it to hit. IT DOESN'T MATTER IF PEOPLE SAY THEY CAM MASH OUT OF IT!! Let them try. Surprise their asses. ;) - More Gamma Crush DHC Strats. - More typos. I will never, EEEEEEEEVER use Microsoft Word, man. :) Note for this update: Well, I don't have as much access to a Dreamcast as I used to, so I wasn't able to do a whole lot of testing this time around. Luckily, some people who read my FAQ decided to step in, so this update will contain mostly new reader-feedback tactics, accompanied with notes by me. To everyone who wrote in with their strats... YOU RULE! (Even that one person who never forgave me for accidentally replying late to his email, but it's okay, really, it is. ^^) v. 0.73: -Textual cosmetic changes. -Fixed spelling errors (and probably added more. Whee! :)) -Added Gamma Crush DHC Strategies for 15 characters. v. 0.7: None. This is the FAQ's debut. Updates to this guide will always be submitted solely to gamefaqs.com. Any other servers to which I've given permssion to host this guide may host these updates as well, but it is their resposibility to retrieve them from GameFAQs. I can't keep track of you people. :) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Prologue Marvel vs. Capcom 2 increases the comboability of several returning characters, often to a fault. It's now easier than ever to cancel into a Hyper Combo after just one or two simple button-pushes. My friends and I have often joked about how this game has degraded into nothing but "tap-tap-super"... it's funny, it holds true for a HELL of a lot of situations in that game, but I'm always inclined to believe that it still requires a sort of skill, albeit weird and warped in nature. However, who says you can't take the easy way out once in a while? :) We know what you want. Screw the flashy multi-hit combos... these days, you want to be standing at the end, and the other guy not, as quickly as posible. And for this, Hyper Combos are essential. This guide will try to cover as many supercancels (moves/mini-combos/DHCs that end with a certain character's Hyper Combo, often for mucho damage) as possible. THIS IS NOT A TRADITIONAL COMBO GUIDE. It is simply here to serve as a stepping stone for other combos which you are free to devise yourself. Mix and match these things, and come up with your own playing style. It also assumes that you're somewhat familiar with MvC2, and conventional button notation. However, for simplicity's sake, here's a small key: QCF = quarter-circle forward QCB = quarter-circle back jab, short, fierce, roundhouse, Assist 1 and Assist 2 are used as buttons. Most other things (such as standing, crouching attacks, etc.) are explained beforehand. For the DHC strategies, I have broken them down into two categories: In: Cancelling INTO Hulk's super OUT OF his teammate's super. Out: Cancelling OUT of Hulk's super INTO his teammate's super. Create your own killer DHC's this way. Their reliability may vary depending on the height of the opponent... many of the DHC's listed were tested on Icemans, Cables, BB Hoods, and Ruby Hearts. Normal-sized characters. So... read this guide, then go forth and proceed to give those scrubby Cables (aka the Human Gun Turret) an ass-whooping! :) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Hulk The Hulk was decent before, but now he's graduated into a powerhouse character for Marvel vs. Capcom 2. He is a skill character that is definitely not always a safe bet to play with, but he combines general speed with immense power AND Super Armor... something even the lauded Juggernaut couldn't accomplish. His quick power strikes, when used correctly, can help mop up opponents (especially the frail ones such as Akuma and Strider) with ease. He's got problems against certain characters (mostly due to his big size), but hey. It's a matter of picking your fights, ne? Hopefully after this guide gets on the 'net, I'll see more people (at least around where I game) giving Hulk the attention he deserves. Now, let's get down to business. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I. Gamma Crushing With the Hulk. Gamma Crush: QCB+both punch buttons. Hulk leaps up into the air (which sometimes sets up for the rest of this super), and comes down with a big moon rock. TONS of damage. This and the Gamma Wave are Hulk's two most damaging moves, bar none. Much like the Juggernaut Headcrush or Hyper Viper Beam, this move is quite capable of ending a fight much more quickly than anticipated. :) However, if it misses or it's blocked, Hulk is in a heapload of trouble. This is where the ol' skill factor comes in. :) ------------- The Problem: Back in MvC, it was relatively easy for Hulk to cancel into this Super. If you launched the enemy (hit them with Hulk's crouching Fierce Punch), forget about an aircombo... you had free Gamma Crush, no matter what. There were those scant instances where sometimes, the game would glitch or the timing would be a little off, and the rock would miss the opponent a little bit, and maybe only do half damage. But that was as bad as it got. In MvC2, though, something went horribly, horribly, wrong. :) Hulk seems to get dizzy and lose his sense of direction at those heights... cause if you try that cool little trick now, Hulk will land quite far from the opponent, leaving him even *more* open to counterattack when the other guy gets back up. Whether this is a bug or if Capcom tried to tone him down, I dunno. But it's evil, and it cost me a great many matches before I learned how to get my friend, the Gamma Crush, to connect once again. A few weeks ago, Michael Carlton (mikecharlton@hotmail.com) thought it not robbery to teach me more about the nature of the Gamma Crush: "1) The setup knocks the opponent back along a set arc for different heights of connection. Seems perfect height is at to 1.25 times Hulk's height off the ground, as if he used it as anti-air. 2) Despite the falling rock being controllable, there are only 3 (yes there are 3; more later) directions it can fall in and the distances moved will always be the same. So the crush will often miss when the opponent is too high of the ground, because they aren't lauched quite as far and Hulk's default falling direction (forward) goes too far." Yup, like I said. Freakin' evil, man. Boo, Capcom. Hiss. C'mon. WHATWEREYOUTHINKINGImeanthankyoucomeagain... Well, fear not, Hulkamaniacs, cause we've got ways around this blasted glitch. (Yes, damnit. I'm calling it a glitch. Problem? ^^) Unless otherwise noted, these are my own findings (I don't read FAQs too much, especially not the combo sections, cause most of em, I can't do!)... these and my other tacitcs are Dreamcast-verified, and for the most part, arcade-verified. But wait. It's a nigh-perfect port, so... :) ------------- Solutions: 1) The Classic Way--Off the Launch Let me correct myself back up there for a second. Launching into a Crush still works. However, the trick is that Capcom reduced, by a wide margin, the window that you have to do the Gamma Crush in for it to hit. Success rate is now inversely proportional to the opponent's launch height. That is, the higher the opponent flies after you launch them before you pull off the GC, the better your chances are of... whiffing it entirely. :) To counteract this, pull off the crush *a split second after* you do the crouching Fierce. It requires cat-like reflexes, but for the least button presses, it does the job. 2) Revamping a Classic--Linking into the Launch It's uncanny, but it works. Just link a simple weak attack (crouching works best) into the launch, then pull off the Gamma Crush without having to worry about doing it so fast. So: c. jab -> c. fierce -> gamma crush will work, as well as c. short -> c. fierce -> gamma crush (this is the method I use.) So, to summarize... "weak attack brings your window back." ^^ 3) Corner Tactics If your opponent is near the corner of the arena, Hulk has no room to whiff, therefore if you hit with the setup, or the launch cancel, either will hit with no worries whatsoever. Go wild. 4) The Gamma Charge With the advent of EX combos (being able to cancel specials into Supers) it's quickly being found out that hitting an opponent with a horizontal Gamma Charge leads to a free super of your choice with Hulk. Yummy. I actually don't recommend this method... crushing after a Gamma Charge, at least in my experience, is waaaaaay unreliable. I'd opt for the Gamma Wave instead. Bit if you choose to use the Gamma Crush after the Charge, I suggest that you wait until your opponent is almost directly above you. Vertical Gamma Crushes are no problem for Hulkie in terms of accuracy. Mr. Charlton also comes in with his own strategies. What a guy: "...there are a few factors in your favor, if exploited will bring your gamma crushin' days back. 1) The directability of the fall. Forward (the default), Backward, and(now that bit from before) there is a direction for the gamma crush's rock that it seems very few know about. (only I seem to use it at my local arcade) That direction is DOWN. Yes, straight down, activated by holding the stick down before Hulk re-enters. 2) That's a pretty big rock Hulk is using. Paticularly pretty WIDE. This means there is a certain window of connection horizontally as well as vertically." I've tried this myself and it works wonders once you get used to the new third direction... Also featured are some techniques for people who try to counter your almighty Gamma Crush, submitted by... well, shoot. Mike, maybe you should write your own FAQ. You're making me look like I'm mooching here! (j/k) :) "I love using the crush to mess with people's heads. It seems that there are several set reactions to Hulk doing a crush from a distance (not a good idea, generally but there are ways to try to avoid countering). 1) jump back and block, counter upon landing (air blocking reduces hits) This one can be frustrating, best dealt with by directing down then blocking low. Jumping back with the timing to air block the crush will eliminate many countering options for the opponent, leaving air-dashing into a jump-in, air beams, and the like. 2) dash in (to get under the crush) and counter off the bounce I love this one. Direct down and teach them the ultimate Hulk lesson: DONT CROWD ME! 3) dash in and block (expecting the down version) Direct forward to cross up and and teach them the lesson again. 4) dash in and block forward (expecting the down version) Direct backward to cross up. 5) just block and counter Not much to do about this one, DHC into a safe super or just suck it up." Well, that about covers everything. Now for what you've been waiting for... The DHC's! Stick a handy-dandy Gamma Crush in your favorite DHC and watch it become a 100% combo very quickly. Also makes some wicked Julienned fries. Fun for the whole family! ------------- DHC Strategies: 1-Captain Commando: *Captain Sword* In: None. Out: DHC the Crush into the Captain Sword after the last hit. Does *much* more damage if performed outside of the corner. *Captain Storm* In: You can DHC the crush while all of CapCom's friends are juggling the opponent in the air, which does decent damage. I've tried DHC'ing it after the Storm's last hit, but it seems the final Corridor often sends the opponent further than the Hulk can jump, unless you are *very* quick in cancelling it. Out: DHC the Crush into the Captain Storm *while the rock is hitting the opponent*. This means, of course, that you have a much smaller (but still manageable) time window to do this in if you hit the opponent with the DC's setup. The latter method, however, will hurt a lot more. :) Works in and out of corner. 2-SonSon: *Staff Super* In: If you hit with the Staff Supers' setup, simply pull off the Crush while the Staff juggles the opponent in the air. Out: Cancel into the Staff while the rock hits the opponent. The setup should hit. *"Saiyan Super" (^_^)* Setup for this super doesn't seem to juggle. *Fruit (POW) Super* In: Cancel this into the crush anytime while the opponent is in "fruit" form. Sometimes, this seems to cause a heck of a lot more damage than it should... Out: Cancel into the super while the rock it hitting the opponent. Watch out though... if you hit with the Gamma Crush's setup (so that the opponent is on the ground before the rock hits) you'll often whiff. 3-Tron Bonne: *Servbot Rush* In: Cancel into the Crush just as the first few Servbots approach the opponent. Not really worth the damage unless done outside of the corner, in which case it's *very* much worth the damage. Out: Cancel into the Rush while rock hits. For maximum damage, time the cancel for just as the last Crush hit occurs. *King Kobun* In: Doesn't seem to work. Out: Cancel into the Kobun as the rock hits. This will hit most often if done away from the corner. 4-Juggernaut: *Juggernaut Headcrush* In: Doesn't seem to work. Out: Cancel into the headcrush while the rock hits. For maximum damage, time it so the Headcrush starts right after the last hit of the rock. This is sometimes enough to finish somebody off. 5-Ryu: *Shinkuu Hadoken* In: Doesn't seem to work. Out: Cancel into the Hadoken as rock hits. You know the drill. :) *Shinkuu Hadoken (air)* In, Out: See Akuma's Air Shinkuu Hadoken. *Shin Shoryuken* In: Pull off the crush JUST (and I mean JUST) as the last (third) hit of the super occurs, and it'll juggle. Wait too long, and it'll whiff because the SS launched the opponent too high. Alternatively, with Ryu, you could do his launcher (also c. fierce), cancel into this super, and have a much better window to pull off the Gamma Crush in. This does decent daamge as well. Out: Cancel into SS as the rock hits. *Shinkuu Hurricane* In: Cancel as super hits. Out: Cancel as rock hits. 6-Iceman: *Arctic Attack (ground)* In, Out: See Ryu's Shinkuu Hadoken. *Arctic Attack (air)* In, Out: See Akuma's Air Shinkuu Hadoken. 7-Rogue: *Goodnight, Sugar* In: Cancel into Crush anytime while Rogue's super hits. This includes the finishing aerial kiss. Out: Cancel as rock hits. 8-Akuma: *Shinkuu Hadoken* In, Out: See Ryu. Air Shinkuu Hadoken: In: Cancel into Crush while fireballs are hitting. Can only be done if Akuma is up-close. Out: Not applicable. Shoryureppa: In: If not in corner, cancel as the last (or next-to-last) hit of the Shoryureppa occurs. Otherwise, cancel whenever. Out: Cancel as rock hits. Shinkuu Hurricane: In: Cancel into Crush as super hits. Out: Cancel as rock hits. (Note: Hmm. From here on end, for all aerial beam supers, see Akuma's Air Shinkuu Hadoken, mm'kay? ^_^ Same goes for ground beams and Ryu's ground Shinkuu Hadoken. Unless noted otherwise, of course.) 9-Megaman *Hyper Megaman* In: Doesn't work unless a) Megaman is in the corner and b) He hits with the setup. Even then, it's pitiful for damage. Out: To make sure this works, cancel into the Hyper MM only as the last hit of the rock occurs. *Beat Plane* In, Out: Think about it. Is this even POSSIBLE? :) *Rush Drill* In: Cancel into Crush as the Drill hits. Works only in corner. Out: Not worth it. Juggles for one or two hits, then often goes in the other direction, freeing the opponent. 10-Roll *Hyper Roll* In, Out: See Hyper Megaman, except that she seems to do more damage than her big brother here with Hulk's help. *Beat Plane* In, Out: See Megaman. *Rush Drill* In, Out: See Megaman. 11-Iron Man *Proton Cannon* In: If done in the corner, the Crush will hit the opponent while he' s on the ground after the Cannon gets canceled out of. Strange, but true. Out: Cancel as rock hits. 12-War Machine *Proton Cannon* In, Out: See Iron Man. *War Destroyer* In: Cancel as missles are hitting. Works only if WM is up close. Out: Cancel as rock hits. Corner only. 13-Magneto *Magnetic Shockwave* In: Doesn't seem to work. Once the shockwaves hit, you can't cancel. Out: Cancel as rock hits. *Magnetic Tempest* In: Cancel as the super hits. Out: Doesn't work. The MT's startup is too slow. 14-Ken Masters *Shoryureppa* In, Out: See Akuma's Shoryureppa. *Shinryuken* In, Out: See Akuma's Shinkuu Hurricane. *Shippu Jinrai Kyaku* In: Cancel into the Crush while the SJK hits. Out: For maximum hits, cancel out of the Crush at any time *before* the last hit. 15-Sakura Kasugano *Midaire Zakura* In: Cancel as super hits. Out: Cancel as rock hits. *Shinkuu Hadoken* In: The setup will juggle, but for some reason, the rock seems not to... Out: Cancel as rock hits. *Haru Ichiban* In, Out: See Akuma's Shinkuu Hirricane. *Shinkuu Hadoken (Dark Sakura only)* In, Out: See Ryu's Shinkuu Hadoken. 16-Strider Hiryu *Ragnarok* In: Cancel into Crush as the last hits of this super takes place. (sent by Justus Balentine) Out: 17-Dr. Doom *Photon Array(air)* In: Cancel into the Crush at will, but make sure the opponent takes most of the super first. (sent by Mike Charlton) An ideal time to do this, of course, would be to follow up an aircombo that ended in a PA. Out: 18-Captain America *Final Justice* In: Cancel into Crush after the last hit. (sent by Mike Charlton) Out: 19-M. Bison *Psycho Crusher (air)* In: Out: See Doom's air Photon Array. (sent by Mike Charlton) 20-Sabretooth *Weapon X* In: Out: Cancel after the last hit of the Crush. (sent by Mike Charlton) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ II. Gamma Quaking with the Hulk. Gamma Quake: QCF+both kick buttons. Hulk will pound the ground, causing huge chunks of rock to fall from the sky. This is Hulk's least damaging super. But... it's the Hulk. It will still HURT. :) 1) The Gamma Quake's "setup" The "setup" for the Gamma Quake is actually the same as Hulk's crouching Jab attack, complete with lack of execution time. :) If this hits the opponent, the entire super will as well. Which means that any normal attack that can combo into a c. jab will combo into a Gamma Quake. Again, practice and see what you can find. 2) Off the Launch Much simpler than getting the Gamma Crush off his launcher these days. Not as damaging, but definitely not useless. C. Fierce, Gamma Quake, call it a day. 3) After Specials: The Gamma Charge and Gamma Rip (the bit where Hulk rips up a piece of the ground) can both cancel into this Super. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ III. Gamma Waving with the Hulk. Gamma Wave: QCF+both punch buttons. Hulk will rip at the ground, causing several chunks of rock to emerge from the ground and pummel the opponent, shockwave-style. 1) After a Gamma Rip Do this with Fierce Punch, and once the first or second hit connects, immediately cancel into the GW. Incredibly easy, incredibly effective. 2) After a Gamma Charge Once again, a Gamma Charge can cancel into this super. A word of note however: Just make sure that you wait a second or two after the Gamma Charge before cancelling so that the opponent can get into position on the other side of you. Otherwise, you'll whiff. 3) Off of Normal Attacks S(standing). jab and C. Jab will both cancel into this super. C. Fierce will also cancel into it, but it's not worth doing so--the damage and # of hits (8) is mediocre, plus you need to even faster in cancelling it than with the Gamma Crush off of a straight launch. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Afterword: Things to do: -Finish DHC Strategeies. This will take a while yet... - Write other HCL guides, most likely starting with Tron Bonne, Roll, Ken, and Sakura (yeah, I've dumped SonSon) as these four plus Hulk are the characters I play almost exclusively. :) Credits: Eh. Me. I wrote this (mostly) by myself after testing this stuff out. I haven't copied off of anyone. Really. I'm probably (and will continue to be) rendered obsolote by agsf2 and shoryuken.com, but I don't care all too much. I noticed a lack of Hulk FAQS out there, so here it is. I hope to do HCL Guides for other characters soon. Thanks go to Jumpy for prereading, and Burghy for giving me the inspiration to even start this FAQ. ^_^ Thanks go out to: Justus Balentine (captain_america3@yahoo.com) Michael Charlton (mikecharlton@hotmail.com) Chen Guojun (guojun83@hotmail.com) for their contributions and feedback. Thanks go to Capcom for creating this game, and creating Roll, one of the most awesome fighting game characters ever. Long live Roll-chan! Props go to all my fellow Rollers out there ^_^ Thanks also go to CJayC for thinking enough of this guide to host it on GameFAQS. (He must get tired of zillions of people saying that... ^^) I can be reached at ghatch@panix.com (And if you go to NY's Chinatown Fair arcade, look for the characters I mentioned up in the Afterword, and you've most likely found me. :) ) Am I missing something? Got a cool new supercancel (not a big combo, just a supercancel) or DHC? Is something wrong in the FAQ? Let me know! You'll receive credit, of course. Legal Thingies: All characters featured in this guide are copyrighted by their respective companies. This guide is copyright Racewing (Geson Hatchett), 2000. This may be distributed in any form you wish, but never sold. The material herein may not be used for any profit-gaining resource (i.e. a magazine). If you wish to use any of this info in your guide, ask me first. I'm a pretty nice person so long as credit's given. Shameless Plug: Read and vote in the Fiction Fighters' Clash, the (sorta) popular vote-based fighting game crossover tournament fanfic, at http://members.tripod.com/Racewing It's loads of fun. Really. I wouldn't kid you. Stop looking at me like that. -Racewing