Sunday, June 27, 1999 KUMA STRATEGY GUIDE HONEY TO DA BEAR: by abrar rana This is my first attempt at writing a faq and so please keep this fact in mind when reading this guide, OK. The idea for writing a faq on Kuma of all people, came about because I could not find any good faqs out there on DA BEAR of Tekken. There is only one faq out there on Kuma by Mike Zaimont and thats it,nothing else. No matter which arcade you play at, you will seldom find any good Kuma players, in fact chances are you might never encounter any Kuma players at all. There is a widespread belief that Kuma is the worst character in the game, that he is slow, has no okizeme potential and cannot poke. Well hopefully after reading this faq and trying to play Kuma with the tactics suggested you can help change this negative perception of Kuma. SYMBOLS: 1 2 = lp rp 3 4 = lk rk WS= while standing WC= while crouching ~ = immediately after + = at the same time SS= side step CH= counter hit f= forward d/f= down forward d= down d/b= down back b= back u/b= up back u= up u/f= up forward n= neutral Directional symbols in capital letters means Hold in that direction. MOVE EVALUATION: Kuma is an animal (duh) and most of his moves look like an attacking vicious bear and this should be used to your advantage when playing against human opponents. Intimidating with pokes and growling moves is what Kuma is all about. Kuma has no means of parrying or reversing attacks and hence your gameplay should also allow for good defense when needed. For a very good idea of how to play Kuma, check out the Japanese tournament movies ( at www.tekken.net ) where the winner used Gunjack as his character in the whole tournament and his style of Gunjack play can be modified to suit your Kuma. If you cannot find these movies, contact me at abrar_w@hotmail.com and I'll arrange something. Kuma is not slow but the moves you use can make him slow and useless. Following are the moves I consider worth using as part of your gameplay and I'll go through them regarding their pros and cons and when to use them: f+1,1,1 (Bear cannon): Kuma's best attacking poke option and the f+1 has very big range and should be used as a stand alone poke at any time. Basically use this whole Bear cannon string only when the preceding move has connected. For example if a f+2 hits then do the Bear cannon after it otherwise stop after the f+2 is blocked. After the Bear cannon string connects, you have the option of doing another Bear cannon as a combo but the last hit of the second Bear cannon may not connect if your timing isn't right. 2,1,2 (Jab-elbow-uppercut): Most important thing to remember is to normally stop this move at the second hit so basically just use the Jab-elbow as the last hit is generally blocked. On a CH you can go full steam and do the whole string as the last move has a good chance of connecting. The 2,1 is one of the best pokes among all the characters and should be used liberally and at anytime to interrupt the opponent. f,f+2 (Demon uppercut): This move juggles and is very useful also as a juggle ender. It can be followed up with the Jab-elbow-uppercut for some decent damage. There are many juggle options after this move but stick to the jab-elbow follow up for its ease of execution and decent damage. You can fool around with this demon uppercut and f+1 moves and work out various juggles to suit yourself. f+2 (power-punch): A variation of the normal right punch. Both look the same but this f+2 punch does more damage than the normal 2 punch. d/f+2 (right-uppercut): This is Kuma's second best poke and juggler move. The best way to use it, is by this juggle, d/f+2,f+2,f+2. This can set up okizeme options later on. b,d/b,d,D/F+2 (Grizzly claw): A very useful stand alone move and comes out fast. It can be used when your opponent whiffs any move or also after some juggles like the one immediately before (d/f+2,f+2,f+2). There is a small window of opportunity when the opponent's character is tech-rolling or recovering, and you can slam him with the grizzly claw if timed right. WS+1,2 (uppercut to grizzly claw): Use whenever you duck your opponent's high attacks. Otherwise if you want to use it just as a quick attack, tap down on the directional stick and press 1 to get the WS+1 and only if it connects you can immediately press 2 for the grizzly claw follow up. Another good way to set up an opponent with this move is to do a few attacks and juggles starting with the WS+1 and then later on in the game just do the WS+1,2 and Seeing the WS+1 the opponent charges with a poke and gets hit by the grizzly claw. All this is achieved in a very short space of time and it comes with practise, so be patient. F+1+2 or f,f+1+2(Claw attack): Another good stand alone move with which you can get opponents every time they miss and also when they recover attacking like the CPU does after a juggle. This move is also very good juggle ender for most juggles. 1+2,1+2(Double hammer): The second hammer in this move may not connect evrytime unless you are very close to opponent when innitiating the move. Good to use once in awhile but never overdo it or you risk becoming predictable. In other words use it as a counter. D+1+2 (wakeup bang): This move can only be done when you have been knocked down, your feet facing the opponent. This is a good counter to people who keep attacking you once you are down (okizeme) and Kuma is very prone to okizeme due to his big size. b+1+2(Roaring claw): Kuma's best unblockable. Slow when initiating and you can be attacked and juggled so be cautious when thinking about using this move. Use it when least expected and when some distance away from the opponent. b,b+2+3+4(Bear fart): Does tremendous damage if opponent attacks you once its initiated and should only be used as a taunt at the end of the match after you win otherwise you'll look foolish. d+4(Dancing Bear): A move that can be done after some juggles to irritate your opponent and to get on top of him/her psychologically. It also does some damage when it connects. 1+3 Throw (Bear-mauling): Ferocious looking throw where Kuma grabs the opponent and start biting and mauling them and ends by throwing the opponent away. 2+4 Throw (Bear-Hug): A very good throw range-wise and sometimes you can just use it to grab the opponent immediately after the game starts providing the opponent just stands there. Use it liberally as kuma's standard throw. f,f+1+4(Stonehead): Similar to Jin and Heihachi's stonehead moves and also very good range. Another advantage to you is that it requires a two button (1+2) escape. NOTE: For the complete Kuma movelist, check out Tekken3 manual:Act 1 by Tragic at www.gamefaqs.com STRATEGIES: Firstly, remember that Kuma is very prone to okizeme (attacking to keep down a downed opponent) due to his size. Everytime you get knocked down, your opponent will just charge in for okizeme as they know about Kuma's disadvantage. But you can always turn it around by tech-rolling to safety. But do not tech-roll always as the opponent can adjust to the roll and attack you again. Most of the time it's best to take a hit or two when on the ground and roll to safety afterwards. Best option is to roll sideways when safe and then roll back. This works most of the time. And as mentioned earlier, try to use the Wakeup Bang (D+1+2) when you get knocked down. With Kuma blocking is very important and this can come with practise. You should know how to block moves of all the other opponents, so learn all the other characters nicely. Another thing to remember when playing Kuma is to interrupt often and never block if you can interrupt your opponent's move. Use his throws often esp. his Bear Hug and mix them up with pokes like f+1 or f+2. The moves I have detailed above are the ones you should keep forever in your arsenal and mix them up often. Characters to be wary of: Law, Paul, Jin, Nina, Ling and Hwoarang mainly because these characters have heaps of pokes and power moves plus they have speed advantage. When you choose to play as Kuma, basically the impression you are trying to convey is that your opponent sux, albeit unintentionally. Playing Kuma can be a lot of fun esp. if you win. Note: All this info on Kuma also applies to Panda. This faq will be updated soon as I still have to include some character specific sections, so check back, OK. CREDITS: 1) mIrAge, my buddy for excellent competition to practise against and for saying I was 'nuts' to play Kuma seriously. Thanks man, that was the inspiration for this faq. By the way mIrAge is a very good Tekken player, one of the best here in Auckland, New Zealand, no doubt about that. HEHEHE 2) Namco for making the best fighting game on this planet. 3) Ben 'tragic' Cureton for his excellent Tekken manual: Act 1 which gave me the format I used and also a few of the move names. Any questions, criticisms, corrections or suggestions on this faq are welcome and e-mail them to me at abrar_w@hotmail.com