spookisfat's Cruel Melee FAQ Version 1.1 Contents A. Version History B. The first part C. Character strategies with GameFAQs Records as of July 2, 2003 D. Thanks E. Standard legal stuff ----------------------------------- A. Version History ----------------------------------- July 2, 2003 Version 1.1 - Added two strats for roy, one for falco, one for mario, some changes to DK, fox, ness, and pichu, one general tip, and updated records. June 15, 2003 Version 1.0 - Posted on GameFAQs ----------------------------------- B. The first part ----------------------------------- Cruel melee is the stadium mode where you have an unlimited time to KO as many wireframes as you can. They have a much higher handicap than you and just KOing five can be very tough without the right strategies. General tips Each character has their own moves that are effective for surviving against the wireframes and getting KOs, but there are some moves or strategies that apply to all characters. One very useful concept is the air dodge. Every character can dodge momentarily by pressing the L or R button and a direction on the control stick. Rolling is also an important concept. You know how to do it, press left or right on the stick while shielding. A lot of times, you might find yourself in a bad situation, but if you just try to run, you will be hit too easily. Shield and roll away immediately to avoid being hit or grabbed. You also use it with many characters while standing near the edge, to move as close to the edge as possible and still face the main stage. Another ability that you need to be comfortable with is stopping yourself from tumbling. Sometimes after you get hit, you fall, tumbling through the air. If you hit the ground, you're left vulnerable for several seconds. You can press L or R to jump up quickly, or L or R and a direction on the control stick to roll, then jump up quickly. However, most of the time it's best to just stop tumbling before you even hit the ground. Smash left or right on the stick while you're tumbling to get back into the normal falling position. This allows you to land on your feet, or most of the time, it sets you up for a good air dodge. No matter what the situation, it's almost always best to stop tumbling, just so you have better control over your character. Attacks weakening is one problem that you will encounter while playing some of the longer games. Each time you repeat an attack, it won't do as much damage as the previous use and it won't hit the frames as hard. This can become a real problem with some characters. I'll discuss what to do about it in the individual character strategies. Stragglers are what usually result in your death. With many characters, the main strategy involves KOing all five frames at once. As your attacks weaken, or with some slightly bad timing, you might only KO three or four and you're left with some frames chasing you around the stage while waiting for the others to respawn. You need to learn how to avoid them while avoiding the other frames that are appearing around the stage. Know which damage on the display at the bottom of the screen corresponds to which wireframes. This knowledge can really save your ass when dealing with a straggler. For example, if you're waiting for four frames to respawn while running from a straggler, check to see which damage isn't zero, assuming you have at least hit them. If you see that the third damage isn't zero, then you know that the right platform is where no frame will be spawning and it will be the safer area to run to. 5 __1__ _2__ __3_ __________4__________ Update - You aren't always safe under one of the small platforms. Male frames can use their aerial down a above a platform and hit you if you are standing directly below it. Be careful to not stand in a position where a male can spike you from above. It doesn't happen with all characters, just some of the bigger or taller characters who come very close to the platform when standing under it. Just keep this in mind when any frames are in the air above you. -- The general herding strats... The most important concept is herding the frames into a group on one of the outer platforms, then using individual character strategies to get KOs. There are two main ways to herd the frames. The first strategy involves standing on one side of the stage and jumping across the top to the platform on the opposite side. You have to wait as long as possible while the frames are approaching you, then jump just before the closest ones are in range of attacking you. With most characters, you need to jump off the edge of the stage just slightly, then second jump back towards the stage, then triple jump to the opposite platform. Most of the time, some of the frames will follow you across the top while the others walk across the bottom of the main stage. You need to stay on the platform until all of the ones on the bottom have started to jump to follow you onto the platform. Then you drop through the platform so all the frames are nicely above you. What you do next depends on the character. The second way to herd the frames is a little riskier, but is necessary because many of the characters cannot safely triple jump across the top of the stage. You need to run to one edge and wait until the frames get close to you, as with the jumping strategy. When they are almost too close, jump off the stage while still facing it so that you can grab the edge. The idea is to get all five frames onto the platform next to you. You need to quickly drop under them and grab the edge. With some characters in the right situation, only a single jump is needed to get all the frames correctly positioned on the platform, but most of the time, at least two jumps are needed. Sometimes the third jump or upward air dodge also need to be used to buy a little extra time to get the frames in the right place. If most of the frames are approaching you from straight across the main platform, it is also possible to single jump to lure them onto the platform above you then land on the stage and not have to grab the edge at all. This can be tricky and isn't useful very often, but when it is, it's safer than actually grabbing the edge. Once you grab the edge, immediately press L or R to roll onto the stage, then run and jump onto the opposite platform. The frames will follow you onto the platform, just as with the triple strat. Once you can see that they are all jumping, it's safe to drop through the platform to set up the next part of the strat. In both cases, the frames will then drop through the platform. Most of the time, they will need to be near the center of the platform as they drop through it, meaning that you need to be under the center of the platform to attract them to that spot. I will get into that more in the individual character strategies. There are lots of minor problems that can occur with these strats and you will just have to learn to deal with them. One example of this is how several characters have to roll to the outer edge of the main platform after dropping through the small platform. If one of the frames is too close to the edge of the small platform, they can hit you as they drop. To avoid this, you need to be able to see that the frames are too close to the outer edge of the small platform before they drop. Then just run across the main platform and jump onto the opposite platform. They will follow you just as before, but end up above you in a less threatening position. Sometimes the frames will not all arrive on the platform at the same time. If the frames are not in a good position, you might need to repeat a herding strat. You can either jump from the platform and triple jump across, drop through and do the normal triple jump strat, or drop through and run across the main stage onto the opposite platform so that the frames group together better. It's usually safest to just run across the platform, even if the character usually uses the triple jump strat. -- Another way to herd the first five.... There is another strat that most of the characters can use to herd the first five frames. It is safer than the edge grab strat for the characters that have to use it. There isn't really any advantage to using it over the triple jump strat for most of the characters who use it since the triple jump is usually just as safe, but sometimes it's still useful. I'm not going to mention it in the individual character sections, just try it out with anyone who has to herd the frames. As soon as the game starts, jump onto the left platform and wait for the bottom frame to start to jump. Once she starts to jump, drop through the platform. If you wait too long, you will be spiked through the platform by the top left frame, or if you wait even longer, you will probably be killed by the female that starts on the platform. If this happens, just restart since you're only a few seconds into the game. Just learn to time it so you drop through the platform before the left frames attack you, but after the bottom frame jumps. After you drop through the platform, the bottom frame should be on the platform above you and the right and top frames should be coming towards you. Run and jump onto the right platform. Some will probably drop through the platform, while others will stay on the top. They should all follow you to the right platform at about the same time, no matter where they come from. You can now just drop through so that you have them all herded above you in the normal way. -- One more thing to keep in mind is to take your time. There is no time limit, so don't rush to KO a group if it seems risky. As I mentioned in the above paragraph, after herding the frames, don't be afraid to run across the stage to herd them again. There is very little risk in doing this and it almost always sets them up in a safer position. Keep all these tips in mind as you play and you should be on your way to improving your scores. --------------------------------- C. Character strategies --------------------------------- Dr. Mario - 114 I don't yet have any experience with the first two strats, but I will explain them as best as I can. They are much higher scoring than the third. Start by herding them by grabbing the edge. Charge smash up and hit all the frames with it as they drop through the platform. Herd them again and hit them with a charged down smash. If any of them have less than about 40% damage, hit them with a non charged smash up. Herd them again and finish them with a charged smash forward attack. The most important part is to get all of them each time because if you miss one, the strat becomes harder to use. It sounds complicated, but this is currently the highest scoring strat. This is another high scoring strat. Herd them by grabbing the edge. Stay under the middle of the platform while facing the rest of the stage and hit them with a down smash as they drop. If any of the frames get hit off the side of the stage, jump back and use forward a in the air to KO the frame(s). If you see any of the frames starting to reach 40+ damage, herd them and finish them with a forward smash. You have to be very careful using this strat, as you won't be KOing every frame each time that you use it. This is the original Doc strat for this faq. It's outdated now but it's still something to try if you have too much trouble with the others. Dr. Mario uses the edge grab herding strat. When you drop through the platform, start to charge a smash up attack. Release it as the last frames drop through the platform, so that it hits them all and does as much damage as possible because of the charge. You need to herd them a second time and do the same thing. You will probably want to run to the opposite side of the main stage and wait for them to approach you, then begin the edge grab herding. After you have hit them with two charged smash up attacks, you need to herd them a third time, then hit them with a charged forward smash attack to KO them. --------------------------- Mario - 31 Mario's strat is hard to get a lot of KOs with. You need to herd them with the edge grab strat. When you drop through the platform, roll to the edge and charge smash down. Release it as they drop to damage them. Do this a second time to do more damage, then herd them a third time. When you drop through the platform after the third herd, charge smash up to KO them. The attacks weaken quickly and you will have to use the down smash more often to do enough damage to get the kill with the up smash. It is hard to continuously avoid the frames with with, so this usually ends up not allowing for very many KOs. Update - I find this strat a lot easier to get KOs with. Herd the frames and roll to the edge. Hit them with smash up then take a couple of steps towards the center of the stage, turn around, and hit them with smash down to hit them off the stage. As they jump back towards the stage, jump and hit them down with forward aerial a to KO them. --------------------------- Luigi - 21 Luigi uses the standard edge grab strat. He doesn't have a great individual strat, but it's very repetitive and is fairly easy to pull off. When you drop through the platform, charge his smash up a attack. Release it to hit them all as they drop. Just repeat this to KO them. It starts off needing about 3 charged smash attacks to KO them all, but will take a few more as you progress because it weakens. ---------------------------- Bowser - 27 Bowser uses the triple jump herding strat. Because of the way that his up b works, you need to be moving in the direction that you want to go with the second jump before you start the third jump. Jump slightly off the side, then make sure to be moving back towards the stage with your second jump. Then use the third jump to get across the stage to the opposite platform. Many times, the frames won't line up right and after dropping through the platform. you need to run and jump onto the opposite platform to get them in a better position. When you drop through, start to charge a smash up attack. Keep it charging as long as possible, then release it to hit all the frames. If you charge it all the way, the first time you hit the frames with it, they should all take 26% damage. Herd them again, then charge your forward smash attack. Release it as late as possible to do the maximum damage without being hit. It should easily KO all five. Sometimes there might be a straggler that you miss. You just need to be able to avoid them while all the others are respawning. His attacks will weaken, and depending on how much damage you do with the earlier attacks, as you reach 15-20 KOs, you might need to hit the group with two smash up attacks before using forward a. ---------------------------- Peach - 165 Peach uses the triple jump herding strat, though it can be somewhat tricky. It is best to start the jump from one of the side platforms, then second jump and hover above, just to the outside edge of the platform that you jumped from. This will allow all the frames to gather on the platform below you. Then use her third jump to float across the stage and fastfall to the opposite platform once you are above it. If you don't start the triple jump from the platform, but the main stage instead, it's harder to do. You have to jump and hover in a very specific space, just to the outside edge of the platform, to not be hit. The frames can jump from the platform and hit you if you are not in the right place. That's why it's best to start from the platform, though sometimes you have to jump from the main stage and just be extremely careful. Once you have herded them, roll to the outside edge and charge her down smash attack. Release it to hit them all off the edge a little bit. This next part is a little tricky. You have to turn around immediately and jump, then do forward a in the air and try to hit the whole group. They will have already used their second jump, so they will just fall to their deaths. If you don't turn around quickly enough, or if the attack didn't send them far enough off the side, you might need to jump back towards the center of the stage while facing the frames, so that you can line up the aerial forward a to hit them all. If this happens, as they are falling, one of them might come close enough to grab the edge. Don't worry about it, just wait for the rest to respawn and repeat the strat. One problem you will probably encounter is a male not being hit by the down smash correctly. This puts him above you in a position to spike you before you can even do anything. If you have much damage, this will KO you. Charge the down smash as long as possible before releasing to hopefully keep any males from getting hit the wrong way. As some frames survive the attack while the others die, they will have different damages and will be affected by the down smash differently. Usually the ones with higher damage will go too far off the side for your forward a to kill them, so the ones with higher damage end up surviving longer than the ones that respawn each time. Just keep hitting the group with the down A and eventually, the stragglers will die to. This happens in almost all of my high scoring games. ---------------------------- Yoshi - 247 Yoshi has a great strat for CM, he has had the second highest world record for a long time. It's really easy to get a decent amount of KOs. He uses the triple jump strat without actually using a third jump since he doesn't have one. Just jump once from the edge of the stage, then use his second jump to make it all the way across to the opposite platform. Sometimes, the frames will be too high and you have to use the jump to go up higher than normal to avoid them. That isn't very common, it's just a result of bad timing of how the frames are moving. If you have to go up too high, just use the air dodge to make it the rest of the way to be above the side platform, then fastfall down to it. You want the frames to be closer to the edge of the stage, so as you drop through, try to be just to the outside of the center of the platform, to position the frames where you want them. Then before the frames drop through the platform, roll towards the center of the stage and hold down on the control stick. As the frames drop, press a to hit them with yoshi's tail, the tilt down a. Usually they drop in groups and you need to press a twice to hit all five off the stage. If it takes three hits to get them all, then the group from the first hit will be too close to coming back on and you should run to the opposite side to set up the herd again rather than go for the kill. This doesn't happen very often though. Once you have all five frames off the edge, run and jump towards them, then use aerial down a to spike them. This works very well because the kick catches the first few and just continues to hit them as the others jump into the attack, KOing all five almost every time, with the right timing. As soon as the down a finishes, use his second jump to quickly get back on the stage to get ready to herd the next five. ---------------------------- Donkey Kong - 55 Donkey Kong is one character who doesn't use one of the two main herding strats. To start, run to the right edge, and face the stage. This is because the fifth frame that spawns in the upper left corner can cause problems if you start on the left side. Double jump slightly off the stage, while still facing it and air dodge up or triple jump without moving horizontally. All the frames should be on the nearest platform. Fastfall past them and grab the edge. Quickly press a or b to attack onto the stage, hopefully hitting all of them. A few of them will be hit off the stage. From where you are after getting on the stage, double jump backwards* and use aerial down a to spike the ones that are jumping back to the stage. After the spike, you might be near the place where you need to use the upwards air dodge, or up b to gather them again. Hopefully though, you will still be above the main stage as you use the spike. Land, L cancel and either jump back over the edge, or run to the other side and repeat the strat. This strat can be tricky to get the hang of, especially using the spike, but it works well. *Update - Instead of double jumping backwards, you could also try rolling once to the edge then jumping up to spike them. Grab the edge after the spike, roll back on, and herd them again. ---------------------------- Captain Falcon - 30 Captain Falcon's strat is hard to do correctly, but it works fairly well with some practice and luck. The triple jump herding strat is usually safer, but with captain falcon, it doesn't really matter which one you use. He is fast enough to grab the edge and run to the other side without really having any problems, and his third jump sometimes doesn't take him quite far enough and you could land on the top platform. I still find using the triple jump better, but grabbing the edge isn't usually any more risky. When you drop through the platform, roll to the outside edge and charge his smash down attack. Release it as late as possible without the frames attacking you to do a lot of damage. Herd them a second time, but when you drop through the platform, fall as close to the center of the main stage as you can, but don't move towards the center any more once you land. You need to be facing the nearest edge, so the frames drop through the platform between you and the edge. The timing for this part is a little tricky. Start a falcon punch before they actually fall through the platform, so that the whole group gets hit by the punch. When the punch hits the first frames, that contact causes it to last long enough to hit all the frames. The punch should KO them all, even if some of them go the wrong way, as they often do. The down a and punch will weaken quickly and after repeating the strat a few times. You will have to use down a twice to do enough damage for the punch to KO them. You will know when to do this because some of the frames won't quite die when hit by the punch. It usually starts to happen around 15 KOs. ---------------------------- Ganondorf - 207 Ganondorf uses a strat very similar to pikachu. Use the standard edge grab herd strat. After you drop through the platform, roll to the edge and charge his smash down attack. Release as the frames drop so that it hits them all. His kick turns them around and sends them far enough off the stage that they can't get back on. Just repeat for each group of five. ---------------------------- Falco - 64 I have trouble using Falco's strat, as I have had very little practice with it, but I will do my best to explain it. Run to the edge and double jump up, just slightly off the edge while facing it, then air dodge up or triple jump straight up so that all the frames gather on the nearest platform. Fastfall to the edge and press a or b to get back on, sending a few of the frames off the side. Walk to the very edge of the stage and as the frames off the side get close, jump and use down a to spike them. You need to still be moving up a little bit as you use the down a, or falco will just fall the hell off the stage. As soon as you can do another move, do falco's second jump. You should be off the stage a little bit and vertically between the main stage and the side platform. Use forward b to get back on and get ready to repeat the process. I have had a hard time getting this strat to work, but it works very well when done correctly. Update - This is another strat that works about as well as the previous one. Herd the frames with the triple jump strat or with the edge grab, which ever one works better for you. After the frames drop through the platform, face the center of the stage. Hit them with the side of the down b that's closer to the center of the stage so that it hits them up, slightly behind you. Jump up very quickly and hit them with up b or down b to KO them. Up b is easier to hit them all with, but you have to jump up and use it very quickly, or it won't KO them. With down b, you can wait a little longer before jumping up and hitting them, but it's harder to hit all five at once with it. ---------------------------- Fox - 124 Fox has an easy to use strat. Herd them by using the triple jump strat. Double jump from the edge then triple jump horizontally across the stage. Sometimes a frame will be near the top of the stage and you will need to triple jump diagonally upwards slightly to avoid them. However, usually going directly to the left or right is enough to stay out of range of the frames. Drop through the platform and roll to the edge. Charge an up smash and release it to hit all the frames up and very slightly over the edge of the stage. As soon as you release, walk in from the edge just a little bit and get ready to use down b. The frames will fall and land next to you. Use the reflector to hit them off the stage. The initial contact that it makes sends them off far enough that they can't get back on. You might have to use it more than once for each group to hit all of them. Though sometimes, you still might not get all of them, but it's fairly easy to survive with fox's speed while waiting for all the frames to respawn. Update - Fox's up smash will weaken and after 50-60 KOs it doesn't hit them high enough anymore. If you have problems with the up smash, quit using it. After rolling to the edge, just walk towards the center of the stage a few steps. They should drop through the platform between you and the edge, so use down b to hit them off the stage. This is simpler than the main strat, but using the up smash is safer than just doing this, so you should wait to switch to this after the up smash weakens. ---------------------------- Ness - 60 For ness, I've used a combination of moves, although it isn't the best strat for him. I'll try to explain his best strat, but I don't really know how it works. What I do is run to the side and jump off while the frames gather on the nearby platform. Fall and grab the edge, then attack to get back on, hopefully hitting all the frames. Some of them should go off the stage so jump off and spike them with down a, then grab the edge again and repeat. Sometimes instead of grabbing the edge, you should use up b and slam into all the frames. If they have enough damage, it will KO them, so it's good to use after you have grabbed the edge a few times and damaged some of them without KOing them. This strat requires a lot of improvisation and still doesn't work very well, but it's how I've gotten my highest score. His best strat involves his dash attack on the main platform. Herd the frames with the edge grabbing strat. When you drop through the platform, go to the center of the stage. When the frames drop, run toward them and use his dash attack. If it hits them correctly, it will send them far enough off the stage to KO them. I can get a few KOs with this, but it never seems to work very well. Although, it is currently the highest scoring strat for ness, so you should experiment with it and see if you can get it to work right.* *Update - I'm going to try to clarify the dash attack strat. Walk to the very edge of the small platfrom while waiting for the frames to follow you onto it. After you drop through the platform, roll to the edge, then start to walk to the center of the stage. Quickly dash attack the other way, into the frames that have just dropped through the platform. You should usually hit 2-4 of the frames. If you hit 0 or 1, then you're doing the dash attack too early or too late, so try adjusting it some. You have to just run and avoid the stragglers while waiting for the frames to respawn. Surviving requires a lot of luck, so just practice with it and hopefully you can get some decent scores. ---------------------------- Ice Climbers - 39 The ice climbers don't have a really great strat. Herd the frames using the triple jump strat, but use forward b instead of up b. It is important to keep nana alive. If she gets separated from you, she will probably get killed, then you are stuck with just popo which just makes things worse for you. The forward b doesn't move him as far to herd them correctly and his smash up only does half the damage that it does when nana is around. Charge smash up after you drop through the platform to hit them all. Just keep herding them and hitting them with smash up to KO them. You can also try using the forward smash, but neither one works really well. Another strat... This is the first update to a character strat that I've made. It is currently a higher scoring strat than the previous one. I don't have any personal experience with it yet, but I think I understand it correctly and I'm going to explain it as best I can. Herd the frames with the same triple jump strat using forward b. After you fall through the platform, walk to the edge and keep your back to the stage. Use smash down to hit the frames. Herd them again and use smash up to KO them. Repeat this as long as it works for you. You might also want to combine it with the previous strat of smash up and smash forward. ---------------------------- Kirby - 22 Kirby doesn't really have a well-defined strat. He usually doesn't use one of the main herding strats either. Start the game by jumping onto the right platform and floating up before that frame can attack you. His main strat requires you to get above the frames and use down b to damage them all. It's best to jump from one of the side platforms and float up as high as possible while the frames gather on the platform under you. If you stay above the middle of the platform, all the frames will spread out on it too much and you won't hit all of them when you drop as the brick. Try to get directly above one of the edges of the platform that you jumped from so that the frames will be bumping each other off of the small platform and jumping back up from the main stage as well as gathering on the small platform below you. When they are all below you, use down b. If you position it correctly, it should hit them all up. Press b again to remove the brick then run across the stage to set up the strat again. It only takes a few uses of the brick to KO the frames off the top of the stage. The main problem with this is that the brick tends to hit the frames in all different directions, so as they come back down, they fall to different areas of the stage, usually causing problems. Just try to stay away from the frames and get above them to keep using the brick. If a use of the brick doesn't quite KO them, it might be easier to jump and use aerial up a to KO any frames that might be falling straight down towards you. It really just takes a lot of improvising and some luck in not getting killed by the frames that usually end up all over the stage. ---------------------------- Samus - 100 Samus' strat is easy to use and gets KOs fairly easily. Use the edge grab strat to herd them. Because of the way samus moves, most of the time, you only need to jump one time to get the frames to jump onto the platform so you can drop under them and grab the edge. When you drop through the platform, just wait for them to fall through. They will land all around you. Once several of them have landed, use up b. They will stand still next to you briefly before attacking so you want to use the up b at the last possible time that they won't hit you. If the up b connects correctly, it will just barely touch them and KO them instantly off the top of the screen. Some of the frames will probably still be dropping through the platform when you start the up b. They won't be KOed by it, but they will be hit far enough away for you to start to herd them again. ---------------------------- Zelda - 35 For zelda, hold down the a button as the game starts to play as sheik. Herd them by using the edge grab strat. Many times, you only need to jump once to get the frames to jump onto the platform so you can grab the edge. Sometimes though, you need to triple jump straight up so that when the frames gather on the nearby platform, they will jump too. Drop under to grab the edge and continue herding them. When you drop through the platform, roll to the edge and charge down smash. Release to damage them, then herd them again. Continue this process until they have about 50+ damage for the first group of five. Herd them again and use smash up to KO them. As the attack weakens, you will probably have to damage them more to KO them each time. ---------------------------- Link - 49 For Link, use the edge grab herding strat. After you drop through the platform, run towards the center of the stage and use up b on the ground. You need to start the up b as early as possible, so that the last part of the attack hits the frames as they drop through the platform. You have to do this part very quickly. If you roll towards the center of the stage rather than just run before stating the up b, most of the time, you don't even have time to start the up b to get any KOs. The last part of the up b should hit a few of the frames far enough off the stage so that they can't get back on. Avoid any stragglers while the others are respawning, then repeat the strat. ---------------------------- Young Link - 124 Young link uses the edge grab herding strat. After you drop through the platform, roll to the edge and use up b on the ground. You need to start it just before, or as the frames are dropping through the platform. The frames should all be hit off the stage and turned around so that they can't get back on. If you start the up b too late, it will catch the frames rather than hit them off the stage and they will just end up all around you. The timing isn't very hard to get used to though. ---------------------------- Pichu - 201 With pichu, use the triple jump herding strat. Roll to the edge and use his smash down attack to hit them all off the edge. Jump and use neutral aerial a to bump the frames as they jump back towards the stage. One of them should grab the edge and get back on,* so get away from them after you bump them all. Avoid the straggler until all five are back and repeat the process. This strat is easy to use to get a lot of KOs. *Update - After you use the neutral aerial a, quickly drop and grab the edge to keep any frames from grabbing the edge. The timing can be tricky and it's a little dangerous, but it allows you to KO all five. ---------------------------- Pikachu - 534 If you don't already know the pikachu strat, you need to stop reading this and go watch the Japanese 565 video. Pikachu was the inspiration for all herding strats in cruel melee. Use the triple jump herding strat. Drop through the platform and charge his smash down attack. Release it as the frames drop to hit them all off the stage. The attack turns them around so that they can't make it back onto the stage and just fall to their deaths. ---------------------------- Jigglypuff - 149 Jigglypuff's strat involves some luck, which makes it kind of annoying when you start getting high scores. She doesn't use one of the two main herding strats. Start by floating off the side of the stage, just above the side platform and just out of reach of the frames who will gather on it next to you. Float in towards the stage, under the frames and you will need to use down b almost immediately. You want to use it as the frames drop through the platform, so that it hits all five of them. They will die instantly and jigglypuff will be left sleeping under the platform. Here's where the luck comes in. The next five frames will spawn and get to you before you wake up. Usually they don't even hit you, or they do a weak attack which wakes you up. As soon as you can, float off the stage to repeat the process. Once you get to about 15 KOs, the frames will be spawning slowly enough that you can wake up and get off the stage before they can get to you. Of course, you will have the same problem again every 50 KOs when the spawn pattern resets. Once you get to about 20 KOs, the down b will weaken and not KO the frames anymore. When this happens, you need to use forward b instead of down b, so that it hits all the frames, resetting the damage that down b will do. You need to repeat this around every 20 KOs. If you notice that the down b doesn't KO some of the frames, it means that you need to use forward b to reset the damage. ---------------------------- Mewtwo - 25 For mewtwo, there is probably a better strat, but this one is currently the best known. Run to the edge and jump off while facing the stage. You want the frames to gather on the platform next to you, so you might have to triple jump or dodge up. Fall and grab the edge. Press a or b to attack onto the stage, hopefully hitting all the frames away from you and two or three off the side of the stage. Jump out while facing the stage and spike the frames that are coming back with aerial down a. As you do this the other frames will be coming back to the edge. After using the spike, do your second jump and either your third, or dodge to make the frames gather on the platform again. Repeat the process, while the other frames are still spawning. The strat is usually more effective when you have to hit less than all five frames with your attack onto the stage. The only risk in doing this is that the frames might hit you while you're getting ready to jump out and spike. This strat is hard to do, but it gets easier once you get started. The initial five frames usually give me more trouble than the others when the whole group isn't all together. ---------------------------- Mr. Game and Watch - 38 With Mr. Game and Watch, I always like to start with an easy five KOs. Jump to the left platform to run across the stage and herd them on the right platform at the start. When the frames drop through the platform, use forward b and hope for a level nine. It will KO them all instantly, then you can start into the more reliable strat. If you don't get a nine, they will probably hit you and it's easiest to just restart since that only took about ten seconds. Certain levels of the forward b will hit them far enough away that you can run to the other platform and try again. It doesn't really matter though since a nine will KO them without any damage. There are three main strats that you can try. I'm not very good at any of them, but I will explain them as best I can. Use the edge grab strat for each. For the first one, roll to the edge after you drop through the platform and use smash up. It will hit them above you, slightly off the stage. Step in towards the center a little bit, then use smash forward as they land and continue to hit them with it to KO them. The second strat is fairly similar to the first. Just charge smash up after you drop through the platform and release it as late as possible to damage the frames as they drop. Do the same thing a second time, then herd them again. This time charge a smash forward and release it to hopefully KO them. The third strat is also fairly similar. Drop through the platform and charge up smash. After using it once, use tilt up to continue to damage the frames to about 45+ damage. Herd them again and use smash up to finish them. ---------------------------- Marth - 47 Marth's strat is a real bastard to do correctly. There are lots of little things that can go wrong, but it has the potential to get good scores. Use the standard edge grab herding strat. As you drop through the platform, don't go straight down, but fall towards the center of the stage. When you land, roll towards the center of the stage so that you are facing the nearest edge, but you're no longer directly under the platform that the frames are on. Hopefully, a male will be the first to drop. This is the hardest part. You need to use the counter, which is why you want a male to drop first, as one usually does. You will need to practice the timing, but start the counter just before the first frame attacks you. You usually have to wait just a little while longer if a female is the first frame to drop. This is the hardest part because sometimes, the frame will roll away, or not attack immediatly, and then your counter is useless. Do what you can to get away and herd them again if they have attacked you. If the counter works correctly, then it should hit all five of them off the edge. Wait until they start to jump back, but are not yet to the stage. Run, jump and do aerial down a to spike them down to their deaths. You need to do the spike before you go past the edge of the stage so that afterwards, you will just land on the edge of the stage. You might not get all of the frames, so you will need to make a quick escape. L cancel after using the spike so you can get away from the stragglers and wait for all five to come back to herd them again. The timing for this part is also somewhat tricky. Without enough practice, you will probably jump too far when doing the spike and end up falling off the stage. You need to react quickly if this happens. After your down a has stopped, do your second jump. You will probably be in a position that just using up b won't get you back onto the stage, so do forward b to turn around and face the stage, then jump to grab the edge with up b. You shouldn't need to use that at all though, if you just time it right to land on the main stage after using the spike. Apparently, this doesn't work quite right in the PAL version because marth's spike sends the frames straight down instead of down at an angle, meaning that you can't stay above the stage to spike them. I don't know a way around this, but you might have to just jump off, then use the method above to get back on. I don't really know though, since I haven't played the PAL version. ---------------------------- Roy - 107 I think there are several things that roy can do, but they all involve his up b. This is the best strat that I know of, but I might add something else, if I find out about something more effective. Use the edge grab herding strat. When all the frames above you are starting to drop through the platform, use up b. Hopefully, it will KO a few of them. After using the up b, you will probably have to improvise a little bit, but it's easy to do. If you happened to hit the whole group to the same place, you can jump up to them and use up b again to hopefully finish them off. Most of the time though, you will need to just get away from the survivors and herd them again. Update - I have found out about two more effective strats. Herd them by edge grabbing. When you drop through the platform, roll toward the center of the stage. You will now be facing the nearest edge. Use tilt down a as the frames drop through the platform. You might have to use it twice to hit all five. It will hit them up above the top platform. Jump while still facing the edge then use up b to the opposite direction, which will be toward the frames and the center of the stage. If it hits them right, it will KO several, hopefully all five. This strat is easy to use and is generally better than the previous one. I find this next strat harder to use, but it is currently the highest scoring one. Herd them and walk towards the center of the stage. Without turning around, forward smash the opposite direction to hit all the frames off the stage. Without moving right or left, quickly jump onto the platform and start to charge neutral b. When the frames get close enough, release b to KO them all. The timing can be tricky for hitting them with the forward smash and the neutral b, but if you can get them both right, this is a good strat. ---------------------------- One final thing that I want to mention is how strategies often change. The previous character strats are those for getting the currently best known scores. If you know any better strats, I would like to know about them. I can be reached as spookisfat on AIM, or at DK64@mindspring.com. You should also be able to find the MMM topic on the GameFAQs SSBM board. ---------------------------- D. Thanks ---------------------------- A lot of people deserve credit for helping develop these strats. I hope I don't forget anyone. Many thanks to... g0ku88, justinmaclean51, giggs, MasterLink21, SN1989, House of Anchors, Yeroc, Tensor, DocMario, PYh189, r1k, possibly more if I add more strats or remember someone that I missed. ---------------------------- E. Standard legal stuff ---------------------------- Copyright 2003 Derek Kidwell/spookisfat. I own this guide, don't steal it. Currently, no one has permission to use this except GameFAQs. You should only find it on GameFAQs or my site http://www4.ncsu.edu:8030/~dbkidwel/