***Rival Schools: United by Fate/Shiritsu Justice Gakuen*** *Shoma (Syoma) Sawamura FAQ version 0.3* -Best Viewed with Courier New Font- By: Shoma No Miko (contacts listed below) And the web page still hasn't been made.. -_- NOTICE: This FAQ is NOT to be used for money-making purposes.As always, all characters are properties of their respective owners. Don't sue me, I'm poor! ANOTHER NOTICE: If you want to use my FAQ for your page, read my new "Posting" section listed somewhere below. ======================================================== TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1) FAQ Updates/Changes 2) Contacts and Acknowledgements 3) Introduction 4) Shoma Bio a) Profile b) Personality c) Story d) Endings 5) Basic Game Controls 6) Moves List a) Special Moves b) Burning Vigor Attacks c) Team-Up Attack 7) Some Combos 8) Home Run Mode 9) Miscellaneous 10) Posting 11) Info needed/ Hopeful updates ======================================================== 1) FAQ Updates/Changes ________________________________________________________ -Changed Introduction -Added/Removed addresses from contacts -Some changes to Basic Moves List -Fixed Special Moves List errors -Added a Strategy section -Put more stuff into the bio (actually, I just added his ending summaries) -Put a Home Run Mode section -Changed thanks & contributors list. -Added a "posting" section -Fixed Info needed/ Hopeful updates section ======================================================== 2) Contacts and Acknowledgements ________________________________________________________ These are all the people,companies,magazines, etc., that have helped me put this FAQ up . Thanks to you all! =) -"Batsu" -Mike -Jessie -Absolute Zero's Rival Schools Page (http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Castle/9607/rival.html) -Capcom (http://www.capcom.com) -Fighters' Edge (http://www.fightersedge.com) -Game Pro Magazine (http://www.gamepro.com) or AOL Keyword: Game Pro Hm, well, lately I've signed up for like a million new e-mail accounts (it's addictive)so the contacts are changed here. Please make it seem that you're e-mailing me about this FAQ so I can avoid accidentally deleting it (especially on the AOL address!). Thanks. 1) SakuraIso@aol.com 2) Sakura_Isozaki@saitou.zzn.com 3) Maki@saitou.zzn.com 4) Maki@belldandy.zzn.com 5) ShomaNoMiko@TheGym.net ======================================================== 3) Introduction ________________________________________________________ The purpose of this here FAQ is to provide somewhat of a strategy for the Rival Schools character Shoma Sawamura -my favorite character, tied with Daigo Kazama. Now that the PSX version is out in the States (Sans "School Life Mode" which really sucks), this FAQ will be geared towards it rather than the arcade. Thanks to school... I haven't updated this FAQ in like 4 months! GACK! Well, I finally took some time to NOT be lazy or busy with work to update this FAQ. Lemmie know if there's anything you might want me to put into it. Many players of the game overlook Shoma because of his partners (face it, Natsu and Roberto aren't really that good...) or because of his appearance (i.e, the bat makes him look like he'd be a SLOW character,swinging that around). But in reality, Shoma, in MY opinion, is one of the best characters.He's rather powerful despite his dimunitive size and he swings that bat around pretty fast. His air- combos are pretty good too. Anyways, I hope the FAQ helps you in anyway possible with this guy. Translations aside, I tried very hard to make it understandable for you. ======================================================== 4) Shoma Bio ________________________________________________________ Sawamura Syoma "Bakurestu Suragga" Shoma (Syoma) Sawamura "Explosive Slugger" a) Profile ---------- SEX: Male BIRTHDATE: October 10th ZODIAC: Libra BLOOD TYPE: O HEIGHT: 162 cm WEIGHT: 57 kg B-W-H: 92-78-80 RELATIONSHIP: He argues with Natsu Ayuhara LIKES: Baseball DISLIKES: Big people, basketball, volleyball SKILL: Baseball SCHOOL: Gorin GOOD SUBJECT: P.E BAD SUBJECT(S): Math,English CLUB: Baseball club PART-TIME JOB: No time! ________________________________________________________ b)Personality ----------------- Has a quick temper and hates to lose. Has a strong sense of justice, but because he's so impulsive, he's always failing. Because he causes wild fights during matches, he's not really a member of the Gorin High School Baseball Team. He's extremely self-conscious about his shortness.He always fights with Natsu, who is tall and tries to make a fool out of him. Turns out, Natsu was an old friend from childhood, and now that she's become more of a woman, her casual actions have caused a lot of tension... ________________________________________________________ c)Story ---------- His older brother, an ace pitcher from the same school, Shuichi, was attacked by someone. To clear his brother's humiliation of being cut off from being able to join a pro baseball team, to find out the truth, and for revenge, Shoma goes to raid other schools. ________________________________________________________ d)Endings ---------- *WARNING! POSSIBLE SPOILER!* BAD ENDING SUMMARY Shouma, Natsu, and Roberto go home. Peace was restored to Gorin High School, but Shouma's brother's condition (his broken arm actually) worsened. The game doesn't tell how, but Shouma knows why and he must keep fighting to help him or something. Ick. This really IS a bad ending. GOOD ENDING SUMMARY Shouma, Natsu, and Roberto are in their uniforms in the hospital, visiting Shuichi. Shouma apologizes to Shuichi for fighting and not being there to protect him during the time of the incident. Shuichi reassures him that he'll heal soon but not in time for pro baseball, so he'll go to college first. He tells Shouma that he can be the first in the family to become pro. Shouma doesn't believe him because he thinks he's too short. Shuichi says that Shouma has gotten taller and pretty soon he'll be as tall as his "girlfriend" Natsu (who is like 5'11" by the way). Enraged Shouma runs out of the room chasing Roberto, who's teasing him. Shuichi mutters something about Shouma's temper control while Natsu just stands there looking at him. ======================================================== 5)Basic Game Controls ________________________________________________________ DIRECTIONAL LEGEND: Down.....D Up.......U F........Forward B........Back DF.......Diagonally down-forward DB.......Diagonally down-back QCF......In a continous motion, go from D,to DF,to F QCB...... " ", go from D,to DB,to B HCF...... " ",go from B,to DB, to D, to DF, to F HCB...... " ",go from F,to DF, to D, to DB, to B ATTACKS: Shoma, like every fighter, has 4 different types of basic attacking which every player should know, otherwise, they should not play this game! They are: Weak Punch.......WP Strong Punch.....SP Weak Kick........WK Strong Kick......SK RUNNING AND MOVING AROUND Shoma can execute these moves to move around on the "field". Not only does it serve as an offensive strategy, it's good for defense. If you STILL have trouble understanding when and where to use these, I recommend going through Hayato Nekketsu's Training Mode on the Evolution Disk.: MOVING High Jump.......D,U Mid-Air Jump....When knocked into the air,press any 2 buttons together Run.............F, Hold F Hop Forward.....F,F Hop Back........B,B Sidestep........WK+SK Upper Sidestep..D,WK+SK OFFENSE MANEUVERS Shoulder Ram....While running press P Slide...........While running press WK Drop Kick.......While running press SK Rival Launcher..When close, DF+SP or DF+SK DEFENSE MANEUVERS Block...........Press B Tardy Counter...Block then execute a special move Knockdown Recoveries Roll Back...Press B Roll Front..Press F Stand.......Press U Side Roll...Press D Attack......Any attack after intial recovery THROWS Along with those basics, Shoma also has throws. To execute a throw, stand close to your opponent and press WP+SP. To escape a throw, execute a throw. Got it? And to throw crouched opponents, simply press Down and WP+SP. To escape a crouched throw, press Down and execute the throw; it's very tricky and difficult to master (even with Hayato training). As a standing throw, he picks the opponent up as if he were practicing, then he hits them with his bat. Crouched, he powerbombs them. And from behind them, he performs a German Suplex. TAUNTING Taunting with Shouma can be performed (on the home version) by going to the OPTIONS menu and setting your KEY CONFIGURATIONS, and place a TAUNT button somewhere on your controller. I usually set it on my L&R buttons. Taunting increases your Burning Vigor Meter but it leaves Shouma wide open, as with any other character. A good time to taunt is after you've nailed your opponent with a Burning Vigor successfully OR when they're like on the other side of the screen. =) BURNING VIGOR ATTACKS Shoma has 2 Burning Vigor Attacks. What's that? A special meter that is similar to the meters on SF Alpha. When on level 1 or higher, Shoma can perform a "Super" Move. The B.V Meter has 9 levels and they're carried over in between rounds but not fights. To increase the meter, do one of the following: Get hit (Don't wanna do that!) Perform Special Moves Taunting Though it doesn't pertain to Shoma, several characters (Hinata and Natsu) can team-up to help raise the meter by about 5 levels. TEAM-UP ATTACKS When Shoma's B.V meter is AT LEAST on Level 2 (for the confused: when you see your partner's face by your B.V meter and it says "READY!") he can team-up with his chosen partner.If Shoma is the one fighting the move depends on the character you picked as his partner. His partner can either tag-team with Shoma to beat the opponent (like Unmasked Akira's EVA rip-off), raise Shoma's B.V meter(like Hinata's Cheer up), or even restore some of his lost health (like Tiffany's *bleh* kiss).If Shoma ISN'T the main character, his Team-Up is Grand Slam (listed below) and it's an attack. The best time to perform a Team-Up is when your opponent is wide-open or when you're in close and rising at the same time. ======================================================== 6) Moves List ________________________________________________________ a)Special Moves ---------------------- Cho-go-sok-kyu (Super Heavy, Fast ball) QCF+P Shoma pitches a rather small baseball as a projectile at his opponent. It's fast,strong, and has lovely reach.It can be done in mid-air and it will aim diagonally downward. This is one of the, if not the, best projectiles in the game. Once, I've won a round by standing a good distance away (the other side of the screen, I believe) and just kept pitching at my opponent. Cheap huh? =P Despite all the good points, the pitch can be "nullified" by Natsu's Serve and Roberto's Soccer Kick because of their awkward angles. Shouma has a better range than the both of them though. =) -------------------------------------------------------- Dai-Kaiten Dahou (Big Rotating Batting Style) F,QCF+P Shoma swings his bat around pretty quickly and bats his opponent away. This is better done nearby since it hits twice. I've noticed that this move works the best as a Tardy Counter than a normal move itself. You might disagree though.. -------------------------------------------------------- Satsujin Suraidingu (Homicide Slide) QCF+K I don't know why they call this "Killer Slide". Shoma doesn't even slide! He just leaps up with a quick horizontal kick. -------------------------------------------------------- Go-kai Lead (Dynamic Lead) B + WK + SK At the beginning of the move, Shoma looks like he's taking off for a base (he looks so adorable!). You have one of two options: If you press Weak Kick after, he will perform a sliding kick. If you press Strong Kick after, he will perform "Satsujin Suraidingu". The slide usually catches people off guard but it has poor range. -------------------------------------------------------- Ippon Zuri Da-ho (Fishing-like batting style) HCB+P Shoma lifts his opponent up with his bat through their stomach, and then bats them away.I hardly used the move when I first started playing as him but now I use it a bit more often. ________________________________________________________ b)Burning Vigors (Done when meter is at level 1!) ----------------------- Bunshin Makyu (Illusionary Diabolical Pitch) QCF,QCF+P Shouma throws a baseball that appears to be like about a hundred of them, at his opponent. It hits for up to a maximum of 4 hits. This move is also one of the best because projectile supers are good for catching opponents at long distances (and this one can be done in mid-air!). And it does INCREDIBLE damage... -------------------------------------------------------- Ho~mu Ran Dahou (Home Run Batting Style) QCB,QCB+P Shoma does a souped up version of the "Dai Katen Dahou" here, batting his opponent away. It looks pretty painful. I've noticed that sometimes when the opponent is hit,they either fly back A WHOLE DAMN LOT or fly back as if they were hit by a normal move. This B.V can be seen coming a mile away so the best time to perform it, generally, is as a Burning Vigor Tardy Counter. If your opponent still doesn't fall for it, try nailing them as they land from a jump. If that STILL doesn't work, go for Bunshin Makyu. =) ________________________________________________________ c)Team-Up Attack ------------------------- Gurandu Suramu (Grand Slam) WP+WK or SP+SK Shoma's partner knocks the opponent up into the air and leaps up after him or her. At this time, Shoma is on the ground with his bat ready. His partner spikes the opponent down at him.Shoma then bats the opponent THE HELL AWAY with his bat. This is one of the more painful looking ones along with Boman's Backbreaker and Raizo's team-up and it does decent damage. ======================================================== 7) Some Combos ________________________________________________________ WP,WP,SP Yield: 3 hits SK,F+SK Yield: 3 hits WP,WP,Hold F,SK Yield: 4 hits WP,WP,SK,Hold F,SP Yield: 4 hits. WP,WP,SP,Hold B,SP Yield: 4 hits. WP,WP,SP,Hold F,SK Yield: 5 Hits (Last hit takes off two hits). Jump in downwards with SP, Hold D,WK,"Dai Katen Dahou" with SP (F,QCF+SP in case you forgot). Yield: 4 hits. WP,WP,SP, Hold DF,SP,Hold U,WP,WP,WK,SP,Hold F,SP Yield: 9 hits. Hold DF,Hold U,WP,WK, "Bunshin Makyu" (QCF,QCF+SP) Yield: About 7 hits. WP,WP,SK,Hold DF,SP, Hold U,WP,WK,"Bunshin Makyu"(QCF,QCF+SP) Yield: 9 hits. This can only be done if your B.V meter is at least level 1. The last hit takes off 3 hits. ======================================================== 8) Home Run Mode ________________________________________________________ When I put my FAQ up in Gamefaqs, I placed in it that I needed help in getting to Home Run mode on the Evolution Disk (U.S version). Thanks to two sweethearts(Kevin 'Genryu' Eav and Christopher Rasin), I finally got it. ^_^ If you haven't got it, here's what you do: Simply beat the 1p Mode on the Evolution Disk with Shoma and any other team-mate (I used Roberto just in case) with the hardest Difficulty Set. You can change that in options. I don't know if it matters since I've only done it once, but I also got Shoma's Good Ending just in case. To get good endings, beat Raizo or the person whom you fight last, with a Team-Up Attack. When you're done, Home-Run Mode should be on the mode select screen! Now you can play it as much as you want! My best score is 600-something. Sucky ne? Yeah well, I honestly prefer the Service Mode (Natsu's Volleyball Game) over the Home Run game. To get that, do the same as you would to get the Home Run Mode, but use Natsu instead of Shouma. ======================================================== 9)Miscellaneous ________________________________________________________ This section was made for information that could not fit any place else in this FAQ. Hey, I got some translations (kinda wonky, I suppose; my Japanese ain't all that)!Any extra translations are appreciated! -(When Shoma wins a match, and he rubs the back of his head) "Uh oh..I've done it again..!" -(When Shoma is knocked out) "You stupid bastard!" (Bakayarou) -(In Home Run mode, when he does poorly or does not beat a record) "Uh oh..." -(During said move...) "Illusionary Diabolical Pitch!" (Doesn't it sound better as Bunshin Makyu?) Shoma's voice actor Uueda Yuji (last name first, first name last). Eh, not important, but heck, maybe you might wanna know one day. ======================================================== 10) Posting ________________________________________________________ Alot, ok, maybe not ALOT, of people have been reading this FAQ because of the e-mails I always get about updates. ^_^; That's good. I love feedback! I also love knowing when someone is going to use my FAQ on their page. I 99.99% of the time say, when ASKED FIRST, "Sure. Put it on your page. Just gimmie credit." This is my first FAQ and when I distributed it out, I didn't know about people.."borrowing" my FAQ and not telling me about it until I either discover it on their page first or I get e-mail months after they placed it on their page. So to put it shortly, ASK FOR PERMISSION FIRST! Thank you. ======================================================== 11) Info needed/ Hopeful updates ________________________________________________________ -EVEN MORE combos -Dialogue...maybe -More translations -More Home Run Mode Info -------------------------------------------------------- There Mom! Are you happy!? I updated the FAQ! Motto for the time being: "AKU! SOKU! ZAN!" - Saitou Hajime, RK. --Shoma No Miko =) February 11th 1999.