@@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@@@@@@@@@ @@ @@ @@@@@@@@@@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@@@@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@@@@@@@ @@ @@ @@@@@@@@ @@ @@@@@ MASTER'S GUIDE TO SAKURA FAQ v1.0 by Al Lo alo@wincom.net TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. WHY I WROTE THIS FAQ 2. STORY 3. ENDING 4. COLORS 5. NORMAL ATTACKS 6. OVERHEAD ATTACKS 7. THROWS 8. SURE-KILLING TECHNIQUES (Special Moves) 9. ALPHA COUNTERS 10. SUPER COMBOS 11. TAUNTS 12. WIN POSES 13. COMBOS 14. GENERAL STRATEGY 15. WIN QUOTES 16. CREDITS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. WHY I WROTE THIS FAQ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, SFA2 is pretty old by now but in my arcade it is still the most played game. Yep, even though we have SF3 projected onto a 10' by 10' screen. Even though SF3 looks about a million times better....Well, I feel I have finally "mastered" Sakura. I can beat pretty much everybody every fight. I guess that isn't much of a feat since my arcade is Ryu/Ken/Akuma FB/DP land. Anyways, Sakura is the best character Capcom ever put in a fighting game and with a little skill behind her she can compete with the Chun-Lis, Ryus and Kens. This in no means is the set in stone method of playing Sakura. It is what I do and I am very successful when I use these strategies. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. STORY ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sakura Kusagano is a schoolgirl in Japan who enjoys Street Fighting. This started when she and her friend had a run in with a couple of thugs. She wasted them with ease and now wants Ryu to be her teacher so that she can increase her skills. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. ENDING ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Before the fight) Sakura "I've been looking for you Ryu." Ryu "What do you want with me, little girl?" Sakura "Is that any way to talk? I'm your number one fan. That's Ms. Little Girl to you!" (After the fight, Ryu is walking away) Sakura "Wait! Where are you going? I want to be stronger. I want to learn more. Please! Please teach me! Be my master!!!!" Ryu "I'm still learning myself. I don't have time for school girl games! You're on your own. I've got to go. Sakura "At least give me something to remember you by!" (Sakura takes a picture of Ryu) (Sakura is walking to school) Sakura (He took it easy on me. I just know it! What did he mean--"He is still learning?" I though street fighting was for fun. Maybe he knows the true meaning of "fight." I have to see him again and ask him. Friend "Good morning Sakura. Who's that?" Sakura "My master, maybe?" Friend "What?! What do you mean?" Sakura "Forget it. We don'ts have time. We'll be late for school" Friend "Hey! Wait for me!" Sakura "I'm going to need a crash course." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. COLORS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- PK1-Jab + Short PK2-Fierce + Roundhouse P blue skirt, yellow tie, white shirt, red gloves K light green skirt, pink tie, white shirt, orange gloves PP dark red skirt, yelow tie, light pink shirt, blue gloves KK green skirt, pink tie, white shirt, orange gloves PK1 purple skirt, yellow tie, white shirt, purple gloves PK2 black skirt, orange tie, white shirt, blue gloves ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. NORMAL ATTACKS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- JAB "Jab" Standing A quick straight punch that can be used to 2 in 1 with. This punch is primarily used for poking. If they block a standing jab you can go for the throw and if they don't you can 2 in 1 into a fierce Sho-Oh-Ken. "Shagami Jab" Ducking Like the standing jab it can be used to 2 in 1 with and is used mainly for poking and tick attempts. If one connects immediately go into the fierce Sho-Oh-Ken. "Jumping Shotei" Jumping Almost useless as a jump in attack. May be used as an air to air counter but a jumping forward is much better. STRONG "Straight" Standing Another standing straight punch. You can 2 in 1 with it so it can be used in combos but it is too slow to tick with. "Genkotsu Stamp" Ducking A great counter to ducking kicks. It will cleanly counter almost every kick with a few exceptions like Chun-Li's ducking forward. When playing foot games use this or the ducking forward to counter or strike first. If this connects 2 in 1 into a forward Shunpuu Kyaku. "Jumping Straight" Jumping A jumping strong can be used as an air to air counter but is pretty much useless as a jump in attack because it must be very deep to connect in combos. FIERCE "Furiko Upper" Standing A two handed uppercut. This is effective as an air counter and is also used to 2 in 1 into a fierce Sho-Oh-Ken. This is your main weapon against missed attacks since it fills your super bar up very quickly. If your opponent is walking towards you do a standing fierce into a Hadoken to push them back or connect for a combo. "Guts Upper" Ducking A ducking uppercut. Your primary air counter against most jumping attacks. It has a very high priority and a well timed ducking fierce will take out almost anything except air custom combos. You can also 2 in 1 into a fierce Sho-Oh-Ken with a ducking fierce. "Batobi Punch" Jumping This is Sakura's second best jumping attack. It does more damage than a jumping forward but has less priority. Use this if your opponent is dizzy or has missed an attack. SHORT "Low Kick" Standing Like Sakura's jab this is used for ticking. Constant poking with her weak attacks will frustrate your opponent and cause them to turtle. If one connects you can 2 in 1 into a fierce Sho-Oh-Ken or a super combo. "Yosumi Kick" Ducking Basically use this and ducking jabs to tick. "Tobi Geri" Jumping Very weak as a jump in attack and not so great as an air to air counter. Don't use this too often. FORWARD "Agohane Geri" Standing The forward kick should be your primary attack button. A standing forward is almost as good as a ducking fierce as an air counter. You can't 2 in 1 off this attack. "Guts Kick" Ducking Probably the second best in terms of ground priority to Chun-Li's ducking forward. Is faster than almost all of the ground attacks in SFA2 and will counter almost anything. High-School Kick" Jumping Possibly the best jumping attack in SFA2. Use this to cross- up your opponent whenever possible. They are hard to block for some people and lead to massive combos. Sakura's main strength is her cross-up ability so use it as often as possible. ROUNDHOUSE "Ichimonji Geri" Standing This kick is relatively fast compared to other roundhouse attacks. You can use it to stop advancing opponents. Also, after you throw a fireball at your opponent in the corner form close range do a standing roundhouse to counter their next attack. "Kaiten Ashibarai" Ducking A lot of people use ducking roundhouses as the majority of their ground attacks. It is slower and has less priority than a ducking forward so use the ducking forward. Use this only with Valle custom combos. "Sakura Kick" Jumping Like the jumping fierce it has very little range and should only be used in combos when your opponent is dizzy or has missed a ground attack or has missed with a projectile attack. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. OVERHEAD ATTACKS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Flower Kick F + Forward This overhead attack is pretty slow in comparison to others. Use it on fallen opponents as they get up followed by a ducking forward or roundhouse. It is also effective against turtles as a start up for custom combos. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7. THROWS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sailor Strangle B/F + Strong/Fierce Sailor Shoot B/F + Forward/Roundhouse The direction you choose will cause you opponent to land on that side after the throw or hold. The Sailor Stangle is easy to tech hit off but is the throw you should use. It puts your opponent right beside you setting up a cross-up attempt. The Sailor Shoot takes off less damage and pushes your opponent away from you. Use the Sakura Strangle whenever possible. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8. SURE-KILLING TECHNIQUES (Special Moves) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hadoken D,DF,F + P/PP/PPP P 1 hit/9% damage PP 1 hit/10% damage PPP 1 hit/12% damage This is a slow projectile which dissipates as it travels across the screen. Pressing one punch will launch a small fireball across most of the screen. Pressing two punches will increase the size but decrease the distance and the same occurs when three punches are pressed. The main flaw that a lot of Sakura players have is that they are fireball crazy and just because she is a Shotokan fighter they assume she is a female Ryu. Playing like this will get you killed. Only use Hadokens when you know they will cancel out another projectile or will hit your opponent. From a full screen away use it to counter projectiles and charge up the super bar. When you knock down an opponent you can use a fireball to make them block as they get up but going for cross-ups is much smarter. Shunpuu Kyaku D,DB,B + K Short 1 hit/10% damage Forward 1 hit/11% damage Roundhouse 1 hit/12% damage Unlike Ryu or Ken's, Sakura's Shunpuu Kyaku arcs upwards and back down. The stronger the kick the higher and farther she will travel. The Short version is best for countering ground attacks because it has pretty good priority. The Forward version is best for combos after a ducking strong. The Roundhouse version should only be used in custom combos because it is difficult to hit with it any other way. Sho-Oh-Ken F,D,DF + P Jab 1 hit/13% damage Strong 4 hits/15% damage Fierce 6 hits/18% damage This is Sakura's version of the Shoryuken. However, this is not a Ryu/Ken air counter. The Jab version is okay as an air counter but a ducking fierce is much easier to do and has a higher priority. Use the Fierce version EVERY time and only in combos. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9. ALPHA COUNTERS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Punch AC Block, B, DB, D + P Kick AC Block, B, DB, D + K These in my opinion are a giant waste of super bar energy. There are always other ways to counter and you waste chances to use custom combos. The only time I ever use them is of they are about to die and try to attack. Then I can safely counter any of their attacks without risking losing any damage. It is useless to alpha counter air attacks because you can use a ducking Fierce or a standing Forward. If they use a super combo and you block it using an alpha counter during it will take off a little energy. You can always block and wait for them to finish countering with a custom combo for a lot more damage. Alpha countering ground attacks is also not very useful because Sakura's ducking Forward counters almost anything. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10. SUPER COMBOS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- When the bar at the bottom of the screen reaches 1 you can perform super combos. When the bar is at 2 by pressing two attack buttons you can do a level 2 super combo and a level 3 super combo is achieved by pressing three attack buttons after the joystick motions. Shinkuu Hadoken D,DF,F,D,DF,F + P/PP/PPP Level 1 3 hits/10-17% damage Level 2 4 hits/15-25% damage Level 3 5 hits/24-38% damage This can be used to counter projectiles when you in at least half a screen away form your opponent. Any farther and they can block or your firebell will dissipate. It can also be used as an air counter for big damage. Midare Zakura D,DF,F,D,DF,F + K/KK/KKK Level 1 4 hits/~24% damage Level 2 6 hits/~32% damage Level 3 7 hits/~44% damage Missed ground attacks can be punished with this and it can be used in combos but it is relatively weak when compared to Sakura's custom combos. Don't use this too much. Haru Ichiban D,DB,B,D,DB,B + K/KK/KKK Level 1 5 hits/~28% damage Level 2 6 hits/~37% damage Level 3 7 hits/~48% damage This is useful because it hits low, has high damage, and very little recovery time. If you are to use a super combo in a combo this is the one to use. However, I feel that custom combos are more effective. **********THE ULTIMA HARU ICHIBAN SPECIAL********** Thanks to Ultima for teaching me this trick. If you Haru Ichiban is blocked do a ducking Forward right after. It will push you away and will counter any other counter by your opponent almost all of the time. I think it doesn't counter moves with invincible frames through like Shoryukens. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11. TAUNTS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sakura's taunt is done by pressing the 1P or 2P buttons on an arcade machine. She look's away, points and giggles. You can do these after big combos but since hers can hit they are best used in custom combos for the extra bit of flash. You can only do these once a round but as many times as you want during custom combos. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12. WIN POSES ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- You can choose you win pose by pressing the 1P/2P buttons along with an attack button after you win. Jab Sakura turns away, wipes her nose, points and giggles. Strong Sakura raises her fist and giggles while her skirt moves with the wind. Fierce Like the Short win pose without the flying shoe. Short Sakura does a few kicks, clenches her fists and screams. During this process her shoe flies off and hits her on her head. Forward The best win pose in all of SFA2. Sakura dances! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13. COMBOS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Since the number of combos that can be done in SF due to its great 2 in 1 combo system I'll only list the effective ones. **********SURE KILLING TECHNIQUE COMBOS********* Cross-up Forward Combos Cross-up Forward, Ducking or Standing Fierce, Fierce Sho-Oh-Ken Cross-up Forward, Ducking or Standing Fierce, Fierce Hadoken Cross-up Forward, Ducking Stong, Forward Shunpuu Kyaku If the Forward connects do the first combo or the second one if the first is too difficult. The second does not take off as much energy but is much easier to do. If the Forward is blocked do the third combo. After the combo ends start up a custom combo. Air To Ground Combos Jumping Fierce, Ducking or Standing Fierce, Fierce Sho-Oh-Ken Jumping Fierce, Ducking or Standing Fierce, Fierce Hadoken Only use these combos when you know you are going to hit your opponent. These situations include dizzies and jumping over fireballs or missed attacks. It is risky to use these in other situations because you will be punished after a blocked Sho-Oh-Ken or Hadoken at such a close range. Gound Combos Standing or Ducking Fierce, Fierce Sho-Oh-Ken Standing Fierce, Fierce Hadoken Ducking Jab, Ducking Jab, Standing Short, Fierce Sho-Oh-Ken Use the first combo EVERYTIME your opponent misses a move. This combo takes off quite a bit of energy and fills up your super bar very quickly. Use the second combo if your opponent is walking towards you. If they block they get pushed back and if they don't they get hit. When poking with Short and Jab if you connect use the third combo. **********SUPER COMBO COMBOS (sounds weird)********** Cross-up Forward Combos Cross-up Forward, Ducking or Standing Fierce, Shinkuu Hadoken Cross-up Forward, Ducking or Standing Fierce, Haru Ichiban Air To Ground Combos Jumping Fierce, Ducking or Standing Fierce, Shinkuu Hadoken Jumping Fierce, Ducking or Standing Fierce, Haru Ichiban Ground Combos Ducking or Standing Fierce, Shinkuu Hadoken Ducking or Standing Fierce, Haru Ichiban Being able to do these super combo combos is important but I rarely ever find myself using super combos except to cheese people to death when they are about to die. At lower levels they do less damage and have less priority than custom combos, the ultimate weapon of SFA2. I sure if they are wide open and you can bust a level three super combo on them for easy damage instead of risking a missed custom combo. If you can do custom combos and know when to use them super combos seem very useless. **********CUSTOM COMBOS********** When To Use Them Use them after every missed attack (shoryuken, somersault shell etc) because every attack has some delay after them. Even the slower normal attacks can be countered with a custom combo. You can use custom combos to bust through anti air normals such as ducking fierces. The Valle Custom Combo This is the most powerful weapon in SFA2. It is named after its creator Alex Valle. When your opponent is a step or two away and standing start a custom with a ducking Roundhouse. The game does not allow your opponent to switch from high block to low block enabling you to successfully connect with custom combos every time this situation occurs. There are literally millions of different custom combos but some take off way more damage than others. An example is Ken's Ducking Roundhouse, Roundhouse Tatsumaki Sempuu Kyaku, Fierce Shoryuken custom combo. For some strange reason it just takes off a hell of a lot of damage. I'll list the custom combos that I have found to be the most damaging for certain situations. Ground Custom Combos Level 1 Ducking Roundhouse, Roundhouse Shunpuu Kyaku, Fierce Sho-Oh-Ken On the ground I have found that there is no level 2 or level 3 custom combo that takes off a much more than 2 or 3 of this ground custom combo. For this reason it is no very smart to risk all of your super bar on a level 3 custom combo that can not take off as much as the low risk of three level 1 custom combos. Unless your opponent is wide open for an attack stick to the level 1 custom combos. Anti-Air Combos Level 1 Ducking Fierce, Roundhouse Shunpuu Kyaku, Fierce Sho-Oh-Ken Since the ducking Fierce has such high priority this is a very low risk custom combo. Overhead Combos Level 2 Flower Kick, Ducking Roundhouse, Roundhouse Shunpuu Kyaku, Fierce Sho-Oh-Ken This is used against turtles who basically stay in defensive crouch for most of the game. Even if they Block the Flower Kick sometimes you can still hit them with the ducking Roundhouse if they can't change block positions fast enough. **********TAUNT CUSTOM COMBOS********** Using taunts in custom combos are the ultimate show-boating techniques. Since Sakura can hit with her taunt, and many times I might add, they can be placed almost anywhere inside a custom combo. My personal favorite is to drain my opponent until he is almost dead. Then turtle up and wait for him to stick out an attack. Then start up a custom combo counter with a Jab Sho-Oh-Ken and do her taunt. The taunt kills and hits 2 or 3 times! It is the best way to finish off an opponent. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14. GENERAL STRATEGY ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- When Your Super Bar Is Not Charged Up Try to stay right next to your opponent as much as possible throwing out ducking Shorts, Jabs and Forwards. If they block a Jab or Short walk up and throw them always with the Sakura Strangle. This will set you up for a cross-up attempt. If they don't block a Jab or Short 2 in 1 into a fierce Sho-Oh-Ken. Cross-up whenever possible. After every knockdown go for a cross-up. Don't try to let up after you get a lead. Sakura does not have a lot of defensive weapons when her super bar is not charged up. Just keep using the Sakura Stangle and cross-up attacks whenever possible. Kill every missed attack with a Fierce, Fierce Sho-Oh-Ken combo for big damage. When Your Super Bar Is Charged Up Every time you see your super bar reach level 1 try and attempt to do a level 1 custom. Since you can not control what level custom combo you do when you have more than 1 level you should use it right away. Try and use a Valle custom combo if you are farther away. If you can cross-up do that with a Forward the do a ducking strong into a Forward Shunpuu Kyaku. If they block it start up a custom right after for free damage almost every time. Don't waster your super bar on Alpha Counters. Sakura is not a defensive character and a whole level of your super bar goes for a very small amount of damage. Against Turtles Sakura eats up turtles because them being on the defensive allows you to be offensive. Just keep trying to throw or cross-up whenever you can. If they go with the ducking Fierce all day routine. Charge up and use a jumping custom combo to blow through their attack. Against Agressive Characters Sakura walks very fast and has very high priority on her ducking kicks. Just be patient and counter away with your ducking Forward. When you get your bar filled up block their combo attempt and do a custom combo. When you knock them down you can pour on the pressure with ticks and cross-ups. If they keep attacking you keep sticking out ducking Forwards until they back off. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15. WIN QUOTES ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Do you have time for another beating before my next class? 2. Victory is mine. Get up loser, so I can smack you again? 3. Wow, that was cool, do it again! 4. Now you know, justice always prevails! I like the last one. It's kind of comical. Like something a superhero would say after they defeat a bad guy. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. CREDITS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks to the unlimited sources from the next where I got various info such as colors and win quotes and stuff like that. I don't know who you are but thanks. Thanks to Ken who got me started with SF2 when SF2:WW came out. Thanks to Nick and Tai who have been my opponents for countless hours for me to try out new stuff and get good with Sakura. Thanks to Ultima (ultima1@ concentric.net) for the Haru Ichiban trick.