SNK VS. Capcom: Chaos/Character Ken Masters FAQ Started on: December 16, 2003 Latest Update: February 23, 2004 Version 1.0 By: GuardianE2000@juno.com This FAQ is copyright of GuardianE2000@juno.com. SNK vs. Capcom: Chaos and Ken Masters are copyrights of Capcom, SNK, and Playmore. This FAQ is for personal use only, and cannot be altered, printed or distributed for commercial reasons. Anyone who I find violating this will be punished to the full extent of the law. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. The Endless Debate: Who is the best Shoto? A. Strength B. Speed C. Vitality D. Combo-ability E. Fireball F. Hurricane Kick G. Dragon Punch H. Style I. Life J. In the end... II. Ken's Bio A. Ken's History B. Ken's Vital Statistics III. Move Descriptions A. Special Normal Attacks B. Special Moves C. Super Moves D. Exceed Moves IV. General Strategy V. Combos VI. Quotes VII. Misc. Information/Rants VIII. Credits -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mission Statement -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To make it abundantly clear why I like to use Ken and how to use him in general. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. The Endless Debate: Who is the best Shoto? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Because I'm very partial to Ken, I'm more than willing to debate anyone who believes that Akuma or even Ryu (blech) is a better shotokan fighter. What it comes down to is an efficiency rating and a move by move analysis of the three challengers. All worthy contenders, but I'll explain why Ken comes out on top. A. Strength Akuma wins this category hands down. The fighter with murderous intent completely dominates in a strength perspective. Ryu and Ken are equals in this part, each one's basic moves doing the same amount of damage against a common foe. B. Speed Again, Akuma comes out strong in this category. Ken is almost as fast, but not quite. Ryu had better get his slow ass in gear! In a test of moves, walking speed, dashes, combos and jumps, the evil shoto pulls through with Ken close behind. C. Vitality This is a test of endurance for a shoto's life bar. This is Ryu's category. He can take hits pretty well for his size. Ken is next. Akuma is awful in this category. He can deal the damage, but he obviously can't take it. D. Combo-ability Akuma and Ken are close contenders for winning this, but Akuma is victorious just barely. Ryu can combo, but they tend to be slower and smaller chains that aren't as effective as his keep away game. E. Fireball Akuma clearly dominates with a strong aerial fireball and fast ground fireball. Ryu's Hadouken is a close second, but only because he lacks the air projectile. Ken is last, with a slower fireball, but this is honestly hardly noticeable. In a fireball war, Ken seems to be able to easily cancel out Ryu's attack with no danger of ever being struck. He does have a slight bit more reaction time, however, but this is usually never a problem. F. Hurricane Kick Ryu's Tatsumaki Sempuu Kyaku just plain sucks. It strikes once, does mediocre damage, is slow as hell, and leaves him extremely vulnerable. Akuma's makes life easier with an unparalleled combo-ability, sending the opponent into the air and helpless before a Goushoryuken. Ken's is fast, with good priority and nice damage (especially chip), but does not knock down an enemy even on full contact. Each one is different for a specific playing style. Akuma's for a strong combo, Ken's for a breather and putting the heat on an opponent, and Ryu's for a one hit wonder. G. Dragon Punch Ken wins this category, no contest. First of all, Shoryukens and Goushoryukens should be used strictly as a light punch move, with an exception in combos. The light punch versions are stronger, faster, and leave the shotokan far less vulnerable. That being said, Ken wins this section, no contest. There are many misconceptions about what makes Ken's Shoryuken better than Akuma's or Ryu's. Many rumors are spread over the internet from people who have no idea what they're talking about. "Ryu has strength and priority, Ken has combo and reach, Akuma has strength and reach." All wrong. In the light punch versions, Akuma does more damage, while Ken and Ryu do the SAME damage. In the heavy punch versions, Ken does the most damage with Akuma next and Ryu last. In any case, Ken's general move counter has several things going for it. It's faster. The attack frames start up faster than Ryu's or Akuma's do. This means that in a Shoryuken wake up match fight, Ken's will interrupt the others. It's so fast that it can easily be abused. If the opponent blocks his uppercut and tries to counter, he's got another uppercut waiting for him. It's also got better priority. Ken's Shoryuken is invincible on startup, snuffing any other move out. It's also got greater range. Not only does Ken move horizontally more, his hit area is larger, meaning that his punch is more versatile. It's also got practically no reaction time. The move is extremely difficult to counter. Ken can pump them out one right after the other. H. Style Akuma is a very aggressive destroyer who annihilates foes with a flurry of powerful attacks. He practically never plays defensively and moves with the intention of constant bombardment. Ken is similar, but can afford to take a breather now and again. He will pound and punish enemies who turtle and can tear apart an opponent in a close range fight. Ryu is a defensive player who waits out his opponents into making mistakes and then punishes them brutally. I. Life I like Ken's style simply because he's passionate. His Shoryuken burns with inner fire. He's an aggressive fighter, preferring close range combat to projectile wars and can easily punish someone who tries. Self-confident, charming, and rich, he knows that he's good and he doesn't mind showing off a little. Akuma is an evil murderous legendary fighter who is shrouded in darkness. His quest is to find an opponent who can beat him, and he will crush anyone who cannot. Ryu is the "chosen one" type character who believes there is nothing but the fight. He is on a quest to become the world's strongest and that is all he lives for. J. In the end... Ken simply rocks. The Shoryuken is one of the deadliest moves and his owns all. His fireball is his only weakness, but the way Ken should be played there's hardly any need for Hadoukens. He should be up close and personal... in the face if your opponent. The guy, in addition to being the best shoto fighter in my opinion, also is someone that people can relate to. He's an awesome fighter, but he's got a life too. He has a gorgeous wife, Eliza, and a son, Mel. He's rich and smug, but in a playful and friendly way. He's far more dimensional than Ryu's flat character and Akuma's evil character. For me, Ken's style wins out. I've been playing with him for so long that playing with Ryu now feels very awkward. He's just so bulky and slow! Those that can't tell the difference obviously do not know how to play as Ken. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- II. Ken's Bio -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now that you've decided to give Ken a try, here's a little more info about him. A. Ken's History Street Fighter's storyline is ambiguous at best and there are so many plot holes that it is difficult to decide how to even begin. Amongst the television series, the animated movie, alpha movie, regular games, alpha games, crossover titles, there remains the skeleton of some barely extractable coherent story. For certain it is known that it all began in with the original Street Fighter, or Fighting Street. Ken was the clone of Ryu, formed for the specific purpose of testing a player's ability against oneself, since the only selectable player in the game was Ryu. Ken was in the finals with him and was beaten. Ryu progressed to beat Sagat. At this time it is established that Ken trained in the same dojo as Ryu, sent there by his family to learn value and discipline (he was a little reckless). Street Fighter II came about, allowing the player to select Ken, but he was the exact same character as Ryu. There was no difference whatsoever between the two. That changed with a modification of the title, Street Fighter II: The New Challengers. Along with the introduction of Cammy White and Dee Jay, Capcom made some slight differences between Ryu and Ken. Ken's Fierce Punch Shoryuken set opponents aflame and had more reach, while his Tatsumaki Sempuu Kyaku hit multiple times. Ryu's obtained the Shakunetsu Hadouken that could knock down enemies and burn them into nothing. In Street Fighter II, Ken was the reckless lazy American guy who went through the same Shotokan training as Ryu. By this time, he had met his girlfriend, Eliza, and allowed his training to whittle away as he spent his time with her. Once he heard that Ryu was competing in the next Street Fighter tournament, he took up his training again. It is never stated exactly how everyone did in the tournament. Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie shows the combined efforts of Ryu and Ken beating M. Bison (Vega). Ken's ending shows him finally tying the knot with Eliza. Street Fighter Alpha was where the differences between Ryu and Ken became abundantly obvious. This series took place as a prequel, before both Street Fighter I and II. Ken was the tough talking showy reckless guy with a sense of humor while Ryu was the sturdy and serious fighter with nothing to lose. Capcom made Ken faster and his combos flashier, and left Ryu the way he was. This series also introduced Akuma (and Shin Akuma) into the picture. Evil Ryu was created as well, a version of Ryu that embraced the Dark Hadou. This is where the story gets really confusing because supposedly Ryu overcomes the murderous intent of the Dark Hadou and moves on. The game of Street Fighter Alpha has a mode where both Ryu and Ken fight and beat Bison (Vega) together. So... did Bison get beaten by both of them during Alpha or during II? Or was he beaten by both of them in both games? Confused yet? This was by far the greatest incarnation of Ken, to the point where he was almost overpowered. He was as quick as Akuma and stronger than Ryu. His Shoryureppa was lightning fast, swept across the screen quickly, had great priority, and did insane damage. His Shoryuken did massive damage as well. His fireballs were as fast as Ryu's, but they weren't as strong and he lacked the red fireball. His only weakness was his vitality, which was still largely higher than that of Akuma. I always have the best time playing as Ken in Street Fighter Alpha 3. Street Fighter II V, an anime series in Japan, was supposed to take place before Alpha. This shows Chun Li as a love interest to Ken and also explains Ken's development of the Shinryuken (What they called HadouShoryuken). Again, this series ended with the combination of Ken and Ryu defeating Bison (Vega). You'd think that he'd learn by now that both of them together can beat him? This series possibly should be completely disregarded because it created so many problems with the storyline, although it's a shame since the series had a stronger development than in the game. X-men vs. Street Fighter, Marvel vs. Street Fighter, Marvel vs. Capcom, and Marvel vs. Capcom 2 were all crossovers that added more confusion to the Street Fighter storyline. In some cases the scenarios that unfolded were dreams of Ken or an actual game that Ken was playing with his son, Mel (revealed in an ending). Sooo... there leaves Street Fighter III, which I know very little about except for the fact that Bison is finally given a break and the Shotos are still the same people they've always been, Ken now a family man. That about wraps it up. The Capcom vs. SNK series completely screws everything up so I won't even go there. I do know that the Masters Corporation had supposedly contributed to the tournament funds, but that's the extent of my knowledge. Crossovers were more created for the fun of seeing different fighters duking it out and are best left out of the story (after all, there was a young Terry with a Rock Howard? Yeesh). B. Ken's Vital Statistics Name: Ken Masters Birthday: February 14, 1965 Game List: Street Fighter 2, Street Fighter 2: Championship Edition, Street Fighter 2 Turbo, Super Street Fighter 2, Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo, Street Fighter EX, Street Fighter EX 2, Street Fighter EX 3, Street Fighter Alpha 1, Street Fighter Alpha 2, Street Fighter Alpha 3, Street Fighter III: New Generation, Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact, Street Fighter III: Third Strike, Pocket Fighter, X-men VS Street Fighter, Marvel Super Heroes VS Street Fighter, Marvel VS Capcom 2, Capcom VS SNK, Capcom VS SNK 2, SNK VS Capcom Chaos, Super Puzzle Fighter II: Turbo, Street Fighter 2010, Fighting Street Family: Eliza and Mel Place of Birth: USA Birthdate: 2-14-1965 Height: 5' 10" Bust: 44" Waist: 32" Hips: 33" Blood Type: B Fighting Style: Shotokan Karate Sensei: Gouken (Killed by his brother, Akuma) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- III. Move Descriptions -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A. Special Normal Attacks Kurubushi Kick (Down + Back + Strong Kick)- Ken's longer range crouching light kick. Comes out fast and hits harder than its brethren, doing more damage and also pushing Ken further away upon striking. It has great range and can easily comboed into. A solid kick that allows for continuing combos and follow up attacks. Inazuma Kakato Wari (Forward + Weak Kick)- This is Ken's axe kick, designed as an overhead move. This will strike over an opponent's crouching block. Slow startup, but does good damage (about as much as a Hard Punch or Kick). Its a good mix up move that can take some more inexperienced players by surprise. Limited usefulness, but essential to have. The fact of the matter is, Ken has better kick variants down the line because all can potentially turn into this move. Just hold down the kick button when performing the Kama Barai Geri, Nata Otoshi Geri, and Oosoto Mawashi Geri and it will turn into this overhead after the first hit. Kama Barai Geri (Half Circle Forward + Weak Kick)- A standard in to out kick. Can be used to mix things up in your kick seletion, but it isn't very effective except when comboed into from a Standing Stong Punch. Otherwise it is pretty worthless unless transformed into the Inazuma Kakato Wari. Nata Otoshi Geri (Half Circle Forward + Strong Kick)- A standard high roundhouse kick. Not a lot more to say about it other than that. Some use in obscure comboes. Hits twice for double the goodness. Oosoto Mawashi Geri (Half Circle Forward + Both Kicks)- Similar to that of the Inazuma Kakato Wari, this move is an overhead attack, but it also hits twice and spins first. B. Special Moves Hadouken (Quarter Circle Forward + Punch)- Standard fireball with medium startup and speed. The strength of the button pressed determines the speed of the wave punch. This is a staple for most characters and is nice to have as a backup, but Ken should by no means whatsoever rely on this move. It can be used to force the opponent to make a move or block, but otherwise it should be rarely seen from Ken. Shoryuken (Forward, Down, Down Forward + Punch)- Yay! This is Ken's move! The badassness of all badassity, this move owns. Well, it used to anyway. Still high priority and ranged, the punch has been toned down from its otherwise unbeatable state. The Weak Punch version of this move should be abused since it does good damage, has insane priority, and an invincibility frame. It moves coves more ground (more than Ryu anyway) and is extremely quick, difficult to counter. Great to surprise a waking opponent. If they do anything other than block, they're done. The Strong Punch version sets the opponent aflame. Always a fan favorite, this move does the most damage out of any General Move Counter. It should only be reserved for moments that you're willing to show off or that you're certain that it will connect. If it doesn't, then be prepared for a brutal counter. The best way is to hit airborne opponents jumping in. Oftentimes they are surprised by the range of the uppercut. It flies halfway across the screen. Tatsumaki Sempuu Kyaku (Quarter Circle Back + Kick)- The Hurricane Kick has always been a staple of the Shoto, but its strength lies more in maneuverability than in offensive tactics. The move can be comboed into quite easily and it has the property to fly over fireballs (very good counter in fact because the move's range is a slight bit less than a full screen). Damage is okay, but not anything special. The air Hurricane Kick, however, is very very helpful in both escaping and approaching. When used in the air, Ken is much safer than otherwise. First of all, he is performing a striking move, any attack against him has the possiblity of being snuffed. Secondly, he can travel much further in a shorter amount of time. Thirdly, he moves much faster in the air (so much so that some counters miss, leaving the opponent very vulnerable. The range and speed has been toned down by SNK, but it still remains a good tactic to use in the air. C. Super Moves Shippu Jinrai Kyaku (Quarter Circle Back, Quarter Circle Back + Kick)- Ah, the move is no longer a Level 3 MAX Combo. Ken performs four grounded kicks while moving forward and ends with a rising Hurricane Kick. This is probably Ken's best super in SNK Vs. Capcom, just because of its versatility. It deals good damage (half a life bar) and is fast. High priority and invincibility frames are what we like and this move has both. It can easily be used to take out poking games. The move actually does stretch almost across the entire screen since the last kick has such good range. It can strike opponent's stuck in recovery animation. This move will only do the full damage to a grounded opponent, so make certain that it's timed right. Also, it has a tendency to leave Ken extremely vulnerable at the end of it... this is pretty much its only weakness. Be careful. Shoryureppa (Quarter Circle Forward, Quarter Circle Forward + Punch)- Ken's standard super, the Rising Dragon Wave consists of three Shoryuken's in a row, each flying higher than the previous, and the last set aflame. It does slightly (and I mean very very very slight) more damage than the Shippu Jinrai Kyaku, but lacks in range. In fact, it only lasts until a little past a half screen's distance. There are still invincibility frames and high priority. This move also leaves Ken wide open if blocked, so be cautious with it. Make certain he hits something. D. Exceed Moves Shinryuken (Quarter Circle Forward, Quarter Circle Forward + Both Kicks)- This is Ken's famous Super turned MAX. Ken performs a spinning flaming high flying Dragon Punch that annhiliates the opposition. Devastating damage (full health bar) with high priority and a small window of invincibility. The vacuum of the move has been toned down, so it's much easier to miss with this move. Overall, it's probably better to stick with Supers unless you're absolutely, positively certain that this thing will hit. Otherwise, it'll be a huge wasted opportunity. The move does look damn cool, though. Mashing the buttons will gather more hits and help Ken do more damage. Ken players are known for mashing like mad while performing a Shinryuken. Get as many hits in as you can! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV. General Strategy -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SNK toned Ken down a bit in this game. His Shoryuken seems a little bit more sluggish on the way down, easier to punish. His Shoryureppa has lost pretty much all usefulness. They got rid of his roll (Zenpou Tenshin) and Ryusenkyaku! Ack! His Rib Smasher (Forward + Strong Kick) is gone. Still, even with these changes, Ken is a major contender in the tournament and can battle with the best of them. As a principle, Ken players should not use the Hadouken liberally. Not only is it lame and uninteresting, it does not take advantage of Ken's versatility as a fighter. Since it is his weakest move, it is also the easiest to exploit. His best game is mid to close range (leaning more towards close range). This is where he can do the most damage. Basically, Ken should always be played aggressively. His "in-your-face" fighting style is one that ensures the opponent never has time to breathe. When he's not nailing hits and combos, he's chipping away and corner trapping. Abuse his Weak Punch Shoryuken. Only use the Hadoken to give yourself some breathing room or chip a waking up opponent. The Tatsumaki Sempuu Kyaku should be used while jumping for greater mobility and faster movement. You can cross up with the jumping Strong Kick. Ken's versatile arsenal of kicks allows him to mix up opponents and confuse counters. ALL of Ken's supers are extremely punishable if whiffed or blocked. They leave him wide open and airborne. Bad news. SNK compensated by making his supers also incredibly easy to combo into and connect with. Every one of them has invincibility frames and high priority. Use this to your advantage. Shoryureppa now sucks. To make up for this, SNK made the Shippu Jinrai Kyaku a regular super combo. This hard hitting move should be the super of choice and used to punish foot games and blocked/missed specials. It is also incredibly easy to combo into it from any jumping attack. The Shinryuken is now the Exceed move. Great to use as a wake up or dash in move and it does great damage. It has been toned down somewhat in that it's "vacuum" effect" is not as strong and whiffing the move is all the more dangerous. Some interesting things to note include that Ken's Crouching or Standing Heavy Punch can be canceled into any Special or Super Move (including the kick variants). On the flip side, the Shoryuken can be comboed from the respective strength punch (aerial and grounded). This helps string relatively simple, yet devastating combinations. The Kurubushi Kick has an interesting property in that it can be cancelled into the Shoryuken or Tatsumaki Sempuu Kyaku. This means that by implementing simple knowledge, easy but hard hitting comboes can be easily created on the spot. Taking all of the variables above, one could jump in with a Strong Punch, combo into a Standing Strong Punch, cancel into a Kurubushi Kick, and cancel into a Tatsumaki Sempuu Kyaku. A decent little combo that can work wonders. In Max mode, Ken's Geri kicks can all be cancelled into a Hurricane kick. The Shoryuken can be cancelled into a Shoryureppa. This makes comboing incredibly easy in Max mode. For example, Ken can perform a Jumping Strong Punch into a Standing Strong Punch, Cancel into a Strong Shoryuken, and cancel into a Shoryureppa. Every little bit counts and this combo does some tasty damage. Strike hard and strike fast! This is Ken's specialty. Pummel the opponent into a corner and trap them. Don't give them time to breathe. Their health bar will be gone by the time you know it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- V. Combos -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Coming soon! (work in progress) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VI. Quotes -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Coming soon! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VII. Miscellaneous Information/Rants -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Ken has blonde hair and black eyebrows. Its always been this way and I have no idea what it means. There are some accounts that say that Ken is half Japanese, his mother's side being so, but that still does not make any sort of sense as to why Ken would have black eyebrows. *shrug* 2. Ken finally has a Dark version of himself! How long I've waited for this moment! Ironically enough, it was SNK that did it and not Capcom. I REFUSE to call him Violent Ken, although that's his real name. I don't even like "Evil Ken." My preferred name for him is Dark Ken and I can't wait to learn to use him. Whether he embraced the Dark Hadou, was somehow infused with Psycho power, or obtained Orochi blood, is never really explained. 3. In Capcom vs. SNK 2 animations before the fight, Ken speaks Japanese to Terry and English to Ryu. Little weird. Shouldn't it be the other way around? (Yeah, I know Terry speaks Japanese and Ryu speaks English, but still) 4. Morrigan isn't in SNK vs. Capcom. This is a travesty. She's always been one of my favorites and if Capcom's not going to make a new sprite for her, then I was hoping SNK would. 5. When Demitri uses Midnight Bliss to turn Ken into a woman, he becomes a blonde chick in a wedding dress? Either that or a white formal gown. Maybe he's supposed to turn into an Eliza look-alike. 6. Ken's name actually means an upper body strike (hence hadouKEN and shoryuKEN) in Japanese. Ryu's means Dragon (why Sho RYU KEN means Rising Dragon Punch). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VIII. Credits -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks to SNK, Capcom, and Gamefaqs! Thanks to you for reading this! Thanks to Vincent/Willard! MarimbaMadMike, Flashfire3296, Andwoo.