The Definitive King Of Fighters Combo Guide v1.1 Last Updated on 11.10.01 by -=NeoGML=- ========== Legal Crap ========== Unpublished Work Copyright 2001 Matthew Lim. This FAQ is intended for use on http://www.gamefaqs.com, and Fan Scene. If you wish to host this FAQ on your own site, please contact me first for authorization. If you must excerpt from this FAQ, you must do the same. blah blah blah... ========= Contents: ========= I. Revision History II. Introduction III. Terms & Abbreviations IV. Combo System V. Striker Combos VI. Help (READ EVERYTHING ELSE BEFORE GOING HERE!) VII. Credits/Contact =================== I. Revision History =================== 11.10.01, v1.1 - Made the FAQ Fan-Scene friendly, fixed a few retarded mistakes... 11.03.01, v1.0 - EVERYTHING! ================ II. Introduction ================ Combos in KOF are among the most complicated and potent in any fighting game. The KOF combo system is also very, very flexible, most notably in KOF 98 and on. the main thing that sets KOF apart from most 2D fighters is the fact that you can cancel into and out of command attacks. This guide will help beginner and intermediate comboers (and MAYBE beginner players) hone their combo technique. This combo does not contain combos for characters, but it provides a precise explanation of how to create your own combos and how the KOF combo system works. ***Note: This FAQ is for the original Neo*Geo versions of the KOF games. if you have a port to another console, look in the "Terms & Abbreviations" section to see which A thru D button corresponds to what punch or kick on your [...] system's joystick/controller.  ========================== III. Terms & Abbreviations ========================== *** Heads-Up For This Section: Many different terms and abbreviations are used when describing moves or types of hits in order to save time and to communicate easier when explaining combos or moves. This section will clear up the most commonly used. -=Terms=- Combo:  A combination of attacks strung together such that the opponent cannot attack until the combo is done. Chain: See "Combo". Standard Attack: Any attack that is executed by simply pressing weak punch (A), weak kick (B), strong punch (C) or strong kick (D). Special Attack:  Any non-super attack that involves performing a multi-directional motion with the joystick and a button press. Desperation Attack: An attack similar to a special attack, but the motion for the attack is usually more complicated or requires more motions. These attacks are of the most damaging attacks in a character's arsenal, and require ONE power stock in KOF 97-XX, or a full power charge in KOF 96 and before. Super Desperation Attack:  An attack much similar to the Desperation attack which is much stronger and usually more elaborate. These require 3 power stocks in KOF 99-XX (also requires the pressing of BOTH kicks or punches), two power stocks in 97-98 (one for the A+B+C power explosion, one for the super), or a flashing red life meter and and a full power charge in KOF 96 and before. These are the strongest attacks in the game. By the way, I think that "Super Desperation Attack" sounds lame too. Blame not me, blame SNK. Cancel/String/Chain/etc:  When one move is executed and another move is directly chained onto the end of it. This "cancels" all of the recovery animation of the canceled move, hence the name "cancel". This can be done by canceling (most oftenly) a standard attack into a command, special, or super attack. More on this  Connect:  successfully landing a hit, for example, when a hit *connects*. Links: A link is when one lands a hit and it isn't necessarily canceled into or canceled out of. These are usually done in the form of juggles. Juggles:  When an opponent is hit into the air (cannot attack), and successive hits are landed, in any way shape or form. These successive hits will combo. Command Attack:  A command attack is an attack which every character in KOF has except for Ralf. The command attacks are executed by pressing / + A/B. They are usually fairly strong, and they are STAPLE combo fillers; very, very useful. Counter Hit: A counter hit is when you land any kind of hit which interrupt's someone's special/desperation/super desperation move. Look in Section III. Combo System, KOF 94-XX, paragraph 5. Overhead:  An attack that is unblockable when being crouch-blocked. Knockdown: An attack that knocks down the opponent when landed. Buffer (MY definition of buffer, anyway): See Section III. Combo System, KOF94-XX, paragraph 3, and KOF99-XX ONLY, paragraph 2. Supercancel:  same thing as a cancel, only a move is canceled into a super. realistically an unnecessary term, only stated here to clear up confusion. Rapid-Fire hit:  Again, another unnecessary term. usually used to describe when a certain move can hit many times in succession. just clearing things up for you since I'm such a nice kid :) ================ IV. Combo System ================ ***Heads-Up For This Section: This section is the main guts of the FAQ. it tells about the combo systems of all the KOF games, but the pre 99 games are in a different section than the 99-XX section. The 94-XX section that applies to both games. uhm, yeah. -=KOF 94-XX=- The KOF combo system has a multitude of different quirks and features to it. I'll start off by telling you the basic combo formula:                    Special                      /                Command                  /          \      Standard - Desperation/Super Desperation                  \          /               Standard - Special                    \            /                  Command                         \                   Desperation/Super Desperation That's a VERY VERY basic chart. Standards can be repeated more than twice with many characters. Additionally, you cannot go up the "\" marks, and you cannot go down the "/" marks. Another thing to note, combos don't always have to be started with a standard (ex: juggles). Jumping hits can start combos, especially strong punches/kicks. standing hits many times cancel into crouching hits, and many characters have weak crouching kicks that will cancel into weak crouching punches, and vice versa. There are also some exceptions, like Seth in KOF2000, who can string two command attacks into each other. standard attacks also appear in many places in the middle of a combo, but again, this chart is very basic.  Another thing to take into consideration is the fact that not all command attacks and standard attacks are cancelable. Most far standing standards do not cancel, but some do. Many close standing hits do not cancel as well, you need to find out what does, and what doesn't for your character. many command attacks do not cancel either, due to too much range created between you and your opponent after the hit, or simple lack of speed. Also, command attacks lose their additional hit effects after they're canceled, such as overheads, and knockdowns. an example is the K' 2 hit chain, Strong Punch -> + A. normally, the + A command attack would knock the opponent down, but because it was canceled into, it loses its hit effects. One other relatively important function of the KOF combo system is the ability to buffer attacks. if a super motion like is hard to perform quick enough after a cancelable standard attack or something of similar speed, do the motion first, press the button of the standard attack you cancel out of, and then very quickly press the button that the motion corresponds with. note that if you need to do a super that involves a kick but you're canceling out of a kick this is not possible, because it would simply execute the kick when you press the button for the kick you're canceling out of. same goes for punches.  If a character has a multi-hit standard attack, such as K''s close standing C (KOF99-2K) or Kim's (all) close standing B, most of the time all hits can be canceled. Not always though. some attacks only have cancelability on one hit, such as Kim's close standing C (all), which cancels on the first hit only. Again, these are just things to watch out for. Strong standard attacks will almost never chain into another strong standard or a weak standard. The only way a strong standard would chain into another strong standard is if a jumping strong standard is performed, and then a standing or crouching strong standard is performed upon landing. Weak standards also will not usually cancel into strong standards, unless the weak standard is a jumping attack, and the strong standard is a standing attack performed upon landing. C+D moves are powerful moves that every character has. these can be executed in the air or on the ground, and always knockdown. Most (All?) characters have a C+D attack that is cancelable into a desperation/super desperation/special, but know that the aforementioned will not connect unless the C+D attack landed is a counter hit. -=KOF 99-XX ONLY=- The chart in the KOF 94-XX section is pretty much the same, only you can realistically call strikers anywhere in between in KOF2000, and you can *sometimes* call strikers in 99 in between. in 99, the strikers were mainly used to save someone from being hit, or adding a juggle hit. some strikers in KOF2000 can lift people up off the ground, and make them stand up if they're knocked down (Joe). strikers mainly juggle in 2000, and they're very very useful in making large combos. See the next section for more on this. An additional note on Buffering: Buffering a super from a standard whose type of attack (kick/punch) is the same attack that the super desperation calls for is possible, but only in KOF 2000 onward. if you are playing KOF 2000 or later, and you're canceling into a Super Desperation attack whose motion does not have a regular Desperation version, you can do this because the system won't register the first hit as the SD because the SD needs two kicks/punches. This is theoretically possible, and I'm sure a character has it, but it could get messy considering most SD attacks have half of a special move inside of them. and example of the *regular* Desperation cancel would be in KOF2000 with Kim: C, D (the desperation attack is D, and it cancels out of the C. Conveniently, Kim has no special moves that involve + C :P) Another large 99-XX feature is the ability to go into Counter mode. Counter mode is accessed by pressing A+B+C when you have 3 power stocks, and it allows you to cancel into a desperation (no super desperations) attack from a certain special move(s). This certain special move(s) is character specific, and not all special moves can be canceled. You can usually find out these moves through simple experimentation or in a character FAQ for the character that you happen to be using. ================= V. Striker Combos ================= ***Heads-Up For This Section: These really only apply to KOF99-XX. if you're playing any KOF before, you don't have to read this. Striker combos are most powerful and flexible in KOF2000, and you can marginally do them in KOF99. most striker combos involve a few hits, and a striker call, and then more hits. Strikers are separated into 5 main categories: Holds, Juggles, Knockdowns, Projectile, and Non-Attack.  A striker that holds is one who grabs your opponent and holds/hurts/holds+hurts them, giving you an opportunity to either get some distance between your opponent or create a nasty combo. Hold strikers, if they hold the person on the ground (ex. Benimaru), can usually be chained into large-hit desperation/super desperation attacks (Ryo's + A/C/A+C, Iori's + A/C/A+C, etc.). If they hold the person up in the air (ex. Maxima), it can prove a little bit more difficult. However, these types of hold strikers can be useful for single hit supers, like Shingo's + A/C, or K''s + A/C.  Juggle strikers juggle your opponent, and are mainly used to let anti-air specials connect to form a juggle combo, or let single hit Desperation/super desperation attacks hit to do the same. These can often be repeated, especially if the striker can hit grounded opponents (ex. Dong Hwan).  Knockdown strikers aren't terribly useful for combos. They pretty much knockdown the opponent without giving the opponent much height, so you can't easily juggle them. a good example of this is Fio.  Projectile strikers also aren't useful for combos, unless the projectile launches the person into the air. even then, your opponent usually won't stay airborne long enough to juggle. examples would be Ryo and Takuma. Non-Attack strikers obviously aren't useful for striker combos. They most often give you health or a power stock. An example of these would be Lily and Athena.  ======== VI. Help ======== ***Heads-Up For This Section: This section will give you answers to non-system related questions.  Q: The attacks I'm using aren't stringing together. Help! A: Make sure you're using the combo chart correctly. And also, you might need to slow down your button presses, and you also just need to get the timing down. You generally want to start doing the motion for another attack somewhere during the first one, and finish your motion for the second attack just as the first one finishes. Yeah, it's tough, but it takes time.  Q: This button layout for X system on a pad is ATROCIOUS! How do people play like this??? A: Well, I suggest you get a stick for your non neo-geo system, because the neo-geo controller is very nice, with an in-line 4 button layout. By the way, in my book it's absolute BLASPHEMY to use pads on fighting games, namely KOF. Q: How do you make combos??? I don't get it... A: Making combos is relatively simple. just look at the combo chart in section III, to make basic combos. More advanced combos are a little harder; you're going to need to incorporate juggles, supers, and/or strikers (KOF99-XX) to create long strings. Q: My question isn't answered in any of this FAQ and IT DOES RELATE to combos. A: Mail me: mattlim86@yahoo.com  I'm glad to answer questions. :) ==================== VII. Credits/Contact ==================== Written By Matthew Lim. e-mail: mattlim86@yahoo.com ICQ UIN: 115822930 AIM: NeoGML Special Thanks: SNK of Japan (May they rest in peace) S-Team White Tower.net (they're renovating their site, can't recall the URL at the moment) http://www.neo-geo.com http://www.Orochinagi.com  Fran Kao Megura for all of his great great FAQs, which helped me to write this one. Good Old Samuel, for playing KOF with me even when he didn't feel like it :) Thank You. ^_^