Katekyo Hitman Reborn! Battle Arena 2 is a 2009 fighting game released for the PSP. It was never successful. It was never popular. Not only because it’s an adaptation of a manga that was only ever popular in Japan, but also because it was released for a Handheld as a Japan-exclusive title. It’s also known by a very small group of people for its emulation mysteries; a game that couldn’t be played on PPSSPP for the longest time (years, in fact). Playing this obscure game adaptation of a lost-in-time anime was a lifelong dream to me, and the frustrating part is that it was always there… it was just inaccessible. Things changed in the last three years when the PPSSPP team alongside SPKelevra made an effort to fix this game’s bizarre emulation quirks, and their ultimate success was never received with either applause or booing — no one fucking cares about this game. I doubt there were that many people who even knew the game was unplayable on emulators, but yunno, at least someone knew. Someone cried. Someone spent their nights reading PPSSPP Forums in search of answers. Someone played RBA2 every day in the last couple of months, someone made a Discord server for the game, and someone wrote a super article about it… but was it me? Maybe.
So what the fuck was that introduction? I’m not sure myself, it was kinda hard to start this article ‘cause nobody knows this game… however, let’s restart. The otaku part of the FGC always dreams about a good fighting game for their favorite manga. With “good” I don’t mean Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 good, something like JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure – Heritage for the Future is enough. Something fun with enough depth, creative mechanics and competitive potential. Something like FighterZ, the most recent example, or the classic Hokuto no Ken in all of its kusoge madness, bringing infinite fun for HnK and FG fans alike. One Piece fans are still looking for a game like that, but Reborn fans (about nine people) actually have one since 2009… in theory.
The game is perfectly playable on its original console (duh), but just having a PSP nowadays is rare, let alone a game like this that was never released in the West and has no popularity to speak of. That’s why emulation exists, right? Well, that’s what I thought. But for some reason, Battle Arena 2 had a very peculiar emulator-only problem that took over a decade to be solved. Maybe you wouldn’t see it if you spent just a few minutes playing the game, but it’s not something hidden by any means:
Player 1 starts on the left side of the screen, right? Like any other fighting game. No matter what you do on that side, it works fine. But, let’s say you jump over your opponent and get to the other side. Normally, things just keep working. In fighting games, your inputs are relative to the direction your character’s facing, and not yours. A quarter circle forward is described with “forward” and not “right”, because if you’re on the other side of the screen, “forward” would mean “left”. So, are the inputs the problem? No. You see, EVERYTHING that happens on that side of the screen is reversed. Visual effects appear flipped, as if you’re still on the left side. Inputs also do that of course, but the worst are the damage effects, such as pushback. That is, hitting your opponent normally pushes them away, however, on the right side of the screen it pulls them into you. This way you can do infinite combos by simply pressing square! That’s the pure definition of “unplayable”, and for the longest time, no one had any idea as to what was causing this anomaly. And, uhh… I’m dumb so even though I’ve been researching the game, I still don’t get what causes the issua. Well, at least it’s working now.
The problem is that the damage was already kinda done. I believe there were people interested in the game throughout the past decade who tried emulating it, only to be hit with this glitch. If they didn’t give up for the lack of a translation, they did when they noticed this absurd issue. And, you know, I did the same. It’s one of the games I’ve dreamed of experiencing fully since I was little, and now that I finally can, I couldn’t be happier.
So, about the article. This document isn’t my usual review. As I said before, this game isn’t popular, and if it wasn’t for SPKelevra’s one and only mechanics tutorial on the internet, I wouldn’t know how to play the game. This guy’s work is absurd, he even went through the hassle of listing every move’s frame data in detail and explaining how every character works. His dedication is inspiring, and just like me, he loves Battle Arena 2. He’s not even a fan of the anime, he just loves the game, and I share that sentiment.
That’s why I decided this article wasn’t going to (just) be a review, but also a guide, and a source of information for anyone interested in the game. There’s barely any material related to RBA2 on the internet, and if someone were to make any, they’d have to really love the game. And I do, so why not? Alongside this document, I’ll present you with information, useful resources, and a bit of my opinion (which is mostly positive so whatever). This article, even though it’s gigantic, will be available in Portuguese as well, it’s my native language after all. Some important links will be at the end of the article, such as a Discord server I’ve made. Thank you for your attention.
Summary:
Introduction
Target I – Music
Target II – Mechanics
– Basics (Inputs, Buttons, Gauges, Blocking…)
– Slowdown
– Colpo Drive
– Counter Hit
– Groggy
– S-Reflection
Target III – Characters
– Notation Disclaimer
– Character Guide
– Glossary
Target IV – Game Modes
– Story Mode, Arcade, Versus
– Shop, Spirit Cards
– G Code
Target V – Resources
Target I – Music
Before getting into mechanics I want to talk about this game’s soundtrack, which isn’t just great but unique enough to actually bring people into RBA2. For some reason, even though some tracks are available on YouTube, not all of them are. So, I decided to create my own channel to upload the full soundtrack, and I’ll link those videos here.
RBA2’s impeccable soundtrack exists because of, mainly, two composers: Motohiro Kawashima and Takeshi Yanagawa. Both are responsible for Shenmue I and II’s music, but Motohiro also made miracles by working in every single Streets of Rage game. Yanagawa made arrangements for franchises like Etrian Odyssey, and even though both of these guys may not have too many works on their curriculum, they’re still giants in their fields.
Reborn Battle Arena 2’s music does not follow a fixed musical genre, always looking out to present each character’s full potential and personality in their themes. This makes every track drastically different, not only characterizing each character but also the game as a whole. I normally never spend too much time talking about music, but this time I’ll try speaking about some of my favorites.
Strato-O Air is the second version of a wonderful theme for Tsuna, the protagonist. The original Strato-O brought a funky mix of Jazz with RnB while still keeping the atmospherical bit. Strato-O Air however, plays along with the original melody in an arrangement that’s both serene and ambient. This is a perfect representation of the character in this point of the story, and the Hyper Dying Will Mode he uses to fight. A serene mind is what makes Tsuna so strong, bringing forth his strongest personal attributes. A person who was always considered trash by everyone is now confident in his strength, can dominate any battlefield with intelligence, composure, and comprehension. The song reminds me of some Phantasy Star Online songs. It’s a game I fucking adore, and the similarities remind you how the main composers’ greatest works were done for SEGA games and, mainly, on the Dreamcast. Not many tracks in the RBA bring this 90s aesthetic like Strato-O Air, making it the most impressive song in the game just by simply existing.
Noble Evil is Byakuran, the main villain’s, theme. It’s a song heavily inspired by a diverse range of European cultures, especially Spain and Italy. Byakuran is a cold and intelligent man that does not look trustworthy at all, but is always similing gently. His main traits are the prominence of the color white and his motherly expression. Byakuran is a devilish angel, a wolf in sheep’s clothing, bringing fear to your heart with his “good” deeds. Although Battle Arena 2 has no clear representation of this, Byakuran’s final form has angel wings to further prove his character traits, and it’s easy to notice how Noble Evil expresses every aspect of the villain.
Foxtrot’s the main theme of Gamma, one of the most interesting characters of the future arc. At first sight he’s just a stylish, classy and handsome guy. As a villain, there’s a slight sense of a cold persona that’s quickly interrupted by his true intentions. Byakuran’s subordinates aren’t very loyal, you know? That’s why Foxtrot brings a neutral representation to the table, with the iconic Vongola Famiglia azz and the electro synth Millefiore’s members are known for. Both fit perfectly.
Bullet Spiral represents Lal Mirch, possibily the character with the coolest design revealed in the future arc that, unfortunately, does not feature the fuckass cape she’s known for. Lal Mirch is a soldier who hides her emotions in order to guide her peers into the right way. Bullet Spiral transmits this seriousness and dedication, alongside a certain sadness. It’s also one of the songs most inspired by Reborn’s anime, so I always think of Mafia when I listen to it.
From Hell is Rokudo Mukuro’s theme, one of the most popular characters of the manga. As the Mist Guardian, he’s unreadable. The first actual serious arc in the story, Kokuyo, has this man as the main antagonist. Mukuro is practically a real life demon, strong enough to be sealed like a god of darkness by the world. He’s also an illusionist, and although he’s part of the “good guy” team, his intentions are never clear. He’s clearly not a good person, being a cruel, manipulative and demonic assassin. From Hell encapsulates everything about the character and a little more, frightening your soul while also making you root for him. He’s not a hero, but if he needs to, he can be Vongola’s trump card to achieve victory. His theme song captures both his cruel villain side as well as his Vongola’s Mist Guardian title.
Shining Knuckle represents Sasagawa Ryohei, the Sun guardian who shines like a lighthouse for the family. His motto is “EXTREME!!!” living every second of his life on the limit, and that’s the idea behind his song. Ryohei’s biggest weapon is his mentality and emotions, beating his own knuckle’s strength and sending the message of his lifestyle. However, Shining Knuckle is easily beaten by another song…
Ultimate Knuckle is the theme song of Sasagawa Ryohei, ten years later. This song represents Ryohei’s main quote: “Sasagawa Ryohei… arrives!”; a simple sentence, as usual. Sasagawa Ryohei is here, so we have nothing to fear. Ultimate Knuckle is the anthem of a hero, a symbol of courage and determination. Ultimate Knuckle expresses the flag of Vongola’s strength, with the spark of hope that only the Sun Guardian can create. Ryohei brightens the path so the others can safely walk, with his fists and his own flame of determination burning in his heart. He’s the man living each day by his Dying Will.
Gokudera brings the storm with Storm Bringer. As the boss’ right hand man and the Storm Guardian, Hayato is a machine of mass destruction, the powerful and chaotic offensive of the family. Storm Bringer shows the explosive, yet tactical, side of Gokudera, one of the smartest guardians in the family who also arms himself with the hardest weapons to master. Hayato strives to be an asset for the Vongola Decimo (Tsuna) and to always be by his side, and he does that exploding everyone who opposes the boss of the family.
Punisher is the theme of Hibari Kyoya, and both the name and composition express Hibari’s spot in the story. Although he’s the Cloud Guardian, Hibari was never biased towards his loyalty. Anything that moves away from his ideals is eliminated, be it friend or foe. Hibari is a vigilante and his theme song not only expresses that, but the absolute humiliation he brings upon his foes in combat (he’s a rushdown character). Hibari always steals the show. Punisher is the track of a lone hero, not in a sad way, but in an… extremely destructive way.
Last but not least, Edge of Soul, Yamamoto Takeshi’s theme. Yamamoto is like the calm summer rain, not just in personality but in fighting style. A drizzle starts sprinkling innocently and softly, but if necessary, it turns into a rainstorm. The song has almost no instrumental presence, only having nature sounds for the most part. The wind blowing on the trees, the singing birds… like the soul of the Rain Swordsman. There are many other songs I’d like to talk about, but I decided to end it on this one, the most unique of them. It’s just… ambiance. Nature.
Some honorable mentions go to Monochrome, Fighting Bull, XX Fire, and Trick or Treat. I’d love to comment about those but this section is very long already and I’m no musician. These are also somewhat “common”. I mean, Monochrome is the most popular song in the game just by being a very funky jazz tune that anyone would love listening to.
Target II – Mechanics
OK, I think that’s why all of you are here. Before we begin, I have to again give a huge shoutout to SPKelevra and his guide, video, and document alike. Most of the information comes from him, although I’ve added some of my own input. By myself I would have never discovered what the fuck a Colpo Drive is, let alone how to use S-Reflections. So, without further ado, this is Reborn Battle Arena 2.
Vongola 101
First, we have to talk about the basics. That is, traditional fighting game stuff. The game’s buttons are very simple, sometimes a little too much. This is a three-button fighting game, with A, B, and C buttons. And then, a separate button for Throws and one for Supers. Just the fact that these two aren’t command inputs might be scary, and to be honest, I also felt that way. The thing is, Reborn is trying to be a relatively accessible fighting game in terms of controls, without actually taking any depth away from the genre. It’s important to realize some things that make this game easier for newcomers:
In addition to the “macros” for Throws and Supers, this game has an Auto-Guard. The name looks worse than it is — Auto-Guard basically means that whenever your character is completely idle, he’s automatically blocking. To block low you have to crouch, otherwise blocking is automatic. That doesn’t mean anything, in fact, it just means that you don’t have to walk back to block high. Normally, when you’re not doing anything in a fighting game, you’ll ALWAYS want to be blocking. For newcomers, it just makes more sense not to press anything instead of pressing back, although I don’t see the big deal. One big change though is that you can’t use cross-ups for block pressure, just lows, overheads, and throws, while focusing on Guard Breaks and baiting.
RBA2 has directional inputs like most fighting games, but they’re simple and very similar to ArcSys’ most recent games. A quarter circle forward, backward, and pressing down twice. These three commands are present in every character’s movesets. Naturally, everyone has only three specials, although that does not limit their utility because normals and command normals are extremely unique to the point they might as well be special moves. There are also command throws that do not count as specials, and two Supers by character (except for Tsuna and his third Super).
Most characters use their Command Normals as specials because of how unique they can be. Gokudera is the best example of this. His 6C (Forward + Heavy) throws Dynamites into the air, and if you charge it beforehand, he’ll send them in a horizontal angle that’s just much better in terms of long-distance pressure. If his bombs don’t hit anything for a while, they turn into missiles and chase the oponent. This attack was literally a Special Move in the previous Battle Arena game, and it could be executed with a quarter-circle forward motion. The difference is that in BA1 there were three angles throwing the dynamites upwards, making this move almost exclusive for anti-airing purposes. Sometimes you could zone with it, as BA1’s movement wasn’t the best anyway. Now, Rocket Bomb is an interesting and well-thought-out move, with two variations as a Command Normal without the need for anything more than that.
That aside, the rest of the game is pretty normal. There are no “gatlings”, “Magic Series” or “Passing Links”, if you will. Every Light can chain into a Medium or Heavy (or a Throw, fuck it), but that’s it. Mediums do not cancel into Heavies, stopping the classic ABC combo. Instead, combos are done with Links, which means… hitting moves while the opponent is stunned. It sounds pointless to say this, but you’ll soon understand. So the game ends up pretty close to Street Fighter and not an anime fighter like Guilty Gear. Like most Street Fighter games, there are no aerial combos because aerials do not link into anything. In fact, there are no juggles too. That’s not something I’m a big fan of, but it makes so that the game is really ground-based. Somehow that does not limit the player in regards to combos and overall offense, but it makes anti-air punishes less powerful. I mean, if it’s a Multihit it’ll only hit once before the opponent is knocked out of the air.
RBA2 has three bars – HP, Guard and Hyper Strike. The three are very common in most fighting games. The Guard Gauge goes down when you block or S-Reflect, and once it reaches zero you’re open for a punish. It recovers pretty fast if you stop blocking for a while. Most of the games I know do not use Guard Break mechanics as well as Reborn, but I’ll leave that for when we talk about S-Reflection. Hyper Strike is your Super, and it works exactly as expected. It goes up when you land hits (and not when you take them which is cool) or use Special Moves. Lambo can recover his HS by himself with Thunder Sets, but he gets no bar by hitting his opponents and that’s fucked up. When your HS bar is full (blue), na orange bar starts to cover it very fast. Once it’s full, you gain access to your Burst Hyper Strike. The difference between the two is… they’re different moves! Normally Bursts are better but that’s not a rule. Damage tends to be pretty similar, so you just use what’s best for the situation. My main, 10XANXUS, has a relatively weak Hyper Strike, but his Burst has two hits and the first one is unblockable. Some characters have good base HSs with smaller hitboxes, making it harder to land. Hibari can easily cancel one of his normals in Super 1, but it’s also easy to miss the first hit that triggers the rest of the move. However, Super 2 starts with a jump and dash and will be completed regardless of hitting or not.
Let’s slow it down
Was I Colpo Driving too fast for you?
Reborn Battle Arena 2 does something very different when compared to other traditional fighting games. Different mechanics are linked to a very peculiar slow-motion system, one that makes time slow down not just for the impact, but to also make it easier to link frame-perfect combos and turn them into… less frame-perfect. Slowdown is done with Colpo Drives, Counter Hits, Groggy States and in theory with S-Reflects too but that’s not really how it works. So, what are all these names?
For starters, Colpo Drive is a sweetspot. That means somewhere in the moves’ hitbox there’s a small section that inflicts more damage and stun, normally at the tip. Hitting that activates Colpo Drive to power up the damage, but most importantly, adds additional Stun and slowdown, opening new and advanced combo routes. Normally you’d think hitting your opponent from as close as possible is ideal to make bigger combos, but that’s simply not true. Colpos are done with spacing and give you new possibilities, although it IS true it might invalidate some combos. A good example is Hibari’s rekka move, which has all of its hits guaranteed when hitting from up close dealing enough stun to link a Dragon Punch after it, something that would not be possible while spaced. It’s worth mentioning you can Colpo on the block, and although it has no slowdown it deals more blockstun and Guard damage, which is great during block pressure.
A Counter Hit consists of hitting an opponent while they’re doing something, as usual. CHs activate the same slowdown mechanic and additional damage/stun as a Colpo. But what happens if you hit a Counter Hit at the optimal range for a Colpo Drive? They stack. Two stacks of damage and stun, chained together. I think you can imagine how powerful that is.
Groggy is a state that happens when you take too much damage consecutively. It’s akin to Street Fighter’s Dizzy mechanic. During Groggy you can still move, attack, and block as normal. However, every hit you take has the effect of a Colpo – that is, 1.5x the damage and more stun, with some Slowdown. Just like CH + Co, you can add Groggy to the mix when your opponent is inflicted with it, as they all stack together. The thing is, you combine the three knockdowns with your opponent immediately, interrupting your combo potential. Ideally, you do not want to have all three at once, but use two of the three interchangeably. You don’t need to space a move to get Colpo if you can get a Counter Hit instead while your opponent is Groggy. It also works in reverse – spacing your moves so you don’t have to wait for your opponent to act in order to counter. While your opponent is not groggy, you can focus on punishing with pokes to get both CH and Co. This variety and additional freedom is extremely unique in RBA2, and I’ve never seen a game that works like this. And, of course, Slowdown ties it all together to make frame 1 links easier to do, although not much. In fact, it may even bring you down by changing the timing of your combos, naturally asking you to delay them by a frame or two to get those lingering links. You get more time to press your buttons, the price is having to press them a little later than usual.
All these mechanics complement each other, but that’s pretty easy when they all share the same effects. However, S-Reflection is a 100% defensive mechanic and it invades the Holy Trinity making it even better. S-Reflection is somewhat hard to understand at first, but I’ll try to explain it without making things difficult.
All moves during their startup animation (before their hitbox activates to do damage) have Reflect Frames. If an opponent tries hitting you before your move comes out, he may hit your Reflect. When that happens, you take no damage, not even Chip, but you use more Guard Gauge than usual to block. S-Reflect does not interrupt the attacker’s move, or the defender’s, everything works as usual. The one hitting an S-Reflect armor can also do Special Cancels or Chains to keep the pressure. But does that mean it’s impossible to punish moves before they come out? Of course not.
This mechanic is pretty similar to Street Fighter’s Focus Attack, however, FAs are defeated with Multi-hits. S-Reflect is beaten by High-Low mixups. A good example is a Standing A from most characters, the punchy ones. These moves can reflect overheads and mids, like other 5As, but can be crushed by lows. That doesn’t mean they’re defeated by crouching moves, but moves that hit the character’s lower body. Most 2As (Croching A) that are just punches do not count, they’re Mids. Except for Tsuna, that punches lower than most characters, low enough to beat upper-body armor. However, Tsuna’s punch is not a true low and can be blocked standing. In a similar vein, crouching moves can only beat lows, and Throws can only beat mids, being crushed by both low and overhead moves (like aerial attacks). There’s a bunch of exceptions that are character and matchup dependent, and the S-Reflection frames are also different for every move. When you hit someone’s armor and get your ass reflected, time stops for a frame so you can link your next hit. This way, even after getting reflected, you might still be able to keep contesting that Hitbox with other moves, so that Reflects are not invincible. Therefore, if you do not manage to win the interaction you’re not just getting hit but also letting your opponent land a free Counter Hit, inflicting 1.5x damage and stun.
A cool thing about the game is that it doesn’t try to be like other fighting games. That is, Reborn recognizes its mechanics and the characters’ movesets are built with them in mind so they both feel like one. A lot of characters have moves with insanely long startup that, for instance, make the character duck before attacking. That lowers your hurtbox and has a perfect interaction with the S-Reflection System, and every time you evade a move you might as well get a Counter Hit after, leading you to stronger Punishes. A lot of moves look terrible at first sight, but if you try understanding them with these mechanics in mind you may realize their untouched potential. Some moves are created with baiting and punishing in mind, so that your opponent tries punishing you themselves (getting the bait) and get S-Reflected and then Countered instead. That’s how Hibari’s 4B works, although it may look like a slow move with little range, it’s perfect to punish grounded assaults.
There are more mechanics and oddities related to known fighting game stuff, but I don’t think my audience would care that much. But, if you do, I’m linking SPKelevra’s amazing doc that speaks in full detail about all of these cool stuff in ways I could never dream of achieveing.
Target III – Characters
If you’re new to Recanto or reading one of my articles, nice to meet you, my name’s Rosie. My autism gives me various hyperfixations and once in a while I use these articles to loredump about them. This is one such case. Now I’ll explain every character in the game in excruciating detail in my own way, but you’re not entitled to read it all. I just want to do it, and I hope someone’ll have fun with it.
For starters, we have to introduce some important concepts that make life easier, yours and mine. Normally for fighting games, we use specific ways of codifying some terms. Some use QCF, which stands for Quarter-Circle Forward. I don’t like it, it suggests everyone in the world knows English and that is… well, maybe kinda true, but anyway. This might look weird at first, but I like and recommend number notation for input commands.
In a numerical keyboard, whether it’s a calculator, cell phone, or even your PC, numbers are always displayed in a fixed order. This is true around the world, as far as I know. This is what I refer to:
7 8 9
4 5 6
1 2 3
Now, let’s say each of these numbers represent a direction on the stick. 5 is neutral, 6 means right (or forward), 4 is walking back. 7, 8 and 9 jump. 1, 2 and 3 are crouching. A 5A is a simple, basic, standing punch. 2A is a crouching punch. 236 would be a quarter circle forward, because it starts at 2 and travels all the way over to 6, which means forward. 623 is a Dragon Punch, but that doesn’t matter for us now as Reborn lacks those. 41236 or simply 426 is a “half circle”.
But… why don’t we just use the actual names? Well, it’s not practical. When you’re talking about frame data or a combo it’s very hard to understand it without simplifying. I’ll show you a Tsuna combo written in both ways so you can understand it:
Crouching Medium > Standing Light (Hitting a Colpo Drive) > Chains into a Backwards Standing Medium > Standing Light > Chains into a Backwards Standing Medium > Backwards Standing Heavy > Special Cancel into Down, Down Heavy
Or:
2B > 5A (Colpo) > Chain into 4B > 5A > 4B > 4C > Cancel into 22C
The first one took three whole lines in my Microsoft Word, but it doesn’t fill a single one in the second. You could even simplify further by saying “Co” instead of Colpo, switching Chainfor a “-“ and linking a Special Cancel with “xx”. That’s how SPKelevra note the very same combo. It’s not practical to say “Quarter-Circle Backwards”” when you can change it for three digits: 214. With time you end up getting very used to these combinations because they never change when going to a different game. It’s complicated to name some inputs like the Dragon Punch, aka Z Motion, aka Shoryuen, which stands for forward and a quarter-circle forward, or simply “623”. Or the famous Pretzel Motion from KOF that even though it’s fairly popular, “Pretzel” doesn’t explain shit – meanwhile, 15263 tells you all the directions in order: down back, half circle forward, down forward.
Now we’ll follow up with a guide for every character in the game, but at the end of this section, there’s a Glossary for any FG terms you’re not familiar with. This glossary also has its own page here, if you want to leave it open in another tab while reading the chapter.
Characters
Sawada Tsunayoshi (Tsuna)
Age: 14.
Height: 157cm, I’m actually taller than him.
Blood: A.
Gender: I know what you are.
Flame: Orange, Sky.
Occupation: Part-time Mafia Boss, full-time loser.
Weapon: X-Gloves and his own Flames.
Track: Strato-O Air.
Tsuna is the perfect character for any beginner, utilizing the main mechanics of the game to its peak with his kit. Instead of trying to copy Ryu, Terry, or Sol, Tsuna was designed to show you how the mechanics interact with each other. It’s a character that focuses on punishes, baits, and all that shit. Considering the nature of his normals and specials, you’ll quickly understand how Colpos can be used for your offensive, how strong a Counter Hit is (Tsuna’s punishes are fucking awesome), some simple uses for S-Reflection and also keeping your opponents Groggied frequently. Despite all that, the character can’t really do much from far away and if you’re too close most of his moves won’t be that effective. He doesn’t have a lot of good cancels, after all, he can only chain four of his normals. Tsuna’s advanced combos are great but hard to learn, considering his best moves finish combos prematurely (Vertical Edge).
Normals: Tsuna has good normals focused around punishing and applying midrange pressure. His 5A is notorious for linking into one of his best Command Normals, and that can start loops that eventually lead to strong combos. 5B, despite being a punch, is a relatively low move so it can break various high reflects, such as throws. 4B is practically a Special Move, as Tsuna backdashes and starts flying in place. You can hold him there for a bit, and once you let go Tsuna flies to his opponent. As I said before, this move can be linked from 5A, and that’s pretty cool. 4C is his best normal, that’s not only an amazing, extremely fast anti-air but it’s also Special Cancelable. It’s a frame 4 move, crushes mid Reflects and cancels, it can’t get better than that. His only aerial that’s worth mentioning is j.2B (j. stands for Jumping), it’s a divekick. A powerful movement option for the character, and it can also start great combos and set up throws.
(P.S.: Special Names are kinda made-up. Some characters say the name of each move out loud, but I can’t read a Japanese Command List, just translate it using intuition and knowledge of the source material.)
Flame Shoot: Done with 236, a punch directed to the ground, it also ignites a small flame. Through charging, you can release a bigger, anti-air flame. Each button changes Tsuna’s initial hop distance, and fully-charged Flame Shoot is a +4 on block.
Boost Charge: 214, dash punch. Doesn’t look particularly strong at first sight, but it can be used in the middle of combos to extend them if you hit Colpo or Groggy opponents. It can get crushed by any low so it’s not safe, it can also be reflected.
Vertical Edge: 22, a showstealer Flash Kick. An absurd punish game can come out of this single move, and it can also be used for finishing great combos. Its hitbox and startup are rather stupid, and it’s the ease VE has to fuck life bars that makes Tsuna such an accessible character. If you play Tsuna, abuse this move. If you play against Tsuna you have the right to slap player 2 for using this move.
Zero Chitten Toppa Kai: 214 Throw, single best command throw in the game. Alongside leaving opponents in Groggy, it also boosts your Hyper Strike gauge considerably.
Hyper Strike – Zero Chitten Toppa First Edition: Super 1, another Command Throw but this one can be ducked to dodge. It’s easy to combo onto and it’s a good Punish anyway.
Burst Hyper Strike – X-BURNER: Gigantic projectile that covers the whole screen in front and behind Tsuna. Easy to block or reflect, so you should probably use it on combos.
Burst Hyper Strike – X-BURNER Air: Tsuna is the only character with a third Super, and also the only one with an aerial Super. It works exactly as grounded, but it’s much safer. The downside is not being able to combo from it, so it’s only ever useful as a punish.
Gokudera Hayato
Age: 14.
Height: 168cm, I’m not taller than him.
Blood: B.
Gender: 100% Gay man. That’s, like, a fact.
Flame: Red, Storm… although that’s only his main one, this motherfucker houses five different flames.
Occupation: The boss’ right-hand-man, and also the boss’ official side-hoe.
Weapon: Red Mega Buster, kitty, dynamites and flying hitboxes.
Track: Storm bringer.
Gokudera sets the flow of the match as an amazing zoner. He forces your approaches to behave like he wants them to, and in the way that is most advantageous to him. Although he might lose to characters with better aerial options (such as both Mukuros and Dino), that does not mean he’s deprived of good anti-air options. In my opinion he has the best projectiles in the game, and if he’s ever in close-range he has normals that can take care of the situation… not that well though. It’s also fairly easy for him to get knockdowns, which allow him to reposition himself and restart his pressure in the best possible range.
Normals: 4B is a knee-attack that starts out with a crouching Gokudera. You can keep him ducking for some time or wait until the last second so he can unleash a stronger version of his knee. His smaller hitbox while ducked can dodge certain moves and even uncharged knee is a good punish. 6B is a small dash attack using his elbow, and it’s a great way to combo. You can loop it with 5A>6B>5A. 6B can also crush low reflects, a very unique trait. A lot of his normals can be called “Bomb Trap!”, as Gokudera explodes a dynamite in his hand. 4C does that while walking back, and j.2C is a great way to attack in the air. j.5C is a cross-up kick, making Gokudera one of the only characters that actually benefits from jumping over opponents! Finally, Rocket Bomb is his 6C, a move that shoots dynamites upwards that turn into homing rockets after a while. By charging the move before releasing, the dynamites are thrown forward in a much better angle for zoning. Uncharged is good for block pressure, anti-airing and Chip Damage (that normally works best in okizeme).
Flame Arrow: 236, each version sends a dramatically different projectile. A is… honestly garbage, but B and C are great. Alongside dealing good Guard damage, B is also great for comboing and can even knockdown. C shoots lots of projectiles at once, great for pressure and it has absurdly long range. It does not knockdown though, so if you want that you should go for the B version.
Bomb Dash: 214, dash punch similar to Tsuna. It’s not very good, but can be used to travel below jumping opponents to mix them up.
C.A.I. Shield: 22, Gokudera summons a bunch of shields around him that alongside blocking projectiles, can also damage opponents. You can, in fact, combo onto them, or use them for applying pressure. Each button decides where the two main shields will stay after the others vanish, and it’s very easy to interrupt opponents from countering you by using this. In fact, this move is the reason why Gokudera is a good character, because he can just leave a big hitbox in front of him like it was an Aegis Reflector (it’s not, though). His oki is wonderful because of this, and anytime you try jumping above his projectiles keep these shields in mind so you can deal with them once you’re close enough.
Uri!: 236 Throw. It’s a Command Throw, that’s also a projectile! It’s very easy to jump above it but if you’re forced to jump over a projectile to dodge it that’s a bad sign. Gokudera can switch sides by hitting this one.
Hyper Strike – Ultimate Flame Arrow: A barrage of midrange projectiles. Easy to block and dodge, but you can still combo from it to get some damage.
Burst Hyper Strike – Scorched Arrow: A single big projectile aimed above. It’s slow enough to not combo or punish, but with the slightest read it’s actually good. Mainly because Gokudera conditions his opponents to jump.
Gokudera Hayato – 10 Years Later
Age: 24.
Height: 176cm.
Blood: B.
Gender: GAY
Flame: Red, Blue, Yellow, Green and Purple.
Occupation: Malewife.
Weapon: Red Mega Buster, Tigger, dynamites, and style.
Track: Perfect storm.
After ten years Gokudera realizes he can use his bullets to turn into a rushdown character. Goku10 is less of a defensive and keepaway character, trading his zoner tools for approach options, still using his projectiles but now getting close, instead of forcing his opponents to get in. Gokudera has a short-fuse and bad temper, so it just makes total sense that his refined moveset solves things one-on-one.
Normals: Considering he’s a clone of the previous character, I’ll simply explain his new normals and some returning tools. His basic 5A>6B combo is still here, for instance. All of his As and Bs are the same, so we can skip to C. 5C has changed, and it’s now a straight, upwards kick, making it a better option in speed and angle. 6C is almost the same (it’s Rocket Bomb), but his charged version is MUCH better. Now, alongside a better angle, it’s also faster than both original Gokudera’s dynamites. 2C is a great anti-air now, and j.2C isn’t Aerial Bomb Trap anymore but an actual divekick. This Divekick is responsible for altering Gokudera 10’s playstyle, and it compliments his j.5C kick perfectly. Both moves also help Gokudera in linking into his throw, that’s also much more powerful than the original as it knocks down and switch the character’s side.
Flame Arrow: Same move, exactly the same. Only change is that it’s in a new character, so its overall utility is different.
Flame Dash: 214, a completely different Dash Attack. Gokudera used to run towards his opponents using a dynamite’s impact for a dash and then punching. That was very slow and impractical. Flame Dash, however, utilizes a flame shot as a cannon to shoot Gokudera into a knee dash. Not only is it much faster, but also safer and it can be properly spaced. The Reflect frames are pretty generous, it beats Lows and it’s way harder to punish than his original dash punch.
Flame Barrage: 22. Losing C.A.I. Shield is one of the greatest reasons for Gokudera’s new offensive playstyle, trading his main defensive tool for Flame Barrage, a move that does not cover its predecessor’s strengths. It’s basically machine gun bullets upward, something that even as an anti-air isn’t as good as 2C.
Hyper Strike – Flame Blade: Great for combos, perfect for pressure and inflicts some good Guard Damage.
Burst Hyper Strike – C.A.I. Combination: Frame 1 Super, an awesome punish of course. It’s very easy to hit and almost impossible to challenge. It also summons adult Uri!
Yamamoto Takeshi
Age: 14.
Height: 177cm.
Blood: O.
Gender: Baseball player.
Flame: Blue, Rain.
Occupation: Nice guy, Baseball maniac.
Weapon: BladeBlue.
Track: Edge of soul.
One of the scariest characters. Yamamoto is a mixup demon, with good Low and Overhead options that are skillfully strengthened by his conditioning and range. Yamamoto’s punishes, even one-hit ones, usually take half of your health away. The amount of raw damage he can do without ever putting himself at risk is absurd. However, his normals are rather slow and he can’t do much at close range. Of course, you have to get close to him to force his close-range playstyle, and it isn’t even that bad. Yamamoto has no combos, however he can do good damage with just a two-hit confirm.
Normals: 4B summons Rondine di Pioggia, a bird that works like a projectile. Conditions block in okizeme and corner pressure, helping Yamamoto in extending his advantageous state. 6B is a easily reactable overhead, but on the right conditions it may confuse your opponent and nab you a Knockdown. 4C is a massive anti-air that also significantly pushes Yamamoto back after completion. It’s safe on block because of its reach and a great, but slow, poke. 6C is terrifying: what would normally be just a slow normal, in Yamamoto’s hands turns into a wonderful way to get in and catch a bunch of your opponent’s Guard Gauge while you’re at it. As a Punish it’s THE move that takes out half of a full health bar, and it also knocks down! Considering damage scaling up in Colpo, Groggy and Counter, you can make it even stronger. Lastly, 2C is a very powerful Low with absurd range. It’s even on block, meaning it’s a 100% safe!
Samidare: 236 Special with two slashes, the first one being Mid while the second is Low. Great in pressure when used in intelligent ways, as it is easily avoidable by jumping if your opponent knows it’s coming. It can be reflected, which is a problem, but it’s a move used for mixing up and not your main pressure tool. Use it too much and you waste its power!
Shinotsuku Ame: 214 Dash Attack, extremely safe and also combos. A multihit – third hit inflicts Groggy and the fourth adding enough Stun for follow-ups.
Utsushi Ame: 22, a teleport first and overhead divekick second. Akin to Samidare, if it’s telegraphed by your opponent it’s rather easy to punish so use it wisely.
Hyper Strike – Scontro di Rondine: Super that covers the entire screen and it’s almost impossible to challenge. It’s just like Yamamoto turns invincible by activating it! Sucks away over half of Guard Gauge.
Burst Hyper Strike – W.B.C.: A projectile with a small combo follow-up. Slow, but a good punish nevertheless.
Yamamoto Takeshi – 10 Years Later
Age: 24.
Height: 185cm.
Blood: O.
Gender: The only good cis man.
Flame: Blue, Rain.
Occupation: Badass.
Weapon: Blueyer Blade.
Track: Master of Blade.
I’m not a big fan of this character, considering he’s mostly… a better version of base Yamamoto. He has some differences, but all he does is get Yamamoto’s defensive abilities, doubling down on them and turning them into strong offense. Maybe you’d rather have the retreating 4C or base Yamamoto’s great Super 1, but Yamamoto10 is just better at everything.
Normals: Same 4B projectile, 6B overhead, but 4C does not push him beackanymore, it’s instead used in combos as it goes forward. It’s also much faster! 5C has a strong followup that can knockdown. 6C has changed, imo for worse, but it still does good Guard Damage and can punish hard. 2C is still here and j.5C is much faster.
Samidare: Same move.
Beccata di Rondine: Although it’s also a dash, it works very differently. B and C might even have a similar horizontal slash at the start like base Yamamoto, but the main bit of the Special move are the hundred diagonal stabs. It’s safe on block, hard to reflect and it’s probably the safest and most effective Special to apply guard pressure. If you block the first hit you’re not able to reflect the rest of it.
Utsushi Ame: Exactly the same as original.
Hyper Strike – Utsushi Ame (Kiwami): Confirm Super, starts as a simple slash and then moves on to it’s main combo.
Burst Hyper Strike – Scontro di Rondine (Revised): Starts out as a great projectile and then turns into a combo. Neither of these two Supers are better than base Yama’s Super 1, so it’s a solid reason to prefer the other one… it’s just not a good one anyway.
Hibari Kyoya
Age: Nobody knows. Might be 15.
Height: 1,69.
Blood: ???
Gender: Who cares?
Flame: Purple, Cloud.
Occupation: Leader of the Namimori Disciplinary Comitee.
Weapon: Tonfas, but they have a Morning Star attached just for the heck of it.
Track: Punisher.
This is my secondary main, and not really because I chose him, quite the opposite. Ok, Hibari is actually the character for anyone that gave up on playing it fair, a full-fledged rushdown with all the privileges of a Top Tier. Winning with Hibari does not bring you glory, but peace. Wonderful Normals with a confirm into any of his Specials, and some of these Specials can confirm into the others. Great combo Supers too. Hibari can convert any hit in a gatling gun of blows, not only housing amazing Health Damage but also Guard Damage and Groggy. Hibari wrecks up your entire HP and then adds salt to injury leaving your character groggied so it can be hit harder next time. Matches agains Hibari end quickly and are rather one-sided. If you give him a micro-window to get in, it’s over. Block a move and five more are unleashed – your Guard Gauge will be empty in no time. His only weaknesses are his lack of projectiles and how easy it is to predict his movements, in addition to less health than most.
Normals: 5B is a great poke that can cancel into 214A on Colpo Block to deal more Guard Damage, but just hitting it easily converts into a combo. 4B is great for baiting and eventually punish, as it’s a great reset when connected to a 5A/2A. Can be cancelled in Specials if it hits! 6B is a low with good range and might easily crush High reflect attempts. 5C is a pretty nice multi-hit that crushes reflects and in CH + any other state might combo in a Dragon Punch, lending you a knockdown, or a 214 if you want your opponent standing. 4C starts out with a upper-body invincible dodge and then follows up with a multihit that will most likley Colpo. Does crazy damage on Groggy and can link into a variety of different moves. 6C is the fastest normal, and links into a Dragon Punch on Colpo (second hit). 2B can be cancelled into any Special with ease, it’s basically a simple low forward. 2C is an anti-air, it cancels into Specials and can also work as a good poke. His Aerials, although pretty common, are the final pieces of the puzzle to his awesome moveset. Hibari has no bad normals!
Tonfa Rush: Rekka 236 that’s marvellous on both Hit and Block. Despite being a three hit Rekka, it actually hits WAY more than that. Alongside always leaving your opponents Groggy, it does enough stun so that you can link into a 22C (strongest Dragon Punch) even after hitting all the hits of a 236C (strongest Rekka). It knocks down too. Absurd damage, and there’s no way to get out of the move on block through mashing or jumping. The only way to get rid of it is reflecting the last section of the move, the one with the most hits so… good luck!
Tonfa Dash: 214 Dash Attack, pretty useful in combos and getting in. Crush High reflect and can travel below certain things. Pretty fast too! Tonfa Rush is preferable in close range combos, so Tonfa Dash covers midrange ones and some longrange too.
Rising Tonfa: 22 Dragon Punch. Anti-air, reversal, combo finisher, and knocks down. Frame 4 makes it good in absolutely everything.
Hyper Strike – Bite to Death: Great for confirms, but tiny hitbox. Good damage, though, so it’s worth it.
Burst Hyper Strike – Clean Up Public Morals(?): Dodges Lows and has a better hitbox, also good in confirms. As you can see, it’s a completely combo oriented character.
Hibari Kyoya – 10 Years Later
Age: No one knows, but it IS ten years later.
Height: 178cm.
Blood: ???
Gender: Enby, but it’s not like he’s ever going to admit any gender.
Flame: Purple, Cloud.
Occupation: Unemployed.
Weapon: Cloud Tonfas and a cute hedgehog. The only living being Hibari spares are animals.
Theme: Proud Cloud.
In a full 180° switch when compared to base Hibari, this one is a shoto. An extremly versatile and balanced kit, with a dash, Dragon Punch and a Fireball. Has an easier time getting in and maintaining space control, without his explosive and easily spammable combos from ten years ago. Great normals, a divekick followup from his Dragon Punch and good Counter Hit damage, but suffers from doing little damage from just winning neutral. His DP confirms are very inconsistent and it’s pretty easy to evade his projectile through ducking. Relies heavily on his Supers to win.
Normals: 6A is a Special Cancelable normal, great for punishing close-ranged lows. 5B is the same move base Hibari has, just like his 6B that can link into DP on a Counter Hit. 4B is a two-hit advancing attack, and both hits are cancelable in Specials. 5C is back, just like 6C, both are still great moves for punishing and applying pressure. 4C begins like the original with a dodge, but after the first hit Hibari follows it up with three more that end up on a Knockdown. All the crouching moves are here, specially 2C and his anti-air.
Hedgehog Bomb: 236, Fireball. Very big projectile but too high, making it a very easy move to dodge by ducking. Hard to combo onto it, but the other options are better for comboing anyway.
Tonfa Dash: Same as the original.
Rising Lark: Rekka Dragon Punch, the second hit is a divekick. That makes the move way more useful, both in combos and punish. You can use it to get in too. Normally you’d prefer Tonfa Dash for combos as this DP isn’t that reliable, but it’s useful in different situations.
Cloud Prison: Command Throw, 236 + Throw. Primarily used to start pressure on block, lending you a free Knockdown.
Hyper Strike – Reverse Needle Sphere Form: Aegis Reflector. Creates a giant sphere behind the opponent and it’ll stay there to force blocking or giving you access to longer, more damaging, combos. A simple combo showcased by SPKelevra is: 4B cancel into Super 1>214A>5A>5A>4C>5A>5A>Command Throw.
Burst Hyper Strike – Needle Sphere Form: Hibari shoots two projectiles that will fly around the stage. Meanwhile, Hibari combos his opponents as his projectiles protect him.
Lambo – 10 Years Later
Age: 15.
Height: 179cm.
Blood: A.
Gender: Cishet Male.
Flame: Green, Lightning.
Occupation: Unemployed, but the loser kind.
Weapon: Thunder horns.
Theme: Fighting bull.
There’s no child Lambo in this game so it’s somewhat redundant to add “10YL” to his name, but it’s still adult Lambo. This is the most unique character in the game, considering it’s the only one with his own mechanic. Lambo uses the Hyper Strike gauge in his Special Moves and can only get bar by charging it himself. He still has Supers, but it’s like he’s a character with EX too! It happens that Lambo is an amazing character with meter, but he can’t do much without it. To get some meter you need a Knockdown, or you need to land your Command Throw, and with just a little HS you have access to a great projectile and a wonderful confirm that does crazy good damage and Groggy.
Normals: 5A is a Mid jab (hits mid), 6A is considered Low for Reflects so it crushes Throws and Reflect attempts. 6B is good in pressure and can punish jabs. 5C is the most ridiculous normal I’ve ever met in this game. You know how those bigass long-ranged kicks are always considered Heavies? Kicks that are usually used for punishing or anti-airing? Well, this one can cancel into Special Moves. Does great Guard Damage too, and you can double or triple it by confirming into a Special. 4C is a hop that dodges Lows and kicks high, working well as a Punish and can also combo into a thunder 22C. It can Knockdown on Counter Hit! 6C compliments this move starting with the very same hop, but instead of kicking high, it kicks low. Combos into 2B and, naturally, into a Special. 2C is a slide that can be properly spaced to be safe and can travel beneath projectiles.
Elettrico Cornuta: Your ideal Combo Finisher, does heavy damage. Charged version always Colpos, it’s safe on block and can Knockdown Groggy opponents.
Thunder Set: 214, charges up your meter. Has a big hitbox that can be used for anti-airing and you can combo onto it from a 2A. If you hit it from close range, you can combo into 6A>236C.
Elettrico Reverse: 22, great projectile. Travels on ground so you can jump above it, but it’s good for challenging other projectiles and start corner combos. It can Knockdown Groggy opponents.
Abbraccio Elettrico: Amazing Throw that charges meter, input 236+Throw. Base Throw is also great, setting up a free Thunder Set.
Hyper Strike – Super Elettrico Cornuta: Great Combo Ender, lots of reach and obscene damage.
Burst Hyper Strike – Vertical Elettrico Cornuta: Invincible reversal, also an anti-air.
Rokudo Mukuro
Age: 15.
Height: 177cm.
Blood: ???
Gender: Fluid.
Flame: Indigo, Mist.
Occupation: Gang leader.
Weapon: Trident, snakes.
Theme: From hell.
I don’t like to use this character. Mukuro is a character focused entirely on normals and zoning, with a lot of range in all of his moves. However he has no combos or good confirms, only having As for cancelling. Maybe the most interesting parts about the character are his two different divekicks. Good Supers too.
Normals: j.2B and j.2C are two drastically different divekicks. The first one acts like a normal divekick and just launches the character diagonally downward. Works as a great poke and might even be plus if you hit in specific ways. The second one scales with the character’s momentum. Normally, Mukuro rolls forward (in the air!!) and then throws himself downwards (but in a horizontal-esque angle). You can travel through the whole screen with that. But, depending on the direction of your jump and the moment you activated this move, both the distance and speed of travel vary. This is good for mixing up your approach and sells the character by itself. But moving on to other normals. 5B is a good poke, 4B is a retreating version of the same move and hits low. 5C is a good anti-air. Meanwhile, 4C is a version of the same move that starts with a dodge so it can punish better. But it’s easy to reflect and way too slow. 6C is a normal with unbelievable horizontal distance, probably the character’s best poke but that’s it: just a poke. Too slow to do anything outside of its ideal range, but does some good Guard damage. 2B is a slide, which I would normally be a fan of if this character didn’t desperately need a low forward, you know? 2C is an anti-air, great one at that, better than the character’s other anti-air options.
Hell Path – Tsubute: High projectile, but you can combo onto 236C from up close!
Sen: 214, I hate this bullshit move. A and B combo into 2B, meanwhile C has its own finisher. It’s a reflect move, reflects low and high.
Beast Path – Orochi: 22, summons a snake falling from the ceiling. If it came out of Mukuro’s feet it would be pretty useful, but considering you’re frozen for half a second when you use this move, it’s not that good. Does not hit low, so it’s only mildly useful from (very) far away.
Hyper Strike – Human Path – Gouka: Super 1 dashes forward reflecting throughout Mukuro’s whole body. Great damage if it hits!
Burst Hyper Strike – Dragon Bite?: Combo where he spins his trident, so it has a very big hitbox. Does good Chip Damage, but little Guard Damage.
Rokudo Mukuro – 10 Years Later
Age: 25.
Height: 182cm.
Blood: ???
Gender: Fluid.
Flame: Indigo, Mist.
Occupation: Real life Devil, but not always a 100% real.
Weapon: Trident, fuck-ass illusions. Fuck the snakes!
Track: Lord of nightmare.
This is my prefered Mukuro. Most of his normals are still here, losing some and getting some new ones, but what really matters are his Special Moves. This is a character that encapsulates the concept of an illusionist perfectly, messing with your head in all of his three Special Moves that work together perfectly. His Normals also fit my style better, but he did lose one of his two divekicks.
Normals: Mukuro10 keeps his j.2C to play around with movement, but gave up his j.2B that was used for poking. He did get 6A instead, a High-Mid jab that can cancel into Specials! It doesn’t truly cover his lack of good cancels throughout his moveset, but it’s pretty cool nevertheless. 5B poke and retreating 4B are back, but they have a new friend – 6B is a low poke with obscene range and that changes the character’s entire gameplan (not really but it’s good). All the heavies are here but I swear 4C feels better now. I might be wrong though, it could be the same move.
Six Paths Rupture – Jitsu: 236 projectile, leaves Mukuro in an invincible state from the first frame. Shoots out an illusion of himself, and when it’s over, Mukuro warps to where his illusion is.
Six Paths Rupture – Void: 214 projectile, leaves Mukuro in an invincible state from the first frame. Shoots out an illusion of himself, but Mukuro stays in place. Both are used interchangeably to mix opponents, considering it’s the exact same move with a different outcome relating to Mukuro’s movement.
Six Paths Transfer: 22, teleport, the best in the game. Extremely fast and can take you behind yourself, behind your opponent and simply forward. You can spam that shit nonstop.
Hyper Strike – Human Path – Linnaeus: Low hitting Dash, has to be blocked accordingly. Lots of damage.
Burst Hyper Strike – Hell Path – Rekka: Creates a vulcanic eruption below the opponent, hard to hit but you can set it up through a knockdown.
Chrome Dokuro
Age: 13.
Height: 152cm.
Blood: ???
Gender: Certainly transfem.
Flame: Indigo, Mist.
Occupation: My daughter.
Weapon: Trident, Ken, Chikusa, Mukuro and na owl.
Theme: MonoChrome.
Chrome is almost like a second Mukuro clone, but her game plan is unique enough to separate her. She works around assists and setup-based zoning. Great for controlling the match as a whole but if she loses her control for a single moment it’s over, considering she has the least amount of health between all the characters and no reversal options outside of Super 2. Good normals and Specials.
Normals: Most of her notable moves are located on the C button. 5C is a great poke, and completely invalidates 5B in most occasions so there was no need to mention it. 4C is a much better version of both Mukuro’s 4C, instead of starting with a dodge it has a low hit to guarantee a combo on the important slash. 6C is a low poke, pretty good one at that. All crouch moves are good: 2A is a throw-crushing low, 2B is a slide and 2C is an awesome poke.
Throw: Although both ground and aerial versions have terrible damage, the grounded version automatically inflicts Groggy and leads to small but damaging combos.
Come… Mukuro-sama!: Air to ground projectile, 236. Stronger buttons add more delay, but has more advantage frames. 236C is plus on block.
Help me… Chikusa!: 214, boomerang projectile. You can summon multiple yo-yos at once, different buttons have different angles. Perfect setup for absolutely anything.
Help me… Ken!: 22, summons Ken for a punch that nabs half of an HP bar. Great Punish, perfect for combos too. Normally it would be too slow to combo, but you can hit 22A out of a Colpo 5A on Groggy. Damage so big it looks fake. Disjointed, anti-air, lots of Guard Damage. Perfect move!
Hyper Strike – Hell Path – Enma’s Pillar of Fire: Horrible, do not use it. Too slow, does not combo, no chip, no Guard Damage, and you can dodge all eruptions by walking back. Dogshit move.
Burst Hyper Strike – Everyone… lend me your strenght!: The good Super! A high-hitting throw, you can dodge it through ducking or jumping. If you duck, though, Chrome will finish the move with an unblockable push that can go so crazy it can be +9 on the right conditions and, of course, lead to combos. Has to be reflected.
Sasagawa Ryohei
Age: 15.
Height: 168cm.
Blood: A.
Gender: Extremely masc in a very trans way, but he’s probably cis… probably.
Flame: Yellow, Sun.
Occupation: Captain of the Boxing Team.
Weapon: Fists and his own heart.
Track: Shining knuckle
Ryohei is a boxer to the extreme, and extremely similar to characters like Street Fighter’s Dudley or Balrog. His playstyle focuses around close-range pressure, but he has a projectile and tools to deal with other projectiles, alongside evasive techniques that end up whiff punishing (counter). However his range is very poor, and the lack of good lows combined with his difficulty in getting knockdowns give Ryohei big problems in the long run. Getting close to his opponents is not hard for him, but he desperately needs to do that in order to cause any damage whatsoever.
Normals: 5B is a frame-5 punch on the stomach that can be cancelled, and might be the character’s best normal. Pokes, punishes and pressure can all be handled by this move. 4B is a three-hit combo that naturally links into 6C if the last hit colpos. 6B is an advancing low but it actually sucks because it’s MINUS ON HIT, which means you’ll get punished for landing it. However, it is a good punish as the additional Stun frames from a Counter Hit makes it plus. 5C is a poke that’s even on block and can get you a Knockdown with the right states. Can link into itself or 22A on CHCo. 4C is exclusively a punish, too slow to do anything other than that. However it does throw Ryohei’s body backwards a bit and can be charged, making Ryohei walk forwards before attacking. Reminds me of Balrog’s charging punch! You know, that beefy smack he does if you hold P for a while. 4C can also be used to reflect before punishing. 6C is a good poke that crushes low reflect attempts. Damage is this move’s biggest feat. Both the character’s 2A and 2B are lows, although they may look mid. Very bizarre if you ask me. Reflected as mids, but blocked low. 2C is used for block pressure, but it’s an obvious anti-air and can link into 236 or Super 1 for big guard damage.
Extreme Shot: 236 Projectile, it doesn’t go very far but deals nice guard damage, perfect pressure tool.
Extreme Counter: Dashback first, dash punch later, made with 214. Each version goes a little further back and adds another hit to the punish, although it’s fairly easy to reflect B and C’s additional punches if the first blow is blocked. Because of that it’s considerably risky to throw this move out without thinking well first. Alas, that’s expected from a move like this one.
Extreme Sweep: Ryohei crouch-dashes forward dodging most projectiles and then uppercuts (without getting off the ground so it’s not a DP, works pretty similar to a classic SF2 Balrog move). Most normals can cancel into this with either a Counter Hit or Colpo Drive, sometimes even a clean hit is enough.
Extreme Feint: Command Throw. Exactly like a normal Throw that leaves characters standing, but it starts with a dashback and then a dash forward. Ryohei’s sways remind me of my Slayer so I like this character. The “Throw” part of the move is faster than a base throw, but this one is designed around baiting while the base throw is… a throw, made to beat blocking. You can start pressure with this throw, or extend it, as it does not knock down opponents (don’t get me wrong, that SUCKS, but you can still make the most out of a bad situation).
Hyper Strike – Extreme Rising: Easy combo Super, but the second hit is very easy to reflect if the first one is blocked. Two Dragon Punches.
Burst Hyper Strike – Extreme Sun: A very special Super. There are no good setups to hit it, but that does not make it a bad move. For comboing, you need to hit a Counter Hit Groggy 5B, which makes it very hard to consistently land. However, if this move is blocked it completely destroys 100% of your opponent’s Guard Gauge AND Knocks down. Might trigger Groggy state too.
Sasagawa Ryohei – 10 Years Later
Age: 25.
Height: 181cm.
Blood: A.
Gender: EXTREME.
Flame: Yellow, Sun.
Occupation: Giant star in the sky, all the planets cycle around him.
Weapon: Fists, heart… and jet boots/gloves.
Track: Ultimate knuckle.
Ryohei10 is the EXTREME version of base Ryohei, throwing his offensive to the maximum for the price of little defensive options. They share a lot of moves but even the new ones follow this rule. Rekkas turn stronger for the cost of safety, less baits to get better punishes in return, startup speed for slow recovery (less startup is good for counters but give you less reflect frames as a result). Easy Knockdown setups make this character way more aggressive, but he does find himself in risky situations quite often in order to earn his better pressure. Probably the best relationship between past and future forms in the game, I love both Ryoheis.
Normals: 5B is the same normal that base Ryohei has, but in a new character, meaning it can now cancel into a great 236 for pressure and combos. 4B punches twice, and both hits are cancellable into Special moves and come out very quick, for the cost of being minus on block. It doesn’t get any better when hitting groggy though, with no additional Stun frames. Same low 6B, minus on hit. 5C is similar to the original but faster (PLUS 2 ON BLOCK) and great use in combos considering it can do from 7 frames of stun all the way to 12. 4C has a nice reflect on startup and can lead to powerful combos in a close-range Counter Hit. From far away, Colpoing, it’s pretty safe. 6C is the same move, but it can now combo into 4B in the corner. Crouching moves stay.
Maximum Combination: 236 Rekka, multiple punches dealing obscene Guard and Health damage. You’re obligated to block this move, so it truly is the perfect pressure that can start from a lot of different normals. Ideal combo, but also good pressure.
Maximum Counter: 214, a Rekka that starts with a backdash and follows-up with a string of aerial blows. Hitting all three hits lead to a knockdown, but it is a very easy move to reflect when the first one is blocked, and you can even punish it with a good throw. First hit can link into 4B and lead into combos if used on Counter Hit, but the other two never work alone. If you use the second one, you’re already commited – finish it.
Maximum Upper: 22, similar to base Ryohei’s crouch dash but ends in a Dragon Punch, that is, an uppercut that sends Ryohei into the air, making it extremely commitable. Any of the states like Colpo or Counter can knockdown. It’s a relatively low-hitting move so it can beat throws and upper-body armor.
Hyper Strike – Combination Cannon: Great in combos, but easily interrupted by Low punches and reflects. Eliminates half of the Guard Gauge if blocked or reflected.
Burst Hyper Strike – Maximum Ingram: Purely used as a punish, has a lot of range and anti-airs.
Lal Mirch
Age: Over 20.
Height: 166cm.
Blood: O.
Gender: Transgender man, he just doesn’t know yet.
Flame: Blue, Purple, and Indigo (Rain, Cloud, and Mist).
Occupation: Secret Agent, teacher.
Weapon: A shotgun, AK-47 and a centipede. Lal’s armed to the teeth.
Track: Bullet Spiral.
Lal is one of the most stylish characters in the game, and also one of the characters I just can’t play at all. She has good tools for almost any occasion, except for reversals (although she has a Super for that). Good normals, combos, setups, pressure, zoning, anti-zoning, anti-air and mobility. The full package.
Normals: 6A is one of the best normals in my opinion, a Special Cancellable kick with good range and way too much stun for a simple Light. 5B is a kick with twice the range of the last one and yet can be cancelled too, turning it into a menace in neutral. 4B is perfect for pressure and punishing counter attempts using jabs and throws, combined with an awesome 2A to further upgrade its capacities. Cancels into Specials too. 5C fires her arm machine gun in an arc starting on the ground and going up. Multiple hitboxes with drastically different angles are perfect to crush reflects, and every single hit has to be blocked. Plus on block, making it the best way to pressure your foes at any moment. 4C is the best combo ender for small combos, almost always knocking down on the second hit. Easy to combo into it too, as you can chain it out of a 5/2A. 6C pokes at a good distance and does crazy Guard Damage for no reason. 2C is a good anti-air, plus on block.
Raid Blade: 236 Command Dash, you can cross-up with ease. This Dash has three followups – the first one, done with A, just cancels the Dash early. B is a low kick and C is a high punch. Good for punishing and in neutral game overall. It also has fun interactions with Lal’s 22 projectile.
Arm Gun Burst: Short range projectile done with 214. Each button fires at a different angle. Lal continues shooting if you hold the input, and you can also move her left and right. I didn’t know that beforehand! That makes her way cooler to me now.
Capture Web: A wonderful projectile. Lal shoots upwards and spawns a big, paralyzing barrier. A shoots it right in front of her, B shoots at a medium distance and C spawns the web far away. Very fast move, once its active, hitting Lal won’t make it disappear, you have to wait or block it. You can combo into it and OUT of it, especially using Raid Blade.
Frankensteiner: Great Command Throw that starts out reflecting low, big contrast with a base throw that reflects mid. Done with 236, it only hits standing opponents considering Lal leaps into the air to trap her foes with her legs before executing the titular wrestling move. Knocks down.
Hyper Strike – Drain Peed???: Possibly the best Super in the game. Frame 1, combos out of all of her moves, anti-air. Perfect reversal, and she desperately needed something like it.
Burst Hyper Strike – Operation Buonanotte: “Drain Peed” is a weirdass name but it was fairly easy to translate. “Operation Buonanotte” however took me a long while, you know? I had to ask help for that one as Google Translate couldn’t read one of the letters for some reason. It ended up giving me a word that simply does not exist… but I digress, it’s a heavy damage super but if you can use the first one, do it. Do not waste meter with this one if you can risk losing your get-out-of-jail card for any situation.
XANXUS
Age: 24.
Height: 188cm.
Blood: O.
Gender: Transmasc.
Flame: Orange, Sky.
Occupation: Leader of a Professional Assassination Squad, and would be Vongola’s boss if it wasn’t for these meddling kids and their stupid Hitman Baby Tutor.
Weapon: Two pistols.
Track: XX Fire.
Ten years ago version of my main, so I kinda feel safe in saying this is my main too. You don’t like it, take it to corporate. XANXUS focuses his playstyle in different zoning styles and forcing your opponents to beg for their lives. I don’t think there’s any character as capable as Xanxus in terms of guard breaking, and that’s possibly the one thing that separates both double Xs – this one forces your Guard Gauge into retirement, and there’s nothing you can do to stop him. It’s hard to approach him in battle and once you finally get in he can easily fly across the stage to the other corner of the screen. He might have a weakness that I’m not aware of, but nothing a Xanxus main isn’t prepared to face. The cool aspect of playing one of the two Xanxus is knowing for certain nothing can stop you. If an official tier list is ever created and this motherfucker is considered a Mid Tier, I’ll personally carry him to the top. We have a blood contract and if I try to run I get blasted on sight.
Normals: Most notable normals include his two-hit 4B, with a pretty high kick first and a low second kick that’s cancelable. 2B is your cancelable low with great range. 5C is an anti-air that does crazy damage, cancels into Specials, and can be confirmed into 22C on block to erase your opponent’s Guard Gauge (he cannot reflect it [fuck off, nerd]). 6C is a fullscreen projectile but it’s high enough that you can crouch to dodge it… if you’re quick enough. This move has plus frames in all ranges, and it’s fast so it can punish your jumps and zoning attempts. It also forces linear approaches from the opponent. You’ll lose contact with the ground if you’re trying to get in against Xanxus, considering he can easily dominate the whole screen with a single move. And, if you DO get close, 2C is the exact same move but crouching. Great low, not fullscreen but still has good range, also plus and can combo. Even if you block it, you can’t punish a plus 5 so you’re kinda cooked. In the air, Xanxus has a j.2C that shoots the same projectile downwards, from the air. It deals so much Groggy it can make any character panic in no time. Good angle too, and it is pretty fast.
Throws: His ground throw is very common but it does feature a badass animation of Xanxus throwing his opponent in the ground and kicking them. Classic Xanxus. But his aerial throw is ridiculously awesome and it can almost inflict Groggy by itself. Lots of damage too. However, I wouldn’t consider talking about normal throws with no special abilities if it wasn’t Xanxus. I’m biased as fuck.
Fiamma d’Ira: 236, a projectile with three speed variations, can be charged. Charging the move raises the size of the fireball, its damage and how much Guard Gauge it can take out. It can even take out 10/12 out of it. Use it in confirms, pressure and zoning in general. It also forces your opponents to approach in specific ways. Most characters have major difficulties in dealing with Xanxus’ projectiles, this move may be the biggest reason.
Pioggia di Fiamma: I lied, this is the biggest reason Xanxus is so hard to deal with. 214 is a barrage of bullets while Xanxus, for all intents and purposes, travels all the way back to the corner behind him, making it a safe move to throw out whevener you want. The bullets are lows, forcing crouch block from your opponents and punishing reflect attempts. Oh, and you can combo onto it too if you want to keep your pressure going even from far away. Xanxus comes and goes through the stage for as long as he wants to, and this move is the biggest reason for that.
Vulcano: I lied AGAIN, this is the biggest reason Xanxus is so hard to deal with, AND the fact he can fly through the stage for as long as he pleases. 22 is an AERIAL SHOULDER BASH HELL YEAH!!!!1 and it works like a Dragon Punch, meaning it’s an invincible reversal. If you block this move standing your Guard Gauge goes to hell all at once. Crouch block it instead and let Xanxus fly above you. This move can easily travel through the whole stage, but forward this time around. It can also apply destructive pressure on block. If you think that’s cool just wait until you see the other Xanxus…
Hyper Strike – Colpo d’Addio: A torrent of bullets. You’re forced to block them all, although you can reflect the final, stronger, hit if you’re lucky. Eradicates your Guard Gauge no matter what, though. Easy to combo into, but it’s one of the best Supers to use even if you know it’s gonna get blocked. Xanxus WANTS you to block his moves.
Burst Hyper Strike – Vortice d’Ira: This move causes quite a stir on Twitter (not really). Unblockable and you can’t even reflect it. The only mean of escaping is to hit Xanxus with a low to counter him, or jumping. Normally this move is used after 5C is blocked, and although that’s a pretty good strategy every character has a (frame perfect) way to dodge it in this situation. It’s fairly easy to pinpoint wheter it’s coming or not, but getting the timing right is a challenge by itself. For some reason, Genkishi can just hop over it with ease.
XANXUS – 10 Years Later
Age: 34.
Height: 193cm.
Blood: O.
Gender: Trans man.
Flame: Orange, Sky.
Occupation: Wathever the hell he wants, nerd.
Weapon: Two .50s, watch your ass. A liger too. XANXUS cares about that animal like he never would for a human being.
Track: Over kill.
Alright, this is my actual main. I’m completely in love with this character, not just in playstyle but in character. He and Franky (One Piece) suddenly appeared in my life to remind me that my attraction to all genders includes men. From his cold glare, to his burn scars on the face, his coat hanging from his shoulders, the loose tie, his attitude, the voice, his two flame pistols, moves about disrespecting people… I could never fix him, no one could, and I want him that way.
Ok, but about playing as him. This XANXUS is a little more about hand-to-hand combat when compared to his past self, still having his zoning abilites but focusing them in mid to close range pressure. That’s perfectly represented by the replacement of his 236 Fireball in favor of a knockdown combo finisher that can only work from up close. Dumping one of his major strengths for something way more cruel like personally exploding his foe’s face (a close range move) fits Xanxus perfectly. Now, piling on his great projectiles that are almost entirely here, he also received better normals and confirm options, letting go of a bad 6B in order to receive an amazing low. Two Supers that cannot be blocked are also included in the character’s new kit, and if you ask me that’s crazy broken.
5A: Two-hitting jab, both hits confirm.
2A: Basic jab.
j.5A: Aerial basic jab.
5B: High poke, might miss crouching characters. Kinda slow, but safe when properly spaced.
4B: Two hits, a mid and a low. Great for comboing out of a Jump-In aerial, it may replace 2B in this situation. You can cancel the second hit in any of your Specials safely.
6B: Two hits, a low and a mid, in that order. Does not cancel into Specials, but it cancels into 2A and that’s much better, in fact. It was designed to beat Throws, and cancelling into 2A you can, for instance, throw out 2B > 22C to do massive damage.
2B: Fast, nice range, a low that cancels into Special moves allowing quick confirms that may even knock down.
j.5B: Your specialized jump-in normal. j.5C is good but has little range, something that’s covered by this one.
5C: Marvellous anti-air that cancels into Specials, deals good damage and it’s specially useful for pressuring.
4C: Could honestly be better, but it’s good as it its. A very high poke that unfortunately doesn’t Colpo and creates a distance between Xanxus and his opponent. But, y’know, sometimes that’s what you’re looking for anyway.
6C: It’s sad but this move is worse than the original. If you plan on zoning at long range it’s still good and you can shoot twice, but it’s not plus anymore. Actually, it’s minus on hit. Does more damage, at least, so it’s not all bad.
2C: Plus 6 on Block, still an amazing projectile. You can combo out of it if you land a Colpo Counter Hit, and this move Colpos a lot.
j.5C: Less range, more power when compared to j.5B. Good for cross-ups and causing damage on block, but for most situations you might prefer the other aerial.
j.2C: Same exact projectile with good angles. Lots of Groggy damage, nice framedata.
Throw: Xanxus lifts you holding your face and explodes you on his hand. Knockdown. I say “you” but I’m actually imagining myself in that situation.
Air Throw: Xanxus throws his opponents in the ground and fires his pistols at them from above. Knockdown, and if I’m not mistaken it switches sides.
Artiglio dell’Ira: 236, Xanxus throws away his projectile and now concentrates that giant fireball on his hands. You can still charge this move, powering up its damage, stun and a even range a tiny bit. A and B are basically the same, although B is a frame slower (wathever) and being one frame slower on fully charged blockstun (even bigger wathever). Both are plus on block, charged or not. C version was designed for combos and not pressure, as it no has to hits in order to deal more damage. Because of the two hits, this one is -8 on block. All three end up in a knockdown, but C sends the opponent further away from you fucking up your oki. Although, sometimes you ARE looking for distance.
Pioggia di Fiamma: The same invincible projectiles from his past version. Xanxus insists on evading the range of effectively any move while he fires at your feet. One of my favorite special moves in the entire game, and you can easily combo into it.
Vulcano: Contrary to his original version, 22C now has a second hit. Starts with an anti-air Shouler Bash and ends in a knee-strike divekick. Using the full strength of your body in a single move actually works when you can fly, dealing good damage in both combos and pressure. You have to block both 22C’s moves in order to punish it, and that may even break your defenses. It’s a great reversal, combo ender and a wonderful pressure tool in both neutral and okizeme.
Bester!: A throw with absurd range, although it takes half a second to come out. Xanxus summons his liger to roar at his opponents and that roar paralyzes them, leaving them open for XX to throw anything he has in his arsenal. To dodge you have to duck, considering jumping doesn’t make you immune to the hitbox.
Hyper Strike – Lampo di Luce Ardente: Unblockable, practically invincible. Perfect for okizeme, you can try ducking to lower the damage it causes but it won’t really help you much. Breaks any type of armor and makes your Guard Gauge vanish if you even manage to reflect it.
Burst Hyper Strike – Ruggito Funebre > Scoppio d’Ira: Anti-air, unblockable and badass. First, Xanxus summons Bester to roar again, this time much faster. The roar can still hit aerial opponents, and if it does, brings them paralyzed to the ground so they can be hit by the next blow. While Bester is roaring, Levi brings a chair for Xanxus to sit in. That’s not important for the move it’s just cool. As soon as the roar is over, hitting or not, Xanxus stands up kicking the chair backward and shoots at you with both pistols turning two bullets into a giant one. This is my favorite Super in the game, even though it’s not as strong as the first one, considering you can easily dodge the roar by crouching and then block the follow-up projectile. Anytime I use this Super I can’t help but imagine Xanxus with me on the bed. Sorry.
Byakuran
Age: Over 20.
Height: 183cm.
Blood: ???
Gender: Non-binary, but in a menacing way.
Flame: Orange, Sky.
Occupation: Mafia boss.
Weapon: Nothing… and marshmallows.
Track: Noble Evil.
This may be the strongest character in the game, honestly. Byakuran is good at anything. Besides having great normals, confirms, combos and all that, he’s also the proud parent of a projectile that can easily be used in powerful setups. He can create lots of different hitboxes at once that will travel through the air before raining down on you, and the rest of the character’s moves compliment this projectile perfectly. He has a tool for any occasion and his only weakness is the lack of a combo that deals full health damage, and we can only thank God for that.
Normals: 5A is a great jab with range that’s way too god for a simple light. You can chain multiple together because of that. 5B is another move with absurd range and it can still cancel into Specials, something not a single other character with a 5B like that can do. 6B is a short dash that also has a disjointed poke, effectively turning it into a sword. It cancels into Specials too. In fact, it’s easier to say which Normals do not cancel into Specials! And it’s just a single one, 2C. So keep in mind that every single move this character has is cancellable (outside of this one). 5C is a great heavy that combos out of 5A Colpo and can, in turn, link into Super 2 even on Block, forcing your opponent to block the full Super. It can also beat Throws as it has a very low hitbox. 4C is a great anti-air, 6C is a horizontal poke with a lot of range and both cancel into specials, who would’ve thought? 2C, the only non-cancellable move, is a +1 multihit that knocks down HEAVILY (throwing opponents to the air), and it can easily crush 5As and Throws. That’s why it doesn’t cancel, it simply has no need for it. In the air, Byakuran has a j.2C that alters his aerial momentum and it’s also a knockdown inducing multihit.
Eat?: 236, projectile. Byakuran fires marshmallows. Each button sends the marshmallows in a completely different range, and if you charge it you can even send three at once. That’s the move’s real power. This move can easily force opponents to block or distract them so they end up not blocking another move and actually getting hit by both. C is used in zoning scenarios, B is used to anti-air and A is a setup, throwing it almost entirely upwards, meaning it will eventually fall down. Similar to Dudley’s Rose in Street Fighter III, but actually way better. It can be used anytime the opponent is knocked down and, depending on how many frames you have, you can send more or less marshmallows at once through charging.
Like This?: A rekka, possibly the best in the game. A kick with crazy distance that leaps above lows, it’s also very safe when spaced making it a very effective poking tool. It’s a four-hit move that always hit and end up knocking you down. Any move can combo onto this, and you may have realized all his moves can cancel into Specials so that’s a no-brainer confirm. This kick is way too fast for its range.
I see.: 22, Flash Kick, but better than Tsuna’s. This move starts low so it beats Throws and Jabs. Always knocks down, protects Byakuran with a big hitbox and has little lag.
Hyper Strike – It’s about time, right? Stay: A dash throw similar to Tsuna’s Zero Chitten Toppa. In fact, they’re identical! You can also dodge it through ducking. Does a lot of damage and you can combo onto it, just like Tsuna’s Super.
Burst Hyper Strike – Eat up, stand!: Thousands of projectiles and you have to block them all. Deals 11.5 Guard Damage (out of 12!) so it’ll probably crush you if the last move lands (it tends to miss). Does great damage too, although it’s recommend to use it when your opponent is far away from the corner so the last hit actually connects.
that background off. My editor
thinks the lightning is part of it.
Gamma
Age: Around 30.
Height: 185cm.
Blood: O.
Gender: Man.
Flame: Green, Lightning.
Occupation: Father.
Weapon: Billiard Bat, foxes and jet boots.
Track: Foxtrot.
Gamma is a specialized character, which means he knows how to do only one thing well and that’s it. He focuses entirely in pokes and zoning, having little to no cancels or combos in general. Gamma has an Assist that adds a lot of damage to his moves, but in general, this character can barely do damage by just attacking. Pokes are fast and most of them switch Gamma’s position forward or back. He also has a great DP and fast projectiles.
Normals: 5A is a mid jab with a lot of speed and range, one of the very small number of normals that can actually cancel into something. 5B is a poke focusing on punishes, comboing into 5A on Counter or a 22C. 4B is a low move that’s also a dashback, but not a true low. Specifically used to escape Throws. 6B is a kicking leap forward, although it’s not considered an aerial move. Great for challenging lows. 5C is a long ranged poke, 6C is too, but with bigger horizontal distance. 4C is slow, but once it comes out it’s one of the only moves that can cancel into Specials and it’s plus. 2A is a true low kick, 2B is a low poke. 2C works as anti-air, but also combos on Colpo Drive.
Shot Plasma: Fast projectiles. Each button calls a new ball into play, and although C version has three balls it does not deal more stun or damage. It does come out faster though, and breaks high reflects.
Elettro Volpe: Summons two foxes, they’ll attack at the same time when you land a hit. But they do not activate on block and vanish after a while. Honestly, the fact this character can only do damage using them is what repel me from being interested in playing him. If those foxes would at least activate on block I think it would be more fun and Gamma could actually apply pressure.
Thor’s Boots: 22, extremely fast DP that works as a reversal, combo finisher and anti-air.
Hyper Strike – Electric Tower: Gamma leaps back and fires a very tall lightning wall, that hits multiple times. Great for any setup, and you can even combo onto it. Even if Gamma is hit, the wall will still spawn.
Burst Hyper Strike – Final Shot: Reversal, Gamma is invincible at the start. Deals great damage.
Genkishi
Age: ???
Height: ???
Blood: ???
Gender: Non-binary.
Flame: Indigo, Mist.
Occupation: Ghost.
Weapon: Yontoryu, four-sword style. And snails.
Track: Knightmare.
Genkishi is a very balanced character with a footsies focus. Good projectile, lots of chip damage and the best throw in the game in terms of speed. Two extremely powerful Supers for different situations. Low Dash Slash. Low damage and weak pressure are his main weakness though, as he has no good punishes or combos, and the fact it’s too easy to reflect his multihits or confirms after blocking. No reversals outside of Super 2.
Normals: 5B is a great Special confirm normal, with a fairly big cancel window and range. 6B is a five hit combo, the first three hits are automatic but the last two have to be activated, although they always knock down. First three hits are done in the air. 5C is a good anti-air poke, considering its absurd range and angle. 4C is a move that can only ever be useful as an anti-air, and it does have pretty good range for one. But considering its angle and the game it’s in, you’ll probably never find good use for such a long anti-air, it would be appropriate for a game with Airdashes though. 2A is a low and it can combo into itself three times, colpo, and also cancel into 214B to get a good knockdown. 2C is the character’s best anti-air, but it can also combo out of a Colpo 2A and cancels into Specials to deal damage. J.5C is wonderful in any situation, but specially cross-ups. Genkishi has a divekick on j.2C that’s pretty useful, but it’s not an overhead. Multihit, though, and pretty quick.
Spettro Nudibranchi: 236 Projectile, buttons affect speed. Used to force approach and corner combos.
Tre Spettro Spada: 214, it has three distinct versions. At the start of them all, Genkishi vanishes from the screen, and then reappears in a different place. A button makes him appear from the ground and do a +2 slash on block. C button makes him appear in the air into a falling slash that’s not overhead, but is +5 and always knocks down… if it hits, that is. B version appears from the wall behind himself and into a Low Dash Slash. This one is +5, knocks down and is a true low. It also gives you plenty of room to follow up with your pressure.
Shiken – Dankujin: 22, airborne spinning combo, beats lows. Does good damage if it hits, if it doesn’t then it’s over. Knocks down, though.
Hyper Strike – Danza Spettro Spada: Summons dozens of missiles around the opponent, and he’ll be forced into blocking them all. Does awesome chip damage so it’s perfect to end rounds. There’s no counterplay to it when used after a knockdown, and that’s this Super’s biggest power.
Burst Hyper Strike – Armamento da Guerra: Even better than the last one, as this is an Invincible Super move, and you can’t punish it. You can use it to dodge any move and counter right away.
Ginger Bread
Age: Irrelevant, artificial being.
Height: uhh… small?
Blood: Has no blood.
Gender: COMPLETELY NON-BINARY.
Flame: Yellow, Sun.
Occupation: Doll.
Weapon: Broom and spiders.
Track: Trick or treat.
Ginger is a unorthodox zoner with bizarre movement and setups. Weak damage, but a keepaway playstyle that let them be safe at all times. One of the characters that makkes better use of Supers in the game, as they get a lot of bar pretty quickly. Great projectiles, unblockables and fastest type of throw in the game.
Normals: 5B is focused around Special Cancels, but it can also break high reflects. 4B is used to cover crossups, hitting behind Ginger. 5C fires five short distance projectiles, blocking the first one forces you into blocking the rest. Pretty fast and even on block. 5B is designed around crushing highs, so 4C is the one that beats lows. Ginger dashes back and starts flying at frame 3, and then they come back rolling with a move that’s even on block. If it Counter Hits, you can combo into a Throw with ease. 6C at first may seen terrible, but this is a move designed as an Anti-Air only and it gives you a guaranteed knockdown, setting up perfectly for a Super. 2A is a long ranged low, and 2B is a poke. j.2B is a +6 divekick on block, that means you can combo onto your frame 6 Throw or frametrap your opponent using 2A. It’s a multihit and changes Ginger’s aerial trajectory. You can play around with your opponent’s head using j.5B too, this one hits directly below Ginger.
Spider Shield: 236, projectiles summoned from above in three different places (selected with button strength). Lots of multihits, may crush any reflection attempt.
Needle Rain: 214, projectile. Each version is launched ata vastly different angle, A firing it directly in front of Ginger while C shoots at a 45° angle. Landing a hit in any state (Colpo, Counter, Groggy) results in a knockdown. Perfect for any combo.
Amai Amai~: Creates an S-Reflection Barrier, but it can also be used to charge your meter. Projectiles are absorbed by the web shield, and then a different one comes out of it. Basically a reflector. It’s crushed by lows and throws.
Hyper Strike – Wake-Up Call: Unblockable, inflicts instant Groggy when it hits. After a while, if it landed on the opponent, it’ll end up exploding. That is, if Ginger Bread wasn’t hit. It can be reflected, so it’s important to force your opponent into blocking your moves normally and keep’em busy so they can’t prepare for the sudden blast. This Super completely shapes Ginger’s unique playstyle, a very creative style of pressure.
Burst Hyper Strike – Hug of Goodbye: A Throw, similar to Tsuna’s Super 1. You can crouch to dodge it too. Perfect to end combos and deal great damage. Ginger can use both throws at the same round, considering how easy it is for her to get meter using projectiles and shields.
King Moska (Spanner)
Age: Around 20.
Height: 184cm, although the robot may have 4 meters. Or at least 3.
Blood: O.
Gender: Cis man, but surely not a straight one.
Flame: None.
Occupation: Mechanic.
Weapon: Big robots named “Moska”.
Track: Maximum power.
Moska is a grappler. That’s almost enough to summarize the whole character. He’s double the size of every character in the game, and that fact interacts with Battle Arena 2’s unique mechanics in interesting ways. His normals are notorious for their range, but they’re slow, and punishable, and despite earning frequent knockdowns Moska is heavily dependent on punishes in order to get anything out of an interaction. That’s not a problem, however, considering he forces his opponents to move like he wants them to. All of his moves do great damage, especially his Throws (duh). The character’s motto is not being able to do much, but if it hits it should always hit hard. Because of his size, it may be relatively easy to crush Moska’s reflects, as a lot of moves are considered Low-hitting on the guy. Although he’s the grappler, every character receives a better throw while fighting him, sometimes more than one. Outside of an obvious nerf for the character, it was probably made because the character’s original throws were not meant for someone that big and heavy. As you might’ve realized, Moska loses against zoners. Something cool about him is that he actually has a tool for every situation, although they tend to be too specific. Multiple anti-airs, two different projectiles, a full-screen dash that crosses up, a dash-hop that goes over lows… but everything is way too specific and unsafe if not well planned, and that balances the character out. His great projectile may be fast, but it’s too high to hit most characters.
I’m getting somewhat tired of writing about this many characters, but even though I’m not a Moska player, I’m overjoyed to talk about his moveset and playstyle. He’s the only real grappler in the game but does an amazing job bringing the archetype to life in a brand-new way. All of his weaknesses are tied to the main mechanics of the game, so he can be used as a case study of how the mechanics make some characters stronger and some weaker. But don’t be fooled – with strategy, Moska can use Reflects, Colpos, and Counters in his favor too. Lastly, he has way too much health, but his Super meter takes longer to fill up.
Normals: 5A and 2A are two of the character’s fastest Normals, the latter being his only low. Despite being the fastest, they’re still frame 6/9, compensating with their extended reach. 4B shoots two projectiles into the air, they’re way too high to hit anyone on the ground. Anti-air only. 6B hops forward and shoots chains down the opponent. Even if they hit pretty low they’re considered mids. In fact, they might crush low reflects. 5C is an anti-air, 4C is a high punch that gives you one of the heaviest knockdowns in the game. Plus on block, but it’s a frame 20 making it easy to react. Just duck. 6C is E.Honda’s headbut, but functions a little differently. If spaced, Moska will hit and then back off, and punishing him is harder. If it hits closer to the opponent, it’s a cross-up. Has a very big hitbox so when it’s crossing-up it’s still hard to punish, but it’s possible. This move allows Moska greater movement capabilities and can also evade certain low moves. 2C is a strong punch on the ground, covering Moska’s front entirely. Used for crushing reflect. In the air, Moska has j.5B (a long-ranged kick) and j.5C (belly flop). The latter can be used in punishing, crossing-up and jumping-in, as it has good framedata.
Moska Force Gun: 236, high projectile. Knocks down in any state. Easy to dodge by ducking. In fact, a lot of Specials can be evaded through ducking, but this one is specially high so anything you do that shifts your hitbox down just a little is enough. Buttons change the bullet’s speed so I’d recommend 236A that’s stays on screen longer.
King Buster: 214, not exactly a throw but it also kind of is. It can be blocked and ducked, but does command throw damage and you can combo onto it. Dash move, so it’s easier to hit than you’d normally expect.
King Blast: 22, counter move that also blocks. Or vice versa. Perfect for anti-airing and it can also stuns enough to be considered a combo starter. Hitting it inflicts instant Groggy.
Peach Squeeze: One of the best throws in the game. 22 + Throw, hits a little in front of Moska but not too close to him. Knocks down REALLY hard, giving you almost a full second to prepare and reposition yourself for pressure.
Hyper Strike – Scramble: Full-screen projectile, calling Strau Moskas (King Moskas but not as strong) to fly through the screen. +2 on block, but considering it’s a full-screen projectile, that hardly matters.
Burst Hyper Strike – Moska The End: Dash Throw, but you can also dodge by crouching. You can easily combo into it out of a King Blast.
Belphegor – 10 Years Later
Age: 26.
Height: Over 170cm, but I couldn’t quite confirm it.
Blood: AB.
Gender: Agender, likes men.
Flame: Red, Storm.
Occupation: Prince the Ripper, as he’s not the actual ruler of his kingdom.
Weapon: Knives, steel threads, and a cute emo ferret.
Track: Enemy Attack.
Bel is a character that perfectly represents his fighting style from the source material. Dictating the flow of the match and always making sure that everything’s going his way, but if one thing goes differently from his plans he has a very hard time recovering from disadvantage. Great setups and projectiles with good advancing and pressure tools, but he lacks anti-airs and reversals, making him very vulnerable when pressured. Despite that, his projectile game is a strong contender for best in RBA2, considering he also has the best projectile with his 236. A bunch of the character’s moves can be delayed to mix up timing. All delayable moves start with the same animation so it can confuse your opponent.
Normals: 5A is too fucking broken, 11 hitstun frames on Colpo/Counter and if you manage to get BOTH it’s a crushing 15 frames. With numbers that high, you can start basically any combo, and out of a simple Colpo you can combo into a throw and get a knockdown. 5B is a great poke, very safe, and can confirm into 5C. 6B is a dash attack, it starts with a little hop. You can dodge it by ducking, but there’s a lot of cool stuff about this move like a confirm into 2B (best special cancel), and a possible delay that reflects Mid. Also because it’s a dash. As I said, 2B is the best special cancellable normal, although it’s lacking in the range department. There’s a lot of ways to link moves into it, and from it, you can go for a Special or Super Move. It’s also a low. 5C is a low that can convert into 2B, it’s also a projectile. 4C and 6C both throw knives, but in different ways. 4C starts with a jump back before shooting diagonally, while 6C is a tiny backdash and then a shot forward. Both can be delayed, just like 6b, and all three of these moves have the same delay animation and reflect Mid. 2C is a low slide, but after the move, Bel retreats to his original position making this move pretty safe when spaced. j.2C throws knives downwards in the air, it is also an OVERHEAD projectile. I don’t think I have to explain why that’s so cool.
Visone Tempesta: Best projectile in the game. Each button throws the ferret in a different angle – up, down, and forward – but your friend travels in an arc, meaning all of them end up in the same spot in the middle. It’s way too fast, way too strong, knocks down in any state and, even if it doesn’t, it can still link into a full-screen distance Super 2. Plus on block, even on close range. A menace to society as a whole.
Rumble Edge: 214, rekka. Although slow, it leaps above lows and has a pretty nice combo. The first hit is a guaranteed Colpo, while the second shifts your position forward to make sure it’s going to land. The third one is pretty similar to 4C in the sense it starts with a jumpback and diagonal knives. Because of this finisher, Bel keeps himself safe while also throwing hitboxes at you. Easy to dodge when used raw on neutral, but it’s a rekka, so it’s meant to be used in combos.
Invisible Evil: 22, projectile setup. Bel shoots a steel thread in one of three angles drastically different angles, for also different situations. After shooting the thread, a knife will come back through it independently of what you do, or what is done to you. Perfect for setups out of a knockdown, forcing block.
Hyper Strike – Prince the Ripper: Very specific Super. A combo that activates even on block, reflect, or – of course – hit. When compared to Super 2 it might not be that good, but it’s specially designed to crush Reflects, considering every single hit lands in a different spot. No piece of armor can reflect all the hits. Despite that, Super 2 is still preferable.
Burst Hyper Strike – Crimson Flame: Various full-screen projectiles, which means it can be used in virtually any combo, punish, and can also be linked out of a full-screen 236 projectile. As I said in the beginning, Bel is fucking amazing, but if he loses his advantage it’s hard to get it back. A zoner if I ever knew one.
Superbia Squalo – 10 Years Later
Age: 32.
Height: Over 183cm.
Blood: O.
Gender: Gay man. In fact, a lot of people know him by the name “Superbi Squalo”, so that’s debatable.
Flame: Blue, Rain.
Occupation: Sword Emperor or whatever the fuck he wants to name his kinks.
Weapon: Sword linked to his arm, and sharks.
Track: Emperor of sword.
One of my favorite Reborn characters, whether in the manga or this game. All swordsmen characters have things in common, but Squalo is more my style. Focuses on good neutral in mid and close range, forcing mixups and reactions from his opponents. Good lows, overheads, sweeps, and short combos that do good damage and knockdown. His biggest weakness is his defense, as he’s not very capable of escaping pressure.
Normals: 5B is a great poke. It may not be cancellable but it still combos into 236. 6B leaps into the air and pierces downwards three times, a very unique move and also an overhead. 5C is another good poke, 4C fires projectiles towards the ground (making it an effectively short-ranged projectile). 6C is very slow, but as a poke (spaced) it’s perfect. Upon landing a Colpo, links into 2C. 2C is a slide sweep, one that always knocks down and is fairly easy to combo into for its speed and distance. 2B is a low forward, and every character that has one of these is my friend. j.2B is one of the character’s most unique moves. Initially, it’s a spinning aerial slash that halts Squalo’s aerial momentum and throws you back if it hits. But it has a follow-up that shoots projectiles if you hold the button. Used for pressure and zoning, it’s one of the character’s defining features. Additionally, Squalo has a very cool throw animation that ends on a Knockdown.
I’ll cut you in 3!: 236, rekka. Easy to combo, but outside of a combo it is also easy to block. You can block or reflect the three hits and then punish with a jab. The third hit knocks down, though.
Shock da Squalo: 214, hop and then a strong blow to the head with the back of the blade. It’s not an overhead for some reason, but it beats lows and is very fast. On block, does 4.5 Guard Damage (out of 12). I use it a lot out of a Knockdown to force blocking. On hit, you can combo into the rekka.
Zanna di Squalo: I’ll be honest, this move sucks. It’s a multi-hit anti-air, and that’s the problem. In this game, the first hit you get in the air already throws you back to the ground. It’s impossible to land more than one against aerial opponents and its upwards hitbox prevents it from being useful in the ground. It’s slow, and even for combos, you can just do rekka instead. It’s just… not worth it, but if you do use this move, go for A version that ends faster and does not have the last hit. This last slash is the only one that hits grounded opponents, but believe me, it’s also not worth it.
Hyper Strike – Squalo Grande Pioggia: Perfect against knocked down opponents, summoning a shark on the guard that tracks the opponent before it strikes. Does a lot of damage but its best application is forcing block.
Burst Hyper Strike – Scontro di Squalo: A low, and once it hits, deals some nice damage. It’s hard to add this to your combo, but not impossible. Best use for dodging, considering Squalo leaps back before activation.
Dino – 10 Years Later
Age: 32.
Height: Over 183cm.
Blood: O.
Gender: Gay man. This is almost the same profile as Squalo, ain’t it?
Flame: Orange, Sky.
Occupation: Cavallone Famiglia boss. Bucking Horse.
Weapon: Whip, horse.
Track: Hitman.
Finally, the last character. Dino is sort of an Axl Low (Guilty Gear) style zoner, which is cool for some people and terrible for everyone else. He has the tools for any situation, but in return asks for a lot of skill and technique. Despite being a zoner, most of his damage is done in close quarters, so he’ll inevitably get in. Dino has an infinite combo in Groggy, one that’s very hard to hit and way too situational, and that’s what balances it. Can’t cancel his medium and long-ranged normals into Specials, so most of his normals are pokes that lead to nothing. A lot of his moves are easy to read, so he has to play around some more with probabilities.
Normals: 5A is a combo extender. It causes lots of stun with a Colpo Hit. 5B is your best cancellable normal, a perfect match with your Flash Kick. 4B is used for dodging, but it’s also a multihit (three to six hits). Minus on block so you better watch out. 5C is a poke, if used at max distance it can’t be punished and has to be reflected low. 4C is an anti-air, that’ it. 6C is a bicycle kick that deals 6 to 9 frames of stun, possibly linking into 5A, and back into 6C… that’s how the infinite works, because in Groggy State all these numbers are bigger. It can also lead to 22 or Super 1 if you can’t do the Infinite (you most likely can’t). 2C is a full-screen low, at first sight, I actually panicked upon discovering it (I had company too). This guy has three aerials that are worth mentioning: j.5C and j.2C are the same move, for different directions. 5C launches Dino backward and whips down forward, while 2C shoots Dino forward while whipping back (used in cross-ups). Both sport very long range and attack in a straight line, similar to how the Belmonts use their whips. This is actually the same as Simon’s diagonal attack in Castlevania Chronicles and IV. It’s also identical to Smash’s incarnation of Simon and Richter’s Back Air. j.2B is a divekick that combos into itself in Groggy.
Hanging Whip: 236, Spider-Man’s Web Swing. Has three followups. Slide (A) is a low slide (duh) capable of crossing-up. Roll (B) is an aerial roll, if executed close to the ground it’s hard to punish, but not worth it anyway. Jump (C) uses j.5C or j.2C, canceling Web Swing’s momentum.
Capture Whip: 214, two hits. Just a whip attack on the first, very long range, but the second one brings the opponent closer to Dino (if it lands, of course). Perfect in combos and you can easily confirm 5A (Co) into it, a move that I already said was a Combo Extender anyway. Dino’s Infinite is very specific, so if it’s not possible to do it you can go for a Capture Whip instead.
Crescent Circle: 22, Flash Kick. Great anti-air, and actually circles around the character, hitting behind you. Mid armor.
Hyper Strike – Salto Volante Come Luce: Combo Super, easy to hit as it starts very quickly.
Burst Hyper Strike – Pegaso Super Salto Volante: Full-screen Invincible Dash, but minus on hit.
Glossary
Even if you play videogames, maybe fighting games, there might be some terms and names you’re not familiar with. Or maybe you are, but for a different kind of game and you don’t know how it could apply to a fighting game. You can ignore this glossary if you want, but every term will be explained in order of appearance during the character guides, except for terms that REALLY relate to each other. These will be grouped. If you’d like to read the glossary while reading another chapter, you can leave it as a different tab here.
Punish: Retaliate the opponent when they make a bad decision. Whiffing a slow move, for instance, opens up a window for you to punish. Punishing is the essence of any fighting game – you won’t win if you don’t risk getting hit. Every fighting game revolves around taking risks, sometimes the risk won’t compensate and that’ll leave you open for a punish.
Bait: Literally, a bait. Makes the opponent think or act in a certain way, giving you an opportunity you were fishing for.
Normals: Normal Attacks, made by simply pressing buttons.
Command Normals: Normal Attacks, but made with a simple input command. They’re different from Special Moves because you can’t cancel into them, in normal circumstances.
Aerials: Aerial Attacks, literally. There are some aerial Command Normals too.
Throws: Moves that go through your block.
Command Throws: Also Throws, but the key difference is that they’re considered Specials and are alien to any Throw mechanic in the game. Lots of games have “Techs”, that can break Throws before they begin by inputting the same command. That is, knowing a Throw will come out and stop it. With Command Throws that can’t be done, so they’re usually slower to make evading them possible (normally you just jump).
Special Moves: Moves that do not follow any pattern, normally used with command inputs. Different games can really cross the line for what could be considered a Normal or Special, so that’s not a rule, but Specials are known for their unique properties and comboing out of Normals.
EX Special Moves: Special Moves that use Meter. May be a stronger version of a pre-existing move.
Super Moves: Very powerful moves that use some kind of meter, or just an additional rule of the game that limits their use.
Cancel: Stopping the recovery animation of a move to start another one, most fighting games nowadays revolve around combos that cancel everything.
Combo: Kinda obvious, but it’s important to at least establish that a Combo can only be considered one if it’s “true”, that is if you can’t escape it through normal methods. Even if you land five hits back to back, if your opponent had a single frame to act then it’s not a combo. In a similar vein, a reset would be stopping a combo prematurely in order to begin a new one, messing with your opponent’s head.
Midrange: Literally, staying at a medium distance from the opponent. Just enough for physical moves to land, like a kick with a fully extended leg. In a way, a safe range for both players, but in a single step may not be anymore.
Closerange: Close to the opponent, when every move lands. Risky for both players, but gives a better advantage for the one hitting.
Longrange: Far away, of course. Safe for everyone, although some characters work well at this distance. All three distances can be good or bad depending on the characters and gameplay styles of every player.
Pressure: The easy answer is saying it is what it looks like it is, applying pressure. This is something almost entirely psychological, focusing on the philosophical aspect of fighting games. Pressure on block, for instance, refers to the act of keeping constant hits on your opponent in different ways while he’s blocking you, fishing for the moment he blocks wrong or ends up making a bad decision so you can counterattack. Your job is to pressure them into acting, because if they block forever they’ll never hit you and may lose all their health by Chip damage, or losing their Guard Gauge. Pressure’s all about that, and if it doesn’t exist your opponent will never have to do anything. In theory, just playing the game is applying pressure, considering there’s a timer on the match. But it IS much more nuanced than that.
Link: Quite literally linking a move into the next, but in Fighting Games, “Link” means something more specific. A link would be to combo without canceling/chaining. Instead of canceling Recovery frames early, you wait for one move to end so you can use the next. Links are rare, normally, considering you have to apply enough stun to the opponent so your move can end and you still have time for another one before your enemy can move again. In Reborn, Links are commonly made with Colpos or Counters, which add more stun.
Loop: Cycling between the same string of moves, like a 5A>5A or 5A>5B>5A. These are pretty rare, moves can hardly loop into each other to prevent infinite combos from existing. Sometimes it happens, and it may even be intentional. A loop can be used in the middle of a combo to extend it a little because bigger combos mean more damage.
Low: Moves that HAVE to be blocked low. In Reborn, it can also mean something that hits the lower body of a character even if it’s not blocked low (important detail for S-Reflection).
Mid: Moves that can be blocked both standing or crouching. In Reborn, it also means hitting the upper body of a character.
Overhead: Moves that have to be blocked standing, and just standing. Almost every Aerial Move is considered an overhead, so when you see an opponent jumping you have to block standing. I can’t even name a single game that has a LOW Aerial Move, so I think it’s a universal rule.
High: Moves that hit the highest portions of the boy. “Mid” and “Low” are very bad names when you’re talking about S-Reflection, as a move being considered “Overhead” does not necessarily mean it hits high, for instance, while lows always hit low. It’s very confusing.
Backdash: Dashing back, usually with invincibility frames.
Anti-air: Punishing a jump, normally directed upwards. Jumping is extremely dangerous in fighting games because of how easy it is to punish them from the ground.
“Frame 4”: When we say a move is “Frame (number)” we’re referring to how fast it actually starts. A frame 4 starts in four frames, so it has four startup frames before it turns into an active hitbox. A frame 20 would, of course, start in 20 frames. We’re always playing in 60 frames per second, so 30 frames would be half a second. A frame 4 move is very fast.
Crush: In Reborn, it means breaking your opponent’s reflect attempt by hitting the “sweetspot”. If they throw, you can crush it by hitting a low or an aerial.
Divekick: Any aerial move that makes a character descend faster while attacking. Not always a kick.
Setup: Something you start doing early in order to take advantage of it later. Like planting a bomb, but it can be more than that. A very slow projectile can be a setup, it only depends on how you use it and where you want to get to. A setup is something that has no immediate return but will actually help you out later on.
“+4 On Block”: When a move lands it causes a frame reaction between you and the opponent. If you hit someone’s block, the opponent will be stunned for some frames, and it’ll be fewer frames than if they were hit. A +4 move means that, even when blocked, you’ll still recover from the move four frames earlier than the opponent and that’s VERY GOOD for you. Minus is the opposite, it means you’ll recover later so you can be punished or countered. Even means both recover at the same frame. The one that recovers first is always an advantage, and the quality of a lot of moves can be decided by how safe they are on block, all because of these frames.
Flash Kick: A type of anti-air, named like that in honor of Street Fighter’s Guile. It’s a huge jump with a bigger hitbox, it usually covers a very good area. Tsuna, Byakuran, and Dino have moves like that, which leads me to believe it’s a Mafia Boss thing. Or an American soldier thing.
Hitbox: Programming term. A hitbox is an area of effect, in fighting games it’s an area of the screen that causes damage during a punch, for instance. If you don’t play fighting games seriously, then it hardly matters if you understand this or not. I mean, a punch hits because it does, right? Hits right on the fist. But it’s not like this always, because in a game everything has to be programmed, and in fighting games developers will purposedly make specific decisions to balance each character. The same punch in different characters may hit in different parts of the fist, maybe some pixels up or some pixels forward. There are no rules for how a hitbox should work, but now you know why a move that clearly never touched you still landed.
Startup Frames: Frames before a move’s activation, while the animation is just starting. Think about a kick – startup would be the moment you start raising your leg, you haven’t kicked yet but you’re going to.
Active Frames: The moments your foot is extended with force and can actually hurt. Every “lethal” frame is considered active and can affect another person. Low startup means a move gets to the Active Frames quickly so it can be effective.
Recovery/Lag Frames: Lag is the consequence – after kicking, you have to bring your leg back to the ground so you can do something different, like kicking again with the other leg. During this time, you’re vulnerable, if you didn’t hit the opponent leaving him stunned.
Projectile: Bullets, basically. Shooting a move separate from you, that has nothing to do with your body and, of course, can’t be attacked to damage you like a body part would. Projectiles usually function by themselves after being fired. Having a projectile is always good, even if that projectile sucks.
Zoner: A character based upon their reach. Zoners can be extremely diverse and separated into different categories of their own. But “zoning” refers to the act of attacking at long range, not always done by zoner characters. Just by shooting a projectile, you’re already zoning.
Approach: The act of getting in, getting closer to the opponent, and the tools a character has to do so.
Knockdown: Falling or making an opponent fall to the ground. In most games, once an enemy is knocked down they can’t be attacked until they get up, but they also can’t act. I said “most” because there are a lot of games that do not follow this rule, although the general mindset about a knockdown remains. In Guilty Gear you can attack knocked-down opponents, but alongside inflicting less damage, it’ll immediately throw them away from you and they’ll get up. Sometimes it’s worth it, sometimes it surely isn’t.
Cross-up: Attacking an opponent from behind. Characters in a fighting game turn automatically when sides switch, but the player might not react to this sudden change in time. In most games, cross-ups force a player to block in the opposite direction they were, and if you don’t realize it in time, you’ll get hit. In Reborn, blocking is automatic if you’re not pressing anything, so the direction doesn’t really matter. Cross-ups still have their utilities here, no matter what.
Chip Damage: Damage inflicted upon a blocking opponent. Blocking isn’t invincible, and you’ll still take a portion of the damage. Chip is a great mechanic in Reborn, and sometimes you can’t block anything if you’re low on health, as you can die by Chip. One of the most iconic moments in fighting game history, EVO Moment 37, only exists because of Chip Damage. If Daigo blocked Chun-Li’s Super he would die of Chip. But a Parry (just like S-Reflection) takes no Chip Damage. Parries are very hard to do and ask for extremely precise timing, especially with so many hits like Sakuretsu Kyaku. That’s why it’s so iconic, and this kind of situation happens in Reborn frequently. I love winning by Chip.
Okizeme/Wake-up game: The fact that one of the players is immobilized and yet invincible (can’t get hit) captures a very interesting gameplay mentality. The moment they get up they’ll have to deal with anything the other player has prepared while they were knocked down. The attacking player couldn’t actually attack, but they could strategize. Some people jump to do an overhead and force you to block standing as soon as you wake up, or maybe they jump, do nothing, and use a low move as soon as they hit the ground to trick you. Throws are also good for okizeme, but know what’s cooler? Moves that will be blocked, and that’s exactly what you want. Moves that do a lot of Chip Damage, Guard Damage or are plus on block end up starting your pressure and extending your advantage state even after a knockdown. Being knocked down is ALWAYS bad for you, and you can’t really get anything out of being immobilized. Wake-Up Game, or Okizeme, exists for both players.
Mix-up: Mixing strategies to be unpredictable. If you always do the same thing it gets easy to learn and find counterplay. Mixing is about always trying something, always messing around with your opponent’s head, and always reacting. Switching from lows to overheads to throws, to cross-ups, to Supers, to a backdash, or purposefully delaying one of your moves, sometimes even doing nothing is mixing up. There’s no rules about that in a fight between two human beings.
Aegis Reflector: Aegis Reflector is one of Urien’s Supers in Street Fighter, and the term was coined because of Street Fighter III. The original Aegis Reflector shoots a barrier in front of Urien that will reflect projectiles and do damage if touched. The “reflector” part doesn’t matter, the real power of the move is the fact Urien just leaves a constant hitbox on the stage. It’s like there was another character helping him. We call “Aegis Reflector” moves that work in a similar way, creating a hitbox in the stage that will stay there doing damage.
Rushdown: A playstyle, or character archetype. It is, in theory, the opposite of a zoner, although that is debatable as zoners focused on a rushdown playstyle still exist. A Rushdown character wants to stay close, dealing maximum pressure and nonstop moves. An aggressive archetype, trying to make opponents overheat with the constant pressure. Hard to use, but even harder to deal with making them a “cheap” pick for beginners, and the apex of the game’s potential for veterans.
Keepaway: A zoner “level 2”. A character that only functions at adistance and is always trying to go back to this optimal range. Very defensive characters.
Clone: Not literally a clone, but a character that has their moves built around a pre-existing one. Ryu and Ken. Commonly used to establish different playstyles just changing a thing or two about the original moves, and I think that’s pretty fun. In Super Smash Bros. Melee, there are few differences between Fox and Falco, but they’re still impactful enough to change how they work, by simply switching up some angles, knockback, damage, and specific properties from moves that look like they’re the same. In Reborn, we have future versions of characters.
Spacing: Creating enough distance to keep yourself safe during a move, or to hit in a specific way. Normally spacing is hitting right at the tip of a move, keeping a certain (safe) distance if possible and still hitting. In Reborn, it also means hitting a Colpo Drive.
Conditioning: Forcing an opponent to make a certain decision and acting like you want them to. If you fire a projectile that covers the whole ground, you condition opponents into jumping or dodging, and through conditioning, you can always predict what they’ll do. Just keep in mind your foe can still surprise you. Conditioning isn’t unstoppable, but it does limit your opponent’s options and when they can’t do what they want anymore, you can focus on dealing with anything they can still do.
Playstyle: Self-explanatory, it’s the way you play. More aggressively, defensively, being very active at midrange, or a playstyle focused on running away when you can. There are thousands of different ways to play the same game, evenwith the same character. Clearly, a character will be more or less efficient with your playstyle.
Confirm: Confirm encapsulates Links and Cancels, because it literally means confirming a move into another – starting a combo. It’s a term that simply means comboing, but has a specific connotation around the specific link between a move and another, in contrast to the focus on a series of moves that “Combo” has. Confirming a Jab means hitting a Jab and then adding a move to it that combos, whether it’s through a link or a cancel, or a third, scarier thing (ROMAN CANCEL).
Corner-pressure: Specific pressure revolving around the corner, where one of the players can’t retreat anymore. Some combos only work on corners, while some don’t.
Advantage State: A moment in the match where one of the players is “winning”, not because of health but because they’re doing something, and the other player is forced to react to it. Applying pressure to someone means you’re on advantage. In a fighting game, our goal is to remain in Advantage State for as long as we possibly can.
React: Realizing what your opponent is doing and act accordingly.
Poke: Opposite of confirm, a move that’s just a move and that’s it. Poking. Pokes are used to do damage in the long run, and not all at once. Long, safe moves are considered good pokes, as you can attack from a distance and still inflict damage and/or pressure. Not risking yourself, knowing you won’t get good damage out of it all at once. Some pokes can be converted into something bigger under specific circumstances though.
Multihit: Multiple hits, obviously. A move that hits three times with a single input, for instance. It’s not a combo, multihits are great in games with parry-style mechanics like S-Reflection, as every move has to be parried individually instead of just once because it’s a single move.
Stun: Frames where you can’t do anything, most notably when you’re hit.
Follow-up: What follows after a move. Encapsulates Links, Cancels, Confirms… it just means anything that comes after another. Redundant, I know, but with time you start realizing certain terms work better on different occasions.
Follow-up (Rekkas or Multihits): Followup is also used for stuff that’s NOT a link, cancel, or confirms. Specials with multiple moves, for instance. Every hit after the first is called a “follow-up”. Multihits can also be labeled as moves with a “follow-up” when these additional hits are automatic. Yamamoto’s Samidade is a Special that cuts twice. They’re two moves, so it’s a multi-hit. But it’s not a rekka, because the second hit will come out no matter what. We call it follow-up then.
Invincibility: Exactly what it looks like, frames here you can’t get hit. Generally speaking, Invincibility is when a character is immune to damage, but there are certain things called “partial invincibility”, or invincibility to a specific thing. But, yeah, when we say “invincible” we probably mean it.
Top Tier: You know what a tier list is, right? A top tier is one of the best.
High Tier: High Tiers are strong characters.
Mid Tier: Mid Tiers are mid characters.
Low Tier: Low Tiers are considered bad.
Bottom Tier: Bottom Tiers are the worst of the worst. No tier list is definitive, they don’t mean shit. In a fight between two human beings, the one who has the best weapon doesn’t matter, what really counts are the interactions between their users. Despite that, we can categorize certain characters by their hypothetical potential. In this hypothesis, every character would be used at their maximum potential and then we could see which are the strongest. Although Tier Lists are based on evidence, they’re meaningless. Play whoever you want.
Conversion: After Cancel, Link, Confirm and Followup, get ready for a term that’s even more open to interpretation. A conversion is, simply, turning something into another, normally a single move in something bigger. Hitting a crouching move and start a combo out of it is converting a low into big damage. It’s not just referring to combos though, it can also be used for pressure, okizeme… you get the idea. These terms are confusing because they look the same, but think about how each term is more specific than the last. If it can get specific… why not? Normally, you wouldn’t need less specific terms, but having a good vocabulary helps you to express your ideas well. And, of course, they have their own separate uses. A conversion, for instance, expresses an idea of change: you punched with something in mind but the result was different from what you expected, so maybe you can convert it into something else. A simple poke can be converted into a combo depending on how you hit it, and that happens a lot in Reborn with Colpos and Counters.
Window: A moment in time. When we say “cancel window” we’re referring to the number of frames you can press anything to cancel a move. That is, a time frame, or a window of opportunity when something is executable. Not one frame less or more. 90% of cancellable moves aren’t only cancellable on a single frame, and every additional frame that lets you cancel a move is part of that “window”.
Prediction/Read: Predicting (with evidence) your opponent’s next actions, and act accordingly. It’s better than reacting, as it allows you to do something before the opponent.
Hard Read: Predicting, with no evidence. Maybe you predict right and win big time, but a Hard Read is a gamble that’s usually not worth it. Well thought reads might be wrong, but a Hard Read is hardly right.
Dragon Punch (DP): You know this one: that’s a Shoryuken. A Dragon Punch is a soaring move, traditionally used in punishes or as a combo finisher considering they’re laggy and risky. Sometimes they may come with partial invincibility on the very first frames, so you can counter your enemy’s approach if necessary.
Low Forward: As far as I know, this term came from Street Fighter. A Low Forward is a crouching kick with an extended leg that may be cancelled into Specials. Naturally, it’s a great normal that benefits any character. Every shoto in SF3 had one, for instance, and that was the key characteristic of these characters in that game. “Footsies” is a game that reduces a character’s movelist to the fundamentals of a match, and you can count the amount of moves the character (it’s just one) has in your fingers… with one hand. One of such fundamental moves is the Low Forward, as a homage to it’s historical importance and mechanical application.
Rekka: A “sectioned” move. That is, a move that after activation won’t be automatically completed, as it asks for additional inputs. In Reborn, almost all Rekkas simply ask you to hold the button, but you can actually press each individual input to mess up with timing. Lal Mirch, as far as I know, is the only character that lacks a rekka like that – she has to manually input every hit.
Mashing: Attacking without thinking, using your instincts, and impulsiveness. A lot of players are natural mashers, that can be a good or bad thing. If you have no skill, even though you may win when you stop thinking you will never evolve like that, and you should be thinking about your actions. But for extremely experienced players, they already developed a natural sense with the game that makes their instincts alone ideal, after all, they built it by playing a lot. You can also use mashing for “pressing something a lot”, like mashing 5A during block so you can counter with it at the first possible frame.
Reversal: Something that takes you out of a disadvantage and breaks your opponent’s pressure, whether it’s to start winning or simply going back to neutral. Dodges and moves with invincibility frames are good reversals.
Combo Finisher: A move that ends a combo. It’s not just the final hit, we preferably want a Combo Finisher to be something special that gives you some sort of opportunity to keep pressuring, like a move that ends in a knockdown.
Shoto: A character archetype. It comes from Ryu and Ken, and their Shotokan Style Karate. Characters that have Fireballs, Dragon Punches, and an advancing move, packed in a balanced moveset. Designed for beginners. Some examples: Mario (Smash), Ky Kiske (Guilty Gear), Hyde (Under Night), and Terry Bogard (Fatal Fury/KOF).
Fireball: Specific style of projectile, also coming from an iconic move. Like the Hadouken, an actual fireball that flies through the stage in a straight line. There are lots of different projectiles, but the Fireball is a classic one.
Space control: Dominating a portion of the stage, really making it clear that you control the arena, whether it’s through the use of projectiles, big hitboxes, or setups. Normally it’s something psychological.
Spam: Using something over and over again. Do not feel bad if you do that, sometimes that’s optimal. You should always think outside the box, but if you’re actually trying to win and your opponent doesn’t know how to deal with your spamming – keep going. They’ll have to adapt to it eventually.
Neutral: The most common state in fighting games. It’s when both players have no advantage. When you’re pressured on block, for instance, you’re at a disadvantage. So, when the pressure is over, you’re back to neutral. My favorite part of any fighting game is when both players are in neutral. It’s when the best interactions happen!
Slide: Generally a low move (mostly kicks) that moves your character forward.
Momentum: Mainting speed and/or direction in a different action.
Gameplan: Similar to playstyle, but gameplan is planning – what you or your character want out of the match. Your main objective in a fight, and what you know is going to make you win.
Assists: Entities that help you out, like characters or summons. Something that functions beside you, a partner.
Disjoint: A hitbox that has no hurtbox. A spot that, when hit, does not damage. A projectile or a weapon, for instance, that is not part of your body. It’s always good to have disjoints.
Unblockable: Impossible to block. Throws are, naturally, unblockable but we call them “Throws”.
Boxer: A character archetype. As the name implies, they use boxing to fight. That’s not just aesthetic – in boxing, you can’t use your legs. That means their range in a fighting game is much smaller than other characters. All the character’s aerials are punches, even though the legs might be closer to a grounded opponent. Because of that, they’re generally risky characters that are strong in close-range combat.
Sway: Dashback, then dash forward.
Commitable: Something that you can’t go back on, like a very slow move that can’t be canceled. A choice you made that, after picking, you’ll have to face the consequences.
Armor: Similar to invincibility, but instead of being completely invincible it comes with a lot of rules. Maybe armor that takes knockback but no damage, or damage without the knockback. In Reborn, we call the S-Reflection property of a hitbox “armor”.
Fullscreen: Something that moves or hits from one corner of the screen to the other. A fullscreen projectile goes far enough to cover the whole horizontal distance in the screen. A full-screen dash takes you to the opposite corner.
Shoulder Bash: This term isn’t important to anyone but me. A dash attack using your shoulders. Not uncommon in Fighting Games (Street Fighter’s Urien has one), but the only reason it’s here is because I’m obsessed over these moves. I love Wario. Any character with a shoulder bash attracts me like a magnet, in any style of game.
Jump-In: Jumping forward, but we normally use that for moves that help you in air-to-ground combat, like a kick that can start a grounded combo upon hitting.
Airdash: An aerial dash, introduced in Darkstalers and popularized by Marvel vs. Capcom and later on, Guilty Gear. Airdashers focus on them, and most recent fighting games feature airdashing. Not a single character has an airdash in Reborn (although Tsuna really should have one).
Grappler: A character focused on throws, and the inherent aspects brought by this. The most famous grappler is Zangief, I’m sure you know him. Grapplers are usually slow, big, and, honestly, terrible. Despite that, they’re generally pretty scary considering their throws can take away half of your health. One of the most interesting character archetypes, and the most recurring too. Rushdown, grappler, and zoners are basically Rock, Paper, Scissors: rushdown beats zoner, zoner beats grappler, grappler beats rushdown. Not a rule, but it’s the standard.
Nerf: You know what that means. Fucking up something, making a character weaker, intentionally or not.
Sweep: A knockdown-inducing low, normally making a character trip and fall.
Combo Extender: A move used specifically to make a combo bigger, instead of being an essential part of it. Normally allows the same move to be used again during the same combo.
Infinite: An infinite combo, or just very close to it.
Target IV – Game Modes
Katekyo Hitman Reborn! Battle Arena 2 was never localized. In spite of that, it’s not that easy to just get the game and play like other fighting games. Of course, by simply messing with the menu you’ll progressively learn where things are, but if you want to speed up the process here’s an easy guide for absolutely everything about the menus and every game mode.
Story Mode
Story Mode is the first option on the Main Menu. When you enter it for the first time you can only play as Tsuna. Naturally, Story Mode focuses on… story, but it’s not really different from Arcade Mode. The big difference is that every fight in a character’s route is 100% fixed, and it is slightly common for different characters to have the same route. You go through 10 to 11 fights with visual novel cutscenes between some of them. They’re very short and barely add much context, if you even care about that. Considering you may not know Japanese, you can skip them. And as a Reborn fan – you’re not really losing a lot by skipping these. The most interesting part of the Story Mode is the beginning and end of a match when the characters interact with each other. Might be a very fun fanservice for fans of the anime but… yeah, I’m also clueless on what they actually say.
All characters are unlocked through the Story Mode. To unlock a character, you have to finish their story mode route. As I said, you start with Tsuna. When you beat Tsuna’s story, you get a lot more. However, all unlocked campaigns are for characters you already have. Just keep playing and eventually, you’ll unlock new routes. Some characters you do not have will appear, like Gokudera10 or Yamamoto10. Finishing their respective routes will unlock them. Finishing the Story Mode with every character, however, will not unlock everyone. You barely even need to play with half of the cast, not even once. You just need to know what character to play.
As soon as you get the second form of the characters (the one that comes with Gokudera10, Yamamoto10, etc) you can already unlock everyone. Dino’s Story Mode is unlocked as soon as you finish the route of the same Data Character twice. These are: Hibari, Lambo, Mukuro, Ryohei, XANXUS, Mukuro10, Yamamoto10 and Gokudera10. These characters shouldn’t be in the plot at that point in time, so they’re merely “Data” projections.
But why finish with the same character twice? In Story Mode, the second time you play as a character you get access to the true final boss. Byauran, for instance, can only be fought as the final boss of a Vongola character’s second run. So, by playing with a Data Character twice, we fight their final boss: Xanxus10. Upon beating him, Dino’s Story is unlocked. Naturally, now you have to play as Dino to unlock him.
Unlocking Byakuran asks for you to play as a Millefiore character twice. Gamma, Genkishi, Ginger Bread, and King Moska are Millefiore, even the traitors like Moska count. The Final Boss is Dino, and it’ll give you Byakuran’s route so you can unlock him.
Finally, Xanxus10 is unlocked by playing as the same Varia twice. And… well, if you don’t count Xanxus10 and base Xanxus (Data Character), we’re left with Belphegor and Squalo. Final Boss is Tsuna, which is very fucking cool, and that’ll give you the coolest character of all time’s campaign, so you can finally get him in your roster.
As soon as you beat the second campaign of a character, playing as them again will prompt you to choose between the first or the second route, which features the additional boss. This is useful in order to keep in mind which characters you’ve already beaten the second route with. You can check the gallery to see which characters you’ve beaten with at least once, as that gives you a render of said character. The render looks like this:
For some reason, it’s very hard to find this information I’m giving you online. Someone spread some absurd lies about unlocking each character, and everyone believed and kept spreading it. So, whenever you search “How to unlock Reborn Battle Arena 2 characters”, you’re not getting good info. It took me a long while to find someone that said the truth, and that’s how I’ve unlocked everyone. Honestly, you’re asked to play with the same characters in sequence over and over for no reason. It shows how little people actually care about RBA2, considering every big website never tested the methods to see if it’s true.
Battle Arena
Second mode is Arcade. I don’t have much to say, it’s just an Arcade mode. Only interesting thing to say is that in order to battle the Final Boss you have to do a Perfect Run — that is, not using continues. You don’t get much for doing that, just a little more money in the end, a Special Screen and a fight against Byakuran.
Versus
Third menu option. There are some options inside this one:
1P vs COM: Fight against the CPU. In VERSUS mode, you can set Handicaps for characters by pressing L and R. More squares equals more strength.
1P vs 2P: Online mode, a PSP does not allow for local matches on the same console. I’ll talk about online play later in this article, but for now just know that entering here will connect you to the Internet and then available players will be here. Usually there’s none — plan with someone, there’s not a single son of a bitch playing this.
1P vs Spirit Card: Fighting against a Spirit Card, customizable characters. More on them later, by their respective menu option.
COM vs COM: Two computers fighting to death. I wish all AI art went out in a battle royale until there’s just one and then we kill it. It’ll never happen, but in this mode you can try to see what it’d be like.
Spirit Card vs Spirit Card: Same thing as COM vs COM, but with Spirit Cards. A Digimon battle, honestly.
Katekyo Mission
A mission mode, very common in a lot of fighting games. Considering it’s in japanese, you would probably think it’s impossible to play, after all, you can’t read the mission objectives and explanation. But an angel descended from the heavens 14 years ago on GameFAQs asking for someone to put in the effort to translate every single one of the 232 mission objectives in this game, like there was anyone insane enough to do that. And that was when another angel descended from heaven and did that. All 232. Holy shit.
So, yeah, you can indeed complete this mode, I myself did it. But I’m not comfortable with just showing another person’s job and leaving it at that, so I’ll help you out with a semi-complete guide for beating every mission with a golden medal.
But, first, why would you want to do that? Finishing missions unlocks accessories on the shop, so you can customize your characters. You can get up to three medals in each mission, bronze to gold. Gold gives you more accessories and money, and it’s always about how fast you can complete an objective. I suffered like HELL, I really did, to get all gold medals. In the end, I did it, and I want to help you to do the same if you’re interested in cool accessories to make your own Long Ring Long Land Afro-Luffy, or your Sherlock Gamma.
A lot of missions have repetitive objectives, with different rules like different enemy HP values. So I’ll give you an idea of a mission that will count for a lot of them, instead of going through all 232 missions. This way you can still decide how to beat each objective and with what strategies. Not every mission allows you to choose your character, in case you need to know how the fuck you’ll beat a mission with a character you don’t usually play, check my character guide. Also remember to always check the time limit for every mission, it looks like this:
Naturally, the first (golden medal) tells you the number a clock CAN’T trespass. Missions like “survive for this amount of time” have no medals, you just get all of them upon completion.
For missions that ask you to inflict Groggy, my recommendation is Hibari. You basic j.5B>2B>236C(all hits)>22C combo is enough to finish any mission revolving around groggy. In fact, he’s also my recommendation for these missions:
· KO Opponent in general, he does that quickly and easily. Not just that, but CPU’s have trouble beating him.
· “Colpo Drive [number] times then KO Opponent”, use your 236 Rekka a lot, like you should be doing already. Lots of Colpos. Or just follow my future recommendation and play as Gokudera.
· KO Opponent using a Skill, he’s really the best for that considering his great Specials that are used in combos.
· Missions without Colpo. Hibari does not need Colpo to win, it simply means you can’t link 22C out of 236C. You can go with other combo options instead.
· Missions that ask you to do a certain number of hits during a combo. Your basic combo can do all of them.
· Missions where your opponent has HP regen. Hibari gives them no time to breathe.
· Missions where YOU are poisoned. Hibari gives himself no time to die.
· Missions where you can’t block. Kill them before they have the chance to strike.
· When only Combos do damage. Of course.
· Missions that you start with Groggy. Doesn’t really matter if you’re hit or are forced to block, Hibari’s framedata can cover up for any minus frames.
· When your opponent has infinite HS. Just be quick.
· Mission 187.
· Fighting opponents with a lot of defense.
Missions regarding Guard Breaks are perfect for Xanxus or Ryohei10. With Xanxus, use projectiles; for Ryohei, focus in nonstop pressure.
If a mission is about Ground Throws, I recommend Gamma. He has the fastest Throw in the game, one that he shares with Genkishi and Ginger Bread. Despite that, I still recommend Gamma, because he has a fast throw animation too, a very important factor to consider in Mission Mode. Most characters are valid for missions with Aerial Throws. However, Xanxus does good damage with them and he’s pretty fast.
S-Reflection Missions have a lot of room for creativity, every character is good enough to complete them. I do recommend you find an ideal character for you, and find a move you think it’d be easier to reflect with. Generally, I go with Hibari.
You need to hit Colpo Drives? Go with Gokudera, any of them. 236C inflicts thousands of colpos per bullet, turning these missions into child’s play. Sometimes, you can even finish them in three seconds. Hibari can also Colpo frequently. Gokudera, though, does that with projectiles.
Hyper Strike Missions ask for these characters: Lambo, Xanxus10, Yamamoto.
For Burst Hyper Strike SPECIFICALLY, you can go with Xanxus10, Tsuna (Air Super counts), Hibari or any Invincible Super 2 Character, sometimes even Full-screen like Dino.
Taunt Missions are easy with characters that can knock down frequently. My recommendation is Lambo and his Throws. Both Gokuderas are good too.
Counter Hit Missions are fit for fast characters with (at least) partial invincibility. I recommend Hibari, Ryohei or characters with good pokes like Genkishi, Dino, or Mukuro10.
Missions requiring Specials (Skills) implies you’ll need a character that has safe Specials and can hit them easily. You can always hit a Special Move during a combo to make it land, but you can also go for High-Low Mixups. Genkishi’s great for that, Hibari too (of course) and even Gokudera (past one, he has C.A.I. Shield).
When Specials or HS do damage, go with Lambo. Overuse his meter, and only use normals to link into Special Moves to maximize your damage output. Lambo becomes even better if you can only use Special Moves to inflict damage (no HS allowed), so for those Missions he’s also my pick.
If you find a mission that has consecutive battles, calm down and find a strong character you feel comfortable with. Be aggressive, nevertheless.
Mission 86 has you trying to survive 30 seconds without ever attacking. Any character except for King Moska is valid, but I do recommend Ryohei.
Missions that limit your moveset to Lights will, of course, ask for characters with good Lights and Special Moves. Chrome, Mukuro10 and… Hibari, let’s be real. In fact, Xanxus can also finish any opponent only using his Specials and a cancellable normal (Lights). Both Xanxus can do it. Additionally, missions that erase your Lights but let you use Heavies are perfect for Byakuran to come in and make a mess.
Missions with no jumping are… easy, but if you still want to dodge or use overheads, go with Belphegor, Lal Mirch or Xanxus. In fact, Xanxus CAN jump with two different Special Moves.
If you can only deal damage with Supers, have no fear — Lambo is here. Just charge your meter a lot, do a basic Low into Super cancel and voilá.
Survival Missions are the best for Xanxus. Both are good, but base XX has a zoning-inclined gameplan that keeps opponents away from him. And, if they do get in, he can easily flee to the other side of the screen.
For Missions where you can only do damage with Normals you can pick Mukuro10. Use Specials for movement, and damage with his Normals. Similarly, some missions won’t even allow you to use Specials. Mukuro10 is still good for that, although his past version has a great divekick for such moments. Yamamoto is also a great pick.
Timeout. Pick Xanxus, do some damage, run away for the entire match. Fuck it.
Combo Missions focusing only on normals are reasonably hard, but you can count on Xanxus10 for that, or Tsuna (although this character is relatively hard to combo with while not using Specials). There’s no easy exit for such a mission, but Dino loops are perfect if you can actually do them. Keep in mind that a combo that ends in four hits is good enough, and each new combo adds up to the counter. If you need to reach 10 hits, you don’t have to get a 10-hit combo, just a lot of smaller ones that amount to 10.
A fight with Perfect Win condition is perfect for your MAIN. Although you can go with zoners too. What I mean is: go with Xanxus.
Mission 187 is a match against King Moska, the character with the most HP in the game, with an additional 4x his base defense. If you want to win, I recommend characters that can inflict Groggy easily during combos. You know Hibari’s the man for it.
Mission 201 pits you agains Xanxus — but you can’t jump or block. For that, you need a character that can travel through his projectiles easily, without jumping or blocking. Lal Mirch and Mukuro10 are great choices.
Shop
Fifth menu option. Buy accessories! If you need money, you can get up to 4000 by finishing the Arcade Mode and beating the Final Boss. You can get 4500 by finishing the second run of a character in Story Mode. You can also earn money with G-Codes, and don’t worry, it’s not cheating. The game WANTS you to figure out the codes.
Training Mode
Sixth option, and I think it’s a good time as any to talk about the Pause menu, which is, of course, very important here. These are the options, and the options inside them.
Resume — Back to the game.
Command List — Naturally, your character’s moveset. It has five pages:
I — Normals
II — Command Normals
III — Skills (Specials)
IV — Hyper Strike (Supers)
V — Throws
Training Settings — Training mode exclusive, naturally you mess with the training settings.
- COM Action — Changes CPU behavior.
- COM (starts here) — Acts freely.
- Standing — Won’t do shit.
- Crouching — Won’t do shit, but crouching.
- Jump — Jumping.
- COM Difficulty — “COM” mode strength.
- Easy — Sucks.
- Normal (starts here) — Sucks less.
- Hard — Mid.
- Super Hard — Good.
- Hyper Strike Gauge — Changes HS Meter functions for both characters.
- Standard (starts here) — Filled and consumed normally.
- Max — Always full.
- None — Always empty!
- COM Guard — Mess with your opponent’s blocking options.
- Standard (starts here) — Automatic Guard.
- None — Deactivates guarding completely, impossible in a real match.
- COM Groggy — Changing CPU state.
- Standard (starts here) — Groggy fills as they’re hit.
- On — Automatically activates Groggy.
- COM Guard Gauge — Alters the opponent’s Guard Gauge, Guard Break practice.
- Standard (starts here) — Refills.
- Minimum — Always at 1, any hit breaks it.
- COM Counter — Counter Hit practice.
- Standard (starts here) — CH activates normally.
- On — Every move Counters.
Restore Default Settings — Everything reverts to the “starts here” options.
Settings Completed — Saves, you can’t get out of this menu without pressing it.
Return to Character Select — Do I even need to say it?
Reset Training — Reverts default positions and settings.
Return to Main Menu — Quit.
Spirit Card
The seventh menu option, fourth when counting reversed. There’s a submenu with seven options within. Spirit Cards are customizable characters, not only using accessories but keeping their own Level Up Systems. I’m not exactly sure what the levels do, but I assume it raises a character’s HP or damage, although the AI actually gets better with higher levels.
Card Editing — Editing existent Spirit Cards.
- Player Card — Your cards.
- Favorite Card — I don’t know what a Favorite Card is. Not very important.
Card View — Check cards.
- Player Card
- Favorite Card
- Friend Card — Cards you get from other players or through G-Codes. You can’t edit them, but you can look at them.
Card Creation — Create new Spirit Cards. When you get here, you can already see the character select menu… in japanese. It’s hard to know who’s who, so I’ll help you out.
Characters
Bovine Jamble
- Sawada Tsunayoshi
- Gokudera Hayato
- Yamamoto Takeshi
- Hibari Kyoya
- TYL Hibari Kyoya (has a + before its name, use it as a landmark)
- Lambo
- Rokudo Mukuro
- Chrome (first four letters are simple, last two are complex, third letter has a straight line)
- Sasagawa Ryohei
- Lal Mirch (has a dot in the middle)
- XANXUS (it’s literally romanized already)
- TYL Rokudo Mukuro (another +)
- Byakuran
- Gamma (the fucking letter Gamma, easy to find)
- Genkishi
- Ginger Bread (dot in the middle)
- King Moska (another dot)
- TYL Belphegor (every character has a + from here on out)
- TYL Squalo
- TYL XANXUS (XANXUS is romanized)
- TYL Dino
- TYL Yamamoto Takeshi
- TYL Gokudera Hayato
- TYL Sasagawa Ryohei
- Sawada Tsunayoshi (and it goes back to the beginning, keep in mind that going up from the start reaches TYL characters)
Favorite Card Registration — Registering your favorite Spirit Card? I’m not sure what it does, but it might have something to do with online.
Card Trade — Trading cards Online.
“About Spirit Card…” — Here, the game explains Spirit Cards to you in japanese.
“
- What is a spirit card?
Let me briefly explain about “Spirit Cards”.
Spirit cards are amazing because they allow you to register your favorite characters, customize the character, and develop data that is like a player’s alter ego — called a spirit character.
You can also add a name to the card and a “greeting comment” that will be shown to other players when you hand the card to them.
In addition, when you play against each other using cards, you can also change the messages you show to your opponent based on the results of your victory or defeat using spirit cards.
You can also take a photo of your customized character and attach it to a card. That’s a “favorite photo.”
You can change your character’s accessories and colors using “Character Customization.” It’s best to decide here and take your favorite photos.
- What is a Spirit Card? “Rank” and “Title”
“Rank” is the result of battles using spirit cards, and will go up or down. The more wins you have, the higher your rank will be. Of course, if you lose too many times, your rank may drop. Your opponent can be a computer or another player.
You can obtain new “titles” as your rank increases. The higher your rank, the cooler are the titles you can get.
Once you obtain a title, you can change it freely. At first, Tsuna might have a title like “Unknown Good-for-Nothing Tsuna”, but as he gets more titles, he can change it to something cool. If you want a title you can be proud of, get it with your dying will.
- What is a spirit card? “Spirit character”
The “spirit character” is like the alter ego of the person who made the card. As you play against characters registered on cards, you will learn the quirks of how players fight. That will be recorded on the card. If you use it many times in battles, the level of the card will increase and your spirit character will become stronger.
The card I received from another guy also has Spirit character data. You can also fight against them in battle mode. You can also have spirit characters fight each other.
This way, you can test how powerful the spirit character you created is.
- What is a spirit card? “How to make a new card”
The steps to create a new spirit card are as follows:
- Select “Create Card”
Select “Spirit Card” from the main menu and select “Create Card”. - Character selection
Choose a character to be your spirit character. - Character customization & card information editing
Customize your character and edit the information on the card. (You can also customize and edit it later) - Select favorite card
Set the newly created card as a favorite card. (You can also change the settings later)
“ end of explanation.
Data Delete — Access your PSP’s legally acquired Memory Card so you can delete existing Spirit Cards.
Collection
Eighth option. This mode is used for other things, but it’s generally used to look at pictures.
Gallery — Art pieces you’ve unlocked. Honestly, I’m not very fond of this one. It features the bare minimum. Story Mode art, official game renders and two renders for each character (with the same art). It would be cooler if you’d at least get BA1’s gallery in here, considering BA1 original art is awesome. Not to mention, concept arts for both games could also be included here.
Sound Test — Listen to music and character voicelines, even non-playable ones. Circle is the confirm button, Square stops music from playing. The soundtrack is incomplete, as it lacks Story Mode music and jingles (even the Arcade ending theme is missing). There’s also some songs with weird names, to say the least. Like Storm bringer instead of Storm Bringer. This is true for most tracks, except the ones coming from Dream Hyper Battle (same composer, totally different game). Probably an artistic decision, but a weird one nevertheless. About voicelines, “Battle SE” are battle voicelines. Non-playable characters say stuff like “Round 1”. It’s actually soooo cute to see Haru saying “Raundooo… WAN! TWO! SUREE! FOOH! FAIVU! FAINARU RAUNDO DESU!!!”, so that’s my favorite mode. Navi Voice only works for Navigator characters, and features their respective lines. “Voice” is for Story Mode voice lines, including lines from opening and closing dialogues between you and the opponent.
Replay & Photo — Replay and photos, I’m just not sure if there’s a screenshot button.
G-Code — G-Code is a password mode featured in almost every Reborn game. For RBA2 specifically, it awards you cosmetics, like accessories, navigators and official Spirit Cards. You’re supposed to find these codes online or at Weekly Shounen Jump, alongside the tips you get from the game. Almost every G-Code was found and shared on the Internet through a GameFAQs thread using information from japanese people that cracked the codes. The last two codes are a mystery, though — they’re nowhere to be found. And, considering I’m not a japanese speaker, I’m not fit to figure the codes out by myself. Maybe the only way to find it is lost forever. It could be a website that went down years ago. I’m giving you all the codes I have, but for now, the last two are missing.
As far as I know, every code is a japanese word, and symbols are meant to represent syllables. Naturally, you need a lot of knowledge in the language (which I lack), and also intelligence (I have none). If one day someone would figure it out, it could be the first ever time in history we could share every code somewhere on the internet. Additionally, the game handed me this tip about one of the codes, I just don’t know how to solve it:
Player Data
Here you can check information about your characters, like winrate, specific data, whatever. The most important information bits are linked to Multiplayer. I don’t think translating this would be necessary.
Options
Difficulty — Starts at Normal, the two after it are Hard and Super Hard. Going back once is Easy. I do recommend playing on Super Hard, as any other modes I’ve explained here were beaten in that difficulty with ease. My Katekyo Mission guide was also written with Super Hard in mind.
Time — Changing time limit. Competitively, 60 seconds is the best. Matches end too quickly, 99 seconds is too much for this game. It’s your choice, though.
Round — How many rounds.
Sound Settings
- BGM Volume
- SFX Volume
- Voice Volume
- System Voice — Choose what character will describe menu stuff. For me, it’s Haru.
- Reborn
- Sasagawa Kyoko
- Miura Haru
- I-Pin
- Lambo
- Lussuria
- Irie Shoichi
Memory Card
- Save
- Load
- Data Delete
- Auto Save On/Off
- Change Player Name
Target V — Resources and Conclusion
It’s finally… over… but first, resources. There is very little on the Internet regarding Battle Arena 2, so I decided to compile most of the important stuff in here. Some were already brought up in the article, but I’ll add them here anyway.
Reborn BA2: The Slowdown is a Feature — by SPK
SPKelevra’s document detailing all the mechanics and framedata for every character in the game.
Hitman Reborn Battle Arena 2: Systems explanation (With guide and Frame data attached)
SPKelevra’s video, basically a visual version of the above document with his commentary.
Official Battle Arena 2’s website
For some reason, this website’s still up, and there’s some cool stuff here. Some G-Codes, information about characters, combos and clean PNGs for each character. It’s all in japanese, though.
GameFAQs thread with every Mission
Here you’ll see every mission’s name and objective. There are some mistakes, but nothing big, and a lot of them were corrected on this same thread.
Guide for playing the game Online using PPSSPP
Has information about multiplayer in a lot of different ways, including local through the use of multiple instances.
SPKelevra’s combo videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3ysqZh_rcQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9wuUamqVvQ
OST Channel (created by yours truly)
I have uploaded the entire game’s soundtrack here, except for the five second jingles. I’ve also included Story Mode music. When I created this channel, a lot of the game’s OST wasn’t uploaded to YouTube yet, but that may have changed since then. Maybe someone else did the same, who knows?
Ok, now that I mentioned this server, I guess I can be a little personal about this article. As I have previously explained, my idea with this article was to create a place with abundant info and resources for a game no one plays, both for archival purposes and out of love. But I also intended to bring some notoriety to the game, and show just how good it is.
This is a very well balanced fighting game, with various unique and interesting ideas in every corner. It has some flaws (like over-simplifying some mechanics), but it ultimately brings an experience that’s different from other fighting games, with slowdown, Colpo Drives, Counter Hits, Groggy, S-Reflection and the inevitable interactions between these mechanics and the game’s characters. I don’t want this game to be recognized as a Reborn fighting game, but as a GREAT fighting game, in general. One that should be experienced by all.
I can’t simply say “play this game that’s entirely in japanese from an anime you didn’t watch featuring no native multiplayer as the PSP’s servers have been shut down for years”. So, alongside cooking this article with my whole spirit (it took me seven months), I have also created a Discord server. As far as I know, it is the only open server for the game on the Internet. As I said — this game has no audience yet. Our server was created by amateurs, but it’s well organized and a nice place. In fact, you don’t have to interact there. If you want to get in for the resources like 100% completed save files, Spirit Cards or to clear some doubts, you’re welcome. We also have a Radmin server you can access through this Discord, and we do intend to expand it with time. If possible, I would like to invite people in the very small community this game has to the server, like SPKelevra (if you’re reading this, I’ve probably invited you already), or other channels that uploaded this game’s OST. And, of course, if you want to interact there’s matchmaking and fanart channels. If you ever make RBA2 content, we’ll also post it in there, maybe even archive it.
I want to show people how much of an amazing experience RBA2 is, and I want it’s untapped potential to be explored. I’d be very happy if it had a basic cult following, or a GuileWinQuote video, whatever. It’s just so sad that something this good isn’t appreciated at all. People don’t even know it exists. I’m not saying this to brag, but this article is by far the biggest source of pure text related to this game, and this is my first time talking about it. Despite SPKelevra’s wonderful article, this is still the biggest in sheer size and that sucks ’cause there are no other contenders. I really hope this article, or the server, end up starting some discussion about RBA2 online so that, in a near future, another person can write a 70 page article with 30.000 words about it. I want someone else to love it as much as I do, and I want it to get a portion of the love it should’ve gotten throughout all those years it’s been sabotaged by releasing in an old portable console and the fact it couldn’t be emulated. Thank you for listening to me, and play Katekyo Hitman Reborn! Battle Arena 2 — Spirits Burst. You don’t have to thank me for how mindblowing it will feel to land your first CHCoGr.
CIAO CIAO.