=================================================== FIRE PROWRESTLING Z CHARACTER GUIDE: AKITOSHI SAITO =================================================== for Sony PlayStation 2 (Japan) Version 1.1 by Bill Wood (billwood661@comcast.net) Last modified: 8/5/03 Fire ProWrestling Z (c) 2003 Spike NOTE: This guide views and prints best with a monospace typeface. =================== ==VERSION HISTORY== =================== 1.0 - Minor corrections. 1.0 - Initial release of the guide. ===================== ==TABLE OF CONTENTS== ===================== SECTION 1: HISTORY OF AKITOSHI SAITO SECTION 2: SKILL AND PARAMETER STATS SECTION 3: MOVELIST SECTION 4: STRATEGY SECTION 5: CLOSING ======================================== ==SECTION 1: HISTORY OF AKITOSHI SAITO== ======================================== [NOTE: Due to my lack of knowledge concerning the history of Akitoshi Saito, I have provided his bio from puroresufan.com here. If you want more info on today's Japanese wrestling scene and the history behind it, I strongly suggest you visit that site. You won't be dissapointed.] After spending much of his early career in W*ING, Akitoshi Saito joined New Japan, where he was part of Shiro Koshinaka's "Heisei Ishingun" group. He left New Japan in 1998, and in late 2000, after a couple of years of inactivity, appeared in NOAH, along with former HI member Masashi Aoyagi. In 2001, he obtained unparalled success, becoming Jun Akiyama's second-in-command in STERNNESS, and winning his first major championship when he and Akiyama captured the NOAH GHC Tag Team Titles in September 2002. Now a high ranking wrestler in NOAH, Saito utilizes martial arts techniques, throwing deadly kicks and using an enzuigiri variation known as the Sickle of Death as his finisher. ======================================== ==SECTION 2: SKILL AND PARAMETER STATS== ======================================== SKILL ----- Real Name.................Akitoshi Saito FPZ Name.......................(?) Naito* Promotion.............Pro Wrestling NOAH FPZ Promotion.................Super Nova Size...............................Small Class..............................Heavy Height............................178 cm Weight............................108 kg Country............................Japan Birthdate.......................8/8/1965 Stance..........................Shooting Offensive Skill.................Orthodox Return Skill.......................Power Critical Type...................Finisher Special Skill.......................none Recovery..........................Medium Recovery (when bleeding)............Slow Respiratory.......................Medium Respiratory (when bleeding).......Medium Awareness.........................Medium Awareness (when bleeding)..........Below Neck Strength........................Low Arm Strength......................Medium Waist Strength....................Medium Foot Strength.....................Medium Movement Speed....................Medium Ascend Speed.................Medium Slow Ascend Skill..................Can Ascend * = His fake name is in kanji, which I can't read for the most part. If you'd like to contribute Saito's FPZ name to this guide, e-mail me at billwood661@comcast.net and you will be credited. PARAMETER - OFFENSE PARAMETER - DEFENSE ------------------- ------------------- Punch.............5 Punch.............6 Kick..............8 Kick..............8 Suplex............3 Suplex............3 Submission........3 Submission........3 Stretch...........4 Stretch...........4 Power.............7 Flying............4 Instant-P.........6 Crush.............5 Arm Power.........6 Vs Lariat.........5 Technical.........2 Technical.........3 Rough.............7 Rough.............8 Ground............3 Ground............4 TOTAL SKILL POINTS (on a scale from 0-300): 127 SKILL CHANGES FROM FIRE PRO D TO FIRE PRO Z: N/A ======================= ==SECTION 3: MOVELIST== ======================= NOTE: This movelist is my direct translation of the Japanese Fire Pro Z Player's Guide, there may be some minor errors. If I was unable to translate, I looked up the move in Edit Mode. Specialty moves are marked with [S]. Finisher is marked with [F]. KEY: ([]) = Square button (X) = X button (O) = Circle button STRIKES ------- Standing ([])...........................Low Roundhouse Standing (X).........................Middle Roundhouse Standing (O) + d-pad...................High Roundhouse Standing (O)...........................Horizontal Chop Standing ([]) + (X)..........SICKLE OF DEATH/ENZUIGIRI [F]* Running ([])....................................Lariat Running (X).................................KNEEL KICK [S] Running Counter ([])....................Low Roundhouse Running Counter (X).......................Kitchen Sink Running to corner...........................Back Elbow GRAPPLES -------- Grapple ([]).................................Elbow Pat Grapple ([]) + Up............................Body Slam Grapple ([]) + Left/Right..................Flying Mare Grapple ([]) + Down.....................Body Knee Lift Grapple (X)...................................Headlock Grapple (X) + Up...........................Brainbuster Grapple (X) + Left/Right.......Machine Gun Middle Kick Grapple (X) + Down.........Mach. Gun Stomach Knee Lift Grapple (O)............................Impact Straight Grapple (O) + Up......................ARM SLAM/BOOKEND [S] Grapple (O) + Left/Right..............Jumping Axe Kick Grapple (O) + Down...........................POWERBOMB [S] Grapple ([]) + (X)........DEATH BRAND/STEINER SCRWDRVR [S] Back Grapple ([])..........................Middle Kick Back Grapple (X).....................Back Brain Lariat Back Grapple (O)..................Doujimi Sleeper Hold Back Grapple (O) + Up/Down..................School Boy Back Grapple (O) + Left/Right........Twisting Backdrop Back Grapple ([]) + (X).............German Suplex Whip Back Grapple Counter ([])....................Elbow Pat Back Grapple Counter (X)......................Ipponzei OPPONENT DOWN MOVES ------------------- Opponent Face Up at Head (X)........Two Hand Press Pin Opponent Face Up at Head (O)..........Soccer Ball Kick Opponent Face Up at Feet (X)...........Single Leg Crab Opponent Face Up at Feet (O)................Thigh Kick Opponent Face Down at Head (X).......Crucifix Arm Lock Opponent Face Down at Head (O)..............Elbow Drop Opponent Face Down at Feet (X).......Roll over and pin Opponent Face Down at Feet (O).............Kneebreaker Running at Downed Opponent (O)................Stomping MOUNT MOVES ----------- Mount Position ([])...............Guard Position Punch Mount Position (X)............Guard Pos. Knuckle Arrow Mount Position (O).......................Lift Up Press Mount Position Counter...........................Eject Front Facelock Attack ([])..................Body Punch Front Facelock Attack (X).........Knee Strikes to Head Front Facelock Attack (O)...............Powerbomb Whip Front Facelock Attack Counter..........Waterwheel Drop Back Mount Position ([])..............Back Mount Punch Back Mount Position (X).......Back Mount Knuckle Arrow Back Mount Position (O)..........Doujimi Choke Sleeper Back Mount Position Counter........Escape through legs POST AND APRON MOVES -------------------- Post ([])............................Diving Foot Stomp Post (X).............................Diving Elbow Drop Post (O)..................................Sledgehammer Post ([]) + (X)...........................Sledgehammer Run-Up Post vs Standing ([])......................none Run-Up Post vs Downed (X).........................none Corner Grapple (O) + Up...........2nd Rope Brainbuster Corner Grapple (O) + Left/Right.......Corner Knee Lift Corner Grapple (O) + Down..............Corner Stomping Front Avalanche Counter......................Elbow Pat Back Avalanche Counter..................Backhand Elbow Apron Grapple from inside..........In-Ring Brainbuster Apron Grapple from outside........................Hook Running to out of bounds..........................none Slingshot to outside......................Sledgehammer Slingshot to inside...............................none DOUBLE AND TRIPLE TEAM MOVES ---------------------------- Two Platon Front Grapple..............Double Powerbomb Two Platon Back Grapple.....................W.Backdrop Two Platon Corner..................Highjack Piledriver Three Platon Front Grapple.............Triple Beatdown Three Platon Back Grapple..............Triple Beatdown Three Platon Corner...................Triple Powerbomb PERFORMANCE ----------- Analog Stick Left...............raise hands above head Analog Stick Right...........quick throat slit gesture Analog Stick Up............raises arms with mouth open Analog Stick Down.............points upward (Ipponzei) * = The Sickle of Death finisher is simply a standard enzuigiri in FPZ. There is no new animation for it. MOVELIST CHANGES FROM FIRE PRO D TO FIRE PRO Z: N/A ======================= ==SECTION 4: STRATEGY== ======================= GENERAL STRATEGY Akitoshi Saito is a very strange amalgam in FPZ. He's a small guy with a great set of kicks at his disposal, not unlike the "martial artist" description in his bio. But he also has a decent offensive Power rating (7), the "Power" return skill, and a Powerbomb special. This is uncharacteristic for this type of wrestler. Still Saito isn't particularly exceptional in FPZ, save for his awesome kick arsenal. To win frequently, you should distance yourself and time your kicks accurately. You can usually catch the CPU as he's walking in for the grapple, but if you're against a human opponent that knows your gameplan, this could be tough. His low ratings in Suplex, Submission and Technical mean that a lot of Saito's basic wrestling moves won't be very effective, which could spell trouble, especially in a long match. He's also poorly equipped defensively in those areas, so you'll want to make extra sure you're not losing a lot of grapples, otherwise Saito may end up with his shoulders pinned to the mat. Saito has good offensive/defensive Rough stats, but since it's tough to determine exactly what moves in his moveset qualify as "rough" (aren't _all_ pro wrestling moves supposed to be rough?), you may may want to ignore this factor. So to recap; (a) use distance and striking as opposed to grappling; (b) if you get caught up in an unavoidable grapple war, make sure you dominate. STRIKES Remember this: Saito's kicks are by far his best offense. The good news is that four of his five standing strikes are kicks, plus a few of his grapples lead to kicks as well. Some of his "opponent down" are also kicks. There's no shortage of kicks for you to use. Also note Saito's 8 defensive Kick rating. This is a plus as it means he can take some punishment here, even if he's going back and forth trading blows with his opponent. Saito's enzuigiri finisher is a standing strike, but don't just throw it out there randomly, hoping for a "CRITICAL!". This will only serve to wear Saito down prematurely, as you'll probably miss more often than not. Instead, wear your opponent down to the point where you can pick him so he's in a standing dazed position, then execute. GRAPPLES Akitoshi Saito's grapple moves are nothing to write home about, it's pretty much a basic FPZ type of moveset, with the default Body Slam, Flying Mare (Snapmare), Brainbuster, etc. So if you feel the need to work a more grapple-oriented match, don't expect a lot of flash. Having three specials in the strong grapple set would lead you to believe this is the way to go, but not necessarily so. If you're dominating your opponent, go right ahead and do as you please, but in a close contest, don't focus on the specials as it's not worth losing the occasional grapple or having a move reversed. ====================== ==SECTION 5: CLOSING== ====================== In closing, I would like to thank: * www.puroresufan.com for historical reference. * CJayC and GameFAQs for hosting this guide. Fire ProWrestling Z Character Guide: Akitoshi Saito (c)2003 Bill Wood