Ryuji Yamazaki guide for KOF97 -------------------- By Omega MAD and LANTIS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Version History Version 1.0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Introduction Context Character Background Moves FAQ Key Moves List Special Moves Normal Moves Throws DMs Combos Rolls Taunts Yamazaki's Colors Victory Poses General Strategy Ranges Mind Games Meter Management Punishing Mistakes Matchups How to Defeat the Orochi Getting along with others Double Return Table Appendices Closing Acknowledgements ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Introduction: ------------- Context ------- This guide has been designed to help players use the KoF 97 version of Yamazaki. Caught in a heavy flood of character guides on the KoF ML Lantis and I (Omega MAD) decided we would team up and create a guide for a character we both use, Ryuji Yamazaki. Speaking for myself, I have been a Yamazaki player since FF3, when he became my favorite character, Hence I have become quite familiar with playing him. On a side note, I think this is his strongest overall incarnation yet. I play almost solidly in Advanced mode although I have dabbled in extra mode, thus most or my tactics are going to be from an advanced mode players point of view (Just a warning). Character Background -------------------- The first game Ryuji Yamazaki showed up in was FF3, where he appeared as a hired hand of the Jin brothers, he was hired to recover the last of the lost scrolls of *Qin, tha t was in Geese Howard's possetion at the time. After that he has shown up in Fatal Fury Real B out, where he entered the tournament to get the scrolls from Geese. And Real Bout Fatal Fury Special. In King of the Fighters 97, he has been hired to fight on Billy's team on behalf of Geese. Yamazaki is a masochistic loonatic. He is quite quite unhinged, and seems to greatly enjoy inflicting pain on others. Further more he is cockey and arrogant. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Moves: ------ In this section I will list Yamazaki's assorted special moves, and give a general outline of his normal moves. FAQ KEY ------- Joystick Commands : Fw = Forwards (Towards opponent) Bk = Back (Away from opponent) Dwn = Down Up = Up A,B,C,D = corresponding button AB = A and B buttons together A,B = A followed by B button A/B = A or B buttons P = Punch button (A or C) K = Kick Button (B or D) QCF = Quarter circle forwards QCB = Quarter Circle Backwards HCF = Half Circle Forwards HCB = Half Circle Backwards DP = Dragon Punch motion (Fw, Dwn, DwnFw) RDP = Reverse Dragon Punch Motion (Bk, Dwn, DwnBk) SPD = Spinning Pile Driver (hold) = hold the direction stated before for 2 seconds. near = must be in grab range. Fw + A = Forwards on stick and A button together Moves List ---------- Overhead Punch : Fw + A Snake Tamer : QCB + A/B/C Hold button to delay release of move. Snake Fake : D while doing Snake Tamer will cancel move. Sado/Maso : HCF + K Double Return : QCF + P Judging Dagger : DP + P Exploding HeadButt : (Near) HCF + P Sand Kick : DP + K *Guillotine : QCF x 2 + P *Yondan Drill : (near) HCB x 2 + P (Tap punch buttons after move starts for more damage) Level 1 = no taps Level 2 = 5-8 taps Level 3 = 9-12 taps Level 4 = 13 + taps Special Moves ------------- Overhead Punch -------------- Hits : 2 Description : Yamazaki lifts his far arm up to shoulder level, then punches diagonally down at his opponent. Usage : This move is quite slow in starting, but as the name suggests it is an overhead type of attack. This means it will hit opponents who are blocking in the crouch position. Also, as it is a command move and not a special attack if it is blocked it will not do 'tick' damage. Snake Tamer and Snake Fake AKA Grapplers Bane --------------------------------------------- Hits : 2 Description : While the button is held, Yamazaki dangles his free arm in front of him, he has an evil sneer on his face. When the button is released His arm will suddenly become a blur striking in the direction dictated by the button pressed. The speed of the arm when released has been des cribed as too fast for a human player who is walking forward to block. Also each version of it has exceptionally long range. If D is pressed Yamazaki will stop dangling his arm, he does this very quickly now. Usage : First it should be mentioned that this is Yamazaki's real bread winner, of his specials. As previously mentioned the move can be done with the A, B or C button. Also for Yamazaki players in other versions of the game, It should be mentioned that the snake tamer no longer gets more painful depending on how long you dangle his arm. The A button version will Stike at a 45 degree angle directed at the air in front of Yamazaki's head. It is very useful air defence and very reliable. The B version goes straight forwards and covers just over half of the screen in range. It's height is high enough to be used as air defence vs anyone who doesn't have a perfectly horizontal jumping attack AKA Terry Bogard. And it is also low enough to hit mo st characters, even when they crouch down. It will also hit players recovering from a roll tow ards Yamazaki if you don't release it too early. The C version goes along the ground, but unlike in RBS it does not hit opponents who use the standing block. It also has slightly less range than the B button version. However, it is usefull for when fighting short characters like Choi Bounge and Chin Gensai, who are so short the B version occationally goes over their heads. If D is pressed while the arm is still being dangled, Yamazaki will retract his arm and return to his normal fighting stance. This is much faster than in RBS, and very useful for occations when holding the arm would get you hit AKA An opponent manages to roll behind you, Yamazaki can retract his arm and move before the rolling opponent has recovered. This mo ve really puts the 'cheese' in to Yamazaki's gameplay. The snake tamer does have a small amount of recovery time after it, beware if you miss one as although it is a short period of time it is enough for some players to land painfull counter attacks. Sado/Maso (Sadism/masochism) ---------------------------- Hits : 1 Description : Yamazaki sticks his tongue out at his opponent, while learing for wards. If an opponent hits Yamazaki while he is doing this, with anything except a fireball or ground touching normal (I.E. Terry's sweep is not touching the ground, but his crouching B is.) Yamazaki will reel back, taking his hand from his pocket, and come back at them with an uppercut his hand is engulfed in energy, he is invulnerable during this come back period. He will also not lose any life if he is hit with an attack he can retaliate against. Usage : This move is a reversal type of move. While Yamazaki has his tounge stuck out if he is hit by anything except a fireball or ground touching normal (I.E. Terry's sweep is not touching the ground, but his crouching B is.) he will reel back from the hit then attack the person that hit him he is invulnerable during this come back period. He will not lose any life if he is hit (during the time while he sticks his tongue out) by an attack he can retaliate against. The reversal is faster than it was in RBS and doesn't do that much damage, but It can be used against rushing DMs, physical special attacks jumping attacks, most crouching a ttacks and most sweeps. There is a weak spot in this move now from some air attacks, The spot seems to be to the top rear of Yamazaki, but only some attacks seem to hit this area. If an attack with multiple hits, hits the sado/maso, and Yamazaki strikes them while they are still attacking you will see the 'counter' message come up. You can then juggle your opponent with an attack. You can also use the Guillotine to juggle the floating opponent, if timed right Yamazaki can land the whole DM. The sado/maso attacks very quickly now but it is still too slow to hit an opponent who attacks with a deep jumping attack then blocks. This will leave Yamazaki open to a reve rsal, so use the sado/maso for air defence only if your opponent is attacking clumsily from the air. Double Return ------------- Hits : 2/1 Description : Yamazaki lifts his arm slowly in a catching motion in front of him. If an energy based attack touches his hand while it is raising, Yamazaki will do one of 2 th ings depending on the strength of the move. If the A button was used the fireball will be abso rbed and Yamazaki will gain some power bar energy, If the C button was used Yamazaki's h and will glow red shortly then he will throw a large Red fireball back at his opponent. Usage : The timing on this attack seems much harder than in previous games, but unlike in previous games Yamazaki can now hit an opponent with the move if it is used in close scoring 2 hits. If it does hit an opponent it will launch then in to the air, you may be able to juggle but I haven't tried yet. If you use the A button to do it against a fireball, Yamazaki will absorb the fireball and some power will be added to his power bar. If the C button is used the fireball will be absorbed then thrown back at the opponent in the form of a red fireball. The returned fireball will pass through (eating) any other fireballs that get in it's way, such as a double hurricane upper or a double strike. Unlike in previous games the double return can now be used on super fireballs such as the Ryo/Robert/Yuri Haohshoko Ken, and the Athena shinning Crystal bit. There also seems to be a bug in the game being that the return won't catch or stop Kyo 94's fireball. Judging Dagger -------------- Hits : 2/4 Description : Yamazaki pulls a Dagger from his pocket and slashes at his opponent while sliding forward with each slash. Usage : This move is counter bait, but also it does good tick damage and it is hard to counter Yamazaki after he finishes the move, providing the last hit was a hit or was blocked. If the move hits then the opponent will be knocked down. The stength of the att ack defines how many hits can be scored, the A button version scores 2 hits, the C button version scores a maximum of 4 hits. If Yamazaki is Maxed out when he lands a C button judging dagger he will push the opponent out of range on the 2nd hit of the move, It will then be possible for them to block or counter the rest of it. Beware using this attack against Choi as if he blocks the attack and crouches d own, the second and fourth attacks will miss him totally. Exploding HeadButt ------------------ Hits : 1 Description : Yamazaki grabs his opponent holds them at arms length then headbutts them. As he connects the headbutt there is a large explosion. Usage : This move is an instant grab and will only work when Yamazaki is within grab range to his opponent. This move does high damage and leaves him totaly safe after he la nds it. Sand Kick --------- Hits : 1 Description : Yamazaki Does a high kick, kicking up sand and cackling as he does so. Usage : This move seems slow but will combo well off normal attacks. If it connects the opponent will rock back from the blow. On a landed sand kick (blocked or not), the sand kick can then 2 in 1 in to a snake tamer of any height. If the sand kick is blocked then it has long recovery time, I recommend using the C version of the snake tamer to cancel any sand kick that you think will be blocked, this as well as pushing players away from Yamazaki, will catch a lot of players out who think y ou are open to a counter attack. Normal Moves : -------------- Standing close -------------- A button : A short punch to the stomach, this attack is comboable. B button : A low shin kick. This attack will hit an opponent who is stand blocking. Also this attack is comboable. It is very useful when mixed up with the Overhead punch, on a knocked down opponent to make a guessing game. C button : A mid level hook. This attack is comboable. D button : A double hitting high kick. Usefull as air defence, the first hit of this attack is comboable. Standing Far ------------ A button : A long reaching Jab, it hit's at quite a high level. Watch out when poking with it as you may get the overhead punch by mistake, and also short characters may duck it and escape totally untouched. B button : A long reaching low/mid level kick, It is a very useful pokeing tool, and short characters can't duck it like his standing A button. C button : A lunging punch. This attack has a lot of range but if it is blocked it leaves Yamazaki quite open to counter attacks and grabs. D button : Aaahh some things never change. Yamazaki's Extremely long range, quite fast to come out, average recovery back kick. It hits at about high/mid level and is excellent for punishing missed attacks and specials, or giving a jumper something land on. Crouching --------- A button : A far reaching low jab. This attack is comboable, but isn't as fast as most jabs. B button : A ground level reasonable range low kick. It is a very fast attack. C button : KoF 96's Goenitz's low C drawn over. It is an uppercut/backfist that is fast coming out. The Arc is very usefull for attacking jumpers like Choi who like to keep hop jumping over you at point blank range. This will pick them out of the air. It is comboable, but has a 'blind spot' at point blank range (I.E. it will miss totally if used on an opponent standing right infront of you). D button : A very long range, quite slow ground level sweep. Vertical Jump ------------- A button : A reasonable reaching jab. Yamazaki tucks his legs up as he does this also. B button : A long reaching kick. It points toward Yamazaki's down and front. It is a fast attack and great for hitting opponents who are duck blocking after a jump in attack. C button : A long down forwards directed back fist. It is angled low enough so a well timed hop C will hit a ducking blocker on the way up. D button : A fast good ranged forward facing kick. Very usefull for stopping jump in attacks, if you fancy a change from the Snake arm defence 'SHAAAAA'. Horizontal Jump --------------- A button : A reasonable reaching jab. Yamazaki tucks his legs up as he does this also. B button : Yamazaki's jumping C button attack from RBS. This is a very long range kick. It is excellent for poking at fireball throwers. C button : This is a very fast in coming out Uppercut, it has practically no reach in front of him, but it is excellent for defending Yamazaki against airborne attackers approaching from an angle the A snake arm will miss. It is also excellent again short range hoppers such as Choi who attempt to keep short hopping over you. D button : Yamazaki's old jumping Heavy kick from FF3 and RBFF (also drawn over Goenitz's jump CD attack). This is not the fastest attack in the world to come out, but it's fast enough. It stikes along the bottom of Yamazaki and to his front. It is a very good combo starter. Jumping CD Attack : a good speed double axe-handle punch. The attack is quite high and should be used mostly against tall opponents, or jumping opponents. Standing CD attack : A stepping headbutt. Fast recovery time, useful against jumpers but not infalable, good speed coming out. Throws : -------- Fw or Bk + C : Yamazaki picks his opponent up by the head then slams them face first in to the floor in front of him. Fw or Bk + D : Yamazaki picks up his opponent then throws then face first to the floor behind him. This grab is handy for switching sides if you want to get out of a corner. DMs : ----- Guillotine ---------- Hits : 3 / 9 Description : Yamazaki starts with a short range very large uppercut, the uppercut takes him in to the air, he then pulls his hand from his pocket and with a comet effe ct trailing it he grabs downwards. If the grabbing part touches his opponent while not blockin g he will grab his opponent by the neck and knocking them to the floor. He then sprints accros s the screen dragging them with him. On DM level he then punts them in to the air with a sand kick. On SDM level, he stomps on them repeatedly for a while and then punts them in to the air with a sand kick. Usage : The uppercut part of the guillotine is very fast compared to his RBS version, but not invulnerable during start up like some DM's. If used as air defence the grab part will normally miss the opponent, unless timed very late. The grab part can be used to grab projectile throwing opponents as he will glide over all but the Haohshoko ken fireballs, if timed correctly. This is a powerfull detere nt to fireball throwers. The guillotine is especially useful against Iori's fireballs. Yondan Drill ------------ Max Hits : 27 / 43 Description : Yamazaki holds his opponent by the head in front of him for a second then does a large uppercut knocking them in to the air for a few seconds. When they come down Yamazaki will do one of 8 variations of his finisher, depending on how fast the punch bu ttons were mashed, and also on wheather Yamazaki is doing the DM or SDM version. DM finishers: Level 1 : A small punch and kick combo finishing with a huge energy drill. Level 2 : A larger combo using a lot of kicks and stomps, then he finishes with the drill. Level 3 : Yamazaki grabs his opponent and does hella headbuts, he finishes with an exploding headbutt then a drill. Level 4 : Hella snake arms then a drill. 27 hits. SDM Finishers: Level 1 : A large combo involving a lot of kicks a lot of stomps a few hop kicks and a drill finisher. Level 2 : A sand kick then Yamazaki hacks them to ribbons with his knife, then exploding headbutts them. As they are falling away he drills them. 23 hits. Level 3 : Yamazaki grabs them then uses his face plant grab, repeatedly slamming them to the ground (this one takes ages), he then drills them. Level 4 : Even more Hella snake arms, followed by a drill. 43 hits. Usage : This is a super grab type of move. It can only be used when Yamazaki is in grab range. The damage caused varies for each level of the Drill. Which one hurts more depends on weather you used a DM or SDM version of the Drill, in DM the higher the level the more damage will is done. In SDM mode Level 2 hurts the most, followed by level 4, then 3 then 1. After Yamazaki has uppercutted his oppoent in to the air, you need to mash on t he A and C buttons to raise the damage level. Yamazaki's pose will change depending on what level he will be doing. You have until the opponent reaches the floor to reach the desired level of damage. Another warning, as this move overlaps the snake tamer, if you are at the incorrect range or trying to grab the opponent while he/she is ungrabbable (I.E. Knocked down or n ot touching the ground), the A or C button versions of the snake tamer will come out instead. Combos : -------- Jump C/D, C, Fw+A, Snake Tamer (B) : 4 hits Jump C/D, C, Judging Dagger (C) : 6 hits. Notes : This Dagger should be changed for the A version, or as mentioned the dagger will only score 2 combo'd hits. Jump C/D, C, Exploding Headbutt : 3 hits. Jump C/D, Dwn+C, Snake Tamer + C : 4 hits. Jump C/D, C, Sand Kick B, Snake Tamer (C) : 5 hits. Dwn+B, Dwn+B, B, Sand Kick B, Snake Tamer (C) : 6 hits. B, Sand Kick, Snake Tamer C : 4 hits. B, Sand Kick B, Snake Tamer, Snake Fake, Any special or DM : 2 + whatever used to finish. B, Sand Kick B, Snake Tamer, Snake Fake, Sand Kick B, Snake Tamer, Snake Fake, repeat. Notes : Infinite combo. *Jump C/D, Dwn+C, Guillotine : 6/11 hits. *Jump C/D, D (1st Hit Only), Yondan Drill : 29/45 hits. Rolls : ------- Yamazaki's rolls are quite slow and have average distance and has normal recovery time. He does a standard roll across the floor whether he rolls forwards or backwards . Taunt ----- Yamazaki puts his free hand to his shoulder and rolls his head. He says "Mono tari-nay na!" (I'm not satisfied!). Yamazaki's colors : ------------------- Button Advanced Extra ------ -------- ----- A Black Blue D Green Red Victory Poses : --------------- A button : Yamazaki Puts his other hand in his pocket and steps forward so his back is to the screen, he sneers and says "Kudaranay!" (What a joke!). B button : Yamazaki pulls his dagger from his opponent and throws it so it sticks in the ground in front of him, he then looks sideways at his opponent and says to the screen "Hyaku nen hae--n dayo!" (You're a hundred years too young to fight me!) C Button : Yamazaki covers his face with both hands, his knees wobble for a while as he laughs, then he spreads his arms to either side of him and screams, he drools while doi ng so. General Strategy : ------------------ Yamazaki can be played in one of two ways, he can either be played as a near un reachable turtle, or he can be played as a grappler. Yamazaki's attacks are quite slow so you have to be carefull when you are being swamped by a player (such as Terry). To get out of close range jams, look for slow start spe cial moves, a snake tamer, Headbutt or barrage of Dwn+B's will get you clear again. As a defensive player Yamazaki has a near unreachable pattern you can use. Simply hold a B or A snake tamer (C also when playing Choi or Chin). You have apporximately 2/3 scre en reach with the B or C snake tamers so if a player trys to runs at you just stop him at the end of your reach. If the player tries to edge forward it's not too hard to just time the release of your snake arm to hit him. If the player tries a roll you can do 1 of 2 things : 1) You can hold the arm until they are about to come out of it them release the arm, this will score 2 hits, and knock them back. 2) You can cancel the snake tamer and use the exploding headbutt to grab the player out of his roll. NOTE : Do not wait for the roll to finish, grab the player while still rolling If the player tries to roll past you then you will have to use the arm cancel and exploding headbutt. NOTE : If you have left the grab very late you may need to perform the motion the other way around. If the opponent jumps an A or B snake tamer will be easy to use and pick off the jumper with. The exception to this is if the opponent has a jumping attack that hits horrizo ntaly, rather than diagonally. Terry is one of these characters with his jumping D, the probl em with these jumping attacks is that they will be able to hit Yamazaki in the head before he is able to land or trade with his B snake tamer. So unless the B snake tamer is used to hit the opponent on the way up on his jump you will have to cancel your snake tamer. If you quick enough you can pull out a quick A snake tamer to hit your opponent, if you were holding an As nake tamer then you can hit the jumper easily anyway. If you play as a grappler you can use all the standard Clark and Goro style of grappling tricks such as, stand over floored opponent and use close D in to grab as yout oppone nt gets up, or go straight for the grab. A good trick to land the SDM Drill is to stand over a floored opponent, as they about to reach their feet you use the ABC power up, this sometimes makes players block as they think it's a DM incomming. As the Power up is in progress do the Yondan drill motion, press the button the moment the pow animation is finished an A VOILA! you've got your opponent in an SDM yondan drill. The close B button is a big part of Yamazaki's arsenal as it hits standing opponents as a sweep type move which they must block low to block succesfully. It also can be cancel led in to any of his specials or DM's. Yamazaki's D button has a lot of range and hurts a lot use it for picking off incoming jumpers, who have spaced themselves wrongly. Yamazaki's Close D has 2 hits in it but only the first can be cancelled from. It is very handy for links to specials as the kick button only has 2 special moves using it, these moves are HCF and DP, thus this move can be used to link in to Yamazaki's Yondan Drill and Gu illotine easily. It will also link in to any other special move you choose. A lot of opponents when they get close to Yamazaki try to hop a lot using fast jump attacks, these are usually Iori (jumping D), Kyo (jumping Dwn+C), Choi (jumping C), this seems very difficult for Yamazaki to counter, but fear not, make sure you block the first one then use Dwn+C to beat any hops that follow, It may seem slow but it's not, and it has t remendous priority. A very usefull trick for gaining super levels is to start a snake arm and then cancel it, you get a little super power, so when you have time just keep starting then canceli ng snake arms over and over. Ranges : -------- Yamazaki has extremely long range on his snake arms, his heavy attacks have enormous range also. His long range A's and B's have a long range but are not exceptionally fast. He is very much a long range fighter. He fights well at about half a screen dis tance, but due to his speed being below average he can find himself in trouble at point blank range when under a furious attack. Also useful to remember is a Guillotine will catch an opponent on the opposite side of the screen, providing they don't move backwards. Mind Games : ------------ Yamazaki has many mind games that he can apply easily in matches. His snake arms can be used for mind games very effectively by just holding the snake arm. If you think they'll jump hold an A snake arm and cancel it if they don't jump. A good one is to hold a B snake arm and when the opponent gets in striking range don't let it go. If your opponent is smart he should think that you are holding an A snake arm, this sho uld bait him in to walking right up to you for some gruesome combo. When your opponent reach es about halfway into your snake arm range, release it and you will get 2 hits from the attack on him. :) When an opponent get's downed by Yamazaki providing they are not a grappler very close to them (give a little space) as they are about to get to their feet, use Yamazaki's overhead punch. This should catch your opponent 3-4 times before they cotton on, When they start to block high instead of low you can start scoring the major damage, simply use B as the y are about to get to their feet, as the close B is a low hit it will hit your opponent who is now blocking high, combo this in to a sand kick and then combo that in to a C snake arm or any variation on the infinite combo. You could also go straight for an exploding headbutt or Yondan drill on your op ponent, also don't forget the pow up to yondan drill as this causes the legendary brain free ze on opponents a lot of the time. Try to vary between these attacks for a nasty guessing game. When you land the overhead punch on your opponent You can also be pretty sure your opponent will jump at you about 80% of the time immediately after. This seems to be a player mannorism, the old "I'll get you for that hit" syndrome (Quote Mao). So you can be pretty sure you'll get another 2 free hits there, also your opponent will get knocked down again and the ball is back in your court for another guessing game. Meter Management : ------------------ Meter bars come easily to Yamazaki because of his snake arm cancel trick, finding the time to do it isn't hard either. So you tend to have a lot of supers to play with wh en playing Yamazaki. When I play Yamazaki I will attempt to POW up as soon as possible, the extra damage that gets added to even normal moves makes it worth while, and a POW'd up snake arm will do considerable damage when one hits. Also both of Yamazaki's SDM's will cause 50% or more when landed. I won't hesitate to use a guard cancel CD attack if someone an opponent is hitting with a multi tick move (like Mai's Fan twirl). The only time I might not use a CD counter is if I am not POW'd up. The AB counter rolls are handy too as Yamazaki can follow attackers easily using his Guillotine, or dash up for a combo of your choice on attacks that don't stop qu ickly (like Ryo/Robert's Ryoko Rambu when blocked) Typically I save my levels for POW ups and DM's only. Punishing Mistakes : -------------------- Here's a list of some of the things you can do if your opponent screws something up. There are four basic situations that you could find yourself in, depending on whether you can get to them before they recover from their whiff, and on whether you have stock available or not. If you can get (walk/dash) to them and have stock: In this situation, you can dash up to them and do either a Dwn+C, guillotine combo or B,Sand Kick, Snake cancel, Guillotine combo, or D(1 Hit), Yondan Drill combo. each hurts so it's up to you. If you can get to them but don't have stock: Dash up to your opponent and do either a B,B,Sand kick, snake arm combo, or C, Exploding headbutt, or C, Judging Dagger (not if you're powed though). If you can't get to them and have stock: You can use the guillotine to reach an opponent on the other side of the screen in a hurry, but make sure you don't leave it too late. If you can't get to them and don't have stock: Yamazaki has such tremendous range on his B snake arm, it is easy to dash forward a step or 2 and just go for a B snake arm. If you think they'll block before you can reach them, either start building meter with snake arm cancels, or POW up if you're not pow 'd up already. Obviously, if they're dizzy, go for the most damaging combo you know. Matchups : ---------- vs. Kyo Kusanagi ---------------- The Sado/Maso works well against Kyo players who use a lot of firefists since his Firefists are bait for Yama. Remember to counter it when Kyo is in his first Firefist, because the rest will follow up in a chain (assuming the player is good) and Yama will be unable to do so. If you block the first or second hits of a firefist multi you can interupt Kyo safely with an exploding headbutt grab or DM Yondan Drill. Beware using the Sado/maso against players who use a lot of low B's as the sado/maso will be beaten by them. Restrain yourself from jumping...or you are bait for Kyo's uppercut. Keep Kyo away with Snake Arms, but keep in mind that Kyo has the dreadful autoguard in his Fists... So to get a clean hit on him you must wait a split second in to the fire fist before letting the snake arm go. If you just can't get the timing you can always just counter them with the Sado/Maso for slightly less damage and possibly a counter message as a bonus. Also, if you are holding your snake arms for long periods beware of players that cotton on about the Heavy version of the R.E.D. Kick getting a clean hit vs B button snake arms. It is often worth while holding an A button Snake arm from the other side of the screen to lure the Kyo player in to his R.E.D Kick, You can't hen release the snake arm and safely take him out. And don't EVER get in a corner...if so, get ready because a Kyo player can do his infinite with the Double Kick. Against players who don't use infinites you may end up eating his DM flame juggle combo. Keep an eye out for the move, then counter him as the double kick is slow in starting up and has pretty poor recovery when blocked. Against the Burn Ogre DM don't worry about the guard crush type animation at the end of it, despite the look you can still retaliate with a sweep, C punch, Exploding headbutt, DM of your choice or you can get him with a combo. Vs. '94 Kyo ----------- Don't bother trying to returning his Fireball since Yama (strangely) can't return it. Otherwise, nail Kyo as best as you like. His Firefists are gone, so he should be bait for Snake Arm traps. :) '94 Kyo players tend to hide and turtle a lot, they frequently rely on fireballs and be careful with jumps or you can get caught by his Dragon punch like old RED kick, or Uppercut. Because they tend to block so much, use Snake arms carefully to push him in to the corner. Once there, you can hold a snake arm and counter any special move he tries. Oh, and do Guillotines against his Fireballs...it's the same case as Iori's :) Vs. Benimaru Nikaido -------------------- Sheesh. Beni boy can really get on your nerves, but if you know how to keep him out, he's toast. Problem is Beni has a tricky jump, and it can be hard hitting him out of the air. Benny's small hop jumps are very low and when used in conjunction with his CD kick he will usually be safe from any A snake arms you try. However, Benny also has a very high large jump which is bait for A snake arms. Be prepared. But he's toast if he tries to do his Drill Kick against Yama to get in, the move has a slow start up, so you can try an A snake arm or more preferably a Sado/maso, If you use the sado/maso, you will be rewarded with a counter for your efforts, you can then juggle Benny with an A or B snake arm for good damage. Another Beniboys tactic will to try and aim for Yama's knees to get in...and land some sort of combo. Normally, Beni will try to do his Raijinkens. They are fast, and snake arms will not penertrate them so don't let him get close enough to land them. Bait him with the Snake Arms, but watch out for the Air Raijinkens...calculate your Snake Arm so Beni will fall on it. Be VERY careful about a guy with some meter...being close is a menace due to his Raikokens and Electric Triggers. Just keep Beni out by any means and oh...you can Sado/Maso his Shinkuu Katatategoma this will also reward you with the counter message so juggle away. :) Vs. Goro Daimon --------------- Easy. Kill Goro with your Snake Arms. In close quarters, Yama can and WILL lose with a good Goro who can grab your ass in any imaginable position :). Just do Snake Arm traps and bait him. You only have to worry about his Super Ukemi and Minelayer, but it's easy if you keep up the pressure :) The key to this fight is countering Goro's rolls. Goro can try for the super Ukemi or a standard roll, either roll can be nailed Before Goro can grab you by using a B snake arm, OR a more preferable counter to his rolls is to use the exploding headbutt. The old hold a snake arm then cancel it and headbutt your rolling opponent works great here. Be VERY careful of Goro when he is not cornered, if you hold a snake arm then Goro can go for an minelayer. If you see Goro going for it you can guillotine him but beware if he fakes the minelayer, as he will be able to block the guillotine and counter grab you. Vs. Terry Bogard ---------------- Tough one. Terry can infinite or combo quite much anything after his Power Charge, so if Yama falls for one of them, forget it...you're dead or badly wounded. Terry is one of the highest ranked characters of '97...don't play around with him. Snake Arm him, but only at a range where you can counter any attempted Power Charges. I have also found that a well timed Arm can stop Terry before he can release his Power Wave. Also against Terry's Power Wave you can use the double return, be warned however that the wave will be extinguished at your feet while not being returned. You can also Sado/Maso his sweep, but watch out for his low B's. The only thing I can say is to turtle as much as possible...sticking any move wrong will make you a dead Yama. Be sure to do Snake Arm traps as often as possible. If you ever jump, just do a jump A and pray the Rising Tackle will trade hits. Be careful using the snake arm vs the Burn Knuckle, unless you release the arm very quickly you will trade hits. :P The most difficult part of this fight is Terry's jumping D. It is perfectly horizontal and will be able to hit Yama in the head before he can hit with his normal B button snake arm. Do NOT try a sado/maso vs Terry's jump attacks, he will be able to block your counter and counter you back for horrendous damage. It's a hard fight for Yama, but winnable if you know where to hit Terry with your Arms. Vs. Andy Bogard --------------- Well, all that I know is that his Hishoken is fast and counters snake arms should the two meet. His Zaneiken or his Phoenix Down is easily detained by the Sado/Maso or more commonly B snake arm both for clean hits on Andy. Sado/maso works excellently against the Kuhadan, it will normally reward you with the counter message too for that free juggle. Normally, Andy players just eat the normal Snake Arm traps and such as they tend to either turtle or go all out for his Dam buster. Wait long enough against the phoenix down (Just as Andy is about to land) and you can counter it with a Gullotine. Vs. Joe Higashi --------------- Beat Joe's Hurricane Uppers with your Snake Arms. Yamazaki has more range with his snake arms than Joe has with his Hurricane uppers, you can also safely hit Joe inbetween his double hurricane uppers, the effect is Joe doesn't manage to get his second hurricane off. Occationally you will time a snake arm badly and both will get hit, but you win the trade, frequently Joe will be on the floor too or will at least lost more life... there you go! You lose nothing but a bit of energy, while Joe loses energy AND his position (vital for keeping Joe from his corner traps). However, Yama's massive girth allows him to be a big target for Joe's TNT Punch should Joe get close. Play games with him using Snake Arms. You should stay pinned to the ground since jumping can result in some Golden Heel Kick crap. And also Joe has nothing like the burn knuckle that will trade with the snake arm. Just let Joe come to you and nail him with Arms. You can alternate some Sado/Masoto hit his GHK or Rush DM as well you will usually get a counter for it. Be VERY careful against Joe players that know about Joe's slide, If you are using B snake arms, Joe can slide under and take tou down with the slide. If you see it coming, cancel the arm and counter Joe after he finishes. Vs. Ryo Sakazaki ---------------- You can also play with him using Snake Arms. Just watch out for his autoguard Mojo Rajinkou you will get a bad trade with him. It can be beaten cleanly by a snake arm but you have to wait very late indeed. If you stick out a move you can eat it. Just do some Sado/Maso if you feel threatned by it... it will hit Ryo usually giving a counter too. It is often safer to hop away from him then either counter with a Judging dagger, exploding headbutt or Guillotine. The only thing you should watch out are for his Kyoukgenryo Fist Dance. His juggles are really something. One of my favorites things to do are to MAX roll under a guy who tries to cheap me with a Ryoko Ranbu (I have no energy left) I MAX roll while blocking it, then doing Yondan Drill afterward or take him out of it. (but you can do a combo as well). If you are feeling really cocky in this match you can use your double return to return Ryo's DM Haohshoko ken, (note you cannot return the SDM version) A double return used on a standard Kooh-ken will result in Ryo being Hit. Vs. Robert Garcia ----------------- It's almots same deal as Ryo, but he's more dangerous. I've seen guys who juggled me after a Kyokugenryo Kick Dance with a Ryoko Ranbu. One word of advice, don't let Robert in! Snake Arm him once again, or you can Sado/Maso him too. You can do a Sado/Maso to get his Diving Kick, or if you're feeling bold, EAT the Diving Kick and let him eat a Yondan Drill as consecuence! (Though it can be possible that they can do the Dance if timed badly). Do the same thingy as with Ryo in the Ryoko Ranbu cheap stuff. Robert is more dangerous than Ryo, IMO, but can be treated miserably for the same reasons. Robert players try to use a lot of D Hienshippu kyaku's for tick damage, But fear not for if you sado/maso you will beat the move and most likely get a counter for it too. Tha B snake arm beats the hienshippu kyaky cleanly too. Robert has no autoguard moves like Ryo so you can keep him out quite easily by using Snake Arms traps. Again the Haohshoko ken is reversable but not the SDM version. Robert however cannot have his Ryogeki ken touched by Yamazaki's Double return. Vs. Yuri Sakazaki ----------------- What a JOKE! She's a target for almost anything...just play your normal Yama game...she can't do anything special about it. (I, at least) can do a Judging Dagger with almost no risk of counters as well! Even the best Yuri players around here fall against a regular Yama...so do anything you like :) The Haohshoko ken can be reversed like the other 2, but again don't try it on the SDM version. Her Kooh-ken can be double returned also for a hit on her. Vs. Leona -------------------- Thankfully, she's not everyone's worst nightmare like it used to be back in KOF '96. She seems weaker, but if you tend to think like that, you can be surprised. You can obviously hit her out of the Cheeze Ball especially with Yama's far sweep range. Her Cheezeball is also double returnable for bold players. You should obviously turtle Leona her moon slasher seems more solid than before. This was her bane in KOF '96, and it seems to still hold true this time around. Punish any rushing move she does with some combos (beginning with low moves) or you can be bold and Guillotine them. However, Leona's sweep range is rather good as well. Hit her with the C Snake Arm if she starts to adopt this tactic. You can also use the overhead hit but it is risky. If you knock her down then an overhead is often a safe hit because you can almost put money on the fact she is trying to charge her moon slasher. You should be better off attempting a Sado/Maso instead. Keep her out with the A Snake Arms when she jumps. If she is foolish enough to throw her boomerang, maker her feel pain with a quick combo, since the boomerang can come back to haunt you (I have suffered this a lot trying to do Ryoko Ranbus on her). You can also do some Guillotine combos...Don't leave it too long and you can escape before the boomerang comes back. Vs. Ralf -------------------- Ralf isn't that hot for Yama. His CD has been reduced priority so it should be easy for you to keep him out with constant Snake Arm traps. Do A Snake Arms when he jumps towards you...chances are you can knock him out of his Blitzkrieg Punch before he lands it on you. Do B or C Snake Arms (or better yet, a Sado/Maso) to blow his Gatling Punch away. This is crucial since Ralf can land big combos with it. You should also use the "roll trick" against his Umanori Vulcan Punch, or block it for a safe counter after. If you face a Galactica Phantom, feel free to do a Snake Arm or a Judging Dagger if you feel brave to hit him. If you are feeling REEEAAAALLLY cocky use the sado/maso against it, it looks COOL, but does require an aspect of timing. But if you want to be conservative, you can jump out of it's range and nail Ralf with a combo afterwards. Just be sure that the Galactica Phantom isn't done AFTER a Umanori Vulcan Punch (you'll be in trouble there), all you can do is attempt a reversal roll if this happens. Don't try to snake arm a Ralf Kick as it will trade with you for big damage. Vs. Clark --------------------- Clark is simular to Ralf, but with aspects of Goro, All his specials bar the Vulcan punch are grabs so he must rely on his grabs to do major damage on you. But as a grappler, he falls prey for any Yama snake arm trap. Sure, he has his Rolling Cradler and Napalm Stretch you should be warry of, but you can be safe if you patent some B Snake Arms, which will make Clark reel. Don't use the Sado/Maso too much...it can be unhealthy since Clark can grab you out of it. Otherwise, abuse of Clark's poor defense against the Snake Arms to trap him. His air game will also get torn assunder by Yama's A and B snake arms. Clark cannot roll and Grab Yamazaki from the front before Yamazaki can either : A) Cancel a snake arm and grab Clark (Range must be closer than Clarks DM Grab) B) B/C Snake arm Clark as he comes out of his roll. Vs. Athena --------------------- I guess what most Yama players suffer of are Athena's tricky moves. Her Psycho Teleport can be used to avoid an unwarry Yama's traps. Athena players that use a lot of teleports seem a very hard game for Yamazaki BUT fear not for if you release a B or C snake arm it will hit Athena out of her teleport. If you feel cocky then headbutt her out or Guillotine her out of her teleport. Do NOT use the sado/maso against Athena unless she is going for her Phoenix Arrow. A bad Athena player, on the other hand, will do constant Psycho Ball Attacks in order for Yama to jump and do a Psycho Sword afterwards. You can Double Return the Psycho balls, then it'll be athena who either jumps at you or rolls at you for a snake arm counter. Don't be too concerned with her old DM As the Shining Crystal Bit part can be returned also. And the start up part can be snake armed if timed correctly, either between the orbs, as she is finishing the move or as she pulls the orbs in for the shining crystal bit. However, more likely you will be facing a teleport-happy Athena, this is a more dangerous way to play her. Be sure to either move out of the area she will finish her teleport in or be grabbed by her air throw, you can do a Yondan Drill if you have the speed and have predicted a teleport. Vs. Sie Kensou ---------------------- He's a ticky character for Yama. Kensou's tend to just do fireballs of varying speeds which can be Double Returned. Be carefull if you roll through the fireball at the wrong range as you will get caught in Sie's 3 hit dragon fang. If you jump the fireball you will most likely get caught by his rising version of the dragon fang. Try to keep close so you can easily roll by his fireballs for a headbutt. Do NOT get caught out by Sie players who roll by you for the Chun li DM KiKoSho. grab them or use crouching B's to stop him. Oh and be sure to make Sie pay big time if he uses his bun eating DM. Vs. Chin Gentsai ---------------------- Here begins the problem of Yama against the small fellows. Chin is too short to do a Judging Dagger (every other hit will miss or a B Snake Arm. For his lying on the floor as well as his rolling punch use C snake arms. Since Yama's game realy doesn't base itself heavily on jumping, his drunakrd walk move won't normally work. Actually, this is the game of who can throw correctly. It's Yama's Snake Arm versus the Gourd Attack of Chin. Though, IMO, Yama has longer reach than Chin and can hit him out of it or trade hits at best. The problem should rely mainly on his lying down move. You should C Snake Arm him or do a Sado/Maso or a sweep...I usually do a C Snake Arm. His drunken punch can be Sado/Maso'd for a counter too. Vs. Kim Kaphwan ----------------------- Kim is an annoying fight. His Hishokyaku is used by most players to tick down life but fear not, like Benny you can safely sado/maso this attack. He is a turtle by design and very annoying. His Hienzan is a threat. Throw B and C Snake Arms from a safe distance if Kim is poking (obligating you to jump), this should result in him jumping after a short while then it's A snake arm time. I have also tried to mix it with Judging Daggers, but Kim is able to counter with a variety of moves. You should do Snake Arm traps, or do the "wiggling" Snake Arm (hold button) to sometimes fake the Kim in doing a Hienzan and oooohhh what pain shall be dished. After all, you can always block the Hienzan and do the Guillotine afterwards (if fast enough). If not, A Snake Arm will do. Sado/Maso are pretty risky. However, the turtle Kims are not precisely fond of doing the commet crunch. But Yama can Sado/Maso the second part of this, or if you are really annoyed at Kim you can always Guillotine the second part. Vs. Chang ------------------ Chang's massive girth and slow speed make him excellent to keep away. He's so fat Snake Arms can land easily on him. He has a hell of a time trying to evade the Snake Arms. It is also very tough for him to do an attack that counters the Sado/Maso. You can do a Judging Dagger on him with no fear of reprisal. Chang is slow, bulky...a perfect victim for Yama. :) Do be very carefull of Chang's hop CD though, it will trade with A or B snake arms if you leave your attack too late. Be sure to nail a jumping Chang VERY quickly Chang will hurt a lot if he hits you. Vs. Choi ------------------- Now THIS is the other way around. Yama is big. Choi is small. Easy for Choi to hit Yama. Hard for Yama to hit Choi. It remains almost strictly forbidden to do Judging Daggers on Choi. Even when blocking Choi can retaliate as every other dagger hit will miss him. Some of his low moves can blow his Sado/Maso away and then also be linked into a larger Choi combo ending with his rush DM ouch choppy choppy. His Hishokyaku is just like Kim's and Benny's easy to see coming and easy to counter by snake arms or sado/maso (which usually rewards you with a counter too. My word of advice is to rely heavily on Snake Arms, use sado/maso's on him too but be carefull as DM 
misshaps can be painfull. B Snake Arms work wonders on the flying monkey. 

Always keep a C Snake Arm handy to pin Choi to the ground. It's also hard 
for Yama to Guillotine Choi out of the air, but is quite easy to guillotine 
him out of a flying monkey attack. As I said, it's Choi little body which
makes him so hard to pin. You should attempt early rolls on Choi when he
jumps (he has a long jump) and counter when a standing D to punish him.
You will have rare opportunities to hit Choi, so be sure to hit him hard
all the way.


Alternately, you can block against Choi a lot, he will ussually be played in a
mannor designed to swamp you, don't worry too much, if Choi attempts to keep 
hop jumping over you at point blank range just use Yama's crouching C to hit 
him out of his jump. And clumsy attacks from him punnish with an exploding 
headbutt.  The standing far B is often excellent for beating any flying 
monkey attempts.

Vs. Yamazaki
-------------------
This fight can vary a _LOT_ depending on who is using Yamazaki. The basics of 
this fight that you can both use and get caught by are obviously the same.
As with the whole 97' special team Yamazaki has a counter the Sado/Maso, this 
is a pain in the ass for Yamazaki players as you have to be much more careful
where you let go of your snake arms or you'll get counter hit.  Use the 
sado/maso on snake arm happy Yamazaki players, and on dagger tick attempts.
watch out for roll in headbutt atempts, just use the standard snake arm or 
headbutt roll counters to stop these atempts. And don't get caught out with 
Yamazaki's close standing B combo starters.

Vs. Blue Mary
-------------------
Blue Mary is a very dangerous opponent, You must be ready to release snake arms
instantly if you see her jump, as her hops have a lot of reach, the Spider grab
hurts and you DO NOT want to get caught on the end of one of her jump in 
combo's. She has a better counter throw than Geese did, and can grab your 
snake arms so be very carefull when releasing them. Should you get caught by 
her D button counter she can follow up with the M.splash rose DM, for hideous 
damage. She is also a grappler with a command throw and a DM grab. These hurt 
a lot so again watch for grab attempt set ups using jumps and rolls.
Another dangerous weapon of Mary's is the 'Straight Slicer'. This will go
straight under a B snake arm and will lose Yamazaki a lot of life, as well as
putting Mary in a very good possition. The C snake arm will beat the slicer,
also if you cancel the snake arm and block she is open for a counter of your
choice.

Vs. Billy Kane
-------------------
Billy has a counter attack too, so again be carefull when you let lose with
snake arms. Billy's low A is very dangerous to Yamazaki and has more range
than his snake arms. You can edge your way in to him and the whip out a C
snake arm for the best results. Yamazaki can counter his pole thrust in
KoF 97 unlike in RBFF and RBS.

Apart from the low A Billy has very little that poses a threat to Yamazaki,
just don't get sloppy, Billy doesn't seem much but if he lands his
Jump C, HCF+A, QCF+A combo, you could be looking at about 50% damage.

Vs. Yashiro
-------------------
A very dangerous fight for Yamazaki. Yashiro players will try to get in close 
to Yamazaki, normally by means of Jumping D's and Jumping CD's, then let rip 
with his Sweep, low B or close (overhead) D, if they reach you. Stop Yashiro's
jumps with B snake arms and A snake arms. Yashiro's duck is suprisingly low, 
so low in fact that a B snake arm will miss him totally. He's not that scarry 
unless he gets in. See to it he doesn't.


Vs. Shermie
-------------------
The same as with Clark, But with less effective normal attacks, much easier to
fight than Clark.

Vs. Chris
-------------------
I haven't seen much of this fight, Chris is pretty much bait for snake arms, he
leaves himself very open after almost all of his specials (providing you block
them).

How to Defeat the Orochi :
--------------------------
The Orochi characters are scarry opponents indeed here is the best advice I can
give you on beating them.

Vs. O.Iori
-------------------
This character is rarely selected by good players, normally no skill scrubs 
will select him.  Scrubs playing him will attack (clumsily) all the time, 
forgetting largely about Iori's fireballs, getting impatient if you so much as
block 1 or 2 of them.  Scrub played or not O.Iori will always do ludicrous 
damage when he hit's you wi th the most basic of moves and combo's. His 
unfeasably fast speed on ground and air make it highly ill-advised to ever try
to lay in to him. Turtle, and Turtle a _LOT_ pick opportunities for snake 
arms carefully as Iori can use his Maiden Masher DM to run under A and B 
snake arms, and also catch you before you can recover from a missed one. Use 
Snake arms to stop his dash ins, and jumps.  Be ready to guillotine him if 
he throws too many fireballs (his Fireball recovery time is no faster 
than normal Iori).

NEVER jump at him once he has a DM available the Maiden Masher DM will cause at
least 50% damage on you.

Vs. O.Leona
-------------------
Again a scrub character almost exclusively. O.Leona scrubs will hop around like
frogs, and rarely stop to charge a moon slasher. Pick her off with snake arms,
and headbutt her whenever she uses a jump attack at the wrong height. 
Again don't forget she has ludicrous speed and damage. Turtle against her.

Vs. O.Yashiro
-------------------
Many good players choose this guy as well as scrubs, due to his huge combo 
potential. Watch out for any scum spider, use Snake arms and jump attacks 
to stop it. Apart from that treat him in pretty much the same way as you 
would treat Clark.

Vs. O.Shermie
-------------------
She's the easiest of the Orochi's. Her Electric Kiss's can be double returned,
she has very little else in her attacks arsenal. Use snake arms from a 
distance, you can easily hit her out of her kiss blowing animation with a 
snake tamer. Or if you're feeling flash, use a Guillotine to grab her from 
behind her Kiss's.

Vs. O.Chris
-------------------
This little guy is a lot more dangerous than his normal version, his DP isn't 
particularly dangerous but his special grab move is very nasty, with high 
damage juggle potential.  His Fireball leaves him very open, use rolls to 
reach him from behind them or guillotine's when you see one comming.

Getting along with others :
---------------------------

First of all it doesn't matter who you put Yamazaki with he will NOT help them
out if they need help. As a result all people see him as a Red unhappy face if
you use the relationship detector on the select screen. This does not mean 
however that Yamazaki doesn't get along ok with some of the characters.

As a general rule Yamazaki won't gain or keep DM levels from good characters 
and normally does from neutral types of characters.

Yamazaki doesn't like (won't get any DM crystals from):
Terry Bogard
Andy Bogard
Blue Mary
Kim Kaphwan
Iori Yagami
Ryo Sakazaki
Robert Garcia
Kyo Kusanagi

Double Return Table :
---------------------

Yamazaki can return the following attacks using the double return.

TERRY BOGARD :
Power Wave : Can be stopped but not returned.

JOE HIGASHI :
Hurricane Upper

RYO SAKAZAKI :
Kooh ken : If attack is hit by double return Ryo gets hit although Kooh ken is
not returned.

Haohshokoken : The DM version can be returned, the SDM version cannot.

ROBERT GRACIA :
Haohshokoken : The DM version can be returned, the SDM version cannot.

YURI SAKAZAKI:
Kooh ken : If attack is hit by double return Yuri gets hit although Kooh ken 
is not returned.

Haohshokoken : The DM version can be returned, the SDM version cannot.

LEONA :
Baltic Launcher

ATHENA ASAMIYA :
Psycho Ball
Crystal Shoot : DM or SDM versions.

SIE KENSOU :
Chokyudan

MAI SHIRANUI :
Kachosen
Suichou No Mai

KING :
Venom Strike
Double Strike

IORI YAGAMI :
Style 108 Yamiharai ( Dark Thrust )
Style Ura 108 Yasakazuki : Can be absorbed but Yamazaki will get hit anyway.

Appendices :
------------
[KoF 97 Yamazaki a drawn over sprite?]

Kof 96's Goenitz is very simular to KoF 97's Yamazaki in many respects.
Goenitz's jumping CD is almost identicle to Yamazaki's jumping D, but viewed 
from the front rather than the back.

Goenitz's Dwn+C is the same as Yamazaki's Dwn+C but viewed from the back 
instead of the front.

Goenitz's Super Hurricane Grab ("WHAT COLOR THIS!") has the same start up pose
as Yamazaki's Yondan Drill start up pose. Goenitz stole Yamazaki's hair 
style. :)

Closing :
---------
OK I guess that's it for this guide, any questions, corrections, info or
whatever please feel free to mail me Omega MAD or LANTIS at :
omega_mad@mbison.demon.co.uk and accourdingly.

Acknowledgements :
------------------

- Henry A. Moriarty (Howlin' Mad -H-) for the speach translations.

- Mao (AKA The REAL Mai AKA YuriMai) for helping me to understand the many uses
  of the word 'Hella'.

- The KOF ML for providing many helpfull tidbits to try out, and the Yamazaki 
  Sand kick infinite.

- Tony Wedd (miku@camtech.net.au.) whose Leona Guide I used as a template for 
  this guide.

- SNK for making these cool games and making Yamazaki so cool in this game.

BYE.