The King Of Fighters '99 Evolution (US) for Sega Dreamcast Complete Extra Striker/Secrets FAQ By Scott Miller Version 3.7 (updated 9/19/03) (*NEW E-MAIL ADDRESS ADDED) eternaINSERT_HEREpacINSERT_HERE8001 at yahooINSERTDOTHEREcom (For non-spamming readers, remove the "INSERT HERE"s, leave the _s alone, and use a proper "at" and "dot" to e-mail me.) This FAQ is copyright 2001-2003 by Scott E. Miller, and is protected under all international copyright laws. You have my permission to reproduce this FAQ without written consent as long as the following conditions are observed: 1: All content, including this copyright notice, and notice of authorship, remains intact. 2: This FAQ may NOT be used for ANY commercial purposes whatsoever. This includes, but is not limited to the following: --posting it with web banners --selling it, giving it away as a free bonus, or reprinting it in a commercial FOR-PROFIT publication, on any storage medium or with any distribution method now known or later to be invented (for example: Magazines, pay web sites, floppy disk, CD- or DVD-ROMs, etc.) Agetec is a trademark of the Agetec company. SNK, King Of Fighters, King Of Fighters Evolution, and all characters therein are the trademarked property of SNK Corporation of Japan and are used herein without permission. This FAQ is now hosted by: GameFAQs (www.gamefaqs.com) Cheat Happens (www.cheathappens.com) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Contents: I. Version History II. Comments III. Getting The Extra Strikers IV. Fio and Alfred and Syo and Gai V. Striker Cost VI. Acknowledgements ----------------------------------------------------------------------- I. Version History 0.1--6/7/01--Started FAQ 0.5--6/10/01--Confirmed existence of Syo and Gai 1.0--6/13/01--Release version (more updates to come) Final--6/15/01--Fixed several mistakes, added "Rankings" section, finished point chart for Level 3 EX Strikers, amended copyright statement 2.5--6/15/01--spoke too soon! Fixed more errors, added info on Syo and Gai, changed heading to reflect listing on gamefaqs.com 2.75--6/20/01--corrected more mistakes, added new info on Syo and Gai unlock trick 3.0--7/8/01--eliminated "Rankings" section, corrected minor errors; FAQ is nearly complete 3.5--2/25/02--added trigger info on Level 2 Justice and Dark Syo and Gai, courtesy of Donnie Wells 3.6--3/21/02--added new website to host list 3.7--9/19/03--simplified copyright notice, changed e-mail address ----------------------------------------------------------------------- II. Comments The King Of Fighters Evolution is basically the same sort of game that King Of Fighters '99 Dream Match was--a port of an already good 2-D fighting game to the Dreamcast, with the nice old 2-D backdrops replaced by 3-D backdrops, some of which are nice, some of which are not. The enhanced resolution also has a way of making the sprites unflattering by showing off their jagged, pixelly edges. On the other hand, it's otherwise perfect, has no loading times, several extras (and the most annoying secret in video game history, at least in the US version), Krizalid is immediately selectable and usable in all game modes, and it controls very tightly, especially with the good old ASCII six-button fighting pad, which, for whatever boneheaded reason, was never licensed by any American companies, despite the obvious inferiority of all the American six-button pads. The "Rankings" section that once comprised part 6 has now been removed from the FAQ. It didn't really belong and nobody was interested in it anyway. The rest of my dumb mistakes have now been corrected (most of them sprang up in the first place only because I had to borrow the game and wasn't too eager to let it run for all those hours more than once-- note to all aspiring FAQ writers, make sure you test *everything* before you release your FAQ). Note to anyone interested in this game--if you haven't obtained KOF Evolution yet, now is the time to do so. Most chain stores have dropped its price to $19.99 and some sell it for as little as $9.99, making it one of the best gaming bargains going. (I finally picked up my own copy in January for the latter price.) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- III. Getting The Extra Strikers In KOF Evolution, just as in every other version of KOF '99, you get Battle Ability points, which is this game's equivalent of a running score. However, unlike the other versions, in this version you can use the points you earn to buy Extra Strikers. (No comment on the "get points to unlock secrets" craze that has obsessed Japan since Soul Calibur came out and forced us all to spend dozens of hours obsessively trying to earn points to get secrets that aren't necessarily worth the time it took to unlock them.) The way it works is this: You go into the Extra Striker menu, and, if you've got enough points, you can buy one. Two are selectable from the start of the game; six can be bought as soon as you have enough points; two more will be unlocked when the first six appear; and so on and so on and etc. until you've got twenty-two new friends. Aww. Isn't that cute? Er, sorry. Anyway, Extra Strikers are the equivalent of the helpers in the first Marvel Vs. Capcom--they sit around at the bottom of your team, unable to join in the fun, until they are summoned, at which point they perform a special attack for you (unless they miss, then they'll taunt your opponent instead, wasting one of your striker uses--of course, this can be fun, and style counts, too). The damage ranges from "barely adequate" to "equivalent of weak super move," so, yes, they can be helpful in battle, and they add a little strategy to already intense fights. In addition, there are two different types for each striker, other than Seth and Vanessa. Everything in this FAQ pertains to the North American version published by Agetec. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- IV. Fio and Alfred and Syo and Gai The first sixteen strikers can all be bought with Ability points, but there are others. Specifically, four others--one from the Metal Slug universe, one from the Fatal Fury series, and two from a NGPC game, KOF: Battle de Paradise (Gai is a character from a wrestling game, called Buriki One, and Syo is the original design of Kyo Kusanagi--thanks to Jess Ragan for the info). Fio and Alfred--Easy part. Buying the first six Justice Strikers will automatically make the Level One Justice versions of Fio and Alfred available, and buying the six Dark Strikers will make Level One Dark versions of Fio and Alfred available. Syo and Gai--Hard. Harder than anything else in the entire universe. Harder than beating the original NES Castlevania without dying (well, nothing's that hard). Actually, it's pretty easy--if you don't mind playing for fifty to one-hundred-ten hours. This is the thing that makes me want to hurl rotten vegetables and compost at Agetec. See, in the American version, they thought it would be fun to make Syo and Gai time-released characters, and to add an absurdly long button press code to that, to enable them. To unlock the most powerful versions of Syo and Gai, it takes, yes, a whopping 110 hours. Here's the trick, which I first saw at www.orochinagi.com (where it was contributed by hebretto): 1) When the time limit is up, go into any play mode. I personally have found Practice mode to be the best, but I assume it'll work anywhere. It didn't work in the one-player modes, anyway. Your mileage may vary; consult dealer for details. 2) Highlight Kyo (the real version) and press the Y button 30 times. (You have to be fairly quick or it won't work, but go too fast and you won't be able to count; I time mine to the beats of the music, as if I were playing a dance game.) 3) Without stopping or slowing down, press up, right x 3, up, left x 3, up x 2, right x 3, up x 2, left x 3, up, right x 3, up x 2 (this should lead you all over the character select menu and up to the Extra Striker option), A. 4) You should now be in the Extra Striker select screen, and, if it worked, Syo and Gai will have appeared underneath Alfred. You can do this trick repeatedly, until you get the versions you want. 50 hours-- Level One Justice versions only. That's it. Oh, well. 60 hours-- Level One Justice and Dark versions. (This was contributed by striderhiryu1982.) 70 hours-- Level 2 Justice, Level 1 Dark. 80 hours--Level 2 Justice (both). 90 hours--Level 2 Dark. (These two triggers contributed by Donnie Wells.) 100 hours-- Level 3 Justice, Level 2 Dark. 110 hours-- Level 3 Justice, Level 3 Dark. No, it's not a hoax, as I originally assumed; it does work and works consistently and well. Whether or not it's a reasonable unlocking trick is a whole other matter, which I won't go into again. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- V. Striker Cost Here's a handy and dependable chart to the costs of the other Extra Strikers, including Fio and Alfred, for each level of experience. It may be ugly, due to my non-mastery of ASCII text, but it should be easily readable. Level One Chara Cost/Justice version Cost/Dark version ------------------------------------------------------------ Kyo (SP) 800 points 1000 points Goro Daimon " " Chizuru Kagura " " Athena (SP) " " Billy Kane " " Ryuji Yamazaki " " Fio* 2000 points 2200 points Alfred* 2000 points 2200 points *--only available after first six characters have been purchased for both Justice and Dark versions ------------------------------------------------------------- Total cost: 19,200 Battle Ability points Level Two Chara Cost/Justice ver. Cost/Dark ver. ------------------------------------------------------------- Kyo (SP) 1200 points 1500 points Daimon " " Chizuru " " Athena (SP) " " Billy " " Yamazaki " " Fio 2500 points 2700 points Alfred 2500 points 2700 points ------------------------------------------------------------- Total cost: 26,600 Battle Ability points Level Three Chara Cost/Justice Cost/Dark ------------------------------------------------------------- Kyo (SP) 1600 points 2000 points Daimon " " Chizuru " " Athena (SP) " " Billy " " Yamazaki " " Fio 3000 points 3200 points Alfred " " ------------------------------------------------------------- Total cost: 34,000 Battle Ability points Total cost of all strikers: 79,800 Battle Ability points (eek!) --Earning points the quick and dirty way Set the difficulty to 8 and strikers and power meter to max. Go into either single play mode or team play mode. Repeatedly use supers to destroy your opponents easily. In your second match, lose without continuing; you should have at least 800 points. I saw this trick on Gamewinners.com (credit where credit is due), and it's much easier than going through an entire game. Best high score so far, with a team of Joe, Athena, Takuma, and Shingo: 1152 points for one match. Remember: --Supers are worth a goodly amount of points. --So are combos. --Defeating multiple opponents with one character, especially your first or last on a team, earns extra points. --Cheating does you absolutely no good at all. So much for that theory. ("Cheaters never prosper," blah blah blah.) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- VI. Acknowledgements Gamefaqs.com and CJayC--the best FAQ site on the Internet, so obviously the man running it has something to do with it. Take another vacation. Cheat Happens and Chris O'Rorke--another very high quality site, who had the good taste to ask to host my FAQs--thanks, man! Striderhiryu1982--for letting me correct the "75 hour" trick with the correct time limit. Jess Ragan (grblitz.overclocked.org)--for more help than any FAQ writer deserves! He's the man behind "The Gameroom Blitz." Go there and check out some of the articles (including my favorite, "Fighter's Misery," which discusses some of the godawfulest fighting games ever made). Sector NGP (hosted by Classicgaming.com)--This is where Jess Ragan discovered the origins of Syo and Gai. It's also a great site with lots of info on SNK's ill-fated Neo Geo Pocket and its attendant games. Donnie Wells--for confirming the Level 2 Justice and Dark Syo & Gai triggers, and for getting me off of my lazy butt to finally update this stupid thing. Gamewinners.com--For the point-earning trick, which helped me cut way down on the time needed to earn all those points. However, someone should tell them that the "EX Character" trick comes from Dream Match '99. Agetec (www.agetec.com)--For releasing the game (and Mark Of The Wolves), but not for the mistakes in the manual, or the most irritating unlock trick of all time, just ahead of the random Thailand stage in Capcom Vs. SNK, or that damn baseball bat that never appeared when I played Earthbound. Orochinagi.com (now hosted by PlanetDreamcast.com)--For being a great site for KOF goodness, and for posting the Syo and Gai trick on their front page in the first place. They may no longer update, but it was good while it lasted, right? My brother Mark--for lending me KOF Evolution in the first place, along with the ASCII fighting pad. I've got my own now, so stop giving me those evil looks. Everyone else--for putting up with me for the last six months.