SS2 SECRET SHADOW MOVE FAQ v.1.7 (so I lied) Basically, this is just a collection of rumors and hearsay that may or may not be true at this point, including all the info on the known shadow moves. Put together because it interests me for some reason. Whee. - Damone Because people have been bugging me for it, it is now at ftp.netcom.com /pub/vi/vidgames/faqs. WHAT'S THIS GONNA INCLUDE? WHAT'S NEW NOW? WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO HERE? WHAT IS A SECRET SHADOW MOVE? WELL, WHERE DID YOU GET THIS INFO FROM? HEY, I SAW THIS REALLY WEIRD MOVE, AND... WELL, WHAT ARE THE SECRET SHADOW MOVES? WHAT'S THE ARGUMENT AGAINST THERE BEING ANY MORE SECRET SHADOW MOVES? WHAT'S THE ARGUMENT FOR THERE BEING ANY MORE SECRET SHADOW MOVES? HOW DO I FIND SECRET SHADOW MOVES? WHO DO YOU WANT TO THANK? WHAT'S NEW NOW? This new version (1.7) just has some updated info from my own experiences and some new stuff posted on rec.games.video.arcade about newly discovered moves. Plus a possible move fro Ukyo. And I alphabetized things. Enough to justify another addition. So I said the last one was it. Sue me. It's archived now, too. WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO HERE? Well, I'm making an offshoot to the Tapfaq at the moment. There have been a lot of rumors and the such about the Secret Shadow Moves and stuff like that, so I decided to start this thing as a clearing house for information about these things. When all of them are found, and while info for it comes in, I want to turn it all back to the Tapfaq where it belongs. Until then, don't sell this, but distribute it anywhere you like for free. WHAT IS A SECRET SHADOW MOVE? Apparently, in SS2, there are undocumented (i.e. not listed on the game or in the manuals) attacks that can be performed that do incredible things and/or damage. They have only been discovered for certain players, but there have been enough of them to substantiate the idea that every character has at least one. The stories go that they can only be performed when the POW bar is full and they are alternates to the POW Special Moves each character has, and others that say they can be performed at any time. Information is extremely sketchy. Major consensus seems to be that these are moves that can be performed anytime, and the current discovered moves bear this out, but rumors that there are some connected to the POW bar still exist. WELL, WHERE DID YOU GET THIS INFO FROM? Good question. For solid evidence, I picked out the moves that had already been discovered and documented in the Tapfaq v.4.0, edited by Shawn Holmes . Those moves are reproduced here. I wanted to get the information straight on these secret shadow moves because they interest me, and, hey, it may save Shawn some work. As far as blind speculation, I basically picked it all out of the posts on rec.games.video.arcade concerning strange attacks that have been posted so far. In addition to unconfirmed info about the soundtrack and morf features, I have taken reports about moves from posts. The 'proof' of these attacks range from 'having seen the computer pull it off,' to 'I saw someone do it,' to 'I heard someone say they saw this.' Bottom line: if a normal faq follows the scientific method, this is old-school alchemy at its best. DO NOT TAKE ANYTHING HERE AT FACE VALUE. HEY, I SAW THIS REALLY WEIRD MOVE, AND... Cool. Mail me about it at damone@ios.com. Everything will be compiled as I get it and as my health holds out. If you have anything that fills in any of the blanks here (or, more to the point, connects the vast chasms between actual facts), drop me a line. If you've heard rumors of a move, thought you saw a move, have the actual move itself, etc, etc, mail me. WELL, WHAT ARE THE SECRET SHADOW MOVES? Form: CHARACTER: (* Denotes move info taken from Tapfaq v.4.0) SECRET SHADOW MOVE / DESCRIPTION JOYSTICK PATTERN (if known) CHAM CHAM: Tam Tam's Revenge: Apparently Paku Paku turns back to Tam Tam and Cham Cham turns into a monkey, and you can play as Tam Tam for a while. No move info CHARLOTTE: Super Power Gradiation: Charlotte tosses a rose in front of her and performs multiple power gradiations through it. -O | \ | / | + BCD OR - O | \ O - + BCD O O O O O O O (Movement unconfirmed) EARTHQUAKE: No move info (May be Ninja Fat Bomb) GALFORD: * Ninja Invisibility: Turns invisible, reappearing only to perform moves. Full reappearance occurs when opponent touches, or after a short time. -O O- -O O- | + BCD O GEN-AN: No move info (May be Alternate Shredder) GENJURO: Super Card Slash: Apparently Genjuro appears to be performing his POW super move when many cards come out, performing over 5 back and forth card slashes. No move info HANZO: * Ninja Invisibility: Turns invisible, reappearing only to perform moves. Full reappearance occurs when opponent touches, or after 10-12 seconds. -O O- -O O- | + BCD O HAOHMARU: * Super Kogetsuzan Rush: Leaps into the air doing multiple Kogetsuzans \ O- / | \ -O O- | / + BC O O O O O O JUBEI: No move info KYOSHIRO: No move info NAKORURU: * Apefuchi Kamui Rymuse: Performs three quick Kamui Ryuse and finishes by sending out a "shadow" of Falcon, allowing for four consecutive hits (if close to opponent). \ | / O- -O | \ + BC O O O O O NICOTINE: No move info SIEGER: Machine Gun: Apparently Sieger fires his cannon arm repeatedly for mega-damage. Another about a throw that takes him off-screen. First sounds suspiciously like the Vulcan Explosion, and the second like either his air throw or his back-breaker combo. No move info UKYO: Teleport Slash: Apparently Ukyo 'teleports' to the other side of the screen in his POW frame performing an upward slash. / | \ -o | \ + BC o o o o o (Movement Unconfirmed) WAN FU: No move info WHAT'S THE ARGUMENT AGAINST THERE BEING ANY MORE SECRET SHADOW MOVES? Whelp, it goes something a little like this: - The Soundtrack: Every move and character in the game is represented on the soundtrack, even the Secret Shadow Moves listed here and Kuroko. If there are any more moves or characters (alla Tam Tam), they must not use any additional sounds, but re-use other sounds. This is not likely. - The Test Feature: Apparently there is a test morph feature for the game that lets the game owner test all the characters. This function includes Kuroko, but not Tam Tam, or any other character. - The 'Protagonist Attacks': Apparently someone who knows someone at the game company says that the Shadow Attacks that exist already are 'Protagonist Attacks,' special attacks only for the 'heroes' of the game: Hoah, Nak, Galford, and Hanzo. They are the only ones to get them. - Weather Balloons Are Not UFOs: There are some glitches and bugs in the game that make it do weird things sometimes, but they are not special moves. As in most UFO sightings, most of the people who saw these things were just imagining it anyway or just saw some documented special attack they never saw before. WHAT'S THE ARGUMENT FOR THERE BEING ANY MORE SECRET SHADOW MOVES? Whelp, it goes something like this: - Screw The Soundtrack And Test Feature: No matter how unlikely it is, there could be special moves for the other players that either re-use sounds already on the soundtrack, or on tracks hidden in the soundtrack. Ditto the Test Feature. PLUS, the secret shadow moves that exist already, are additions to other moves, and some do not USE different sounds anyway. For example, Nak's is an extension of her hawk strike, Hoah's is a multiple Kogetsuzan, and Hanzo and Galford's invisibility is an extension of their ninja teleports in that they just stay 'gone.' SO, the secret shadow moves for the others characters are extensions of other moves, and don't NEED new sounds. - 'Protagonist' My Ass: Nak, Hoah, Galford, and Hanzo, while being more involved in the 'plot' of the game than the others, are by no means the only 'good guys' in it. And if it is for the people in those story lines, why shouldn't Genjuro, Ukyo, or Nicotine have one, considering their connection to Haoh's storyline? And while there are DEFINATELY some bad guys (Gen-an, Earthquake, etc), there are definately other good guys (Nicotine, Cham Cham, etc), as well as those of dubious morality (Kyoshiro, Sieger, etc.) What about them? Why screw up game balance by giving super-powerful special attacks to characters who in no way need them? And if the good guys get attacks, why not the villains as well? - It WAS a spaceship from Venus!: Many clearly sane people, who have played the game for a long time, have SEEN the moves that they claim with their own eyes, and they did appear to be bugs (How do you mistake seeing Tam Tam?). Some people have even PERFORMED the moves themselves. And there is the enough ambiguity to allow the possibility of these moves being reality. HOW DO I FIND SECRET SHADOW MOVES? Still convinced that more moves exist? Well, take a look at what we have already. It seems that all the Secret Shadow moves all have button combos that have both slash and kick button involved (usually BC), along with complex and unusual joystick movements. All of it is in some ways akin to the Super Deformed transformations (weird joystick movements/button combos). Also, all of the moves seem to have some sort of 'shadow' component. Haoh and Nak have 'shadows' of themselves trailing behind them as they perform their moves, while Hanzo and Galford turn INTO 'shadows.' Also, for more moves to exist at this point and defy the arguments against it, they are probably just extensions of moves the characters already have (see the examples of Charlotte and Genjuro). So go out, do weird things with the joystick, and hit slash and kick at the same time. WHO DO YOU WANT TO THANK? Well, first off again, Shawn Holmes , editor of the Tapfaq v.4.0, for use of some of the moves from the Tapfaq. I'd also like to thank all the posters who I borrowed from. If you wish to be recognized for your info, please drop me a line and you will be included, and accept my apologies ahead of time. If you have any info, complaints, etc, drop me a line at damone@ios.com. Thanks again. Damone