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Character Moves' Ratings
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This section rates and lists the best of each character's special moves, throws, and combos.  The rating in parentheses is an approximate percentage of the life bar lost from the move.

Some of the combinations listed include Pouncing on the downed opponent.  If the Pounce is listed, it means that the Pounce is very likely to hit if done quickly.

Keep in mind that although the moves below are effective ways of demolishing an opponent, you will need to learn to use the basic punches and kicks as well to become a true champion.  The best strategy in any fighting game is, after all, a flexible one.

Below the name of the move is how to do it in abbreviated notation.

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Character's Most powerful attacks
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           Moves                                   Throw
 Akira      Dashing Body Check(50%)                 Trip&Punch on Ground (40%)
           B,F,F+P+K                               B+P,D/F+P
Pai        Triple Punch,Crescent&Pounce(55%)       Pushover & Pounce(50%)
           P,P,P,K,U+P                             B,F+P,U+P
Lau        Hop Kick Flurry 3 & 2x Pounce(85%)      Face Slam & 2x Pounce(70%)
           Tap U/F+K,P,P,P,K,Hold U+P              B,F+P,Hold U+P
Wolf       Shoulder Ram & Pounce(55%)              Twirl&Hurl&Run&Pounce(80%)
           B,F+P,U+P                               B,D,F+P,F,Hold F,U+P
Jeffry     Toe Kick,Piledriver & Butt Bomb(100%!)  See left (Toe kick o' doom)
           Tap D+K,D,D/F,F+ALL,Hold U+P (Automatic kill)
Kage       Triple Punch & Mid Kick(45%)            10' Toss & Head Dive(45%)
           P,P,P,K                                 B+P,wait til thump,U+P
Sarah      Triple Kick & Pounce (55%)              Suplex(25%)
           Hold D/F,K,K,K,U+P                      P+D
Jacky      Double Punch, Elbow, Kick&Pounce(55%)   Brain Buster(30%)
           Hold For,P,P,P,K,U+P


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General Fighting Techniques
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This part of the guide will hopefully help you to get a head start on learning some of the basic fighting techniques.  It tells how each style works, advantages & disadvantages, and sometimes a way to counter it if someone is using it against you.  They are listed in the order of their complexity or importance.  Don't use any one of these techniques too much, because a mixed style is the best technique that you can possibly use.

First off, though, realize that VF is mainly a GROUND game.  In its attempt to be as close to real fighting as possible, Sega chose to make air attacks fairly worthless.  Some arts, like Tae Kwon Do, do deal with a certain amount of air attacking, but generally speaking, most martial arts  teach solely ground techniques.  You'll have a hard time trying to find a tournament with as many people jumping around as you do in any of the SF2 clones.

Therefore, expect to keep a lot of your game on the ground, but by all means, don't expect this fact to limit VF's game playing variety or fun in any way.  It only makes the game more realistic.

Now then, the techniques...
  
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A FLURRY OF JABS
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By simply tapping the punch button repeatedly, your character, whomever he (or she) may be, will step forward and punch as they go.  They will punch 2-3 times and then pause for a second before they can begin to attack again.

Works good...

when your enemy has very little life left
When your enemy is close to the edge of the ring (to get a 'ring out')
sometimes to start the round out with
if they are in the air, you can usually hit them with an attack, and follow that up with two or three punches before they hit the ground
Jeffry, Lau, and Wolf can tag on their uppercut/knife hand to make a more deadly combo whenever they catch someone in the air with a punch or a kick
if you tag on the kick part of their combos


Works bad...

if you use it too much
to start the round out too much with it since your opponent can just start his round out with a jumping kick and hit you before you can start punching


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SHORT JUMPING ATTACKS
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Pretty much worthless against any decent opponent.  OK if you can catch them off guard, but they still don't do much damage.  The jumping straight up attacks seem to work the best since they let you jump above a sweep or low punch, and then clobber the sucker on the head.

Short jumping attacks, though, are the only jumping attacks which are able to hit a crouching opponent.

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DISTANCE JUMPING ATTACKS
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Jumping and kicking immediately works well if they are really close to you.  You can catch them off guard if they are closing in with a fury of jabs.   This attack also hits a crouching defender.  Therefore it is very valuable to people who don't have many other attacks which can hit a crouching opponent.  For Pai, in particular, she only has the shuffle side kick and this jumping kick.

If they aren't close, then you have three options.

Double footed kick:

Has deceptive range.  Probably the best distance attack.  You must hit the kick button before you reach the peak of your jump.  You can only be hit out of it if your opponent does a close jumping kick before your kick comes out... and that is a very hard move to time.

Pai will do some sort of foot stomp
Sarah will do a single legged kick
Kage will do a flip, turned into a kick

Mid air kick

If you hit the kick as you are coming down instead of hitting it early, you'll get a weak sort of kick with no range.

Overhead hammer:

You need to hit the punch button before you reach the peak of your jump.  Better than the mid air kick, but not as good as the double footed kick.

Jumping attacks can sometimes connect, but they work best only as a desperation move since you are so vulnerable to being hit.


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RING OUT
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Knocking your opponent out of the ring is a perfectly legitimate way to win a set.  The simplest way to accomplish this is, when they are close to the edge, to use a fury of jabs or a sweep since these attacks will push them backwards even if they defend.

Note that Kage's flying kick pushes people back very far, and that Wolf's spinning throw can throw the person out of the ring if you are lucky :)  for that, try to have your back to the edge since that is the direction that he finally lets them fly.


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WAITING FOR YOUR BREAK 
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One of the more successful defenses can be to simply just crouch and sit below your opponents attacks until they pause in their attack.  You can then counter with one of the following.


A Power Move

Like Kage's heel kick, Wolf's Shoulder Ram or Akira's double motion snap kick.


A Throw

Just perform the motion for the throw you would like to do.  Characters are easy targets for throws while they recover from moves such as high kicks and missed pounces and jumps.


A Combo

Like Jacky's elbow, heel kick combo or Sarah's elbow, knee combo


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KICKING AS YOU STAND UP  
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If your opponent knocks you down and then walks up next to you as you lay on the ground, tap kick as you get up and you will immediately do a sweep, a roundhouse, or a double feet first kick to the head region as you stand up, hopefully catching them off guard.  Any of these kicks will hit your opponent if he's not defending, but each one also has a priority over certain defend stances as well.

A sweep hits a standing person -- Hold Down,Tap Kick

A roundhouse hits a crouching or jumping person -- Tap Kick
The kick will appear differently depending on where the opponent is in relation to your head on the ground.  If the opponent is behind you, the fighter will do a rear kick or double footed up-side down kick similar to the roundhouse.

Or, if you don't want to try for a sweep you can roll backwards, and get yourself away from the action by simply tapping Back before you stand up.

If you are close to the edge of the ring, or you have some other reason to get to the side of your opponent, hit Defense and you will roll to the side of your attacker.  Tap defense quickly to get up faster.  This may possibly open you up for a good attack since your opponent will not be facing straight on.  You can also do a roll to the side with a sweep by hitting Defend,Kick after you land.  You need to wait a second after you hit, or it may not come out right.

If you are playing someone who is fairly good, they will not usually stay close to you after they knock you down, so don't expect to get too many kicks in.

If you have knocked your opponent down, and are expecting him to try to kick you as he gets up, there are some things you can do to counter his kicks if you can outguess him.  If you anticipate...

A sweep -- you do a short jump straight up with a punch or kick, and hit him as you jump over his sweep.  Beware of a sweep after the opponent rolls to the side....  Elbows also hit.

A roundhouse -- you do a sweep

A rear kick -- defend, don't try anything


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HIT 'EM WHILE THEY'RE DOWN
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NEARLY every time you knock your opponent down you should try for a stomp...  

To do a basic stomp, simply tap Up+Punch.  To do a slower, but more damaging stomp, tap Up and Hold Punch (NOTE: Akira has only the lighter stomp.  Do not hold punch with Akira).

The pounces in which you hold Up are all slower, but they do inflict more damage.  Make sure you have enough time to land on your opponent if you choose to do a slower stomp.

Each character has their stomps described below with holding and tapping punch. Note that Akira can do his Jumping Punch only if he taps up, and that Kage's three pounces vary with distance, not with holding or tapping.

Name       Tap Up+Punch         Hold Up+Punch
Akira      Jumping Punch        -None- Jacky      Low Jumping Hammer   Higher Jumping Hammer Jeffry     Splash               Butt Bomb
 Kage       Head Dive(close)     same
           Feet-First (medium)  same
           Knee Dive (far)      same
Lau        Single Stomp         Double Stomp Pai        Low Knees            Higher Knees
Sarah      Low Jumping Hammer   Higher Jumping Hammer Wolf       Low Jumping Elbow    High Jumping Elbow
Akira and Pai can do their normal stomp, and they can also simply bend over and punch their opponent repeatedly on the ground by alternately pressing Down/For+Punch and Down/For.  Timing is critical to obtain multiple hits on the ground. 


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KICKFLIPPING
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All the characters except for Akira, Jeffry, and Wolf can backflip.  Those who can backflip can do a type of attack called kickflipping, which is a high backwards flip in which the legs can hit the opponent and do major damage besides looking just totally cool.

To perform a kick flip with these characters, tap Back/Up+Kick.
Kage can perform a kickflip as well as a back handspring with double foot kick.  

Kage, Lau, Pai, and Sarah can do kickflip combos by going P,P,P,B/U+K.
Sarah can also do on with only two punches.

Some hints for future kickflippers --
works best to wait for your opponent to walk towards you, totally unaware of the disaster that awaits them, and then kickflip them at the last second
it also works well when your opponent is jumping in at you


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STAB 'EM IN THE BACK
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If your opponent jumps over you, or somehow get turned around, run at them as soon as you can (if you have a known back side throw).  As you are still running, execute the move for your throw, and you'll grab them before they even have a chance to turn around :)

Note, though, that you can not run at a person and grab them on the front as easily as you can on the back side.

This can be a dangerous attack since your opponent can do a turn around attack by simply pressing either punch or kick... but if you're quick enough, you can get to them before they can do a turn around attack.


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Feints
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There are many type of feints in VF.  Below are summarized a few that you can use to take your opponent off guard.


Pulling back a kick
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To pull back a kick, press the kick button, and then press the DEF button before your kick has been raised above your knee.  What you do after that is up to you, but your opponent will probablly block.  This will give you an opportunity to strike w/ a {C} or {S} attack depending on how they defend.


Don't finish out a double/triple motion move
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That is to say, do only a double kick for Sarah's triple kick, or only do one Backfist for Jacky.  If you've been doing a lot of double/triple motion moves in prior rounds, this can be a very effective tactic.  As they are defending, expecting the next move, hit them w/ a {C} or {S} again.

Do a different combo/double motion move that looks simmilar Switch from using Lau's 3 punch sweep to his crescent to his kickflip.  Start doing Sarah's triple kick instead of just a double kick.  Do Jacky's double roundhouse.  The key is to keep mixing things up, and if a move looks a lot like another move that you have, then mix those two up especially.


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Punch and Throw Techniques
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If an opponent tends to try to close distance with you by move forward, try punch and throwing him.  Do a single punch, crouching or standing, followed QUICKLY by the motion for the throw you want to do.  If the punch connects, there is a good chance they will still be in range for a throw.  "Heavy" fighters, such as Jeffry and Wolf, are particularly vulnerable, since the punch will hardly move them at all.

The punch is fast enough to interrupt any attack the opponent may be attempting, and the throw if done correctly will come out while they are still reeling from the punch.  Even if the opponent blocks, the throw will connect so long as you are close enough.

Typical Punch & Throw techniques are Kage's Punch&Toss (P,B+P), Wolf's Punch&Twirl (P,B,D,F+P) and Lau's Punch&Face Slam (P,B,F+P).

As a final note, try doing Jeffry's ultimate combo: the Toe Kick&Piledriver combination (D+K,D,F/D,F+ALL).  With a follow-up pounce it automatically kills any opponent in three nasty moves.


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Hit 'em in the air
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Sometimes characters play a little hand-ball with their opponents by repeatedly punching, uppercutting and otherwise bouncing them along in the air.  Lau is the true master of this technique, able to bounce opponents up to eight times in a single combination of moves.  But everyone can do it to some degree.

If you manage to catch the opponent in the air, make them pay.  Experiment tacking on different moves after your favorite combos.  Knees are particularly good at knocking opponents skyward, and their exist many pseudo-combinations involving a knee attack (For+Kick) followed immediately by something else.  Jeffry's Knee&Dashing Uppercut combo is a perfect example. (For+Kick,For,For+Punch,Punch).  


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Fake Out for a Boot to the Head
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One of the more artistic methods of beating computer opponents is to jump over the computer's head and do a heavy kick to the head.  There are two sure-fire methods of doing this attack versus any computer opponent.

The first is to jump over the opponent's head.  After you land, immediately jump backwards back over the opponent.  DO NOT TURN AROUND BEFORE JUMPING.  You should be flying backwards through the air.  As you pass over the opponent, press For+Kick.  You will do a heavy kick into the back of the opponent's head.

A second more mystifying method starts by jumping over the opponent's head.  After landing, press For and press and hold forward to begin running toward the edge, away from the opponent.  The computer will run after you.  Just as you are about to run off the edge, jump straight up into the air.  The computer will run underneath you, and skid to a halt on the edge.  It's momentum will take it underneath and in front of you.  Press For+Kick, and you will do a heavy kick to the head before the computer has a chance to recover, kicking it out of the ring!!  This will work on every opponent, including Dural.


