Strategy Guide - Guide for Rurouni Kenshin

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Rurouni Kenshin: Ishin Gekitouhen
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Version 1.0 by Christopher Amis
Last Updated June 25, 1999


     This game takes after the series, telling briefly what happened with 
Kenshin, Shinomori Aoshi, and the Oniwa Banshu. If you have the first few
episodes, or are planning on seeing the series, and don't want to know what 
happens at all, it might not be a good idea to play the game a whole lot, as 
it's just full of nice spoilers. 


     This guide will help you out with what you might want to know about
the game, moves, information, that kind of thing. I've found there's not
much about the game on the internet, so I'm writing this to help out fans
of the series, like me, who imported the game to fulfill their Kenshin-needs.


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Contents
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1. Title Menu
2. Controls
3. Moves
4. Combos
5. Secrets
6. Other
7. Bios
8. Updates
9. Goodbye


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1. Title Menu
-------------

     At the start, there are four options to choose from. If you just leave 
it alone, the first Rurouni Kenshin opening "Sobakasu" will play.

- Story Mode

          Play through the game, following the events of the anime, where 
     you fight as Kenshin. Nice animated movies are shown between battles to 
     tell the story as it progresses. The first battle is against Sanza the 
     Gangster (later known as Sagara Sanosuke). As soon as you beat him, you 
     can choose between Sano and Kenshin for the remainder of the game.

          The fights progress like this:

             Kenshin vs. Sanosuke
             Kenshin/Sano vs. Jin-e
             Kenshin/Sano vs. Beshimi
             Kenshin/Sano vs. Hannya
             Kenshin/Sano vs. Shikijou
             Kenshin/Sano vs. Shinomori Aoshi
             Kenshin/Sano vs. Saitoh Hajime (only on hard)

- VS. Player

          Fight against your friends! This is pretty straight forward, you
     and a buddy battle it out by choosing any of the characters from the 
     game (see the Secrets section for some cool stuff).

- VS. Com

          Here you can fight against all of the characters you would in the
     Story Mode, except there are no movies in between, and you are free
     to choose from all of the fighters as well. The fights are in a 
     random order until you beat everyone.

- Options

          The Options menu is totally in japanese (like much of the game),
     but is the only part you might want to know what it says. I don't
     know any japanese myself, but it wasn't too hard to figure out.

        Difficulty
             Easy (kind of like a squid, a box with legs at the bottom)
             Medium (upside down squid, or some flowers in a hat)
             Hard (lots of lines, it's the most complicated)

        Rounds
             1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (how many rounds you need to win)

        Time
             30, 45, 60, Infinite (how long you have to win)

        Memory Card
             Save (saves options and progress, first option is yes)
             Load (loads your data, first option is yes)

        Controller
             Changes controller options (see the Controls section)

        Movies (0 - 33)
             You can watch movies shown in the game. You can get more
             to watch as you play further into the game. I've listed
             which number shows which movie in the Other section.

        Music (0 - 10)
             Plays music from the game (Song 10 is Heart of Sword!)


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2. Controls
-----------

     The default controls are listed below, assuming your character is 
facing right in battle.

             X - Punch
             Triangle - Guard
             Square - Guard
             O - Kick
             L1 - Roll back
             R1 - Roll forward

     In the Options menu you can change the controls as well, which is a 
good idea, seeing these controls (I found) weren't the best. You can set 
buttons to Punch + Guard, Punch + Kick, or Punch + Kick + Guard, which can 
be useful in a pinch, and can be used for combos as well.

     In battle, you will probably see that there are different coloured
slashes when you use your weapon. The red slashes are the ones that will 
knock the oppoent down, while the yellow and green ones are weaker and 
will not knock down opponent. Use these if you want to get a few hits in.


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3. Characters
-------------

     This guide was written assuming you are semi-experienced when it 
comes to fighting games, and that you know what things like Charge back, 
and Down-forward mean. If not, please check a FAQ for another game, as I 
feel no need to explain it here.


Himura Kenshin
--------------
Fighting Style: Hiten-Mitsurugi-Ryu

Hiten·sen               P+G (throw)
Ryu·kan·sen Tsumuji     P, P, P, P, P
Ryu·kan·sen             P, P, K
Sayachi Tsumuji         Down-Forward, P, P
Ryu·hi·sen              Down, K, Up, K
Sou·ryu·sen             Back, Forward, P, P
??                      Back, K, Forward, K

Sagara Sanosuke
---------------
Aku·ichimonji Uryarya   P+G (throw)
Ken·karenda             P, P, Forward, P
Ken·kaichimonji         P, P, P, K
Ken·kaichimonji Harai   P, P, P, Down, K
Ken·kauchikeri          P, K, K
Aku·ichimonji           Forward, Forward, P, Forward, P, Forward, P


Sagara Sanosuke with Zanbatou
-----------------------------
P, P, P
Forward, P
Up, P or K
P+K


Udou Jin-e
----------
Fighting Style: Nikaidou Heibou

P, P, P
K, K, P, P, P
Down, K+G, K
Forward, P, Back, K


Beshimi
-------
Kakaenage               P+G (throw)
Kaentoiki Fire Blaze    Forward, Forward, K
Dotsukoisho             Forward, P+K+G
Buchikamashi            P+K+G
Midareuchi              P, P, P
Hitsusatsuchi		Forward, Forward, P, P, P


Hannya
------
Noroikuzushi            P+G (throw)
Shurakai                Up-Back, K
Shurasashi              Forward, K
Shuratou                Back, K, P
Gekisho·shuhou           P, P, P, K
Kaiten·shuhou            Forward, P, P


Shikijou
--------
Tsukaminage             P+G (throw)
Renzo·kuate             P, Forward, P, P, P
Koyen·ken               Forward, Forward, P
Renzo·kuategedan        P, P, Forward, P
Tobiko·mizutsuki        Down-Forward, K, Back, P
Renzo·kuchi             Down-Forward, P, Down-Forward, P


Shinomori Aoshi
---------------
Fighting Style: Kodachinitou-Ryu 

Tatsumakinage           P+G (throw)
Ryu·jinkenfu            P+K
Kagamima·washigeri      P, Down, K
Musou·kenbu             P, P, P, P, K
Midare·geri             Back, K, K
Shichi·seikenbu         Forward, P, P, K

Kamiya Kaoru
------------
Fighting Style: Kamiya-Kasshin-Ryu

P, P, P, P
P, K
Back, K
Forward, K, K
Forward, P
P+K

Hajime Saitoh
-------------
Fighting Style: Hira-Tsuki w/ Gatotsu

P, P, P
P, P, P, K
Back, K
Forward, Forward, K
Back, P
Forward, P
K+G


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5. Secrets
----------

     Have you done everything you can do, and are looking for some more 
fun? Obviously not, or you wouldn't even have to look here.

             To play as Kamiya Kaoru, simply beat all of the characters 
        in the VS. Com setting. It's very easy to do, as you can do
        it on easy if you want to.

             To play as Hajime Saitoh, finish the Story Mode on hard. 
        This is a lot harder to do than it seems, becasue you have 
        to fight Saitoh at the end, and he's HARD. To cheat a little
        and to make it easier on you, set the Options to one round,
        thirty seconds, and hope for the best.

             To use Sanosuke's monster zanbatou sword, simply hold 
        select when you choose him. This only works on VS. Player.

             Beat the Story Mode on hard and you will get all the 
        movies added to the options menu automatically.

             To be able to select Sanosuke WITH the zanbatou in Story 
        Mode, beat the Story Mode with both Kenshin and Sanosuke.


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6. Other
---------

     Here is a list of what scene you will see for choosing which movie 
number in the Options screen. 

           0 - First opening - Sobakasu by Judy & Mary
           1 - The introduction to Story Mode
           2 - Kenshin beats Sanosuke
           3 - Sanosuke beats Kenshin
           4 - Kenshin beats Jin-e
           5 - Jin-e beats Kenshin
           6 - Sanosuke beats Jin-e
           7 - Jin-e beats Sanosuke
           8 - Kenshin beats Beshimi
           9 - Beshimi beats Kenshin
          10 - Sanosuke beats Beshimi
          11 - Beshimi beats Sanosuke
          12 - Kenshin beats Hannya
          13 - Hannya beats Kenshin
          14 - Sanosuke beats Hannya
          15 - Hannya beats Sanosuke
          16 - Kenshin beats Shikijou
          17 - Shikijou beats Kenshin
          18 - Sanosuke beats Shikijou
          19 - Shikijou beats Sanosuke
          20 - Kenshin beats Aoshi
          21 - Aoshi beats Kenshin
          22 - Sanosuke beats Aoshi
          23 - Aoshi beats Sanosuke
          24 - Kenshin beats Saitoh
          25 - Saitoh beats Kenshin
          26 - Sanosuke beats Saitoh
          27 - Saitoh beats Sanosuke
          28 - Kenshin and Saitoh - Past and Present
          29 - Okubo dies - Shishio Makoto - Kyoto Bound
          30 - Hiruma Gohey - Beshimi - Raijuta-Sensei
          31 - Kenshingumi see off Yutaro (on a train??)
          32 - Sanza the Gangster's introduction scene
          33 - Aoshi buries the Oniwa Banshu

     Now I hope that was useful to you. Probably not, more than likely 
it was just a huge waste of my time (check out 30, it's cool!)


     The lyrics to the featured songs are as follows:

Sobakasu - Performed by Judy & Mary
-----------------------------------
Daikirai datta sobakasu wo chotto
Hitonadeshite tame iki wo hitotsu
Hebi ikkyuu no koi wa migoto ni
Kakuzatou to isshoni toketa
Mae yori mo motto yaseta mune ni chotto
"Chiku" tto sasaru toge ga itai
Hoshiuranai mo ate ni naranai wa

Motto touku made isshoni yuketara nee
Ureshikute sore dakede

Omoi de wa itsumo kirei dakedo
Wore dake ja onaka ga suku wa
Honto wa setsunai yoru nanoni
Doushite kashira? 
Ano hito no namida mo omoi dasenai no?
Omoidasenai no
Doushitenano?


Heart of Sword ~ Yoake Mae - Performed by T.M. Revolution
---------------------------------------------------------
Hitori de wa, tooi ashita wo
Yoake no mama de, koesou de
Butsukatteikya kokeru omoi yo
Konya mo mata, sure chigai

Sanzan sugite doryoku no ato mo
Naku naru kekka, only no tsuna watari
Yaru dake son suru yona, mainichi wa
Sha ni kamaeteta hou koso, raku ni naru

Atsukute, tsurai 
Jibun wo kakushite
Mijikai toki wo ikiteru

Hitori de wa, tooi ashita wo
Yoake no mama de, koesou de
Hottokeba, hashiru omoi yo
Yume mo mata, sure chigai

Kanpeki to chau, jinsei no shuushi
Puramai zero da nanteba honto ka na?
Shinu made ni tsukaikiru, un no kazu
Semete, jibun de dashiire wo sasete

Wakacchainai, 
Kimi nara dou ni demo, 
Rikutsu wo kaete ii noni

Nando kimi ni, ketsu mazuitemo
Modottekichau, aijou ni
Shinjikaneru, utaretsuyosa yo
Konya mo, soutou nemurenai

Nando nankai, kurikaeshitemo
Modottekichau, ai dakara
Butsukatteiku, kesunu omoi wo
Semeru hou ga, suji chigai

Hitori de wa, tooi ashita wo
Yoake no mama de koeteyuku
Aishou yori mo, fukai futari wa
Sure chigatte kamawanai


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8. Updates
----------

     The most recent version of this FAQ can be found at the 
following locations:

     GameFAQS - http://www.gamefaqs.com
     AllAnime - http://www.allanime.com

March 7/99 - v1.0 - First edition
  May 9/99 - v2.0 - SECOND Second edition. I made a huge update, which
                    was lost because of a little virus called Chernobyl.
                    Hopefully I got all the info in again this time.
                  - New, more efficient format
                  - Detailed moves listed for almost everyone
                  - A couple of secrets added


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9. Goodbye
----------

     I hope this guide helped you out, if there's anything else you would 
like to see here, or if you have anything to contribute, please let me 
know, and I'll be glad to (try to) help.

     I know it's a shameless plug for my page, but who said I'm not 
allowed to say, hmm? The Anime Enclave has got a lot of good stuff, 
please check it out (http://enclave.honou.net).

     Thanks to [email protected] for the names to a lot of the moves, 
as well as some other useful information.

     Thanks to Hisoka Kurosaki ([email protected]) for the lyrics to
both the opening and ending songs.

     Thanks to the boys at Project Oro (http://oro.simplenet.com) 
for verifying some of the series info I wasn't sure of off my head. 

     Thanks to AnimeNation (http://www.animenation.com) for letting me (?) 
buy this import from them.

     Thanks to Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. and to Zoom for making 
a 3D Rurouni Kenshin fighting game. It's not the best, but it's Kenshin. 


Christopher Amis
ICQ UIN: 1206297
[email protected]
http://enclave.honou.net