Super Dodge Ball Advance - FAQ/Strategy Guide Version 1.0, June 26th, 2001 2001 Ulan Shad - ulanshad@hotmail.com Visit the Ulan Shad Network at www.ulanshad.net ******************************************************************************* Table of Contents: *Introduction *Frequently Asked Questions *General Information *Buttons *Menus/Options /Stratagy *Positions *Formations Plays Super Throw Ratings /Team Data *Player Rankings *Non-Dodgeball Information *"Legal Junk" *Revision History *Contact Info *Thanks Section * - Finished / - Partially Done ******************************************************************************* Introduction: Story (from the manual) "It is a time when dodge ball is at the peak of its glory. The dream to become a professional dodge ball player is just as popular as the dream to become any other kind of athlete." "Only the best teams from around the world can participate in the championship tournament and compete to become the world'd No. 1 team. How far in the championship tournament can your team go?" "The Dream Teams are only available when your team is ranked No. 1 after winning the tournament. Do you have what it takes to become the dodgeball champion?" "Let's play!" Super Dodge Ball Advance is a remake/sequel to the classic NES game, Super Dodge Ball, which was released by Technos in the late 80s. This time around, the game is by Atlus and is a launch title for the new Game Boy Advance system. The game is basically the same except for minor changes (2 extra players per team, 1 extra player in the field, many more super throws, ability to change formations, more teams, and options to change names, among others) Each side of the volllyball-ish court has 4 players, as well as 3 on the outside of each side, for 7 on each team. (see the bad diagram below) B A ----------------------- | A A | B B | B | | | A | A A | B B | ----------------------- B A Each side tosses the ball at the inside players, inflicting damage on them untill they are 'killed'. The team with no more inside players loses. The outer players are invulnerable to attacks, but can attack. The inside players also have the ability to dodge or catch throws as well. ******************************************************************************* Frequently Asked Questions: --- Q- How do I preform a super throw? A- It's kind of touch and go. Untill you're good at it, I suggest you go to Config menu and set the "Super Throw" to 5, as that makes it considerably easier to execute a super throw. For a dashing (ground) throw, throw after a short dash (the manual says 3 steps) and throw. For a jump (aerial) throw, execute a dashing jump, and throw at the peak of the jump. You can also have the outside players to preform a super throw by passing in place of throwing. If the passed ball is glowing blue, the reciever can throw it as he catches it to execute a super throw the same as the passers. --- Q- Is it possible to "build up" a character's stats? A- Not that I know of, but the manual does mention something about the CPU's strength increasing the longer you play. By changing your players style, however, you can change his stats (by increasing one stat type and decreasing the others). --- Q- What is the most powerful super throw? A- The power of the throw depends on the power of the character throwing it. Some super throws, however, have a better chance of hitting, and some can hit multiple characters. Typically, those which are easier to catch are the most powerfull, and those that hit multiple characters tend to have thier power dispersed. --- Q- If you do a special throw can you control which special throw it is? A- No. Every player has 2 super throws, one aerial and one ground. The only instance when a character may use another super throw is if he is on the outside and recieves a super throw pass, in which case he will preform the passer's super throw. ******************************************************************************* General Information: --- Buttons | Offense | Defense | Menus | |----------------------------------------------| A | Pass | Dodge | Confirm | B | Throw | Catch | Cancel | L | Teammates Charge Net | N/A | R | Choose Target | N/A | N/A | Srt | Pause | N/A | Slc | Changes Icon Above Player | N/A | A+B | Jump | N/A | DPad| Move/Dash | Move 'Cursor'| |----------------------------------------------| --- Menu Options MAIN MENU Championship - This mode starts the championship tournament, where you take control of the Heroes, asign them to a country, and take your team to the top of the 10 team rankings. Upon your reaching the rank of No. 1, you will face a random Dream Team (A-D) for a 3 game series. Afterwords, the Championship option will become the 'Special' option, which is the same, except you now get to choose any team you want to use. After beating Dream Teams A-D by replaying special, you will face the best Dream Team, Dream Team E. After that, you will face the infamous Team Shadow, which is a mirror of your own team. Exhibition - This is a 1 on 1 against the computer. You choose your team and theirs. Versus - Play against a friend using a link cable and 2 SDBA game 'paks'. Config - Use the config menu to adjust the difficulty, value of offensive, defensive, and mobility stats, and how easy it it to use super throws. Initialize - Use this to reset game data, such as the gradual increase in difficulty independant of that which is adjusted in the config menu of your opponents, and the CPU's AI level, which also increases as you play. PREGAME MENU Position - Changes where each player is on the court. Formation - Change your team's formation (see formations in the strategy section) Court - Change the court you play on (the court you see is based on your opponent, how it plays is determined by this) Green is normal, Blue is ice, Red is slipery (like the Kenya court in SDB), Yellow is bouncy, and purple is REALLY bouncy. Data - View individual player data and change their style. Changing to O (offense) to increase Power, Speed, and Control while decreasing your other stats (Stamina is never affected). D (defense) does the same for Toughness, Catch, and Dodge. Mobility (M) is for Will Power, Jump, and Agility. 3 is a dramatic change, 1 is slight. Normal (N) changes nothing. This is very useful as, for example, your outside players have no need for defense or mobilty, so it hurts you none to set them to O3 to maximize their offensive ability. Player Name - Change player names (I renamed Ken to Shad) Team Name - Change team names (I renamed the Bombers the 'fros, for example) Accept - Starts game. ******************************************************************************* Strategy: --- POSITIONS Each individual character has a position that they are most adept for, and those positions depend on the formation you use. Each team also has a specific formation they are best with, and their player's positions reflect that (Basic, Retreat and Advance use Attack and Defensive players, while Machinegun and Cannon use Point and Support players). Note that these posistions reflect the way I put the characters, and you could put any player in whatever position you please, but the descriptions of the positions themselves should hold true always. Field Players - Includes Offense, Defense, and Point players. These characters as a whole need decent defense and stamina, as they will recieve most of the damage. Point - In the Machinegun and Cannon formations, the point man is the character alone in his line. These characters have high all-around abilities. Characters with exceptionally high defense as well as offense are more adept for the Machinegun, while those more vulnerable are better for the Cannon. Point players should be set to O1 or M1, occasionally O2. (ex. User/Ken, Korea/Li). Attack - In the Basic/Advanced formation the offense players are those in the back. They are more adept to offense, but not rounded enough to be point players. Offense players should be set to O1. (ex. Canada/Lyle, England/James). Defense - In Basic/Retreat, those who either are not the point or in the front (or all in retreat). These are the best players in terms of thier defensive ability and stamina. Defense players should be set to either D1 or D2, or possibly M1 or M2. (D1 in Basic/Retreat, D2 is best for Cannon) (ex. Holland/Fritz, Canada/Roy). Support - In the Machinegun and Cannon formations, those who are not the point. If they weren't on a team with a point player, they would be Attack or Defense players. They can be set from O1 to D3, and occasionally M1. (ex. User/Tom, Korea/Chung). Outside Players - Players who excell in offense but lack in defense, or are just altogether weak in defense/stamina should be placed on the outside, as only offensive ability matters on the outside. All outside players should be O3. Outside Point - Placed on the far side of the court, this is your best offensive player (excepting the point, if there is one). When preforming a super throw pass, this player will get the pass most of the time. (Note: When recieving super throw pass, the outside players will execute the PASSER'S super throw, not thier own.) (ex. User/Paul, Japan/Baba). Outside - Of your charcters left over (that is, not in another posistion), choose the 2 with the highest offense ability and put them on the top and bottom of the outside. DO NOT sacrifice your good players for these posistions. At O3, even the worst players should do some good damage. (ex. User/Neal, Canada/Gage). Bench - One player will always be on the bench. This player is usually more of a defensive backup who is not good enough in terms of offense to be a good out player, but useful for games which require a slow defensive game. (ex. User/David, China/Tsai). --- FORMATIONS There are a total of 5 different formations you can have your team. Basic (Square) Formation - This is the most basic formation, with two Attack players in the back and two Defensive players up front. This is best suited for teams that are more of the balenced type, and lack a standout player. The better defensive players should be up front, as they take the most hits. Rear players can be either weaker in defense, or merely to important offensivly to risk losing up front. Advanced - This formation has all 4 lined up in the front. I have seen no good use for this formation, as your players have no time to react to a throw. Retreat - When you are a weak team playing a strong team, this formation can help. You have a lot of time to reckognize and catch a throw by the opposition. There is an effective way to use this, which I call the 'Buckle-Down Strategy". Put your 3 best offensive players on the out (regardless of their defensive ability, that means with the Heroes, put Tom, Ken, and Paul out, all at O3), then take your best defensive players of those remaining and make them D3. Then always use super passes, as the field players offense is basically useless now. You can do very well with this, but it's not very exciting. Cannon - This is one of the 'Point' formations, and suits teams with an exceptionally good player. 3 players up front, and the Point man in the back. The Cannon point formation is better when your point is a bit fragile, or too important to lose (ex. although Ken has great will power and toughness, as well as good offensive abilities, his low stamina and catching abilities make him vulnerable to attack; and he is very important to the Heroes). Machinegun - This formation is the same as the original formation from the NES version. It is the other point formation, but has the point man up front rather then the rear. It is best for teams whose point men are very strong defensivly as well as offensivly, and also affordable to lose. (ex. Li and Fuji are excellant in everything, but are also on teams strong enough to win on their own. So Li and Fuji can be used to their full before they are eliminated, and the rest of the team can pick it up from there). It also doesn't require you to set the support players to a D, and sacrifice their offensive abilty. For teams that can handle this, this is the best formation. There is another way to use this, put your best defensive player (catching being the most important stat) in front at D3, then put some of your best offensive players in the back. As the point man covers defense, you have 3 offensive players firing away. ******************************************************************************* Team Data and Rankings: Each team has noticable strengths and weaknesses that you must reckognize and use to your advantage, both for playing with and against every team. The location in parentheses is that team's Super Dodge Ball (NES) equivilant. --- User 'Heroes' Location: Your Choice. (USA, in the sense that it is your default team, tough as India) Uniform: White Polo Shirt with Blue Trim, and Red Shorts with White Trim. Rank: 9th Overall This is the team you must use when you first play the tournament/special mode. They are well-rounded, with thier strength in mobility (9th/15) and weakest in strength (11th/15) They have excellant Will Power and Toughness outranking all non-dream teams, even outranking Dream Team A in both categorys. They are, however, weak in ball speed and catching. Player Data Name POS STM PWR SPD CNT CAT DDG TGH AGL JMP WPW OFF DEF MOB ALL Ken PT 99 41 17 29 21 33 45 25 37 49 87 99 111 297 Ben SP 84 30 24 18 22 34 28 26 38 32 72 84 96 252 Paul OP 87 41 17 29 15 27 39 19 31 43 87 81 93 261 Tom SP 90 40 16 28 20 32 44 18 30 42 84 96 90 270 Jack SP 87 27 21 33 31 25 37 29 23 35 81 93 87 261 David BN 87 25 19 31 29 23 35 33 27 39 75 87 99 261 Fred OT 81 27 21 33 25 19 31 29 23 35 81 75 87 243 Neal OT 81 31 25 19 23 35 29 21 33 27 75 87 81 243 TOTAL N/A 696 262 160 220 186 228 288 200 242 302 642 702 744 2088 Playing as This Team: I reccomend the Cannon formation for this team because A) Ken is the most important player on the team, and B) He can be pretty fragile. The main strategy is to set the support players to either D1 or D2, and have them protect Ken and give him the ball. Ken should be N because he cannot afford to give up his defensive stats. Ken's Mach Throw is extremly useful as it is both fast and powerful, but try to have Ken use it sparingly, as if the team catches it, or they are as fast as the dream teams at firing back, they could catch Ken in a repeating hit situation, which could hurt you badly. Rather, have him Super Pass to the Outside, specifically Paul, your best Offensive Player, and have them throw, giving Ken time to retreat. The support players are also useful for thier selection of superthrows, as super pass throws use the passers throw, but the thrower's offensive ability. David is useful as a possible defensive replacement, as he catches better then Tom and Ben. Playing against This Team: Two Words: Get Ken. Inerestingly, this strategy is the same as when playing against Russia (get Boris). But if Ken falls, their offense is shot. If Ken is on the outside, attempt to block passes to him (or Paul, for that matter) by standing in front of him or jumping in front of passes (a strategy that worked great on the original, but is difficult here), and focus on their field with a barrage of super throws (the more powerful, the better, as they are weak in catching, in other words, super throws like the Snail Throw actually may work here). Tom and Paul are both dangerous offensivly, though Paul is especially weak defensivly, so a smart opponent wouldn't have him on the inside. Tom however is strong all around, especially in toughness, and should be handled carefully. Jack catches most you throw at him, and the computer always puts him in the inside. --- Holland 'Angels' Location: Holland (Iceland, high stamina, low everything else) Uniform: Blue Tee Shirt With Red and Yellow Trim, and Blue Shorts with the same trim. Rank: 13th Overall. Just about the ONLY thing this team has going for it statistically is stamina, which for what it's worth, they excel pretty well at, with 2nd Total Stamina. Other then that, they are pretty useless, and are the only team to score below 600 in total Offense, Defense, and Mobility. Where they shine, however, is in their excellant selection of Super Throws, so while they lack in Offense, by super passing to the outside, you can deall good damage. Name POS STM PWR SPD CNT CAT DDG TGH AGL JMP WPW OFF DEF MOB ALL Dirk AT 132 36 24 26 20 22 32 18 24 34 86 74 76 236 Franz OT 126 30 18 20 20 22 32 18 24 34 68 74 76 218 Gino OT 120 30 18 20 20 22 32 12 18 28 68 74 58 200 Hank AT 132 24 30 32 32 16 26 30 18 28 86 74 76 236 Fritz DF 126 24 30 14 26 28 20 24 30 22 68 74 76 218 Johann DF 126 26 32 16 28 30 22 20 26 18 74 80 64 218 Rolf OP 126 28 34 18 24 26 18 22 28 20 80 68 70 218 Der BN 120 16 22 24 30 14 24 28 16 26 62 68 70 200 TOTAL N/A 1008 214 208 170 200 180 206 172 184 210 592 586 566 1744 Playing as This Team: I reccomend the square formation, as this team has no standout players. Hank and Dirk are thier 2 best players, as well as their best offensive players, and therefore make natural choices for attack (for both they are good enough defensivly to not nescesate an outside placement.) Rolf, being strong in offense but really weak defensivly, makes an obvious outside point player. Der is a lot like Rolf, onlu without offensive ability. Johann as best defensive player makes a good defensive player, while Fritz is not the best defensivly, has better catching then Franz and Gino, and a better super throw to boot. Super Throws are this team strong point, as the players I recomend all have some of the best Jump Throws; Dirk/Splitthrow, Hank/Shapeshift, Johann/Z Attack, and Fritz/Accel Shot. So you can Super Pass to the outside, which by being set to O3, make up for the offensive shortcomings of the team and can deal some good damage. Playing against This Team: The best way to deal with Holland is to deal damage quick and fast. Dirk and Hank are the only players you really need to look out for, and once thier gone (or if their on the out), the Angels should be easy to pick apart. Johann is their only defensive threat, but his toughness is lacking. Watch out for their super throws. --- Russia 'Bears' Location: Russia (though they share names with the USSR, they're too weak to be similar) Uniform: Pink Tank Top with a yellow shirt beneath, and Black Shorts. Rank: 14th Overall --- Korea 'Bombers' Location: Korea (USSR, overpowered, best in offense, high stamina) Uniform: Long Sleeved Grey Shirt with a Short Sleeve White Button Shirt on top, Red Pants. Rank: 7th Overall --- USA 'Braves' Location: USA (Same names as USA, but more like the Pro All-Stars with thier specialization) Uniform: Yellow Tee Shirt with Blue Trim, and Blue Shorts with Yellow Trim. Rank: 12th Overall --- China 'Dragons' Location: China (completly unlike China, in that this one sucks. More of a weaker England) Uniform: Long Sleeve Red Shirt with Yellow Trim, and shorts of the same color. Rank: 15th Overall --- Canada 'Foxes' Location: Canada (China, good agilty, strength, and catch technique, agile as Kenya) Uniform: Light Green Tank Top, White Shorts with Pink Trim. Rank: 8th Overall --- England 'Knights' Location: England (Souped-Up Engand, as they take damage better) Uniform: White Tee with Blue Sleeves and Yellow Trim, Blue Pants with Red Trim. Rank: 10th Overall --- Japan 'Ninjas' Location: Japan (Japan) Uniform: Pink Polo with Blue Shorts. Rank: 6th Overall --- Australia 'Stars' Location: Australia (Pro All-Stars meets England) Uniform: White Polo with Red Trim, Blue Shorts with White Trim. Rank: 11th Overall ******************************************************************************* Rankings: Here are the Top Players at each position, the Best/Worst in each category regardless of position, and the Best/Worst overall players and the worst. The lists are without the Dream Teams, as they would be ALL Dream Team players (the best non-dream team player, Korea's Li, is merely tied with Dream Team B's Sean, the worst dream team player, both at a total of 333). ******************* WITHOUT DREAM TEAMS ******************* Position: --- Attack Players Rankings Name Team TOTAL Lyle Canada 279 James England 279 Troy Canada 279 Harry England 270 Dirk Holland 236 Hank Holland 236 Dung China 225 Lian China 225 --- Defensive Player Rankings Name Team TOTAL Roy Canada 288 Sid Canada 270 Goaty England 262 Roger England 234 Johann Holland 218 Fritz Holland 218 Chao China 207 Chen China 207 --- Outside Point Player Rankings Name Team TOTAL Baba Japan 306 Kim Korea 279 Scott England 270 Paul User 261 Bruce Canada 261 Lee China 243 Dude Australia 243 Bill USA 225 Yakov Russia 225 Rolf Holland 218 --- 10 Best Outside (top/bottom) Players Name Team TOTAL Hino Japan 270 Sato Japan 270 Gage Canada 270 Pak Korea 261 Ray Canada 261 Soo Korea 243 Neal User 243 Fred User 243 Peter England 234 Cliff England 225 --- Point Player Rankings Name Team TOTAL Li Korea 333 Fuji Japan 324 Ken User 297 Boris Russia 297 Steve USA 288 Chad Australia 279 --- Top 10 Support Players Name Team TOTAL Inoki Japan 306 Chung Korea 297 Honda Japan 288 Han Korea 279 Choi Korea 279 Oda Japan 278 Tom User 270 Ted Australia 270 Todd Australia 270 Jack User 261 *** Attribute: --- Stamina BEST Name Team POS Stamina Dirk Holland AT 132 Hank Holland AT 132 Franz Holland OT 126 Rolf Holland OP 126 Johann Holland DF 126 Fritz Holland DF 126 WORST Name Team POS Stamina Tsai China BN 57 Mao China OT 63 Wang China OT 63 --- Power BEST Name Team POS Power Li Korea PT 53 Steve USA PT 46 Han Korea SP 45 Ken User PT 41 Paul User OP 41 Rhee Korea BN 41 WORST Name Team POS Power Milee Aust. OT 11 Henry England BN 14 --- Speed BEST Name Team POS Speed Boris Russia PT 45 Fuji Japan PT 44 Honda Japan SP 44 Lee China OP 43 WORST Name Team POS Speed Mike USA SP 11 Sam USA SP 13 Tom User SP 16 --- Control BEST Name Team POS Control James England AT 47 Chad Aust. PT 43 Troy Canada AT 43 WORST Name Team POS Control Vlade Russia BN 8 Chen China DF 11 Ivan Russia OT 12 --- Total Offense BEST Name Team POS Offense Li Korea PT 123 James England AT 105 Kim Korea OP 105 WORST Name Team POS Offense Vlade Russia BN 60 John USA BN 60 Der Holland BN 62 --- Catching BEST Name Team POS Catch Chad Aust. PT 47 Roy Canada DF 44 Sid Canada DF 44 WORST Name Team POS Catch Paul User OP 15 Rhee Korea BN 15 Dung China AT 15 Chao China DF 15 Mike USA SP 15 --- Dodge BEST Name Team POS Dodge Boris Russia PT 49 Fuji Japan PT 48 Sato Japan OT 44 Name Team POS Dodge Henry England BN 12 Will Aust. SP 13 --- Toughness BEST Name Team POS Toughness Li Korea PT 45 Ken User PT 45 Steve USA PT 44 Tom User SP 44 WORST Name Team POS Toughness Chen China DF 9 Ivan Russia OT 10 Mao China OT 11 Lee China OP 11 --- Total Defense BEST Name Team POS Defense Boris Russia PT 111 Fuji Japan PT 108 Baba Japan OP 108 Chad Aust. PT 105 WORST Name Team POS Defense Mao China OT 51 Tsai China BN 57 Wang China OT 57 --- Agility BEST Name Team POS Agility Roy Canada DF 48 Troy Canada AT 45 James England AT 43 WORST Name Team POS Agility Sam USA SP 9 Gino Russia OT 12 Volf Russia SP 12 --- Jump BEST Name Team POS Jump Fuji Japan PT 52 Honda Japan SP 46 Inoki Japan SP 44 WORST Name Team POS Jump Will Aust. SP 11 Roger England DF 12 Milee Aust. OT 13 --- Will Power BEST Name Team POS W. Power Li Korea PT 49 Ken User PT 49 Paul User OP 43 Rhee Korea BN 43 WORST Name Team POS W. Power Ivan Russia OT 8 Vlade Russia BN 11 --- Total Mobility BEST Name Team POS Mobility Fuji Japan PT 120 Inoki Japan SP 114 Li Korea PT 111 Ken User PT 111 WORST Name Team POS Mobility Tsai China BN 51 Pavel Russia SP 54 Volf Russia SP 54 --- Overall Stats BEST Name Team Pos Total Li Korea PT 333 Fuji Japan PT 324 Inoki Japan SP 306 Baba Japan OP 306 Ken User PT 297 Chung Korea SP 297 Boris Russia PT 297 Roy Canada DF 288 Honda Japan SP 288 Steve USA PT 288 WORST Name Team Pos Total Tsai China BN 171 Wang China OT 189 Mao China OT 189 --- *********** DREAM TEAMS *********** Here are the best Dream Team Players in each category. Stamina - All of Dream Team E plus Sudou of Team D and Dirk and Hank of Holland, all at 132. Power - Sudou of Team D with 58. Speed - Leon of Team A with 58. Control - Meis of Team C at 56. Catch - Alex of Team B at 55. Dodge - Dustin of Team A with 52. Toughness - Mark of Team D with 58. Agility - Pascal of Team B at 58. Jump - Dustin of Team A with 56. Will Power - Sudou of Team D with 54. Offense - Suzy and John of Team E, Sudou of Team D, and Leon of Team A all have 138 total. Defense - Yu, and Aki of Team E and Mark of Team D all have 138. Mobility - Suzy of Team E has 142. Total - Suzy of Team E with 406. The best non-Team E player is Sudou of Team D with 396. ******************************************************************************* Non-Dodgeball Information: "Legal Junk" Please don't post this on your own unless you're gonna be sure to update it as I update it. I'd prefer if you wish to use it to link to the Super Dodge Ball Advance FAQ page (NOT directly to this, that isn't allowed by GameFAQs, but to the page that lists ALL the Dodge Ball FAQs, that way people will not only see the latest versions, but get a wide selection of information as well). --- Revision Information Version 1.0 - First Version. Everything that's here. --- Contact Information If you have question not answered above, send me an email or post at my message board for an answer. So questions may end up in the Frequently Asked Questions section. E-Mail - ulanshad@hotmail.com, ulanshad@ulanshad.net My Webpage - http://www.ulanshad.net/ Non-Frontend Webpage - http://www.angelfire.com/sd/ulanshad/ Message Board - http://members5.boardhost.com/ulanshad/ AOL IM Names - ulanshad, ZeLllamaMAN --- Special Thanks SBacon - I used the player data (not a copy and paste job, of course) from his Dodge Ball FAQ to save some time making the player database. Dasrik - Used his NES Dodge Ball FAQ for reference. CJayC - GameFAQs, duh. Atlus - The game. Technos - The original idea. Nintendo - For the best handheld ever (who needs a stinking backlight?).