Posted July 10, 2022
Samurai Shodown 2, like all SNK Neo-Geo fighting games, is an input-reading fighting game, meaning that the CPU will read your inputs, then counter with predetermined movements, attacks, or a combination of both. Fortunately however, this also means that the programmers did not program a counter to every movement, attack, or combination of both that you could ever use against the CPU.
As a result, your path to victory over the CPU will consist of baiting the CPU into reacting incorrectly to your movements, attacks, and combos. Once you bait the wrong reaction from the CPU, you can often spam your own attacks repeatedly until you win.
1) When fighting the CPU opponents in Samurai Shodown 2, except Mizuki, make sure that you start doing light crouching kicks (down + C button) far away from your opponent. In many instances, this will trigger the CPU character to jump forward or jump straight upwards. Use your chosen character's anti-air moves repeatedly until you win.
For example: Haohmaru vs Gen-An
2) Mizuki Rashojin, being an SNK Boss, will have the dreaded SNK Syndrome, which means she'll read your inputs and counter everything you do unless you find holes in her A.I. routines. The links and youtube videos below will help a lot for those of you who are new to Samurai Shodown 2.
Youtube Videos of Some Character-Specific CPU Exploits against Mizuki
2a)
Courtesy of user SHolmes at https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/arcade/583618-samurai-shodown-ii/faqs/780
HOW TO DEFEAT MIZUKI
Mizuki makes her debut in Samurai Shodown II as the final boss in the
game. She is the first female end boss ever in a fighting game, and she is
also the first end boss to have a pet: A dog like Galford's. While she
doesn't take the award for the cheapest boss ever (DIO from WORLD HEROES 2)
or the most powerful (RUGAL from KING OF FIGHTERS '94), she does deserve to
be added to the top ten list of tough bosses to beat. Here are some basic
tips and tactics to rid yourself of the evil Mizuki:
1. BLOCK LOW: Above all, block and block low. That way, you will block
anything she throws at you. Blocking high leaves you vulnerable to her
fast Ground Portal as well as her fast low AB.
2. DON'T DO SPECIAL MOVES: Most Special Moves have lag times, during
which she is almost guaranteed to rush in and cream you with an AB slash.
3. ATTACK HER WHEN SHE JUMPS: By far, Mizuki is the weakest in the
air. If she jumps, and you jump and AB, you will almost certainly hit her,
and do some much-needed damage.
4. DON'T JUMP HER WHEN SHE'S MAD: The reason is that Mizuki will do her
Power Special so that the globe catches you RIGHT when you jump in on
her. Nasty.
5. TELEPORT CATCH: She likes to teleport out of danger when you are
frantically trying to make a hit. Instead, try this: Make an AB
strike (when your SURE it's safe to do so). She should block. If she
laughs and teleports out, leap away in the opposite direction she was
originally positioned from you, because she will attempt a bitch
slap from behind. As you are jumping away, strike with an AB. If she
teleports, and leaps, you have a good chance of hitting her. If she
doesn't leap, you're out of her range.
6. CONFUSED? Just block low and use crouch kicks to keep her away.
However, if she sends out ANOTHER Confusion Ball, get hit by it. You'll
take almost no damage, and it will negate the first Confusion.
7. THE SWINE CURSE: If turned into a pig or other animal by Mizuki, the
safest place to be is under her skirt! She can't hit you while you're
there, and she can't throw you either.
8. RUN IN AND THROW: This works more than it should, if you time it right.
Galford and Hanzo should have a field day especially, with their SPD
moves.
9. THE CHARACTERS WHO can consistently beat Mizuki are Charlotte and
Gen-an. This is because they both have low A attacks that are quick
and long-ranged enough to hit Mizuki out of her attacks WITHOUT
getting hit in return. This is important, as trading hits is always
in her favor. For both of these characters (and Sieger to an extent),
doing low As all the time will give you an easy win!
Unfortunately, everyone else's low A attacks (including Ukyo's) are
either too slow or too short ranged, so this won't work with them.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
SPECIFIC CHARACTER STRATEGIES
Here are guaranteed techniques to help you conquer Mizuki with your
favourite character:
HAOHMARU: Get enough distance between Mizuki and yourself to perform
a resshin-zan (F, D, DF + Kick). Instead, wait and perform a fake
cyclone slash (D, DF, F + Kick). As you pretend to pull out a cyclone,
Mizuki will throw a teleport across the ground. Immediately perform
your resshin-zan. It will flip you over the telport, and connect your
blade with her skull. This can be repeated until she drops.
Want to show off with Haohmaru? After the first resshin-zan hits,
perform a quick standing AB. This should dizzy. Step in as close
as possible and perform a crouching AB, and interrupt into Tempa
Fuzin San. Instant death. With (theoretically) four attacks.
--CHANCES OF WINNING PERFECT: 100%
UKYO: If you get a good distance from her, and repeatedly crouch kick,
Mizuki may be inclined to leap at you. Time your leap back and hit with
either jumping AB or B. Also, use as many ground swallow slashs as
you can. If you do dizzy her, BE SURE to use the close standing AB +
Teleport Slash with CD Combo to drop her energy quickly. She can also
be fooled by throwing a swallow slash, then leaping backwards and doing
it again. Sometimes, she teleports away from the first attack, only
to pop right up and get smacked by the second.
--CHANCES OF WINNING PERFECT: 75%
JUBEI: Get about half screen distance from Mizuki, and throw ground
fireballs. When she leaps over them, catch her attack with D, DB, B +
A. Each time, you should grab her weapon, and slash her back until
death.
--CHANCES OF WINNING PERFECT: 100%
NAKORURU: At about two character's lengths away, crouch and kick a
few times. If Mizuki is inclined to send her dog, perform Annu Mutsube
(B, DB, D + Slash) and Nak will slide under the demon and hit Mizuki.
If Mizuki leaps at you, jump straight up and attack with AB. If she
is dizzied, step in with a standing AB, Kamui Mutsube combo to finish
her.
--CHANCES OF WINNING PERFECT: 75%
CHARLOTTE: Stay crouched. If Mizuki even gets near you, strike with
crouching AB. Nothing else. Charlotte's crouched AB has even farther
range than Mizuki slashes, so don't even worry about being it. If she
leaps at you, standing AB, for clean air defense. Mizuki poses no
real threat to Charlotte.
--CHANCES OF WINNING PERFECT: 100%
GEN-AN: Stay low, and try to defensively get your close AB to
connect. Once it does, your infinite combo will take care of the
rest (Standing AB [two hits], Blood grip, run forward, repeat)
--CHANCES OF WINNING PERFECT: 100%
HANZO/GALFORD: Peform your shadow copy, and choose to teleport to
the closest spot near Mizuki. As soon as you poof in, peform Mozu
Otoshi (F, D, DF + Kick). On Mizuki, this can be repeated
until the end. It's a definite win, and fast players can get
perfect. Or you can try a little sequence I call The Hanzo Trap. It is
a move I perfected in the first Samurai Shodown, when trying to defeat the
computer Hanzo. Oddly enough, I found it to work with Mizuki as well
(though not as consistently). The trap is set up simply like this: You
crouch near her, and strike with an A or B (NOT AB!!). She will block, and
leap over you. Calmly stand up, and walk underneath her, striking with B
as she comes down on the other side.
--CHANCES OF WINNING PERFECT: 100%
CHAM CHAM: At about half-screen distance from Mizuki, if you
perform the ground boomerang throw (D, DF, F + AB), Mizuki
consistently throws the teleport back at you. But since
Cham Cham's throwing animation allows her to do a backflip,
she avoides the teleport and Mizuki is hit anyway. It's a
consistent technique.
--CHANCES OF WINNING PERFECT: 75%
NICOTINE: Same as Gen-an. Try to defensively get out your Bakusa
Jougeki, and the infinite combo will finish her off.
--CHANCES OF WINNING PERFECT: 100%
SIEGER: Stay low, and attack with your firestorm (DF + BC). Not
only will it do damage to Mizuki, but it will nullify any of
those annoying symbol-related moves of destruction. Not a bad
technique to use.
--CHANCES OF WINNING PERFECT: 50%
EARTHQUAKE: Easy. Crouching AB. Over and over. She'll be dead in
no time.
--CHANCES OF WINNING PERFECT: 100%
KYOSHIRO: Often, Mizuki won't block Kyoshiro's jumping AB, perhaps
because it has such a far range the CPU doesn't anticipate it
hitting. Use this, and his combos for quick defeat. He should
be able to fake Mizuki into jumping, straight into his POW move.
It's also wise to just stick to blocking low, and attacking with
B or AB, since Kyoshiro's weapon has such excellent range.
--CHANCES OF WINNING PERFECT: 50%
GENJURO: You can toss hanafuda cards, and trick her into leaping.
You can respond with AB, or his kouyokojin (F, D, DF + Slash).
--CHANCES OF WINNING PERFECT: 75%
As a result, your path to victory over the CPU will consist of baiting the CPU into reacting incorrectly to your movements, attacks, and combos. Once you bait the wrong reaction from the CPU, you can often spam your own attacks repeatedly until you win.
1) When fighting the CPU opponents in Samurai Shodown 2, except Mizuki, make sure that you start doing light crouching kicks (down + C button) far away from your opponent. In many instances, this will trigger the CPU character to jump forward or jump straight upwards. Use your chosen character's anti-air moves repeatedly until you win.
For example: Haohmaru vs Gen-An
2) Mizuki Rashojin, being an SNK Boss, will have the dreaded SNK Syndrome, which means she'll read your inputs and counter everything you do unless you find holes in her A.I. routines. The links and youtube videos below will help a lot for those of you who are new to Samurai Shodown 2.
Youtube Videos of Some Character-Specific CPU Exploits against Mizuki
2a)
Courtesy of user SHolmes at https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/arcade/583618-samurai-shodown-ii/faqs/780
HOW TO DEFEAT MIZUKI
Mizuki makes her debut in Samurai Shodown II as the final boss in the
game. She is the first female end boss ever in a fighting game, and she is
also the first end boss to have a pet: A dog like Galford's. While she
doesn't take the award for the cheapest boss ever (DIO from WORLD HEROES 2)
or the most powerful (RUGAL from KING OF FIGHTERS '94), she does deserve to
be added to the top ten list of tough bosses to beat. Here are some basic
tips and tactics to rid yourself of the evil Mizuki:
1. BLOCK LOW: Above all, block and block low. That way, you will block
anything she throws at you. Blocking high leaves you vulnerable to her
fast Ground Portal as well as her fast low AB.
2. DON'T DO SPECIAL MOVES: Most Special Moves have lag times, during
which she is almost guaranteed to rush in and cream you with an AB slash.
3. ATTACK HER WHEN SHE JUMPS: By far, Mizuki is the weakest in the
air. If she jumps, and you jump and AB, you will almost certainly hit her,
and do some much-needed damage.
4. DON'T JUMP HER WHEN SHE'S MAD: The reason is that Mizuki will do her
Power Special so that the globe catches you RIGHT when you jump in on
her. Nasty.
5. TELEPORT CATCH: She likes to teleport out of danger when you are
frantically trying to make a hit. Instead, try this: Make an AB
strike (when your SURE it's safe to do so). She should block. If she
laughs and teleports out, leap away in the opposite direction she was
originally positioned from you, because she will attempt a bitch
slap from behind. As you are jumping away, strike with an AB. If she
teleports, and leaps, you have a good chance of hitting her. If she
doesn't leap, you're out of her range.
6. CONFUSED? Just block low and use crouch kicks to keep her away.
However, if she sends out ANOTHER Confusion Ball, get hit by it. You'll
take almost no damage, and it will negate the first Confusion.
7. THE SWINE CURSE: If turned into a pig or other animal by Mizuki, the
safest place to be is under her skirt! She can't hit you while you're
there, and she can't throw you either.
8. RUN IN AND THROW: This works more than it should, if you time it right.
Galford and Hanzo should have a field day especially, with their SPD
moves.
9. THE CHARACTERS WHO can consistently beat Mizuki are Charlotte and
Gen-an. This is because they both have low A attacks that are quick
and long-ranged enough to hit Mizuki out of her attacks WITHOUT
getting hit in return. This is important, as trading hits is always
in her favor. For both of these characters (and Sieger to an extent),
doing low As all the time will give you an easy win!
Unfortunately, everyone else's low A attacks (including Ukyo's) are
either too slow or too short ranged, so this won't work with them.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
SPECIFIC CHARACTER STRATEGIES
Here are guaranteed techniques to help you conquer Mizuki with your
favourite character:
HAOHMARU: Get enough distance between Mizuki and yourself to perform
a resshin-zan (F, D, DF + Kick). Instead, wait and perform a fake
cyclone slash (D, DF, F + Kick). As you pretend to pull out a cyclone,
Mizuki will throw a teleport across the ground. Immediately perform
your resshin-zan. It will flip you over the telport, and connect your
blade with her skull. This can be repeated until she drops.
Want to show off with Haohmaru? After the first resshin-zan hits,
perform a quick standing AB. This should dizzy. Step in as close
as possible and perform a crouching AB, and interrupt into Tempa
Fuzin San. Instant death. With (theoretically) four attacks.
--CHANCES OF WINNING PERFECT: 100%
UKYO: If you get a good distance from her, and repeatedly crouch kick,
Mizuki may be inclined to leap at you. Time your leap back and hit with
either jumping AB or B. Also, use as many ground swallow slashs as
you can. If you do dizzy her, BE SURE to use the close standing AB +
Teleport Slash with CD Combo to drop her energy quickly. She can also
be fooled by throwing a swallow slash, then leaping backwards and doing
it again. Sometimes, she teleports away from the first attack, only
to pop right up and get smacked by the second.
--CHANCES OF WINNING PERFECT: 75%
JUBEI: Get about half screen distance from Mizuki, and throw ground
fireballs. When she leaps over them, catch her attack with D, DB, B +
A. Each time, you should grab her weapon, and slash her back until
death.
--CHANCES OF WINNING PERFECT: 100%
NAKORURU: At about two character's lengths away, crouch and kick a
few times. If Mizuki is inclined to send her dog, perform Annu Mutsube
(B, DB, D + Slash) and Nak will slide under the demon and hit Mizuki.
If Mizuki leaps at you, jump straight up and attack with AB. If she
is dizzied, step in with a standing AB, Kamui Mutsube combo to finish
her.
--CHANCES OF WINNING PERFECT: 75%
CHARLOTTE: Stay crouched. If Mizuki even gets near you, strike with
crouching AB. Nothing else. Charlotte's crouched AB has even farther
range than Mizuki slashes, so don't even worry about being it. If she
leaps at you, standing AB, for clean air defense. Mizuki poses no
real threat to Charlotte.
--CHANCES OF WINNING PERFECT: 100%
GEN-AN: Stay low, and try to defensively get your close AB to
connect. Once it does, your infinite combo will take care of the
rest (Standing AB [two hits], Blood grip, run forward, repeat)
--CHANCES OF WINNING PERFECT: 100%
HANZO/GALFORD: Peform your shadow copy, and choose to teleport to
the closest spot near Mizuki. As soon as you poof in, peform Mozu
Otoshi (F, D, DF + Kick). On Mizuki, this can be repeated
until the end. It's a definite win, and fast players can get
perfect. Or you can try a little sequence I call The Hanzo Trap. It is
a move I perfected in the first Samurai Shodown, when trying to defeat the
computer Hanzo. Oddly enough, I found it to work with Mizuki as well
(though not as consistently). The trap is set up simply like this: You
crouch near her, and strike with an A or B (NOT AB!!). She will block, and
leap over you. Calmly stand up, and walk underneath her, striking with B
as she comes down on the other side.
--CHANCES OF WINNING PERFECT: 100%
CHAM CHAM: At about half-screen distance from Mizuki, if you
perform the ground boomerang throw (D, DF, F + AB), Mizuki
consistently throws the teleport back at you. But since
Cham Cham's throwing animation allows her to do a backflip,
she avoides the teleport and Mizuki is hit anyway. It's a
consistent technique.
--CHANCES OF WINNING PERFECT: 75%
NICOTINE: Same as Gen-an. Try to defensively get out your Bakusa
Jougeki, and the infinite combo will finish her off.
--CHANCES OF WINNING PERFECT: 100%
SIEGER: Stay low, and attack with your firestorm (DF + BC). Not
only will it do damage to Mizuki, but it will nullify any of
those annoying symbol-related moves of destruction. Not a bad
technique to use.
--CHANCES OF WINNING PERFECT: 50%
EARTHQUAKE: Easy. Crouching AB. Over and over. She'll be dead in
no time.
--CHANCES OF WINNING PERFECT: 100%
KYOSHIRO: Often, Mizuki won't block Kyoshiro's jumping AB, perhaps
because it has such a far range the CPU doesn't anticipate it
hitting. Use this, and his combos for quick defeat. He should
be able to fake Mizuki into jumping, straight into his POW move.
It's also wise to just stick to blocking low, and attacking with
B or AB, since Kyoshiro's weapon has such excellent range.
--CHANCES OF WINNING PERFECT: 50%
GENJURO: You can toss hanafuda cards, and trick her into leaping.
You can respond with AB, or his kouyokojin (F, D, DF + Slash).
--CHANCES OF WINNING PERFECT: 75%
Post edited July 26, 2022 by TheBigCore