I suppose a short introduction is in order. In Ireland, as far as I know, there is absolutely no arcade scene. This is probably due to the fact that there are very few actual arcades, but plenty of smoky backrooms with a few old machines and pool tables being played by people you most certainly wouldn?t want to introduce to polite society ;). Anyhow that tremendously interesting bit of social insight aside, while Ireland doesn?t have very many arcades it does have a very, very high ps2 penetration. So it would seem obvious that any Irish “scene” would be primarily ps2 based (with a few games which are available only on other consoles). I’m quite interested in setting up such a scene and have got a reasonable group of people showing a similar interest.
So the basic idea would be to gather said people together, let them try out a fairly wide selection of games and then try and pick about three to five “core” games (just highlighting this for clarification purposes, Im not trying to push the giant list below, just three to five games from it) which would allow people to learn them and be more or less guaranteed opponents. Once these games were established then it would be possible to get tournaments, leagues, casual play meetings, etc. going. So what I?ve been trying to do is to put together small “cheat sheets” for each game, what I want to cover for these is the tier listing as well as what characters are commonly banned and whether the game in general is “tournament worthy”/balanced. Also any suggestions in regards to game selection (whether that?s pointing out additional ones or suggesting eliminating redundancy e.g. is there any point having both KOF 98 and KOF XI?) are also appreciated.
What I?m hoping is that people can fill in the information I?m missing or correct any erroneous information. I’ve split the list roughly into games which I assume to be fine for tournaments (based mainly on what I?ve seen been played in the larger tournaments) labelled “Tournament Ready” and games which I’m unsure are ok for tournaments, labelled “Tournament Questionable”.
I’ve also included notes after the tier list trying to indicate the granularity of the tiers i.e. just how superior the top tiers are. I’ve tried to split it into roughly three classifications as follows:
Dominant - Top tiers are extremely dominant, its very difficult to win with lower (S Tier characters may be “broken”)
Difficult - Lowers tiers can compete with work, tier listing is more indicative of difficulty to learn than “madz powerz”
*Balanced *- Tiers are more a rough indication than a hard and fast clarification, all tiers can compete
I am aware that for all games that tiers are more or less just “whitebox” simulations and that player skill is the real decider, but I still think they can be useful.
**
Tournament Ready **
Game: Capcom vs SNK 2
*Notes: * None
*Tier: *
S: Blanka — Sagat
A: Sakura — Bison — Cammy — Guile — Chun Li — Geese — Rolento
B: Everyone Else ?
Tier Type: ?
Banned Characters: God Rugal, Shin Akuma, Evil Ryu, Orochi Iori
Game: Dead or Alive 4
*Notes: *None
*Tier: *
S: Hayabusa — Ayane — Kasumi — Hayate — Gen Fu — Lei Fang
**A: **Tina — Spartan-458 — Eliot — Bayman — Helena
B: Kokoro — Brad Wong — Zack — Leon — Jann Lee — La Mariposa
C: Christie — Ein — Hitomi — Bass — Tengu
Tier Type: Difficult
Banned Characters: None
Game: Guilty Gear XX Slash
Notes: None
*Tier: *
S+: Ky
S: Sol
A: Potemkin — Faust — Slayer
B: I-No — Chipp — Johnny — Jam — Anji — Baiken — Testament — Millia — A.B.A. — Axl
C: May — Zappa — Bridget — Order-Sol — Venom
D: Eddie — Dizzy — Robo-Ky
*
Tier Type:* Balanced
Banned Characters: Justice, Kliff, All Shadow/Ex/Gold
Game: Hokuto No Ken
Notes: None
Tier:
S: Toki
A: Rei — Kenshiro — Raoh — Juda
B: Shin — Heart — Souther
C: Mamiya — Jagi
Tier Type: Dominant
Banned Characters: None
Game: Hyper Street Fighter II
Notes: None
Tier:
Tier Type:
*Banned Characters: Akuma
*
Game: Marvel vs Capcom 2
Notes: None
*Tier: *
**S+: **Sentinel — Storm — Cable — Magneto
S: Cyclops — Iron Man — War Machine — Doctor Doom — Strider Hiryu — Spiral — Dhalsim — Blackheart
A: Captain Commando — Psylocke — T. Bonne
**B: **Cammy — Colossus — Gambit — Iceman — Marrow — Juggermaut — Omega Red — Rogue — Spider-Man — Silver Samurai Spider-Man — Wolverine (bone claw) — Wolverine — Venom — Ruby Heart
C: Akuma — Ken — Ryu — Charlie — Guile — B.B. Hood — M. Bison — Hulk — Jin — Jill — Felicia — Morrigan — Sakura — Sonson — Zangief — Captain America
D: Amingo — Anakaris — Chun-Li — Hayato — Sabretooth — Shuma-Gorath — Thanos
E: Dan — Roll — Servbot
Tier Type: Dominant
Banned Characters: None
*Game: *Melty Blood: Act Cadenza
Notes: Play in "Original Mode"
Tier:
**S: **Crazy Arcueid — Tohno Shiki
A: Sion — Satsuki — Red Hair Akiha
B: Arcueid — Warakia — Nero Chaos — Akiha — Kohaku & Hisui — Nanaya Shiki
**C: **Aozaki Aoko — Kishima Kouma — Mecha Hisui — Ren — Ciel — Vampire Sion — Miyako — Kohaku — Hisui
D: Neko Arc
*Tier Type: *Difficult
Banned Characters: None
Game: Neo Geo Battle Coliseum
Notes: None
Tier:
S: Mr Big — Kim — Hotaru
A: Marco — Iori — Robert — Haohmaru — Mizuchi — Hanzo — Kyo
B: Mai — Lee — Kaede — Moriya — Neo Dio — Washizuka — Mudman — Cyber Woo
C: Tung — Shiki — Athena — K’ — Mr. Karate — Fuma — Kisarah — Shishioh — Terry — Shermie
**D: **Akari — Rock — Geese — Asura — Mars People (and Rising) — Chonrei — Ai (And Rising) — Genjyuro
**E: **Yuki — Chonshu — Nakoruru
Tier Type: Dominant
Banned Characters: Goodman
Game: Samurai Spirits Tenkaichi Kenkakuden
Notes: Play in “Arcade” mode
Tier:
S: Mina — Shizumaru — Iroha — Kazuki — Amakusa
A: Sogetsu — Cham Cham — Gaoh — Zankuro — Haohmaru — Ukyo — Galford — Mizuki
B: Hanzo — Yumeji — Rasetsumaru — Enja — Gen-An — Rera — Sieger
C: Suija — Nicotine — Sankuro — Basara — Andrew — Ocha-Maro — Gaira
D: Rimururu — Sugoroku — Jubei — Yunfei — Tam Tam — Kyoshiro — Charlotte —
E: Genjuro — Yoshitora — Wan Fu — Kusaregedo — Earthquake — Nakoruru
Tier Type: Difficult
Banned Characters: All non arcade char’s ?
Game: Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike
Notes: None
Tier:
S: Yun — Chun Li — Ken — Makoto
A: Urien — Oro — Yang — Dudley — Akuma — Ryu
B: Ibuki — Necro — Alex — Elena — Remy
C: Hugo — Twelve — Q — Sean
Tier Type: Dominant
Banned Characters: Gill
Game: Tekken 5 DR
Notes: None
Tier:
S: Heihachi — Devil Jin
A: Julia — Kazuya — Steve — Feng — Lei
B: Jack-5 — Ganryu — King — Anna — Law — Bryan — Baek — Marduk
C: Eddy/Christie — Lee — Asuka — Lili — Jin — Xiaoyu — Raven — Roger Jr. — Armor King — Paul
D: Hwoarang — Yoshimitsu — Nina — Dragunov — Wang — Bruce
E: Kuma/Panda
Tier Type: Balanced
Banned Characters: Jinpachi
Game: The King of Fighters '98
Notes: ?
*Tier: *
A: Kyo — Goro — Chizuru — Iori
**B: **Benimaru — Robert — Ralf — Chang — Yashiro (Orochi) — Chris — Chris (Orochi)
C: Kyo (95) — Terry — Joe — Yashiro — Takuma
**D: **Ryo — Clark — Kensou — Yamazaki — Mary — Mature
E: Terry (Alt.) * — Ryo (Alt.) — Leona — Athena — Chin — Mai — Mai (Alt.) — King — Choi — Kim — Shermie — Vice — Shingo — Saishu
F: Robert (Alt.) — Yuri — Heavy D
G: Andy — Yuri (Alt.) — Billy — Heidern — Brian — Rugal
H: Andy (Alt.) — Joe (Alt.) — Billy (Alt.) — Shermie (Orochi), Lucky
*Tier Type: *Balanced
Banned Characters: ?
*Game: *The King of Fighters XI
Notes: ?
*Tier: *
S+: Gato — Kula
S: Oswald — Eiji — Duck (2P) — Kim — Clark
A: Ralf — Duck — Kyo — Maxima — Ryo — Gai
B: Jenet — K’ — Ash — Terry — Shen — Jyazu — Silber — Vanessa — Kensou
C: Malin — Iori — Duolon — Adelheid — Benimaru — Elisabeth
D: Yuri — Ramon — Mary — Shingo — King — Griffon
**
E:** Kasumi — Momoko — Athena — Whip
Tier Type: Difficult
Banned Characters: None
Game: Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution
*Notes: *None
Tier:
A: Sarah — Pai — Kage
B: Akira — Lau — Jacky — Vanessa
C: Aoi — Lion — Shun
D: Wolf — Jeffry
E: Lei-Fei — Brad — Goh
Tier Type: Balanced
Banned Characters: None
*
Game:* Virtua Fighter 5
*Notes: *None
*Tier: *
S: Shun — Pai
A: Vanessa — Eileen — Kage — Lei Fei
B: Brad — Wolf — Lau — Jacky
C: Akira — Goh
D: Lion — Sarah — Aoi
E: Jeffry — El Blaze
Tier Type: Balanced
Banned Characters: None
**Tournament Questionable **
Battle Stadium DON
Bloody Roar 4
DBZ Budokai Tenkaichi 2
Garouden Break Blow: Fist or Twist
Kinnikuman Muscle Grand Prix Max
Naruto: Narutimett Hero 3
Full Metal Alchemist : Dream Carnival
Shijou Saikyou no Teishi: Kenichi
The Battle of Yu Yu Hakushou: Shitou! Ankoku Bujutsukai 120%
Spectral vs Generation
Soul Calibur III
Super DBZ
Game:* Super Smash Bro Melee
*Notes: *Play in Melee, Stock 4, Friendly Fire On, No Items, Stock Time can differ (at Evo its 6 minutes)
Level Selecting is a bit complex:
Pool A: Final Destination, Kirby’s Dreamland 64, Battlefield,
Yoshi’s Story, Pokemon Stadium, Fountain of Dreams.
Pool B: Mute City, Green Greens, Rainbow Cruise, Kongo Jungle 64,
Brinstar, Poke Floats, Corneria, Jungle Japes.
The stage for Game 1 will be selected at random from pool A. Any games after that can be from pools A or B.
After the stage has been selected by the losing player, the winner of the previous game may change characters, but has to pick first.
No stage may be used twice in any given set.
Glitches used to stop your opponent from controlling their character or indefinitely freezing them (Mewtwo’s Soul Stunner, the Ice Climber freeze glitch), or any glitch or trick that freezes the game or makes it unable to be finished are banned and will result in the immediate forfeit of the entire match.
#Tactics such as Peach’s Wallbombing and Jiggly’s Rising Pound are allowed as methods of recovery or to maneuver around the stage. Using them (or any similar tactics) to excessively stall a match, such as dropping below levels intentionally and stalling underneath, is banned. If by using one of these tactics, you have put your character in a place to lose a stock by ending the tactic, a judge may force you to stop and lose a life and continue the match short a stock.
*Tier: *
S: Sheik — Falco — Fox — Marth — Peach
A: Captain Falcon — Ice Climbers — Samus — Jigglypuff — Dr. Mario — Ganondorf — Mario
B: Luigi — Link — Yoshi — Roy — Donkey Kong — Pikachu
C: Young Link — Mr. Game & Watch — Zelda — Ness — Bowser — Kirby — Pichu — Mewtwo
Tier Type: Dominant
Banned Characters: None
(Edited: 20-04: Corrected tier lists)
They can just get familiar with the basics or become as proficient as they wish. The “project” as such is more about generating a general buzz for fighters and providing a network than it is about pumping out uber gamers