~B
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| |
| Simpsons Wrestling FAQ |
| v 1.6, 3-10-02 |
| By Jjukil (Jjukil@aol.com) |
| |
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Divisions
0. VERSION CHANGES
What's new in this document.
I. INTRODUCTION
What is Simpsons Wrestling, and what is this document?
II. PLAYING THE GAME
II-A. GETTING STARTED
The initial options screen and the goal to the game.
II-B. IN-MATCH SCREEN
What's on the screen during the match, besides the wrestling.
II-C. MANEUVERS
What every button does, and other tricks to do.
II-D. POWERUPS
What powerups are, each and every one.
III. CHARACTERS
Who's playable, how to unlock 'em, and how to use 'em.
IV. STRATEGY
Advice for the one-player game.
V. CODES
V-A. GAME CODES
What codes I know so far.
V-B. GAMESHARK CODES
What Gameshark codes I know so far.
VI. THE USUAL FAQ ENDNOTES
Copyrights, credits, disclaimers, etc.
----
0. VERSION CHANGES
1.6, 3-10-02: New information and format.
-Finally tested out the codes Johann Grossman sent in oh so long ago.
They're right for the most part; the only big errors were that the
mirror match code wouldn't work for me, and the unlimited life code,
er, wasn't. Get the details for all the codes in section V-A.
-Also added a note about the Gameshark codes, in V-B.
-Added a few more quotes, and slightly edited some existing ones, then
moved them to their own file, the Quotes Compendium. It should be up
by the time you read this.
-Minor miscellaneous edits.
1.51, 12-30-01: One unfortunate change.
-I am now officially considering Excite's email dead and buried. I
gave it three weeks to recover, and it hasn't, so I'm closing the
account ASAP. (What a Christmas present. =/ ) So my email is back
to Jjukil@aol.com. It may go somewhere else soon, in which case I'll
update it again. And if you've sent me anything at the excite.com
address in the last few weeks, I haven't gotten it, so please send it
again, to the new address.
1.5, 9-23-01: Larger-than-usual minor modifications.
-Many more quotes, courtesy of Sam and a ridiculously long list from
Johann Grossman. (That's about 9 K of the size increase. I'm not
kidding.) Getting closer!
-Also courtesy of Johann is confirmation of the codes at
www.gamewinners.com. Since I don't have access to the game at this
point(long story...), I'm going to take his word for it and list them
out here. I'll remove them if I prove them wrong when I get the game
again, of course. >=)
-Moved the button ascii legend to the introduction, since it applies
to the whole document.
1.4, 8-23-01: Major format change, to match my other major FAQs.
-Numbered sections, grouped some as offshoots of others. Changed table
of contents to reflect this.
-Merged Introduction with Storyline (and edited a bit).
-Redid design of Updates, Characters and Strategy sections to improve
readability.
-Moved Quotes past Codes.
-More quotes, courtesy of Armando Jaimes(JMS). Another long list--and
all from the one character I didn't think I'd ever get quotes for!
-Minor miscellaneous edits.
1.3, 6-19-01: A few smallish changes again.
-More quotes, courtesy of Bazookabro1010, Winston Jen and Vincent Lee.
We're working up to a full quotes compendium! (But we've got a
LOOOOONG way to go! =)
-Fixed the story synopsis--Jebediah shot BUFFALO, not his bear,
according to the episode I referenced anyway. Thanks to
rickw@metallica.com and Smoke1479@aol.com for helping with this.
-Added the Bonus Match Up instant access code. I'll add the other
codes (Bonus Ring, Extra Credits, etc) once I've tried them all out.
I think you can find most of them at www.gamewinners.com.
1.2, 4-30-01: A couple small changes.
-Changed around a few move descriptions, but nothing to write home
about.
-Added a TON of quotes from readers, though, which IS something to
write home about IMHO.
1.1, 4-18-01: A few smallish changes.
-Added a story synopsis.
-Added some Gameshark codes, taken with permission from
www.cheatcc.com.
-Fixed a couple formatting errors, such as missing linebreaks(and the
lack of an update section!!).
-Finally, added something else I forgot to add, last time: an
invitation to send in any quotes you hear while playing. They'll be
listed in the next update, and you'll be credited in the Credits and
right next to your submissions.
1.0, 4-15-01: Original document.
----
I. INTRODUCTION
Aliens, spying on Springfield from many light years away, saw Jebediah
Springfield wrestle a bear to death with his bare hands. They got to
Earth as soon as they could, which was hundreds of years AFTER
Jebediah's bout. Finding him dead, they challenged Springfield's new
best wrestler, whoever it was, to a match. Springfield's citizens, not
knowing who its best wrestler was, decided to find out...and thus,
Simpsons Wrestling was born. (This is Kent Brockman's take on the
aliens' motives, actually, but this is probably the official story.)
Simpsons Wrestling, made in April 2001 by Activision, was obviously an
attempt to get in on the two cash cows of the name: Simpsons and
Wrestling. Unfortunately, the game has, among other flaws, one very
crucial flaw: it's HARDLY WRESTLING AT ALL. The only wrestling
elements are pinning the opponent--and the count is done by the
character pinning, not any referee--and the ropes, which many people
can't figure out how to use correctly because they're explained poorly.
Even I'm not sure how to avoid a cheap knockdown after one of the moves.
So what is it? It's a rather simplistic 3d fighter with some of the
best voice acting you'll ever hear, outside of a couple gems like
Conker's Bad Fur Day. Simpsons diehards will LOVE the quotes, many of
which come from old episodes. Almost all of them are perfectly in
character...even for Lisa, to an extent, and she'd NEVER wrestle in the
actual show!
Unfortunately the voices are pretty much where the good points end.
The graphics are scary in their crudeness, the music is unnoticable and
the gameplay...*shudders* Let me put it this way: this is the only 3d
fighter where there are NO SPECIAL MOVES. All of your characters'
moves come at the touch of a button, or at most a rope bounce then a
button. However, the moves are often in character too, and some of
them are pretty cool. This and the voices put together make me feel
this was designed not by good game programmers, but diehard Simpsons
fans like me! Just wish they'd studied gaming as much as they did the
shows....
But enough of the review. What I'm saying here is it's worth a rental
to see the moves and hear the taunts if you like Simpsons--NOT
wrestling--and maybe even a purchase if you're REALLY hardcore. This
FAQ should help you get through that rental with a minimum of effort.
If it doesn't, email me at Jjukil@aol.com, and I'll see if I can help.
(And please...if you're going to write me saying this game sucks, keep
in mind that not only do I not appreciate flames, but I ALREADY KNOW
IT. Reread the above paragraphs. =P)
Note: Throughout the rest of this document, ><, [], /\ and () are the
X, Square, Triangle and Circle buttons, respectively. (Don't ask me
why they're all ascii arts. ...I couldn't tell you.)
----
II. PLAYING THE GAME
While Simpsons Wrestling isn't too hard to pick up and start playing,
the manual's not the best at explaining everything about it. (Besides,
manuals are rarely included with rentals these days....) The
information below should help you get the hang of the game if you're
just starting, and might even reveal something you didn't know before
if you're a vet.
----
II-A. GETTING STARTED
Starting a 1-Player game is as simple as selecting New Challenger
Circuit on the main screen, and then your character. You'll battle
your way through four normal characters, then take on an unlockable
one. After you beat him (which will unlock him), you'll fight another
normal, another unlockable, another normal, and the two bosses, who
can't be unlocked...without "cheating," that is....
Once you've gotten through all of these rounds, Defender Circuit will
become yellowed in, where winning matches gets a little harder and you
get to unlock better characters. Beat that and you get the Champion
Circuit, where unlocked characters appear in the regular rotation and
the matches are harder than ever, which isn't really saying much. Beat
that and you get...well...you'll see. =) Starting a 2-Player match or
a Practice Game is just as simple, but these just last one match and
don't unlock anything.
After you beat a Circuit opponent, you'll be prompted to Save. If you
do, you can continue the game with Continue Tournament by loading it
off the memory card. You can save up to seven tournaments. Note that
if you save one after the final boss of any Circuit, you can't
continue that tournament, although it will save the unlocked data. If
all you've got on your card are finished tournaments, don't use
Continue Tournament; it takes an eon and a half to figure that out and
tell you there aren't any games to continue. It won't unlock data
anyway. You go to Options for that.
In the Options, along with being able to Load Unlocked Data from your
card, you can change the volume of the music, the voices and the
effects. (I suggest putting the voices to full, the effects to half
and the music to 0. But that's just me. =) You can turn on
vibration, but it's worthless--either they forgot to code it in, or
it's so light as to be unnoticable. You can watch the Credits, if you
so choose. Finally, you can change how many rounds you play in Vs.
mode. (Sadly, this is only in Vs. mode; you still have to slog through
two or three rounds in 1 Player.)
Once you're actually in a match, the basic goal of Simpsons Wrestling
is just about the only element of wrestling in the game: pin the
opponent. Doing this involves two elements. First, you have to knock
them down. There are several moves that will accomplish this all by
themselves, usually involving (), but the best way is to just deplete
all their life. After they're knocked down, a stun bar, detailed
below, will appear. Use how fast it's going down to figure out whether
or not you should pin. (Natch.) You'll only pull it off if it doesn't
start going down immediately. Again, the best time to do it is after
depleting all their life. So I guess really the main goal is to
deplete all their life. =)
Now, on to the detailed sections, to find out what, exactly, the above
paragraph meant.
----
II-B. IN-MATCH SCREEN
When you first start a match, you'll see four things in each bottom
corner. If you're on the left, the ones on the bottom left are yours.
If not, it's the ones on the right. (Natch.)
The first thing is the character's mug; this is static so don't worry
about it.
Above this is TAUNT, which starts each match greyed out. You can fill
it in one letter at a time through a method involving [], detailed
below in Maneuvers, or by getting ! icons when they come up. Once
TAUNT is yellowed in, R1 appears next to it, enabling the Taunt.
Basically it makes your character invincible; more details are under
R1, also in Maneuvers.
At the bottom is your life meter. This is simple enough, right? =P
After your life is depleted, you're knocked down, and you gain a Stun
Bar, detailed below. It's pretty much over for you at this point, but
it's not quite official yet: the opponent has to pin you, also
detailed below in Maneuvers.
Finally, above this is your energy meter. Above it are [], /\ and (),
in order. Pressing these buttons do moves and use energy. How much
energy they use is pretty well approximated by where the buttons are
over the meter. Pressing >< to jump or L1 to hold uses energy too; how
much that uses is low and the same for each character, strangely
enough. The energy meter recovers quickly most of the time--while
standing, while doing [] or some /\ moves, during Taunts and even
during some knockdowns and stuns. It does not recover during other
knockdowns, stuns and /\ moves, during jumps, or while the CHARACTER is
caught up in a () move. (Some moves persist long after the character
can move again. During this time they will usually still regain
energy, with one notable, noted exception.)
The Stun Bar will also sometimes appear. It shows how long it'll take
for you to get up from a stun. Stuns happen after huge combos of
moves, certain instant-stun moves, and during any knockdown. The stun
can always be fought off more quickly if you hit every button and
wiggle the control pad repeatedly. After your life's depleted, though,
the stun bar usually takes a LONG time to go away, and, worse than
that, the enemy can start it over again with a good smack. Knockdown
stuns are the only time you can be pinned, after all.
----
II-C. MANEUVERS
Press the listed button to get the listed effect. (Of course the
descriptions give far more details than that one just did.)
[] Basic martial-arts maneuvers. They do something like 2% or less
damage a hit, but they're fast and take almost no energy, and thus good
ways to do damage. Unfortunately, landing these is hard, since the
opponent can usually interrupt you with their own [] slaps, making the
whole affair a biiig button-waving mashfest. If you land four of these
in a row--which is easy in the New Challenger Circuit, but hard
everywhere else--the fourth hit will knock down the opponent for a
while and give you a TAUNT letter. Use this opportunity to pin them if
their stun bar lasts long enough.
/\ Usually, a projectile of some kind, although there are exceptions.
Can do anywhere from 2 to 5% damage, and have a wide variety of flight
paths. Some fly straight forward, some "lob," as in fly upwards and
then back downwards, and some circle around wildly. If you aim the
shot off target, sometimes the game will reaim it towards them, to a
varying degree.
() The character's ultimate attack. There's really no point in trying
to generalize these, since they're all so different. Most do a lot of
damage though, or at least result in it!
>< Jumps. Generally each character's jump height is the same, with an
exception or two. This takes a bit of energy, and you can't recover
energy in midair, so remember that if you're trying to do a high-
powered move. Hitting [] or /\ stomps the enemy; only /\ does good
damage, but you can use [] for a long time if you start with a full
energy meter. () results in a full body splash that can be more
trouble than it's worth--it heavily damages the enemy but knocks down
both characters, and if it misses you're still knocked down.
L1: Starts a hold. After you've started the hold, you follow it with
[], /\ or () to perform a toss, smack or slam. This has poor range,
obviously, and can be pretty slow and hard to pull off, but the () hold
is powerful and instantly knocks the enemy down without knocking you
down.
If the opponent is lying on the ground, hitting L1 starts a pin. You
can't help it along by jamming buttons, so don't even try, but you can
jump out of it in case you can tell ahead of time you're not going to
score the win. (Try to smack them around some more to restore the
stun, then pin them again if their life's fully depleted!)
R1: Taunts, if the Taunt "bar" is full. Pressing it puts a spotlight
on your character, and he emits some sort of taunting line while the
enemy is (usually) stunned. For the next minute or so, you're
invincible. You can still be knocked down, and possibly even stunned,
but you won't take any damage from it, and [] combos and move startups
can't be interrupted unless they do knock you down. Use this time to
land moves with extraordinary startup time--or to get more TAUNT
letters through the [] method if you can!
Rope Bounce: Run into the rope to bounce off it, gaining momentum.
After the rope starts to bounce back, immediately hit [] or /\ to smack
the enemy. Hitting () results in a clothesline, which works just like
the full body splash from midair. This is best to use close to the
opponent so they won't see it coming, because if you miss you just fall
over. There's a way to not do that, since the computer can, but darned
if I know it. Believe it or not, this is the only non-button maneuver
I've found so far.
----
II-D. POWERUPS
As you play matches, you'll notice little icons pop into existence in
the ring from time to time. These are powerups, and running into them
does a variety of things for you:
!: Fills in a Taunt letter. See above for Taunt explanation if you
need it.
Popcorn: Refills a bit of life. Grab it as soon as you can, unless
you're at full life of course. (It looks like a box.)
Cereal: Refills a LOT of life. Like, 25%. Grab it ASAP, too. (It
also looks like a box. Basically, if you see a box, grab it.)
Donut: Refills some energy. About half, I think. Most of the time,
you'll forget about this in about ten seconds, although it could help
you out after a costly () move.
Atom: Refills all energy. See above.
The Assassins: The sneakers straight from ONE Simpsons episode (told ya
these guys did their homework) double your speed. This can be useful
for grabbing other icons, as well as getting away from rampaging
monsters while you recharge.
?: A strange wireframe ? that selects one of the above powerups
randomly.
----
III. CHARACTERS
Okay, so now that that's done, we get into pretty much the only detail
left in the game: the characters. This is a basic summary of each
one. It describes the general feel of the character and any special
qualities they have, then briefly details their ground movelist. Note
that the midair, rope bounce and grappling moves aren't detailed,
because they're pretty standard moves for everybody. If they are
remarkable, of course, they get a mention.
Characters come in four groups of playability. Normal characters are
selectable from the beginning of the game. Afterwards there are four
unlockable characters; you get the first two by beating them in the New
Challengers Circuit, and the next two by beating them in the following
Defender Circuit. Finally, there are four characters (two of which are
bosses) that aren't unlockable at all without accessing Bonus Match Up,
a special mode detailed in the Codes section.
===Normal Characters====
Barney:
Barney's slow, but powerful, as you might expect out of a huge drunken
maniac. You'll find his []s much easier to do if the enemy gets him/
herself trapped in the Duff Cloud Burp. He has some funny lines,
though.
[] Reeeally slow beer mug swipes. They're a bit stronger than the
norm, but so slow they almost never hit! Basically worthless.
/\ Lobs a beer mug in a high, SLOW arc. This does not home in and will
not hit the enemy until it crashes to the ground, making it extremely
difficult to aim. Takes a while to start, too. Also worthless, even
if the damage it does if it DOES connect is high.
() If you must use Barney, rely on this: the Duff Cloud Burp. Barney
belches a HUGE cloud of noxious fumes that hurts to stand in. It
lasts about twenty seconds and also tends to slow their punches down,
meaning you can actually land some of your []s. Its startup time is
minimal, but it's there, so start this from at least a short distance
away.
Krusty:
Krusty's moveslist packs some power, but not a whole lot of
versatility. I use his () to quickly move through the beginning
circuit. When Krusty Taunts, his lines take too long, so if you don't
act fast you'll miss your free shot. I have to admit I enjoy his new,
psychotic laugh from this game. =)
[] Slapstick-looking punches and kicks, ending with a mallet shot.
Slowish, especially after the second shot.
/\ Tosses a cream pie. It has a slight lob, but makes it almost
totally across the ring. It'll sometimes aim for you a bit, but not
too much.
() Goes on a psychotic hammer-swinging rampage, a la Mario in Donkey
Kong (but not nearly as invincible). It lasts for a long time, but
it's so easy to dodge it hurts--just jump around, or preferably jump,
then body splash. It's good against beginners, the beginning AI, or
the last boss, all of which don't jump as often.
Apu:
Apu's the Chun Li of Simpsons Wrestling: he's weak and takes more
damage from hits than others, but he's fast. His () is especially
fast and hard to get away from. Still, he takes nearly double damage
from some moves, so I don't play as him very often.
[] Kung-fu-like punches and chops, ending in several blurred, fast
kicks (think Liu Kang's Bicycle Kick, but standing still). Decent all
around.
/\ Tosses a squishie. The second worst projectile in the game: it
doesn't aim for you at all, it lobs in a strange arc that can sail
right over their heads, and it does weak damage. Not very fast,
either.
() Goes into a kung-fu flurry. It does weak damage, but keeps going
for a long time and tends to interrupt the enemy's attacks well. If
you start this close to the enemy and keep the pressure up, this is
VERY hard to get away from, since they usually can't jump out of it
without getting hit back down.
Willie:
Willie has no projectiles. This means you have to get by on your
melee skills...which SHOULD mean his melee skills are top-notch. But
they're not--he's actually pretty weak overall. What's the deal with
that? He uses a freakin' rake!!
[] Rake shots, ending in an overhead smash. Decent all around.
/\ Willie spins in a full circle using the rake for leverage. This is
another melee weapon that lets him spin behind most [] shots, then
pound them while they try for the next shot, but unfortunately it does
about as much damage as [].
() Puts a random piece of gardening equipment--rakes, hedge clippers,
bear traps, etc--into the middle of the ring. If the enemy walks on
it, they take medium-heavy damage. The traps last a good while, long
enough for you to try using four or five of them at once, and the
energy requirement's low too.
Homer:
I suppose you could say Homer is the Super Mario of Simpsons
Wrestling, if you were insane, because he tosses an effective
"fireball" and can actually power up. He's not the most effective of
characters but he's pretty decent. His opening lines seem kinda
strange, though...is it just me, or does he have fewer
character-specific opening quotes?
[] It's Krusty's exact move set until the last shot, which is a
slightly faster headbutt. Looks like the body build isn't the only
thing they share!
/\ Throws out a bowling ball. No auto-aim, but decent damage. The
best thing about it is it bounces back and forth for a while before
disappearing, meaning it can hit multiple times. Unfortunately only
two of these or so can be out at once.
() Powers Homer up. He eats donuts (natch) and gets bigger, and, more
importantly, his moves change. [] does a series of karate chops
ending in an overhead smash. They're very powerful and fast,
especially the last shot. /\ is a bit worse, since it makes him do a
spinning kick with low range, but it has pretty good damage if it
connects.
Bart:
Argh. Bart's my least favorite character. His move list is pretty
bad, his power is even worse, and worst of all, his quotes are
annoying. They're almost always pompous, childish taunts, which is
better for Bart than, say, Moe but still not really in character or
funny. And just like Homer, he has fewer specific openers. (Homer
and Bart fighting should start with a unique, GREAT opening line...but
I've NEVER seen it happen.) If you must use him, rely on the standard
moves, especially since a couple of his are rather powerful.
[] Predictably fast-but-weak punches, leading to a breakdancing sweep.
/\ Slingshot shot. Hard to aim and a tad on the weak side, but it
travels straight and goes pretty fast.
() Starts skateboarding around the ring, hurting the enemy whenever he
runs into them. This would be far better if it had good controls, but
instead they're sluggish, making it easy for the enemy to dodge. (As
if jumping didn't make it easy to dodge anyway.) It's not even that
damaging when it does connect.
/\ Midair: Seems to do more damage than the normal /\ stomp.
/\ Throw: A headbutt that has a tendancy to stun the enemy, sometimes
multiple times in a row. Doesn't always do it but it's worth a shot.
Lisa:
Lisa's much like Bart, in that her power's low and her quotes stink.
Her moves are better, though, and a departure from the normal kinds of
ground moves. Still don't play as her much, though--her moves take
too much effort.
[] Predictably fast-but-weak kicks and punches, ending in a backflip.
/\ Starts blowing her sax. This can hit from anywhere, and it can
combo for up to seven hits. If you get all seven hits in the enemy
will be stunned. There are disadvantages to this, however. Each hit
does weak damage (the first does none!), and they take a while to get
off. The full combo uses almost the entire energy bar. Finally, you
have to press the button in a rythym--you can't just mash /\, or
you'll blow a wrong note and the combo will end. At least it
discourages button-mashing.
() Lisa turns savage: she leaps up on the opponent's arm and starts
chomping! This is a hold, and as such can't be done or even attempted
outside of range. Hitting buttons and wiggling the joystick
repeatedly will get you more hits; the opponent can do the same to get
out faster. Very little is more annoying than this move, but the
damage doesn't tend to be too high.
Marge:
Marge has an unexpected amount of power, but her [] moves are slow,
and her special moves are poorly done. So are her quotes. There's
not much else to say about her, really, except that I obviously don't
recommend her.
[] Frying pan clonks, ending in an overhead smash. A bit powerful, and
the first hit's fast, but the rest are slow.
/\ A long-range hair attack. Aside from being ridiculous to look at,
this doesn't aim for you at all and has relatively low range. It's
fast, however, and pretty powerful.
() Releases Maggie. This lil' ankle biter does just that--she grabs
the enemy's ankle, slowing them down. This prevents several () moves
from being used, along with jumps, but it does no damage and doesn't
help Marge much, since her moves can't capitalize on this well.
(The rest of this document, pretty much, has spoilers on the unlocked
characters. If you don't want to know about them, go play the game and
come back later. =)
===Unlocked Characters 1===
Bumblebee Man:
This guy really annoyed me when I first fought him, but then I played
as him...and he annoyed me again. All he's got going for him are his
ultra-high jumps and his () move, which is really not very powerful-
-just, uh, annoying. And, of course, all of his lines are in Spanish,
which means I, in my ignorance, can't understand most of them....(If
you can't either, by the way, head to the Quotes Compendium for
translations of many of his sayings, courtesy of Armando Jaimes!)
[] Punches and a yoyo shot, ending with a spin kick. Just decent.
(Since when has he had a yoyo? I must've missed that episode!)
/\ Tosses out the yoyo. Pretty long range, but pitiful damage, and if
you miss you'll probably get hit while he pulls back the yoyo.
() Releases...the Chihuahua. This little thing runs around the ring,
just like Maggie, but instead of latching on to the opponent it takes
a bite out of 'em. It only does a []'s worth of damage, but it's VERY
distracting...and, most importantly and cheaply, it can reset the
enemy's stun bar if their life's depleted. Remember this and you'll
never miss the final pin.
() Ropes: His clothesline is considerably slower than everybody else's,
meaning you have less of a chance of hitting with it from afar.
Moe:
Moe is fun to use. He has a very high jump, good speed and
energy requirements and decent power. His repetoire is drawn nicely
from several old episodes, although he (un?)fortunately has no knives
or shotguns. His lines remain incredibly psychotic, however. =)
[] Quick boxing punches, ending in a nifty right cross. A bit faster
than others, and a bit weaker.
/\ Tosses a Flaming Moe. It works like Barney's beer mug, except when
it hits, it starts a decent-sized fire that burns for 5-10 seconds.
Pretty weak, but helpful if you can trap them--or the computer "traps"
itself.
() Swings a board with a nail in it (!) in several full circles. Each
hit's fairly weak, but they cover a lot of ground, and this tends to
combo four hits up close. A relatively low energy requirement, too.
/\ Midair: Hits them with the board with a nail in it. Good range and
control.
===Unlocked Characters 2===
Frink:
Another fun one to use, Frinky has a lot of unorthodox standard moves.
The changes are usually for the better, too. You can use these to
play a confusing but fair bout, or just use () repeatedly for
cheapness. Judging by his lines in this game I'd say he has no
problem with it! (Speaking of his lines, where are his trademark
mutterings?? I love those....)
[] Rather fast slaps that have decent power, ending in a leg sweep.
/\ Pulls out a ray gun and zaps the opponent. Fairly standard
projectile that auto-aims a bit, but has a slow startup time.
() Pulls out a package and sets it on the mat. The contents are
random, oscillating between a landmine, a rocket, or a robot (this
also explodes when it hits...). The latter two home in, and I
honestly don't see much defense against the rocket since it follows
jumps, but it doesn't totally dominate because it's not too powerful
and needs a lot of energy.
[] Midair: This can be repeated about twice as fast as the average
stomp. Might be a bit stronger, too.
() Midair: Frink's dive is slow, but he makes an effort to track the
enemy, meaning he hits a bit more often.
() Ropes: Zips back and forth three times instead of just once.
Flanders:
I'd have suspected Homer, Bart, Willie or Moe to be overpowered, but
nope: it's "God-boy" Ned Flanders. Granted, his standard moves and
[] are merely decent, but his special moves'll get ya...and what'll
REALLY get ya is his SECOND LIFE METER. That's right: divine
intervention gives Flanders twice the life of everybody else. This
makes fights against him rather drawn out, not to mention hard as
heck!
[] Standard "pugilist" punches, ending in a heavy kick. Decent all
around, except the kick seems a bit slow.
/\ Tosses the Good Book at the opponent. If it doesn't hit the first
time, it circles around to make a second or even a third pass. Light
damage, but what'd you expect from a homing weapon?
() Oh, boy. Here we go. Flanders prays to the Lord, who responds by
sending down a bolt of lightning every few seconds...for almost thirty
seconds! They damage the character for as long as they're touching
them, so they have to keep moving or face God's wrath. Extremely good
for pacing the match, but it's also extremely cheap, and its startup
time is, erhm, god-awful. You also recover energy strangely during
the strikes (I think you can only get back what you use), so watch
out. Run up to computers and use []s as the lightning strikes to trap
them. It's good at the start of every computer match, too, except for
the last boss, who always starts with a projectile.
===Bonus Match Up Characters===
Smithers:
Smithers is almost as overpowered as Ned, but only because of his
partner, Burns. (He only has ONE life meter.) His standard moves are
average, although his ground ones are above it. Overall Smithers
comes off pretty well as a corporate tool; he has very few lines, but
Burns can toss out a few good quotes...not to mention weapons....
[] Basic chops, ending in a string of four punches. These do good
damage at a decent rate of speed, but the last shot stinks--only the
FIRST punch hits. The other three whiff over their head, wasting
time.
/\ Releases Blinky, the Three-Eyed Fish. It hops around the ring for a
while, and whenever it hits, it does a bit of damage and automatically
stuns the enemy. Pretty cheap, as in effective.
() Burns drops the Bomb. He throws one in from outside the ring. It
has a MASSIVE range of effect, as you probably noticed while fighting
the guy, and good damage too, especially when it hits twice. Burns'll
wait until they're close by to throw the bomb--usually; I'm really not
sure how this works.
Kang:
Kang suffers from what I've come to dub as Fighting Game Endboss
Gigantism. (Other examples of this can be found in Super Smash Bros.,
Power Stone and Marvel vs. Capcom 2, among other places.) He's
powerful, but a HUGE target, and while he's fast on the ground his
jumps are pathetic. The computer doesn't even use them, which you can
definitely use to your advantage. () moves usually work well against
him, as well as for him.
[] Strange tentacle extensions, with a clubbing mixed in for good
measure. Fast at first, and always powerful. Try to just hit with
repeated first strikes for best effect (although you won't win any
Taunt letters that way).
/\ Fires a ray gun. It has a bit of startup lag and very poor damage,
but it does aim for you, so it's not all bad.
() A clubbing, whipping frenzy. It's basically a glorified copy of
Krusty's mallet stamping in speed and power, but it's got much better
range, simply because of Kang's size. Decent power.
[], /\, () Midair: DON'T USE THESE! In most likely the least
forgivable programming error of the PSX's golden age, Activision gave
Kang a jump, but no midair moves at all. This is especially bad on
()--you just fall to the ground, stunned!
Itchy:
Yep, Itchy and Scratchy ARE in this game, in a realistically limited
capacity. Just like in the cartoons, Itchy is the far superior
character. His [] are powerful and very fast, and his () is really
cool. Sadly, he and Scratchy have no quotes to supplement this fun,
making them feel like they were slapped on...which could easily be
true....
[] Swings around a baseball bat. Very fast, except that one shot
has a very long windup. This seems to only happen just after a
knockdown.
/\ Fires a machine gun burst. Painfully funny, but pitifully weak, and
as easy to dodge as most projectiles.
() Scratchy fires up the chainsaw. It takes a while to start up,
and its damage rate is pretty slow, but it goes constantly, and is
very fun to use. =)
Scratchy:
Scratchy is the weaker of the pair, simply because he's slow. He's
got one of the best projectiles in the game, however.
[] Swings with a huge cartoon axe, ending in a slice-and-dice rampage.
Almost as slow as Barney's swipes, and about as useful.
/\ Fires a rocket. Somewhat high startup lag, but decent damage and
energy requirements, and it auto-aims fully. Sadly, this's Scratchy's
best move....
() Forces Scratchy into an axe rampage similar to Krusty's, but faster.
Just like Krusty's, it's rather worthless if your opponent knows how
to jump--er, I mean, dodge it--but if you can catch them up close and
stay on them, this one's fast enough that it's hard to get away from.
----
IV. STRATEGY
Yes, despite the simplicity of the play, there is some strategy to keep
in mind while fighting the AI in this game. BESIDES hammering []. (In
fact, this barely even works; it's the () button you should be
abusing.) Here's everything I...uh...can think of at the moment. =P
Fighting the Computer:
-Barney: Nothing about this fight is hard if you stay out of the
Clouds. Barney's disappointingly pathetic.
-Krusty: The () rampage is easy to jump away from if you see it
coming, but if not, run from him before trying to jump.
-Willie: Nothing big to worry about here. Just watch for traps.
-Apu: This guy is irritating because of his () move, but not very
strong. Try keeping to the air if you get in trouble.
-Homer: Homer often tries to power up, but it takes him a long time
to pull it off, so just hit him out of it when he stands still. Watch
for bowling balls, although they shouldn't give you much trouble.
-Bart: Nothing special here, either. Try to take advantage of Bart's
skateboarding stupidity with projectiles.
-Lisa: Lisa's hold and Sax are very hard to get away from, but she
can't use them without a lot of energy, so keep her up close, where
she'll usually waste it on weak []s.
-Marge: Nothing special. Maggie rarely troubles me, but you might try
try to get away from her with jumps.
-Bumblebee Man: Keep moving to get away from the Chihuahua. When it
goes away, lay into him with everything you've got to stop him from
using it again.
-Moe: Nothing special. Just keep away from the Flaming Moes.
-Frink: Occasionally, Frink will whip out a mine. Keep on the
lookout for these as you keep him close up to prevent his projectiles.
-Flanders: This could be your hardest fight, especially if you let him
him pull off the lightning move. Don't--keep him up close and use
several () moves of your own to keep ahead of him. Try a projectile
at the start of the fight to stop the first one. And don't be
surprised when you pin him and he gets back up for more!
-Smithers: This is another difficult fight. One way to keep
away from the bombs is to keep moving, but since they can be used at
almost any time, you'll likely never do any damage. If you've got a
reliable projectile, start off with those and use them whenever you
can. Use []s carefully, as you may have to run from an incoming
strike at any time. ()s often work better at this. You might try
throws, too.
-Kang: Kang is usually easy to beat. Ground ()s often work wonders,
especially for anyone that uses rampage-type ()s. If yours doesn't,
you'll have to rely on standard clotheslines and midair moves. Kang's
a lot easier to deal with from afar, but he'll probably catch up to
you anyway, so just do what you can.
Best Character for:
-New Challenger Circuit: Krusty
The enemies here don't have the AI to get out of Krusty's () rampage.
-Defender Circuit: Moe
Moe's () move is powerful and more versatile than Krusty's.
-Champion Circuit(and everything else): Flanders
Two life bars and a single move that can do up to 70% damage.
----
V. CODES
Simpsons Wrestling has its fair share of codes and unlocked secrets.
I'll list everything I know in the way of these here.
----
V-A. GAME CODES
Unlocking characters is as simple as beating them. The ones to be
unlocked are Bumblebee Man and Moe in New Challenger Circuit, and
Frink and Flanders in Defender Circuit.
Beating New Challenger Circuit unlocks Defender Circuit, which unlocks
Champion Circuit. Basically, these are difficulty levels, which is
annoying since it requires you to trudge through Easy to get to
anything resembling a challenge.
Beating Champion Circuit unlocks Bonus Match Up, a cool mode that lets
you choose what character's in each corner, whether a human or one of
three levels of AI controls each corner, and where you fight. This
lets you watch two computers duke it out, if you'd like. Even better,
it lets you play in Burns' Mansion and the Spaceship, where the second
player can play as Smithers/Burns or Kang. Finally, and best of all,
it unlocks a bonus level--Itchy and Scratchy, which is a fight with the
classic cat and mouse inside the Simpsons' TV. Here, Taunt is replaced
by Anvil, which does a hideous amount of damage, and the powerups are
replaced by bombs, which can be kicked around before they explode.
The worst part is that there are no quotes anywhere; the only one to
speak is Kent Brockman. The best part is that we FINALLY see some
decent arms come into play....
You can also unlock Bonus Match Up without beating Champion Circuit,
using an actual cheat code: at the title screen, press (), Up, Up,
Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right.
Reset with your controller during matches by holding Start and Select.
(You cannot do this while the game is paused.)
Finally, the "extra" codes. These are listed at www.gamewinners.com
and were originally confrimed by Johann Grossman. (Thank you! =)
They are all actual cheat codes that work for both players and can be
put in at the title screen or after pausing during gameplay. (Don't
worry about moving around on the pause menu--the game's still counting
your presses.) Repeat the code to turn it off or on afterwards. A
bell ring confirms each correct code entry (a loud one for toggling it
on and a soft one for toggling it off).
Bumblebee Man: (), Left, Up, Left, Down, R1
-Unlocks Bumblebee Man, or relocks him if you've already got him. The
next three codes have the same effect for their listed characters.
Moe: (), Left, Up, Left, Down, L1
Frink: (), Left, Up, Left, Down, R2
Flanders: (), Left, Up, Left, Down, L2
Big Ape Arena: (), R2, R1, (), R2, R1
-This gives you a bonus ring that has no backgrounds and a pixellated
picture of Big Ape productions staff members drawn in the Simpsons
style in the center of the ring. It comes up no matter what stage you
actually select as long as this code is on, even if you select one of
the boss or special stages. One nice thing about this ring is having
no backgrounds really picks up the framerate.... =P If you turn this
on during a match, it won't be in effect until the next match.
Credits Gags: (), L1, (), L1, (), R1, (), R1
-All this seems to do is add a few of the names Bart prank calls Moe
with into the credits. I couldn't find more than five, but maybe I'm
just unobservant.
Zero Health Loses: (), R1, R1, R1, Right, Left
-This was originally thought to be an unlimited life code, but sadly,
that's not what it does. Instead, it makes it so you automatically
win if you deplete an enemy's life. This makes the game even more
like a 3d fighting game, which is good or bad depending on your taste.
Infinite Energy: (), R1, R1, R1, Down, Up.
-Infinite move energy. This gives you an easy win over many computer
opponents, because you can just keep stomping on them while they stare
at you until they fall over. Abusing () is less reliable, but often
much more fun. I especially like it with Barney and Willie.
Remember, however, that this works for BOTH players.
Multi Rope Attack: (), R1, R1, R1, Up, Down
-If you hit the ropes after a rope attack, you can do another one by
pressing the button with the right timing again. If you miss after a
clothesline but run into the ropes, you can use another rope attack to
keep from falling over with this code. It's also a bit more like
actual wrestling. ;)
Big Ape Mode: (), L1, (), R1, (), L2, (), R2
-Kind of hard to describe. In gameplay terms, it increases the range
of most melee moves. This can be a good or bad thing, since some
attacks will suddenly whiff if you're too close. As for the graphics,
it USUALLY makes the characters' arms bigger...but for some attacks,
other parts will get bigger too, such as Krusty's mallet during his ()
move and Lisa's head for hers. Kang gets a MASSIVE size increase all
around from this code...and it renders him unplayable. His projectile
goes over opponents' heads, his punches won't hit up close, and he
takes up nearly an eighth of the ring, so he can't get away and he can
be hit VERY easily. (In other words, if you just can't beat the last
boss, you might want to consider flipping on this code. =P)
Big Heads: (), L1, L1, L1, Up, Down
-This, well, makes the characters' heads bigger. It doesn't seem to
change the gameplay at all. Nice if you like that sort of thing. I
never did, but oh well.
Flat Land: (), L1, L1, L1, Left, Right
-This makes characters and powerups "2-dimensional." As in, they're
paper-thin and only have full views from the front, like in Paper
Mario or Parappa the Rapper. I'm pretty sure this doesn't make them
any harder to hit, however.
No Outlines: (), Right, Up, Right, Down
-This removes the outside lines from the characters, making some look
better and increasing the framerate a tad. This only removes the
OUTLINES, mind--most of the lines for the details (such as the faces)
will still be there.
Programmer's message: [], (), L1, R1
-Just a fun little code that displays the completion date and another
three letters, probably someone's initials. I've forgotten them,
unfortunately.
----
V-B. GAMESHARK CODES
These codes taken, with permission, from www.cheatcc.com. (Thanks
Dave!) Note that some of these codes may work on a different game
and/or Gameshark version than listed, so you may want to try out all
the codes on your copy. (The "hit anywhere" code worked for me on a US
copy using a GS 1.99.)
===North American Version===
Unlock All Characters:
(You'll need a GS 2.2 or higher.)
50000404 0000
800741E8 0001
One-Hit Kill For Both Players:
(Using Infinite Health on a player overrides this for that player.)
8002EFE2 AC60
P2's Wins Count For P1:
8001D09A 1000
P1's Wins Count For P2:
8001D09A 2400
Power Never Decreases for Both Players:
80037EEA 2400
80034756 2400
Both Players can Hit Anywhere:
8001F966 2400
----
VI. THE USUAL FAQ ENDNOTES
Credits
My biggest thanks go to CJayC, for running www.gamefaqs.com, running
its message boards (which let me know I wasn't alone in my opinions
about this one) and hosting my various FAQs!
Thanks also to Dave A., dave@cheatcc.com, for hosting this FAQ and
allowing me the use of his Gameshark codes. I wasn't even going to
post Gameshark codes for this since I don't have a GS, but any full
walkthrough can use them, so this really came in handy!
Johann Grossman, xcaliburb@hotmail.com, not only nearly doubled the
quote list, but also confirmed the codes at www.gamewinners.com for me,
letting me list them here (at least temporarily). Huge thanks here!
Gamewinners.com deserves credit too, obviously, for posting the codes
in the first place. =) In turn, Alan Klein (ABKEIN@prodigy.net) and
Jon Klein (ROCKER13@prodigy.net) contributed to that page.
rickw@metallica.com and Smoke1479@aol.com helped alert me to a
correction for the story synopsis. Thanks guys!
And, of course, I've got to give Activision credit where it's due.
...I suppose. While this doesn't compare to some of their earlier
classics(River Raid?), they still deserve credit for the game, at least
for doing their Simpsons homework so well.
Copyright
This FAQ is Copyright 2001, JJ Ukil(Jjukil@aol.com). I do not want
bad things happening to it without my knowledge. You may not publish
it, reprint it for commercial use, modify and redistribute or reprint
it, or use information from it in another document without my written
consent. I welcome and highly encourage its distribution, but only
unmodified and in its original form of an ascii text (.txt) document,
unless written permission to distribute a different form has been
granted. I would also greatly prefer you mention to me that you are
distributing it. I have found my work in odd places before, and it has
made me unhappy. I've found my modified work in odd places before,
too, and that has made me very unhappy. (Especially because the
modification was horrible.)
Disclaimer
This FAQ is not meant to be the final authority on Simpsons Wrestling.
This is meant to help the casual renter who's just checking this game
out to get through the 1-Player mode more easily, as well as learn
something about each character in case they want to use them all. If
you have a bit of information you'd like to contribute to this FAQ, by
all means submit it, to Jjukil@aol.com. Same goes to questions and
comments. If you'd like to see this become a more complex, in-depth
information source than it is right now, though, you won't have much
luck. I'd highly suggest you write one yourself. It'll probably be
better anyway. =)
----
Well, that's about it! Hope you enjoyed it!
...now please don't kill me.
