Last Blade 2 Final Edition © SNK, 2000 Sega Dreamcast © Sega, 1998 ---------------------------------------- Last Blade 2 Final Edition for Dreamcast -=Hanafuda FAQ=- © Nick Calcaterra aka zero2dash - December 23, 2000 web: http://i.am/zero2dash email: zero2dash@excite.com I picked up Last Blade 2 Final Edition for the Dreamcast, because a) I love 2D fighting games, b) I love SNK, and c) 'cause I actually had the money *and* a + b. However I'm an American who doesn't know Japanese (not yet at least; I'll learn once I sign up for a class or something sometime soon). Anyway, upon beating the game with Setsuna (my favorite LB2 character so far in the week that I've been playing the game since I learned it)...the Hanafuda game was unlocked. I messed around in the Hanafuda game for awhile, just blindly trying to figure out what the hell was going on. =P Call me hard headed but I'm gonna try everything once. Anyway with more play of it, and guesswork, I figured out *some* things about Hanafuda, and well, Jeeves (as in "Ask Jeeves"; money-less plug being http://www.ask.com) helped me figure out the rest. Now, you can *certainly* get Hanafuda general information anywhere on the net (search engines, et al) but then again the cards in LB2FE are a little different, plus some are *completely* different than the traditional deck (from what I gather of traditional decks) since they have actual LB2 character art on them. So this is a FAQ on the LB2FE Hanafuda mode, with some general knowledge gathered from *general* Hanafuda knowhow. Again, I'm not Japanese I'm American, and I also don't understand Japanese language (Kanji, Katakana, or Hiragana) so if this appears to be a "blind guessing game" to you, well read another FAQ. (Oh wait...no one else has DONE a LB2FE Hanafuda FAQ yet...d'oh for you, eh? LOL) My entire idea behind doing this FAQ is to give people in the same boat as me (that is, those that don't know the Japanese language but still import games 'cause they don't give a damn and want to play the game first, or the game won't come out in the US as is true in this case; trust me) a general idea as to what Hanafuda is and give them a reason to actually *play* the Hanafuda game in LB2FE. ---------------------------------------- 1. Starting out/general information ---------------------------------------- That being said, let's start. Hanafuda is a card game played in Japan (duh) with a deck containing 48 cards (4 less than your average gaijin poker deck heh) divided into twelve card suits represented to the 12 months of the year. Each card has a different point and name, and there are 3 types of cards: -Cards that depict an animal or figure are worth 10 or 20 points -Cards that depict a *Tanzaku* (a strip of poem writing paper) which are separated themselves into 3 styles: -red strip with a poem -normal red strip -normal blue strip all of these are worth 5 points. -Cards that depict plants with no other objects, which are called *Kasu* (or *Trash*) cards which are worth 1 point each. (shitty) IMPORTANT NOTE: the above information, AGAIN, has to deal with the actual game of Hanafuda. Read on and you'll see how the actual game varies GREATLY from the LB2FE Hanafuda game. ---------------------------------------- 2. General information/control scheme ---------------------------------------- Now, in LB2FE, as I said earlier the cards are different, sometimes *greatly*. The best way for LB2FE players to figure out what cards are what is to hit the X button while playing Hanafuda and a screen will pop up showing cards and their point values...in a nutshell. In the actual game of Hanafuda, each card has a value. In LB2FE Hanafuda, they DO NOT. When you look at this screen, what you're going to see (aside from MASSIVE amounts of Kanji) is a line of cards, and a point value *for* that line of cards. Essentially, if you look at the first screen that comes up when you hit X...you'll see 2 rows of cards; the row on top shows 5 cards with a point value of 10. The row on bottom shows 4 cards with a point value of 8. Basically, if you get those 5 cards on the top row, you'll get 10 points and inflict 10 damage on your opponents' life meter (read below to figure out what/where that is). Against your first opponent, that's a KILL. (Easier said than done though.) Hanafuda in LB2FE has a simple control setup; either figure it out on your own or keep on readin'. A = select (basically) Use the D-Pad to pick a card, press A to select/play that card. Easy enough? B = cancel out/go back (use when you're in the X or Y screens) X = show card classes/point information (use it OFTEN until you remember) Y = show control menu (which tells you what the buttons do; if you don't know Kanji you'll look at it pointlessly because it's all Kanji) R = zoom in on your win pile (lower right bottom of screen) Start = pause. duh. =P D-Pad left/right = move cursor. ---------------------------------------- 3. On the screen/how to play ---------------------------------------- You look at the screen in LB2FE Hanafuda, and you'll see: -A row of 8 overturned cards on the bottom of the screen, these are yours of course -A row of 8 hidden cards on the top of the screen, these are your opponents' -A center pile of 8 overturned cards, these are the *pot* (as explained in most American card games, be it poker or general ("Uno", etc) -A deck of the remaining/"to be played" cards stacked up on the right side of the screen -Your win pile...lower right corner of screen -Your opponents' win pile...upper right corner of screen -A row of 10 yellow circles on the top and bottom of the screen; these essentially represent how much life you have left in the match. Successful matches will inflict damage on your opponent. They win, you take damage. "Kill" the other person to win (of course). Note: the first person you face has 10 yellow circles. The 2nd person has 12 and it keeps adding on more on your opponent's side the further along you get in LB2FE Hanafuda (making it more difficult to win of course). Now, you want to match up the cards that are of the same grouping in the X menu. If you are highlighted on a card (with the cursor) in LB2FE that matches one of the cards in the center pile, they will both expand (as if to show you "hey, we match"). Just find a card that has a match in the center pile, and hit A to play that card. NOTE: if you don't have a card that matches anything, then just pick a card to play and HOPE that your opponent can't match anything off it. Once you play that card, it will appear/move over the top of the center pile card that it matches, and both will float over to your win pile. Then, from the deck, a card will appear, and if it matches a card *also*, it will appear/move over the top of the center pile card that *it* matches, and both will float over to your win pile. Now you might ask, how/why the hell does this happen? Well, the remainder deck (or whatever you want to call it) will put out a card back *into* the center pile, and if the card that it draws next to *put into* the center pile matches a center pile card that is already out there, well then those cards will both match (in their own respective grouping) and you'll get those cards in your win pile because it's still considered your turn. Now, if the card being *put into* the center pile doesn't match anything, then it's the other person's turn and you get no extra points. (NOTE: if the card matches or not, you only get 1 *discard* off that pile, so if say, the card matches, you get the points, but it's then the other person's turn regardless - i.e. you can't match, then match again, and so on...you only get the 1 card off the pile as a chance and it's more of a *luck*-based thing.) In a nutshell...after your turn, if you match or do not match, there will be 1 card taken automatically off the deck and *an attempt* to match is automatically done. If it matches, you get the cards. If it doesn't, the card is added to the center pile and you get no points. ---------------------------------------- 4. Play...continued ---------------------------------------- You will play, taking turns, and try to match as many as possible. Now, once you match a group (X menu, again), the card will do a slam-dive of sorts =P on the pile and then a question (I think) pops up, with 2 choices...default is the LEFT choice. Since this is Kanji, again, I don't understand a word of what it's saying but I believe I've figured it out at least guess-work wise that the LEFT selection = continue playing, and the RIGHT select = fold (in other words, take your match, get your hits/points, and start a new card deal). IF you get this screen and pick the LEFT option, you get no points, your opponent takes no damage, and you continue playing. I don't particularly see the reason to pick this one, but then again maybe there's something there in Kanji that explains it, which of course I wouldn't understand. I'm assuming that you'd pick to play on to try and get a better/more damaging match of cards (shown in X menu) but then again I don't know for sure. I always pick the RIGHT option, and it will match up the cards and inflict damage on the opponent. Once this is over with, you will start a brand new deal of cards. There IS *one exception* to this screen coming up...if you DO NOT have any more cards to play, it will automatically END the match (i.e. pick "fold" for you), since you don't have any cards to play further. ---------------------------------------- 5. Closing notes ---------------------------------------- Essentially, this is how you play the game, in layman's terms and not getting too specific, because, again - I can't read Kanji so I have no idea what it's saying when I play. I've won matches by following these rules, and it's never *not* worked following this set of guidelines. After you've read this and start playing the game, you'll probably say "yeah I woulda figured this out" and most people would, but the thing I didn't understand at first was that you have to match up the card sets in the X menu to do damage/win matches; I figured it was like traditional Hanafuda where you get points for each card and try to get more points than the other person to win. No...it's more or less an alternate-method of playing Hanafuda in LB2FE from what I gather, from guess-work, general Hanafuda information, and a little ingenuity. ---------------------------------------- 6. End/thanks ---------------------------------------- This concludes my first FAQ. I hope you've enjoyed it and I hope it helps you out. Want to throw out a few thank-you's: -Sega for making the greatest console created, the Dreamcast, and being the best in-house developer in the world -SNK for being the best...err *tied* for the best (with Capcom) 3rd party developer *and* 2D fighter maker -NCS, the best place to import games...you guys rock; customer support is #1, prices are hella cheap, and you're friendly as hell on the phone. I will order from you and you alone as long as games come out and I want them. ;^) -My local St. Louis friends/arcade buddies, especially Tyrone ("Chocolate Thunder" to the ladies) for showing me how badass the Saturn was back in '96, as well as all the sleepless nights of 2D gaming action...and some excellent Last Blade 2 competition (as well as 2D fighter comp all around...you're the best, man). Also for the discussion on how the hell to play Hanafuda in Last Blade 2. =) -Shawn Fanning, for making Napster, to which I just downloaded songs from... -Dragon Ash, one of the coolest Japanese bands I've ever heard (only beaten by B'z and X-Japan) and what I listened to in typing this FAQ (Thank you both) -Winamp for making the best PC MP3 player -CJayC and the entire Gamefaqs staff (if there is anyone else heh) for *hopefully* putting up this FAQ and *hopefully* will put up more after I've done them/typed them up. (soon to come, hopefully...Guilty Gear X LE *general/combo*, Last Blade 2 Final Edition *general/combo*...more...? possibly?) -Kao Megura for FAQ inspiration...you're the best at FAQs and it shows in your work. A thousand thank-you's. =) -My family for either pissing me off or making me love you guys. Oh and for buying me games when I was little and couldn't afford them myself. (funded my gaming fix up until the 32-bit days) -Microsoft for making Windows 2000 Professional which is on my PC now and has always been CRASH-PROOF (yep...) RIP Sony, the cancer of videogames...I hope the PoS2 flops worse than the Jaguar, 3Do, and CDi. >=/ *chip on shoulder*