============================
VIRTUAL ON: ORATORIO TANGRAM
 HOW TO WIN AGAINST THE CPU
============================
Written by Graham Fredrick  < fredga01 @ holmes.ipfw.edu >

Disclaimer: This document may be posted to any websites as long as none of the
content is altered.  You may not sell this document or publish the contents
without the permission of the author.  Copyright 2000 Graham Fredrick

Revision History:

6-8-2000   ver 0.1	3 VR's completed
6-15-2000  ver 0.5	7 VR's completed

***

I only have 7 VR's included so far.  Version 1.0 will have boss strategies for
all 11 main VR's, as well as tips for Temjin vs. Ajim.

Table of Contents:

1. Introduction
2. Abbreviations
3. General Advice
4. VR Strategies
	RAIDEN
	TEMJIN
	CYPHER
	BAL-SERIES
	FEI YEN KN
	SPECINEFF
	APHARMD B
5. Other Stuff


===============
1. Introduction
===============

     First of all, it is important to know that I am a total beginner when it
comes to playing Virtual On.  I played the original a couple times in the
arcade and got a chance to play a little of the import version of Virtual On 2
for the Dreamcast, but I am nowhere near an expert when it comes to playing.  

     This FAQ is geared to people who are more or less new to the game and
want to learn how to beat the computer, which unlocks various secrets such as
an earlier revision of the game (5.2) and a special ending movie.  Although
this guide is geared for the beginner player, I would strongly advise any new
player to check out DLC's guide available at www.gamefaqs.com, which does a
great job of explaining how to control the game.

     I decided to write this FAQ because even though there is already one at
Gamefaqs, I still had trouble beating the bosses and felt that certain points
were not clear.  As a result, this FAQ will contain complete descriptions of
my fights against the bosses so that hopefully you can follow the same
strategies that I used.  You may notice that this guide seems to be written
out of order.  I decided to arrange the character sections in the order in
which I used them to beat the game with, as my skill increased as I beat the
game with the successive characters. 


================
2. Abbreviations
================

I am using the standard Dreamcast pad with the default control setup (A), so
some of the controls in the abbreviations may be different depending on your
setup.

Abbreviation:  Definition:

VO             Virtual On - The first in the series, ported to the Saturn

VOOT           Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram - The sequel, ported to the
               Dreamcast

CPU            Computer - Who you fight against in the one player game
VR             Virtuaroid - The big robot machine that you are controlling

LW             Left Weapon - The Left Trigger on the control pad (L)
RW             Right Weapon - The Right Trigger on the control pad (R)
CW             Central Weapon - Both Triggers on the control pad (L+R)

LT             Left Turbo - X on the control pad, can make the VR dash
RT             Right Turbo - B on the control pad, can make the VR dash

m              Meters - This refers to the distance you are from your 
               opponent as noted on the screen in tiny little numbers

The weapon and turbo buttons can be combined to shoot modified forms of the
weapons.  For instance, RTCW means to press B, L, and R at the same time. 
This usually produces a stronger version of the Weapon attack.


=================
3. General Advice
=================

     I set the game options for the one player mode to single round wins and
no time limit (Deathmatch).  I also turned the difficulty all the way down to
1, because I need all the help I can get.  Some people may prefer to set the
timer to 90 seconds, but I seriously dislike losing to the CPU by a time out.

     Before you take each character into battle, spend some time in the
Training mode so that you can get familiar with all of the weapons of the VR
and how well it can move around.  Also, spend some time practicing the Right
Turbo and Left Turbo weapons.  These attacks can be quite powerful, but also
require you to be standing still to shoot them.  Otherwise, you would get a
dashing attack instead of a Turbo attack.  Don't worry about trying to
manually rotate your VR with the Analog stick as it is actually not the best
way to turn towards your enemy; both jumps and dash attacks (firing a weapon
while dashing) will automatically turn you to face the enemy.  Jumps are
almost always the safest choice because you can then hold in Crouch to quickly
return to the ground.

     When fighting Bradtos and Tangram, being precise when pressing RTCW or
RTRW is very important.  Also, since the Left and Right Weapon buttons are set
to the L and R triggers, it isn't always easy to fire them at the same.  The
triggers need to be pressed a certain amount for the CPU to recognize it, so
you have to practice hitting the turbo buttons and weapon triggers.  Also,
unless I talk SPECIFICALLY about dashing, you should NOT do a dash or dash
attack (fire any weapon while dashing) against the bosses.  The reason for
this is that when your dash ends, you are left immobile for a second and the
bosses can get a free shot in.  

     Bradtos can be a pain the first time you fight him, but as you grow
accustomed to his attack pattern he will become much easier.  His arena has a
low ceiling, so jumping is not really a good evasive tactic.  Once you get a
mental map of the octagon-shaped arena, you should avoid unnecessary movements
(like pausing to rotate) which can get you shot.

He starts the round by shooting repeated laser shots from each of his sides,
which tend to home in on your position.  After that he fires a series of
rectangular "hurdles" at you, which he can toss in the air if you are jumping. 
He then shoots another set of repeating lasers and another series of hurdles. 
Bradtos will then stop and his top will separate from his bottom to reveal his
weak point: a green gem.  The ONLY way to do damage to Bradtos is to hit that
green gem with your weapons.  

A short time after the gem is revealed, it starts shooting spread lasers at
your position.  The first shot is always directed right at you, subsequent
shot may or may not be directed right at you.  If you keep a distance of 300m
or so, you should have plenty of time to see how to dodge between the laser
shots.  After several spread shots, Bradtos will close again and set up his
next attack.  You can stop firing once he shuts, as he will NOT be damaged by
any attacks once the gem is hidden.

Now Bradtos shoots some more hurdles, followed by a stream of CD's (?).  These
seem to be shot out of his "corners" and are usually pointed right at you. 
Usually, you have to dodge harder to avoid these than you did with his initial
laser streams.  He will then shoot some more hurdles before opening a second
time.  If Bradtos is low on life at this point (less than 50%?) he will do a
slight variation of his normal spread ray.  He will alternate between firing
spread lasers and cluster lasers.  You can't really dodge in between the
cluster shots, so the best thing to do at this point is to simply walk left
and right to dodge the shots while firing your weapons.

Bradtos mixes up his weapons for the next few sequences of attacks, although
typically either Bradtos or I never survived past the second opening.  If you
do manage to stay alive for the entire 90 second match and you have more life
than Bradtos, you will win by Time-Out.  However, winning this way is more
work than it's worth.


     Tangram is definitely harder than Bradtos, because you must destroy him
before the 90 seconds timer is up or you automatically lose the game and don't
get a chance to continue!  Fortunately if you die, you can still continue. 
Also, his laser attacks hurt much more than Bradtos', especially the big
"Megalaser."  At least Tangram follows a fairly set pattern of
attacks, so the more you face him the easier it gets.

Tangram starts the round by ejecting four tentacles and zooming around the
arena, usually straight at you or to your left.  The tentacles fire three sets
of purple rings that do OK damage, and also shoot slow purple orbs that home
well but generally miss you completely as long as you keep moving around.  The
tentacles themselves sometimes have electrical "sparks" on them, but you
should be able to avoid these as long as you aren't right next to Tangram. 
Although Tangram is completely covered in armor, you can still begin the round
with a strong attack that will nick a little health off of him.

After shooting three sets of rings, part of Tangram's armor will shoot off
accompanied by some white light and a couple ring shots.  The tentacles will
retract and Tangram will usually turn to face you.  His open spot is his weak
point; you don't have to wait for the eye to appear before you cut lose with
your heavy artillery.  A second or two after the eye opens up, he will shoot
three sets of cluster lasers (similar to Bradtos' cluster lasers when his life
is low).  If you keep a medium distance (about 350m), you can dodge the shots
by moving, or by side dashing and then canceling the dash (hit a Turbo button
while you are dashing).  Jumping can also work if you time it right and your
VR is mobile enough.

After the third set of cluster lasers, Tangram will pause for a moment giving
you a free shot at his eye.  But don't get too greedy, as the eye will soon
turn blue and shoot out a huge Megalaser that will knock off about 80-100% of
your life.  Tangram will try to target you with the laser, so you should be
constantly moving to the side while he shoots.  You may be better off getting
closer to Tangram (about 200-250m).  Since Tangram is just rotating, you can
move faster relative to the beam than you would if you were 400m out. 
Whatever you do, NEVER jump when Tangram is shooting the Megalaser.  It will
instantly home into your direction and there will be nothing you can do to
avoid getting hit.  When the Megalaser stops firing, you can do a jump attack
to center yourself on the eye.  At this point Tangram will just sit there
until the armor reforms, so use up all of your ammo here.  If you haven't
reduced Tangram to about 50% by now, you should probably die on purpose so
that you can continue and try again.  Remember, if the time runs out and
Tangram is still alive, you AUTOMATICALLY get the "bad" ending.

After the armor reforms, Tangram simply repeats the same pattern of attack: 3
sets of rings, removes armor, 3 cluster lasers, Megalaser, armor reforms.  Be
careful with the Megalaser as it is ending, since it becomes very thin and
blue.  You can still get hit for full damage even when the beam is almost done
firing, and its blue color can be hard to distinguish from the background.


================
4. VR Strategies
================

     Here I have transcribed my actual battles with Bradtos and Tangram with
the various VR's.  Some of the names for the special moves come from DLC's
FAQ, and others are from various websites.

      Note:     You can save all of your (winning) battles against the CPU
opponents after defeating Tangram by going to the "Replay" choice on the Main
Menu and choosing "Last Game."  At any time during this replay, you can press
start to bring up the menu and then exit.  Upon exiting, you will be asked if
you want to save the replay to your VMU.  Now you can watch your entire run
through the Arcade mode at any time!  With my settings (1 round, Deathmatch),
each file requires 21-24 blocks.  Remember, the file will only contain matches
in which you won so if you have a spectacular finish or something weird
happens in a match that you did not win, you should save the individual replay
separately.


======
RAIDEN
======

Raiden vs. Bradtos-

     At the opening, I Dashed down/right to avoid the laser streams, then
Dashed up/right.  When I heard the hurdles being released from Bradtos, I
Jumped, Dashed to the left, and promptly got struck by some laser shots and
gates.  I tried Dashing to the right, but I still took a few more hits.  I was
able to Jump and then Dash to the left to avoid the final two hurdles.

Bradtos was just about to open up and I was standing at a distance of 180m.  I
shot a CW and then tried to avoid the spread lasers by moving back and forth. 
However, I was way too close to avoid them on reaction, not to mention that
Raiden is so tall that he blocked my view.  I got hit by one spread and
waited for my CW to recharge.  I released another CW during the last spread,
but I wasn't aimed correctly and only hit the gem with my left-side laser. 
Bradtos then closed up.

Before the next set of hurdles came out, I Dashed to the left, then Dashed
forward which made me run into a hurdle.  I avoided the CD stream by moving
up/right and then right.  When I saw a hurdle appear behind me, I Dashed right
and then down to avoid it and the second CD attack.  For the last set of
hurdles I Dashed down/left leaving me quite close to Bradtos (80m).

Since I was very close to Bradtos and low on health (33%), I shot a CW as soon
as he opened up which drained the rest of his health.

I was still pretty new to the game when I tried to beat it with Raiden.  I see
now that I should have stood farther back in order to correctly dodge the
spread laser shots.


Raiden Vs. Tangram-

     Since Raiden was one of the first VR's I had tried to beat the game with,
I wasn't quite prepared for Tangram and ended up using a lot of continues. 
Anyways, during Tangram's initial attack, I blindly and randomly Dashed
forwards, backwards, left, and right all in an effort to stay far away from
the boss.  I got tagged with a few rings by the time Tangram ejected his
armor, but I was still at 82% health.

I was 230m away from Tangram when I fired a single RW followed by a RTCW
(Screw Laser).  The eye opened as I fired a RTRW (Big Bazooka Shot), and I
Dashed to the left narrowly avoiding the first cluster laser.  The second and
third clusters missed me due to the Dash.  I then Jumped so that I would face
Tangram and immediately shot a CW when I was 300m away.  I saw Tangram's eye
turn blue, so I Dashed to the left and released some RW shots.  

As the Megalaser came closer, I shot a Right-Half Central Weapon (Press both
Weapon buttons and release the left one immediately).  When the Megalaser
ended, I shot another RTRW (Big Bazooka Shot) followed by a RTCW (Screw Laser)
and one more RTRW (Big Bazooka Shot).  The armor reformed around Tangram, and
he had 26% health left.  I shot one more CW at the armored Tangram which
nicked 1% off.

For Tangram's next attack wave, I repeated my method of random Dashing,
although this time I Dashed in a large square formation: left twice, up twice,
right twice, down twice.  I got smacked with a couple rings and orbs as a
result, but I still had 41% health left when Tangram released his armor for
the second time.

I was 380m away when I Dashed to the side and shot a LW so that I would
automatically turn to face Tangram.  I followed that up with a RTRW (Big
Bazooka Shot) and a RTCW (Screw Laser).  When the first laser cluster was
fired, I Dashed to the left and held in the RW button to release a stream of
rockets that destroyed Tangram.

I had a lot of trouble fighting the CPU, especially versus Bradtos and
Tangram.  I just wasn't used to their attack patterns yet, ending up with a
final time of 29 minutes and 40 seconds.  Ouch...


======
TEMJIN
======

Temjin Vs. Bradtos-

     I started the match by walking to the right and then Dashing to the
right.  I quickly canceled the dash (press either Turbo button while in a
Dash) when I reached the stage edge and began walking forward to dodge the
laser shots.  When Bradtos shot out his hurdles, I dashed diagonally up/left. 
When Bradtos shot his second set of laser streams, I did a series of repeated
Dash cancels to the left, then down/left, and then down to avoid the laser
shots and second volley of hurdles.  When I saw the last hurdle pass me by, I
released a Dashing LW grenade so that I would turn to face Bradtos.

When Bradtos opened up, I was at a distance of 230m.  I shot a RTRW (Laser
Beam) and got smacked with Bradtos' first spread laser.  I moved left and
right in an attempt to dodge the other spread lasers, but I got hit again. 
When I spied an open spot in one of the spread lasers, I shot another RTRW
(Laser Beam).  I then moved left and right again to avoid the last two spread
lasers.  When Bradtos closed, he was at 50% health.

When the next wave of hurdles came, I Dashed up/right and then up/left which
also allowed me to avoid the CD stream.  When the next wave of hurdles came, I
moved down/left.  Bradtos then shot his CD stream and I Dashed down/left to
avoid it.  When the next hurdle came by, I just jumped over it.  Bradtos moved
to the left, so I followed until he stopped to open up.

I was 200m away when I fired a RTRW (Laser Beam) at the gem.  I quickly
followed up with another RTRW (Laser Beam).  Bradtos shot a spread laser which
hit me, but I shot a regular RW to finish him off.

Even though I took a few hits firing the RTRW, I still think that it is
Temjin's best weapon to use against Bradtos.


Temjin Vs. Tangram-

     At this time in my learning curve, I was still experimenting with how to
fight against Tangram.  My strategy for avoiding his initial rings and orbs
was
to do a series of Dashes which I quickly canceled (press any Turbo button
again while Dashing).  I opened the match by doing a string of dash cancels in
more or less random directions: right, forward, right, back, right, forward,
right, back, left, forward, right, back, right, back (did you get all that?
:).  Basically I made a series of 90 degree turns, trying to keep Tangram as
far away as possible during this period.  I also was not injured during this.

After my mad dashing, Tangram shot off his armor and I did a Jump so that I
would be turned to face him.  At a distance of 380m I shot a RTRW (Laser Beam)
followed by a CW shot.  I then dashed to the left and fired a LW to keep my
lock-on and avoid the first cluster laser.  The second cluster laser narrowly
missed me as I moved to the left, and I Jumped to avoid the third cluster
laser and to reorient myself to face Tangram.  I then fired a RTRW (Laser
Beam) at a distance of 350m and immediately moved to the left to avoid the
Megalaser.

When Tangram was way off the screen, I Jumped to face him.  I accidentally
shot a RW while attempting a RTRW (Laser Beam), and followed that with a CW
shot.  After that, I had enough energy to shoot a RTRW (Laser Beam) and tacked
on another CW.  I shot one last RTRW (Laser Beam) as the eye disappeared and
the armor reformed.  At this point, Tangram had 48% life left.

When the next wave of rings and orbs started, I moved back to 500m and
repeated my tactic of random Dashes and cancels: right, forward, back, back,
left, forward, right, back, left, right, back.  At this point, Tangram
released his armor, and I Jumped so that I would be facing him.

At a distance of 400m, I shot a RTRW (Laser Beam) followed by a CW which was
fired just before Tangram's first cluster laser.  I narrowly escaped by
Dashing to the left, which also allowed me to avoid the second cluster laser. 
I then Jumped to avoid the third cluster laser, and shot another RTRW (Laser
Beam) from 250m away.

Tangram fired his Megalaser, and I evaded it by Dashing up/left.  Since I was
so close to Tangram (230m), I didn't have to dodge the rest of the Megalaser,
and I had time to shoot a RTRW (Laser Beam) while the Megalaser was finishing
up.  I followed that with a LW and a couple RW to finish Tangram off.

Even though I had read that Temjin was one of the easiest characters to use
against Tangram, I had to continue several times and nearly timed out.  My
final time was a not so great 22 minutes and 20 seconds.


======
CYPHER
======

Cypher Vs. Bradtos-

     I began by walking backwards and to the right so that I would be on the
edge of the ring, firing a set of daggers (which were useless).  I then walked
up and right to avoid the laser shots until I heard the sound of the hurdles
being released.  I then Jumped and quickly hit Crouch to cancel the jump so
that I would be facing Bradtos.  A side effect of this is that I jumped one
hurdle and ducked under a second because Bradtos had been aiming at me during
my jump.  I then moved up/right to avoid the second set of laser shots,
Jumping and hitting Crouch again to face Bradtos.  I then got hit with a
couple of the laser shots as Bradtos began to release hurdles.  I Jumped the
first set of hurdles, again hitting Crouch to cancel the jump and the second
set flew over my head.

I was at a distance of 150m when Bradtos opened up.  I shot a Crouch CW (4-Way
Homing) and attempted to follow up with a RTRW (Laser Beam) but messed up the
motion and shot a single RW.  I then walked back to 250m, anticipating the
laser spread.  The first one hit me, but I then shot a RTRW (Laser Beam).  The
delay on the beam caused me to get hit again, at which point I fell down with
20% life left to Bradtos' 63%.  As I got up the laser spread was finishing, so
I shot a RTCW (Exploding Homing Beam) followed by a RTRW (Laser Beam) which
was JUST a little too late.

As Bradtos tossed some more hurdles at me, I shot another RTRW (Laser Beam) at
him, just because it looked cool to see the shot deflected in multiple
directions.  I jumped to avoid both sets of hurdles and Dashed to the right to
avoid the CD streams.  I heard the hurdles being released as I landed, so I
dashed up/left to avoid them.  When I heard the CD's being shot, I dashed
down/left.  When the next set of hurdles came out, I dashed down leaving me in
prime position to hit Bradtos when he opened up.  

I Jumped and then canceled so that I could get a lock-on at 200m away.  As
Bradtos opened up, I shot a RTCW (Exploding Homing Beam).  I then moved
backwards to avoid the first cluster laser, and at 280m I shot a RTRW (Laser
Beam) which finished off Bradtos.

Despite a rocky start, I was able to pull through for the second opening and
win.  If I hadn't been so eager to shoot RTRW (Laser Beams) during the first
opening, I would probably have fared better.  Also, the RTCW (Exploding Homing
Beam) may have destroyed some laser shots during the second opening.


Cypher Vs. Tangram-

     At the beginning of the round, I let Tangram move in on me to about 150m
and fired a CW shot.  When his tentacles ejected, I moved away to 400m and
dashed to the side when I heard Tangram firing rings.  I then moved left until
I heard the next set of rings which I dashed right to avoid.  After that, I
moved and dashed backwards to 500m, avoiding more rings and the purple balls. 
I did get tagged with a couple rings when Tangram released his armor.

I Jumped so that I would be facing him at a distance of 480m, and then shot a
RTRW (Laser Beam).  I shot another RTRW (Laser Beam) as the eye appeared and
then moved to the left to avoid the first cluster laser.  When I heard the
third cluster laser being shot, I Jumped to get a lock on Tangram at 300m.  I
shot another RTRW (Laser Beam) followed by a CW shot right as Tangram shot his
Megalaser.  I then moved left and dashed, firing my LW so that I would be
turned to face Tangram.  The Megalaser was shooting directly to the right and
soon died out, so I wasn't in any real danger.

As Tangram turned to face me, I accidentally shot a RW, but quickly followed
that with a RTRW (Laser Beam), a RTCW (Exploding Homing Beam), followed by
three successive RTRW (Laser Beam) shots.  When the armor reformed, Tangram
was left with 38% health.

I retreated back to 400m, waiting for the ring shots.  When they fired, I
dashed forward.  When the second set fired, I dashed backwards.  When the
third set fired, I dashed forward again.  When the last set fired and Tangram
released his armor, I did a Dash to the left and shot my LW to reorient myself
to face Tangram.

When the dark area was facing me, I shot two RTRW's(Laser Beams) followed by a
CW shot.  I moved to the left to avoid the first two cluster shots and Jumped
to avoid the third.  I then let out accidentally a stream of RW shots instead
of a RTRW (Laser Beam).  Since the Megalaser was about to be fired, I moved to
the left quickly.

After moving for a few seconds, I Jumped so that I would be facing Tangram. 
When the Megalaser ran out, I shot a CW followed by some more accidental RW
shots.  I paused for a second and finally did another RTRW (Laser Beam) which
left Tangram with .5% health.  As the eye was closing, I shot a stream of RW
shots to finish him off.

Although this battle went down to the wire, I could have finished Tangram off
much quicker if I had been more precise entering in the RTRW command.  My
final time with Cypher was 23 minutes and 55 seconds (not too good).


==========
BAL-SERIES
==========

Bal Vs. Bradtos-

     I started the match by immediately ejecting my Left Arm (LTLW), then
walked up-right to avoid the laser shots.  When they ended, I messed up
ejecting my Right Arm (LTRW) and shot a couple RW rings instead, taking a
couple hurdles to the back.  As the second laser stream started up, I ejected
my Right Arm and walked down-left taking a few laser shots in the process but
avoiding all the hurdles, leaving me with 58% health.  I then tried to eject
my Left Leg (Crouch LTLW) but again messed up the motion and shot out some
bouncing mines. I then successfully ejected my Left Leg as Bradtos opened up,
and ejected my Right Leg (Crouch LTRW) before the spread lasers came out.

Then at a distance of 220m and with all of my gauges at 100%, I Jumped and
pressed RTCW to shoot Bal's special Reflect Lasers.  Luckily, Bal's dancing
made him evade the first laser which was headed straight for me!  Meanwhile,
the reflect lasers were ripping Bradtos apart.  Next thing I know, bye bye
Bradtos.

I really like using this VR, but he's not exactly my favorite when facing
Bradtos; I just have trouble dodging everything.  I did notice during the
Reflect Laser special that the shots seemed to cancel some of Bradtos' spread
lasers.  If I had positioned myself better (so that my ejected Legs were
between me and Bradtos) that I would have been much safer.


Bal Vs. Tangram-

     Bal has a special weapon against Tangram only that makes killing him a
snap, but you must have your arms ejected to perform it.  I began the round by
ejecting my Left Arm (LTLW) and Right Arm (LTRW).  I then moved forward until
I was about 500m away from Tangram.  When I heard the rings being shot, I
moved to the right and then dashed back.  I moved away to 500m, waiting for
the sound of the rings being shot out.  When that happened, I dashed back
again.  Once more, I moved out to 500m and dashed when I heard the rings fire. 
At this time, Tangram moved in real close to about 150m ejecting his armor, so
I dashed back to 500m and jumped to get a lock-on.  I then immediately
performed a Jump RTCW to do his special "Black Hole Bomb".  At first I wasn't
sure if this was doing anything or not, but if you see an electric beam
between your ejected arms, then it is firing.

While Tangram shot his cluster lasers, I moved left and up/left to dodge the
lasers and move in at the same time.  After the 3rd set of lasers, my Arms had
returned so I shot a few piddly rings and mines while moving left to avoid the
Megalaser.  When that was done, I quickly ejected both of my Arms and did
another Jump RTCW (Black Hole Bomb) which landed just before the eye shut,
leaving him with 47.5% health.  I ejected my Arms (LTLW, then LTRW) again and
then simply moved to the right, keeping a distance of 350m.  

It seems that Bal can move quite well in this form, and I was able to dodge
EVERYTHING Tangram shot until he ejected his armor for the second time.  When
I saw the armor break, I immediately did a Jump RTCW to reorient myself and
shoot the Black Hole Bomb at the same time at a distance of 450m.  I then
moved left to avoid the cluster lasers, getting tagged by one because I wasn't 
thinking quickly.  As I moved left I released some LW mines.  When the second
Megalaser came out, Tangram was at 18% health and I was way ahead of the
laser, so I shot a couple of RW rings.  When the laser ended, I shot a LTCW
(Chest Laser) to finish Tangram off.  I would have had a perfect if I had been
a little more careful.

Compared to fighting Bradtos with Bal, I think Tangram is much easier.  My
final time was 16 minutes and 30 seconds


==========
FEI YEN KN
==========

Fei Yen Vs. Bradtos-

     I began by walking backwards and to the right, gradually moving
counterclockwise around the ring edge to avoid the laser stream.  I got tagged
with a hurdle and panicked;  I then jumped and did a side air dash which
resulted in me getting pegged with a couple of laser shots and another hurdle. 

By this time Bradtos was about to open, so I jump-canceled (hit Jump and then
Crouch) to reorient myself at 250m out.  I then shot a RTCW (Super Heart
Beam).  I then held in the RW button as a walked left and right between the
shots in the laser spread.  

As Bradtos closed, he was at 44% health.  I then began walking
counterclockwise around the edge of the arena, jumping only to avoid the
hurdles.  As I was landing, I thought the CD streams would definitely hit me,
but maybe I was too close to Bradtos as they all missed.  I walked away but
got tagged in the back by 3 more hurdles, which activated my Hyper Mode
(automatically happens when your life drops below 50%).    

When Bradtos opened for the second time, I jump canceled to regain a lock-on
and fired a RTCW (Super Heart Beam) right as Bradtos opened, at a distance of
350m.  I then held in the RW button and walked to the side to avoid the
cluster and spread lasers.  Bradtos then quickly died.

In retrospect, I think I should have intentionally gotten hit more early in
the match so that I would be in Hyper Mode for the first Opening.


Fei Yen Vs. Tangram-

     As the round began, I dashed to the right and tried to keep my distance
from Tangram.  When the ring shots came near, I tried to get them to hit me so
that I would go into Hyper Mode, but it seemed like when I tried to move
towards the rings they all flew past me.  Oh well.  

When Tangram blew off its armor, I jumped to regain a lock-on at 350m.  I shot
a RTCW (Super Heart Beam) and then held in my RW to keep a continuous flow of
shots on the eye.  I moved to the left to avoid the first set of cluster
lasers and jumped to avoid the 2nd set and also to regain a lock-on.  I moved
left again to avoid the last set, all the while shooting RW shots.  

Right before Tangram cut loose with the Megalaser, I shot a normal CW at 300m
out.  I immediately moved to the left narrowly missing the Megalaser and shot
some more RW shots.  Right as the Megalaser ended, I shot a RTCW (Super Heart
Beam) at the eye, followed up with some more RW shots, a couple LW shots, and
a RTRW (Power Hand Beam, which I should have probably been saving my RW ammo
for).  Tangram reformed his armor with 52.4% and I thought that this match
might be close.

I dashed away to about 500m and Tangram flew at me firing ring shots.  I
waited in place and let some of them hit me, staying at about 200m.  I
suddenly got jolted down to 23% life, so I decided to get the heck out of
there.  I moved backwards in a zig-zag pattern until I was 500m away, which
was when Tangram ejected his armor a second time.  

I then jumped and shot a CW into the eye space, followed by some RTRW (Power
Hand Beam) shots.  As I moved to the left avoiding the cluster lasers, I shot
a couple LW shots and a CW shot.  When Tangram fired the Megalaser, I shot a
couple RW as I moved and was actually way ahead of the Megalaser.  I then
decided to shoot a RTRW which finished off Tangram.  

This was overall pretty easy, and the only fight so far with Tangram where I
won on my first try!  My final time was 15 minutes and 55 seconds


=========
SPECINEFF
=========

Specineff Vs. Bradtos-

     I started out with a Slide Attack (Fwd Dash, Down+Crouch+CW) just for
kicks. I DO NOT recommend that you do this, although it will take down Bradtos
to about 50% if the gem is open, plus it looks pretty cool.

Anyways, as a result of sliding under Bradtos I got shot several times in the
back and had all my weapons drained.  I began walking around the ring in a
counterclockwise fashion which resulted in me getting hit with a couple
hurdles.  As Bradtos was about to open, my CW gauge was at 100% and my RW was
at 70%, so I did a jump cancel (Jump, then press Crouch) and a CW scythe on
the gem at a distance of 290m.  I then walked backwards while I held in the RW
button, dodging between the spread lasers at about 390m.  When my CW gauge got
back to 100%, I shot another CW scythe. With some more RW shots he went down.

Overall, pretty easy.

Specineff Vs. Tangram-

     I opened with a RTCW (Big Scythe Wave) which actually did 1.6% damage. 
I then retreated to 390 meters (getting struck with a few rings along the way. 
I jumped to reorient myself to Tangram, and when the second set of rings
fired, I dashed to the side.  After the dash, I was at 480m and jumped again
to reorient myself.  When the next set of rings came near, I side dashed
again.  As I jumped again, Tangram shed it's armor and I did a side dash which
I quickly canceled (tap the Turbo button while dashing) and jumped again.  

I was at 480m when I shot a RTCW (Big Scythe Wave) at the closed eye,
following up with 3 RW shots.  I held the RW button in as I moved to the left,
and the eye opened.  Right as the 2nd set of cluster lasers was passing by, I
jumped to maintain a lock on the eye. I then moved left to avoid the 3rd set
of cluster lasers.  As the RW gauge ran out, I had 100% in my CW gauge so I
shot another RTCW (Big Scythe Wave) just as the eye turned blue.

I was at a distance of 380m when the Megalaser fired, so I moved to the
left while firing a couple more RW shots.  As the laser disappeared, I shot
another RTCW (Big Scythe Wave) and about 5 more RW shots.  At this time, I was
about 500M away and Tangram had 22.6 % health left, so I knew I was on a roll. 

As the armor reformed, I shot a RTLW (Blackhole) for no particular reason
while Tangram zoomed right at me.  I dashed to the right to avoid and jumped
to regain a lock-on.  I repeated the pattern above of waiting for the rings to
come near me, side dashing to avoid them, and jumping to regain a lock-on.  As
the armor broke for the 2nd time, I was at 480m.  I shot a RTCW (Big Scythe
Wave), then moved to the left as I held in the RW to avoid the spread lasers.  

And then Tangram was toast!   All in all, he was pretty easy to beat and I had
plenty of time to spare.  My final time was 14 minutes and 54 seconds, my best
time so far.


=========
APHARMD B
=========

Note: The very first time I tried to beat the game, I used Apharmd B. 
However, when I was playing I didn't realize that I had accidentally set the
difficulty to Level 8.  This resulted in me using a ton of continues and
getting very frustrated, netting me a finishing time of 35 minutes and 19
seconds.  I also hadn't discovered how to save the entire vs. CPU game replay,
so I wasn't able to analyze my performance.  Because of this, I played through
the game again with Apharmd B on Difficulty level 1 and fared much better.

Apharmd B Vs. Bradtos-

     This can be a very quick battle if you time your attacks well.  Apharmd
B can actually use his close combat CW to damage the bosses, although you must
be close enough so that the CW bar turns yellow.  This is your best bet,
because most of your other weapons don't do very much damage.

When the battle began, I walked right and then up/right to avoid Bradtos'
laser shot.  I then continued walking along the ring area in a
counterclockwise motion, staying just inside the black area on the ground.  I
was walking up/left when I heard Bradtos shooting the hurdles, and when the
laser shots began again, I got tagged in the back by one.  The laser shots
were getting quite close, so I jumped right as they ended which let two
hurdles
run into me.

Bradtos was moving away after the hurdles, and I continued to walk towards
him.  I saw my CW gauge turn yellow, so I knew I was close enough to use my CW
strikes.  The very second that I saw Bradtos turn red and open up, I pressed
CW to do the dashing strike.  I kept pressing the CW again and again, taking a
couple of spread laser shots in the process.  It took about 5 to finish off
Bradtos.

The important thing when fighting here is to do as many close range CW strikes
as you can.  Even though you may get hit with some spread lasers, you won't be
knocked down and can continue hitting with the CW.


Apharmd B VS. Tangram-

     Having to play the game through again with Apharmd B has shown me how
important it is to be familiar with Tangram's attacks.  Since Apharmd B does
the most damage when he is at point-blank range, you'll have to move in close
during Tangram's most powerful attacks.

I began the fight by moving right until I got to a distance of 500m.  When I
heard the first set of rings being shot, I waited a little bit before Dashing
down.  I then moved to the right as Tangram moved towards me.  When the second
set of rings fired, I Dashed up/right and jumped to reorient myself.  I saw
the next set of rings headed straight for me, so I Dashed to the left.  When
the last set of rings fired, I jumped so that I would be facing Tangram.  This
allowed a couple of rings to hit me as I moved forward.  

The second I saw my gauge turn yellow, I hit CW to do Apharmd B's close range
attack.  The eye was opening up just as I hit, so I quickly Dashed to the left
and Jumped to avoid the first cluster laser.  As the jump ended, I Dashed to
the left to avoid the second cluster.  I Jumped again so that I would turn to
face Tangram, but the third cluster shot grazed me.

When Tangram turned to face me, I did one close range CW and quickly Dashed to
the left to avoid the Megalaser.  When I heard it fire, I Jumped so I could
see where it was aimed.  It seemed to be pointing at my original location, and
hardly moved to track me.  I dashed to the left and fired a LW just to be
safe.   When I saw the Megalaser end, I moved forward and did four consecutive
close range CW strikes.  After the armor reformed, I tried one more close
range CW strike but it totally missed.

After that, I moved to the right to 250m and Dashed back to avoid the first
rings.  I then moved left to 300m and Dashed back to avoid the second set of
rings, Jumping to regain a lock-on; unfortunately, my jump allowed one of the
rings to hit me.  I then Dashed to the right and fired off some RW bullets so
that I would turn to face Tangram.  When the third set of rings came near, I
Dashed to the left and fired my RW again so that I would be facing Tangram. 
When I heard the armor break off, I Jumped and fired a RTLW (Flipping Soccer
Bomb) but also got hit by some more rings.

I then moved forward and did a close range CW on Tangram's eye.  Immediately
after the attack, I moved to the left narrowly missing a cluster laser.  I
then moved up/right to avoid the second cluster laser.  When I heard the third
cluster laser, I Dashed up/right and fired some RW shots so that I would avoid
the cluster laser and also turn to face Tangram.  I was now at a distance of
300m.

I fired a RTLW (Soccer Bomb) before the Megalaser fired and then moved left. 
When I got past Tangram, I Dashed forward and shot some RW bullets so that I
would turn to face the boss.  The Megalaser was pointed well away from me, so
I moved forward.  When the Megalaser ended, I didn't even wait for Tangram to
turn and face me before I did a close range CW.  When Tangram finally turned
towards me, one more close range CW killed him.

As a result of my increasing skill and my previous experience, I beat the game
in 11 Minutes and 55, my best time so far.


==============
5. Other Stuff
==============

In the future, I plan to also describe strategies on how to win without
continuing.  Certain match-ups (Temjin vs. Dordray) can be very difficult to
win without a game plan and I had to continue many times.

If possible, I may Upload my saved game files to either Gamefaqs or my own
webpage so that people can download them and view them.  However I must first
change my ISP from AOL to something else.

Thanks go out to Danny Chi (DLC) for his excellent and extensive FAQ for VOOT. 
It is a must read for people learning to play this game.

Good sites to check out:

www.gamefaqs.com - Has guides for a few of the VR's, plus is just a great
resource in general for any game.

www.virtualon.cjb.net - This has quite a bit of information, and a good Cypher
guide that is not available at Gamefaqs.

www.game-411.com/voot/ - A great looking site that does a good job of
explaining the fundamentals of VOOT.

www.sydvoc.com - The best thing about this is their Virtual On Search,
although some very helpful sites may no longer exist...

==========================================
Big thanks to Activision for porting VOOT!
==========================================

END
