caleb1883
Super Spy Agent
- Joined
- May 24, 2006
- Posts
- 600
Haven't seen a Windjammers strategy thread worthwhile. Would love to hear what you other serious Windjammers players have discovered about the game. Here is what I have picked up. Here is a great character breakdown from Gamefaqs.
http://www.gamefaqs.com/coinop/arcade/file/564208/27027
Positioning
I tend to play with a mix of soccer goalie strategy and tennis strategy. The tennis part being that I always return back to the center of the court after every return. The soccer (football) part of the strategy is that you have to narrow the angles that your opponent is shooting at to make it harder for them to get around you. Both of these can be achieved by standing in what I have found to be the 'sweet spot' on the court.
You want to position your character in the center, and a little in front of the net. Reason for playing back a little is two fold. The further back you are the more time you have to react to the shots, plain and simple. And in this game you will need everything you can get. Two, you don't want any shots curving around you, and the further back you are, the more easily you can prevent this. Remember though, the game will allow you to play all the way into the goal if you want, which might seem like a good idea, but if you play too far back the power shots will knock you back into your own goal and you will get scored on.
Returning to the sweet spot in the center is very important to me. Most people don't realize you only have to worry about two directions in the game, above and below you. Most characters' dash will stretch to the wall on either side of you, so if you are in the center, you are always one dash away from catching the shot. Since your character is dashing, you will usually catch it no matter where it is on the board, or it will glance off of you and set up a power shot. Either way, if you are in the center and you dash in the direction the frisbee is going, you should stop it no matter if it is closer to you or the wall.
Because of this 'sweet spot' gameplay that most people will adopt, including the CPU on higher levels, you will have to try and force your opponent to stick on one side. If you can get him to stay close to a wall, either by physcing him out or by forcing this position, then you can put a shot on the opposite side where it will be out of his range.
Shot types
There are several shot types in the game. You have normals, curves, fast shots, hammer throws, and specials. The first three are available to all characters, while each.
The normals are just that. You can vary the speed and power of these shots by waiting to throw the frisbee. The longer you wait, the less speed and power you have. You can only hold it for about 2 seconds before it forces you to release it at a very slow speed. Varying the speed of your shots can add some mix up, and help you play mind games. I've pshcyed out some players by throwing out a slow one after a fast exchange, and had them dash all around trying to get it because they are expecting a fast one, and dash too early and end up trying to dash back around to catch it.
The curves are achieved by making a fireball, or quarter circle motion while throwing it. As a matter of fact you would execute a curve just like a fireball in Street Fighter. You can change the direction of the curve by using different quarter circles. For instance, if you are at the top part of the screen on P2 side, you could curve it down by inputting+. Curves can be really useful the more you play. It changes the exchange from only straight angles. Every now and then you can curve it around another player, but more often than not I find the curve to be most useful in bouncing shots off the wall. A curve shot can produce very unusual bounces that will easily trick your opponent. Each character has different curve attributes, so some can produce better results than others. Please refer to the Gamefaqs link to see a character breakdown.
Fast shots. Fast shots are produced by releasing the frisbee at the exact moment you catch it. You will know if you are successfull because it will make a different noise, leave a blurred tail behind the shot, and go really freakin fast. This is where the game becomes nailbiting. If two players know what they are doing, they can exchange one fast shot after the other resulting in blistering fast matches. The fast shot gets really interesting because you can curve them by using the curve technique described above. A curved fast shot off the wall can produce results that are almost unblockable. Once again though, it's all about mind games and mix-up, so if you find yourself in a fast exchange, you can slow it down to throw them off, but be warned, a slow shot can be more easily manipulated into a fast shot or a special by your opponent.
Hammer throws. My favorite choice. They come in two varieties. Charged and uncharged. Instead of pressing , you press to execute. The uncharged version throws the frisbee up over your opponents head, but is very slow. It can easily be returned as a special, because your opponent has plenty of time to get under it and charge up. I only use them if I have someone who starts playing in the net to force them back. The charged version achieved by charging up like you are going to do a special, but press the button instead. The charged version goes up and comes down very fast and goes straight for the net. You can fire it dead center, or towards one of the two corners. I prefer firing towards a corner, as the one towards the center is fairly easy to catch. It's really hard to block if you aim for a corner, because it goes so fast that your opponent has only enough time to choose one direction, and usually they have to anticipate and guess because there isn't enough time to react. This basically creates a 50/50 chance of scoring. It's also useful when your opponent expects a super, or is back in their goal because it has serious knockdown power on most characters.
Super moves. They are unique to each character and achieved by getting under an overhead shot and charging up. This can either happen by getting under an uncharged hammer throw, or by having the frisbee glance off you character and flip in the air. Some characters have better supers than others. The least useful to me is Steve Miller's, where it goes down the wall and accelerates as it goes. I have not tested it with all characters, but some have a second super availible to them. If you execute a curved shot while charged for a super, then you will throw out a very fast loop de loop style throw that can be very weird to judge. I think they are easy to catch, but they certainly have a big phsyce out factor to them. Also just like normals, you can vary the speed of the shots by waiting to throw.
Character selection
The selection depends on your playstyle, contrary to what the selection screen says. It says, easy, medium, and hard, but it really is a difference in speed and power. The reasoning behind the easy, medium, hard, is that if you have a slow, powerfull character, you don't get any second chances at picking up a shot that goes by you, as you are two slow to come back across the screen. Really, no character should have any second chances once you know what you are doing. Really, the difference is in positioning. It is easier to catch a slow character in a bad position than a fast character, because a fast character can correct their position in time to field a shot. Because of this fast characters tend to be at a disadvantage on the wider boards. But a power character can throw much faster shots that are harder to react to, and can throw you into the goal if you are too far back. This gives the power characters an advantage on the narrow boards. Personally, I prefer the fast characters for my strategy because it is based on positioning.
Clock "Mis-Management"
This is really interesting to me. You can set the settings to do rounds by points, rather than time, and I think in human games it should be done, because the clock can really be abused. On the other hand, it adds a whole level of strategy. One thing I discovered was that once you are ahead, you can eat time away by slowing the pace of the match. It can be dangerous to throw a lot of slow shots for reasons stated above, but if you are good at catching fast shots and specials, you can really make a comeback difficult. Furthermore, points can be scored with a second on the clock (I've done it and had it done to me), so if you get the frisbee, you can use your two second hold time to run the clock out if you are ahead and down to the wire. A really interesting strategy is if you are far enough ahead, you can let your opponent score on you to secure a victory. The clock runs throughout the entire score animations, so a score can eat up almost five seconds. Combine that with the fact that you will get the frisbee after being scored on, and can hold it for two seconds, and you can eat about seven whole seconds off. I do this on the computer all the time, because the computer at high levels is a bastard, and if get ahead, I use this to protect my lead, as the computer has the tendency to score miracoulous rapid fire points when it is behind.
Anyways, that's all I have for now. Let me know what you guys do.
http://www.gamefaqs.com/coinop/arcade/file/564208/27027
Positioning
I tend to play with a mix of soccer goalie strategy and tennis strategy. The tennis part being that I always return back to the center of the court after every return. The soccer (football) part of the strategy is that you have to narrow the angles that your opponent is shooting at to make it harder for them to get around you. Both of these can be achieved by standing in what I have found to be the 'sweet spot' on the court.
You want to position your character in the center, and a little in front of the net. Reason for playing back a little is two fold. The further back you are the more time you have to react to the shots, plain and simple. And in this game you will need everything you can get. Two, you don't want any shots curving around you, and the further back you are, the more easily you can prevent this. Remember though, the game will allow you to play all the way into the goal if you want, which might seem like a good idea, but if you play too far back the power shots will knock you back into your own goal and you will get scored on.
Returning to the sweet spot in the center is very important to me. Most people don't realize you only have to worry about two directions in the game, above and below you. Most characters' dash will stretch to the wall on either side of you, so if you are in the center, you are always one dash away from catching the shot. Since your character is dashing, you will usually catch it no matter where it is on the board, or it will glance off of you and set up a power shot. Either way, if you are in the center and you dash in the direction the frisbee is going, you should stop it no matter if it is closer to you or the wall.
Because of this 'sweet spot' gameplay that most people will adopt, including the CPU on higher levels, you will have to try and force your opponent to stick on one side. If you can get him to stay close to a wall, either by physcing him out or by forcing this position, then you can put a shot on the opposite side where it will be out of his range.
Shot types
There are several shot types in the game. You have normals, curves, fast shots, hammer throws, and specials. The first three are available to all characters, while each.
The normals are just that. You can vary the speed and power of these shots by waiting to throw the frisbee. The longer you wait, the less speed and power you have. You can only hold it for about 2 seconds before it forces you to release it at a very slow speed. Varying the speed of your shots can add some mix up, and help you play mind games. I've pshcyed out some players by throwing out a slow one after a fast exchange, and had them dash all around trying to get it because they are expecting a fast one, and dash too early and end up trying to dash back around to catch it.
The curves are achieved by making a fireball, or quarter circle motion while throwing it. As a matter of fact you would execute a curve just like a fireball in Street Fighter. You can change the direction of the curve by using different quarter circles. For instance, if you are at the top part of the screen on P2 side, you could curve it down by inputting+. Curves can be really useful the more you play. It changes the exchange from only straight angles. Every now and then you can curve it around another player, but more often than not I find the curve to be most useful in bouncing shots off the wall. A curve shot can produce very unusual bounces that will easily trick your opponent. Each character has different curve attributes, so some can produce better results than others. Please refer to the Gamefaqs link to see a character breakdown.
Fast shots. Fast shots are produced by releasing the frisbee at the exact moment you catch it. You will know if you are successfull because it will make a different noise, leave a blurred tail behind the shot, and go really freakin fast. This is where the game becomes nailbiting. If two players know what they are doing, they can exchange one fast shot after the other resulting in blistering fast matches. The fast shot gets really interesting because you can curve them by using the curve technique described above. A curved fast shot off the wall can produce results that are almost unblockable. Once again though, it's all about mind games and mix-up, so if you find yourself in a fast exchange, you can slow it down to throw them off, but be warned, a slow shot can be more easily manipulated into a fast shot or a special by your opponent.
Hammer throws. My favorite choice. They come in two varieties. Charged and uncharged. Instead of pressing , you press to execute. The uncharged version throws the frisbee up over your opponents head, but is very slow. It can easily be returned as a special, because your opponent has plenty of time to get under it and charge up. I only use them if I have someone who starts playing in the net to force them back. The charged version achieved by charging up like you are going to do a special, but press the button instead. The charged version goes up and comes down very fast and goes straight for the net. You can fire it dead center, or towards one of the two corners. I prefer firing towards a corner, as the one towards the center is fairly easy to catch. It's really hard to block if you aim for a corner, because it goes so fast that your opponent has only enough time to choose one direction, and usually they have to anticipate and guess because there isn't enough time to react. This basically creates a 50/50 chance of scoring. It's also useful when your opponent expects a super, or is back in their goal because it has serious knockdown power on most characters.
Super moves. They are unique to each character and achieved by getting under an overhead shot and charging up. This can either happen by getting under an uncharged hammer throw, or by having the frisbee glance off you character and flip in the air. Some characters have better supers than others. The least useful to me is Steve Miller's, where it goes down the wall and accelerates as it goes. I have not tested it with all characters, but some have a second super availible to them. If you execute a curved shot while charged for a super, then you will throw out a very fast loop de loop style throw that can be very weird to judge. I think they are easy to catch, but they certainly have a big phsyce out factor to them. Also just like normals, you can vary the speed of the shots by waiting to throw.
Character selection
The selection depends on your playstyle, contrary to what the selection screen says. It says, easy, medium, and hard, but it really is a difference in speed and power. The reasoning behind the easy, medium, hard, is that if you have a slow, powerfull character, you don't get any second chances at picking up a shot that goes by you, as you are two slow to come back across the screen. Really, no character should have any second chances once you know what you are doing. Really, the difference is in positioning. It is easier to catch a slow character in a bad position than a fast character, because a fast character can correct their position in time to field a shot. Because of this fast characters tend to be at a disadvantage on the wider boards. But a power character can throw much faster shots that are harder to react to, and can throw you into the goal if you are too far back. This gives the power characters an advantage on the narrow boards. Personally, I prefer the fast characters for my strategy because it is based on positioning.
Clock "Mis-Management"
This is really interesting to me. You can set the settings to do rounds by points, rather than time, and I think in human games it should be done, because the clock can really be abused. On the other hand, it adds a whole level of strategy. One thing I discovered was that once you are ahead, you can eat time away by slowing the pace of the match. It can be dangerous to throw a lot of slow shots for reasons stated above, but if you are good at catching fast shots and specials, you can really make a comeback difficult. Furthermore, points can be scored with a second on the clock (I've done it and had it done to me), so if you get the frisbee, you can use your two second hold time to run the clock out if you are ahead and down to the wire. A really interesting strategy is if you are far enough ahead, you can let your opponent score on you to secure a victory. The clock runs throughout the entire score animations, so a score can eat up almost five seconds. Combine that with the fact that you will get the frisbee after being scored on, and can hold it for two seconds, and you can eat about seven whole seconds off. I do this on the computer all the time, because the computer at high levels is a bastard, and if get ahead, I use this to protect my lead, as the computer has the tendency to score miracoulous rapid fire points when it is behind.
Anyways, that's all I have for now. Let me know what you guys do.