Super Dodge Ball (e)

Cover
                              ,------------------.
                              | SUPER DODGE BALL |
                              `------------------'
                   An FAQ and Strategy Guide for the NES Game
                version 0.1 by Dasrik (Ricardo A. Lafaurie Jr.)
                          < dasrik@cyberspace.org >

* Table of Contents

[1] Who is this FAQ meant for?
[2] Where can I get this game?
[3] What is Super Dodge Ball anyway?
[4] How do I play Super Dodge Ball?
[5] What do the statistics mean?
[6] What are the different Power Shots available?
[7] Can you give me info on the different teams?
[8] Can you give me some strategic help?
[9] How do I defeat World Cup mode?
[10] How do I play in Bean Ball mode?
[11] Are there any other versions of Super Dodge Ball?
[12] Isn't there anyone you should thank?
[13] Can I avoid the legal crap?

* Latest updates

v0.1 (September 9, 1999) - First FAQ.  There's limited information and
strategies in here, but I hope that SDB fans will write me with some stuff,
and maybe even make some Team FAQs.  I have a Pro All-Stars FAQ in the works.

[1] Who is this FAQ meant for?

It's meant for those who have the game "Super Dodge Ball" by Technos Japan for
the Nintendo Entertainment System (the original one... you remember!) and want
to play it well.  This is a great sports game that is about as fun to play as
any Street Fighter game if you know how.

On a side note, I would really like to be able to play SDB over the Net!
Wouldn't that be the most?  You'd be able to compete with players around the
world if this were possible.  Can anyone give me any thoughts on this?

[2] Where can I get this game?

The cart is a bit hard to find, especially now that companies no longer
support the NES or its games.  If you look hard enough on the Internet, though
you may find it available.  Write me and I can give you hints on where to
look.

[3] What is Super Dodge Ball anyway?

It's a fictional sport.  Remember the schoolyard dodgeball you used to play
in P.E. class?  Well imagine it taken to a professional level.  In Super
Dodge Ball, you control a team of six players, each with their own strengths
and weaknesses.  You play on a court that looks like a volleyball court with
no net.  You choose three players to be on the inner court, and three to
be on the outer court.  The setup looks something like this:

                              :2:         .2.
                          ,----------+----------.
                          |          |          |
                          |  .1.     |     :1:  |
                       :4:|      .1. | :1:      |.4.
                          |  .1.     |     :1:  |
                          |          |          |
                          `----------+----------'
                              :3:         .3.

One dot represents player one's team.  Two dots represent player two's team.
Your inner court players can run and throw Power Shots, but they can take
damage and eventually be killed.  The outer court players cannot be killed,
but are unable to run or throw Power Shots (with one exception).  The
object of the game is to keep your inner court players alive while killing
all of the players in the opposing team's inner court.  This is done by
(surprise, surprise) throwing the ball at them.  This can be done from the
inner court or the outer court.

[4] How do I play Super Dodge Ball?

Well, when turning on the game, you are given three modes of play and three
levels of difficulty.  Use Up and Down to select which mode of play to use,
and Left and Right to select the difficulty.

MODES OF PLAY:

   World Cup Play (1 Player) - As Team USA, you will face off against all
   the teams in the game, ending in the final Team USSR (and if you're lucky,
   the mysterious Team Shadow).

   Versus Play (2 Players) - Each player picks their favorite team and plays
   an exhibition game of pro dodge ball.  Difficulty doesn't have any effect
   in this mode.

   Bean Ball (1-2 Players) - Select how many players and then pick which
   member of Team USA you can control.  This is a free-for-all game of dodge
   ball, where the object is to knock out every other member of your team.

DIFFICULTIES:

   Easy - Opponents are predictable, mostly throwing regular balls.  They
   don't catch anything.  Rarely use Power Shots.

   Normal - Opponents will usually pass the ball to their best players.  Catch
   regular balls usually, but are suckers for Power Shots.

   Difficult - Will catch a lot of throws including Power Shots, and tend to
   be good at intercepting.  Will throw Power Shots often.

During the World Cup matchup screen (the one that shows the team running or
the airplane), or during the Versus Play team select screen, you can hit the
Select button to view statistics on the teams.  (More on the statistics
later.)  During Bean Ball, you can hit Select during the character select to
view the stats on Team USA.

The Change Position Screen allows you to select your own players.  If you
choose to change the line-up, use the Control Pad and the A Button to choose
the players.  The first three players selected will be on the inner court,
and the last three chosen will be on the outer court, in their respective
positions.  If you would like to change what you have selected, use the
Control Pad and the B Button to erase the choices.  Press the A Button once
you have selected your team setup to begin the game.

The object of the game is to throw the ball at your opponents on the inner
court, and knock them out of the game.  Each team has six players, three on
the inner court and three on the outer court. (Bean Ball is played on an open
court.)

,----------------------------.
| HOW TO CONTROL YOUR PLAYER |
`----------------------------'

 CHARACTER CONTROL - The active player will be whoever has the ball.  If
 the opponent has the ball, you will control whoever is closest to the ball.
 To switch which character you control in this case, you will have to move
 the active player away from the ball.  Eventually, control will switch to
 the character who is closest to the ball.

 WALKING - Use the Control Pad to move your active player.  When walking, you
 are not allowed to leave the boundaries of your court.  You have full
 control of your player while walking, so you don't have a chance of taking
 the ball out of bounds.

 RUNNING - Tap the Control Pad left or right twice quickly to run.  You can
 only run in a horizontal direction, but once you start running, you can
 move up and down limitedly by holding the respective directions.  Reverse
 the direction to stop running.  When running, you CAN leave the boundaries
 of your court, but if you control an outer court player, this will cause you
 to run back to your court, leaving you vulnerable.  Plus, if you have the
 ball, you will be forced to drop it, allowing the other team to get it.

 JUMPING - Press the A and B button to jump.  You have *very* limited control
 of your jump.  You can use this to make jumping passes, evade throws and
 intercept passes.

 RUNNING JUMP - Press the A and B button mid-run for a long-range jump.
 This covers a lot of ground, especially if you are an agile player.

 THROWING - Face the direction you want to throw and press B.  It helps to
 hold the pad in the desired direction.  This will throw the ball at the
 opposing team for damage.  Usually, the ball will aim at the opposing team's
 active player, unless you aim the ball.  Aiming is useful when you want to
 take out dizzy teammates, which are never active players.

 JUMPING THROW - Jump and press B in the middle of the jump.  You can also
 aim a jumping throw.  These throws cannot be evaded (ducked) and inflict
 more damage.  However, it's more difficult to aim one accurately.

 RUNNING THROW - Press B shortly after running to do a running throw.  This
 also does more damage, but you cannot aim it at all; it will always go for
 the active player.

 RUNNING JUMP THROW - Run, jump, and press B for a running jump throw.  It's
 faster, but does not do anymore damage (damn, all you whiners).

 SUPER SHOT - A Super Shot is faster, does more damage, and makes a whizzing
 sound through the air.  In some cases, they are more powerful than Power
 Shots!  To do a Super Shot, run for the full length of the inner court and
 press B.  This is a lot harder to do than a Power Shot, for some reason.

 JUMPING SUPER SHOT - To do a Jumping Super Shot, jump and at the height of
 the jump, press and hold B.  A jumping Super Shot is VERY powerful and can
 do some serious damage, depending on who you are using.

 POWER SHOT - To execute a Power Shot, run for a short distance, then press
 and hold B.  If you do it right, the ball will glow orange and take on
 different properties, plus do TONS of damage.  Different players have their
 own Power Shots with strengths and weaknesses of their own; see Section []
 for details.  It's hard to do at first, but soon you'll get the timing down
 pat.

 JUMPING POWER SHOT - Run for a short distance, then jump, and at the very
 peak of your jump press and hold B.  Done correctly, your player will do
 his Jumping Power Shot.  Jumping Power Shots are more damaging than ground
 Power Shots.  Like Power Shots, they are hard to do at first but get easier
 with time.  You can even run backwards, turn around mid-jump, and do a
 Jumping Power Shot.  This will make the ball less accurate usually (with a
 few exceptions).

 CATCHING - Press A and hold the direction from where the ball is coming from
 to catch.  You can catch while jumping.  Catching is the best way to defend
 yourself against throws.  You have to learn how, especially if you have an
 opponent who likes to throw from the outer court.  You have to hold the
 direction pad in the direction where the ball comes from.  The confusing
 thing is, if you press Up and Down while catching, it will still look like
 a regular catch.  But it will only catch balls coming from the upper
 direction (i.e. the upper outer court position).  Some people have better
 catch techniques than others, with better range and time.

 To catch a stationary ball, just walk over it and press A or B.

 DUCKING - Press B to duck.  Hold it to continue to duck.  You can duck
 ground balls and Power Shots (with a few exceptions).  This is only useful
 if you don't think you can catch a ball.  I suggest trying to catch it
 instead.  You can't duck if you have the ball - pressing B will cause you
 to throw it instead.

 PASSING - While holding the ball, you may notice a teammate holding their
 hands out, ready to catch the ball.  By pressing A, you will pass the ball
 to that teammate.  You can control who you will pass the ball to.  Face
 towards the opposing team's court and tap Up, Down, or Forward and you
 will pass it to the appropriate outer court position.  Face your team and
 tap Up and Down to control which teammate you will pass it to.  Watch out -
 regular passes can be blocked or intercepted.

 JUMPING PASS - Jump, then press A.  This can be controlled in the same manner
 as a regular pass.  Jumping passes are harder to block and intercept, but
 your teammate will jump to catch the ball, and will have to land.  This
 is bad if you want to attack an opponent quickly with a Power Shot.  You can
 pass or throw the ball afterwards, but depending on who you use there will
 be a period of recovery.

 BLOCKING - To block a pass, simply throw yourself in the path of the pass.
 You will reel back, but take no damage, and you will stop the ball.  This
 is risky if you are low on life, as your player will become dizzy and the
 opposing team may pick up the ball and hit you.

 INTERCEPTING - You can catch an opposing team member's pass as well, just
 as you would a ball being thrown at you.  This is much easier to do with
 regular passes as opposed to jumping passes.

 PAUSE - Press Start to pause.  (Heh.)  Press it again to unpause.  Only
 Player One can pause.

[5] What do the statistics mean?

NAME: This is the name.  Duh.  It also shows a picture of the player.

TYPE: There are six types, from A to E.  This has to do with the graphic
for the character and the character's different abilities:

   A: Varied face (Sam has a pompadour, Jack has a streak, Rajiv and
      Boris look like Abobo from Double Dragon, Helgi and Fuji have big
      eyes, and Wang and Yemi have big foreheads).  They have more energy
      and throw power than their teammates.
   B: Bangs.  They have more damage capacity than their teammates.
   C: Buzzcut.  They have better catch technique than their teammates.
   D: Bald.  They are more agile than their teammates.
   E: Bushy eyebrows.  They have better ball breaking than their teammates.
   F: Can't describe it.  They have better throw technique than their teammates.

ENERGY: This is the amount of energy your player has.  The energy is
represented in gameplay by a set of bars next to the player's name.  Each
bar represents four energy points.  When your player gets hit, a little
number floats above him: that is how much energy he has lost.  If your energy
falls to fifteen or less, you will get dizzy after being knocked down, blocking
a pass, or in some cases running.  When the energy hits zero, your player
will die.  This does not affect outer court players, who cannot die.

THROW POWER: This shows how much power there is behind the player's regular
throws.  The higher this number is, the more powerful the throw.  This
number does not affect Power Shots.  Contrary to what the Team Select screen
will have you believe, high Throw Power does NOT make the catching player
reel back any farther.

THROW TECHNIQUE: This was hard to pinpoint, so I'm not 100% sure what this
means yet.  What I do know is that, people with high throw techniques seem
to have more accurate throws and passing, plus the ball rebounds higher after
being hit.  They also have better clutch throws (are able to throw the ball
sooner after catching it).  It does NOT affect the speed of the ball.

BALL BREAK: The higher this number is, the more control you have of the
ball while it is being thrown.  Use Up and Down to adjust where the ball
goes during flight.

AGILITY: Affects foot speed and recovery times after catching a ball.

CATCH TECHNIQUE: This is how good the player's catch is.  The higher this
number is, the more range you have on your catch.  Your hands will also stay
out longer.  People with low catch techniques have short range and must time
their catches well.

DAMAGE CAPACITY: This is how resilient the player is.  The lower the number,
the more damage you lose per hit.

The Statistics screen does not show the Power Shots available to the player,
so I will be going over that below.

[6] What are the different Power Shots available?

There are eight regular Power Shots and eight jumping Power Shots, making
it sixteen Power Shots in total.  Power Shots are not affected by your
character's Throw Power setting - they always have the same power (although
some are more powerful than others).  Also, Power Shots will lose their
charge if they hit a wall or the ground.

,--------------------.
| GROUND POWER SHOTS |
`--------------------'

THE BLASTER - This ball compresses itself and goes very fast.  IMHO, this
is the best Power Shot in the game.  You have a great deal of control over
this ball and it tears through anyone who gets hit by it.  It's an easy way
to get the ball into the outer court.  The control you have, though, is
determined by your character's ball breaking ability.  Tom of the All-Stars
can really move that thing, whereas for Scott of Team England, it goes in a
straight beeline for the active opponent, for the most part.

THE UPPERCUT - This looks a lot like an ordinary shot, just very fast.  If
it connects with the opponent (or goes for a certain distance) it will rise
up high into the air, taking the opponent with it.  This can usually get
the ball into your outer court, making it a useful ball for that purpose,
but it's weaker than the Blaster.

THE WAVE - This Power Shot moves in a wave back and forth.  This is easily
the worst of the ground Power Shots, but it does have its uses.  It can
confuse the enemy and screw with their defenses.  Otherwise, it's not that
great.

THE STINGER - The ball turns flat and starts waving around.  It also moves
pretty slow.  It heads towards the active opponent and "gives them a sting".
It's actually one of the more powerful Power Shots and rather hard to catch.

THE TSUNAMI - It's easily confused with the Wave but there are some
important differences.  The Tsunami moves up and down, whereas the Wave moves
back and forth.  It also heads for the opponent's active player.

THE WARP - The ball will phase out after a short distance and reappear in
front of the opponent.  A tricky ball to deal with at first!  It becomes
easier to catch with time, though.  Just catch as soon as the ball phases.

THE BREAKER - This ball moves in a straight line for a moderate distance,
then heads towards the active opponent at high speed.  This is another
hard-to-catch ball, since you usually must catch it in a vertical direction.

THE BOOMERANG - Ouch!  This is the most powerful ground Power Shot in the
game!  The ball will rise high up into the air, then return with powerful
force upon an opponent.  It cannot be ducked, and it will send your opponent
Around The World!  What this does is, if the opponent gets hit by it, he
will fly off the side of the screen and come out on the other side.  It
hurts a lot, too, even more than some Jumping Power Shots.  Unfortunately,
Team USA doesn't have this ball available to them.

,---------------------.
| JUMPING POWER SHOTS |
`---------------------'

THE COMPRESSOR - This is one of the most powerful throws in the game.  The
ball will compress to a small ball, and when it hits the opponent, will
expand for a massive hit.  This attack sends the opponent Around The World,
plus it's easier to catch the ball on the rebound, meaning you can keep the
enemy in your court and pummel 'em to death!

THE ACCELERATOR - The ball will move to ground level, where it will go
towards the active player at rising speed.  This is unique among the Power
Shots in that it is actually more effective if you do a running backwards
shot.  It will move faster and be harder to catch.

THE SPEAR - This move hurts a lot, but doesn't send the opponent Around The
World.  It does, however, move very fast.  A solid Power Shot.

THE PSYCHO - Yech.  This ball is slow and weak.  The ball will split into
three mini balls then back into one big ball.  Sounds better than it is.

THE LIGHTNING - This ball will rise high into the air, right above the
active player, then drop on their head.  This ball is really hard to catch!
However, the farther away from the player you throw it, the less effective
it becomes, and the easier it gets to catch.  It's a pretty good throw, but
there's zero chance of a rebound.

THE SIDEWINDER - The weakest Power Shot, it's also not that useful, even
though it can come in handy sometimes.  It's basically a jumping version of
the Tsunami throw.  It's very hard to catch, but easy to duck (or just
stand under), and more often than not hits the ground before the opponent.
Phooey.

THE PULSE - This is a weak version of the Compressor, basically.  The ball
will pulse and hit for damage, but won't send you Around The World.

THE SLUG - It is the most powerful Power Shot in the game.  Unfortunately it
is also the slowest.  The ball will move at a terrible pace towards the
active opponent, like a slug.  But when the opponent touches it, it gives
them a powerful slug that sends them Around The World!  Scrub players will
oftentimes try to catch the Slug and fail.  It's useful for confusion
purposes, but really is only useful to slow the game down (heh).

[7] Can you give me info on the different teams?

,----------.
| TEAM USA |
`----------'

If you plan to use the Bean Ball or Tournament Play modes, you will be
spending a lot of time with this team.  In Versus play, this team is fairly
average.  They have the most varied characters, though, and they are a lot
of fun to use.  Just don't expect to win against real players too much.

                                 STATISTICS
                                 ==========

,---------------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------.
| Team USA      | SAM     | JOHN    | MIKE    | RANDY   | BILL    | STEVE   |
+---------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| TYPE          | A       | B       | C       | E       | D       | F       |
| ENERGY        | 40      | 28      | 28      | 32      | 32      | 36      |
| THROW POWER   | 12      | 7       | 7       | 8       | 8       | 9       |
| THROW TECH.   | 9       | 7       | 7       | 9       | 7       | 12      |
| BALL BREAK    | 7       | 9       | 9       | 12      | 9       | 8       |
| AGILITY       | 7       | 8       | 9       | 8       | 12      | 7       |
| CATCH TECH.   | 8       | 9       | 12      | 7       | 8       | 7       |
| DAMAGE CAP.   | 7       | 12      | 8       | 7       | 7       | 7       |
| POWER SHOT    | Blaster | Wave    | Tsunami | Stinger | Breaker | Upper   |
| JUMP P.SHOT   | Spear   | Psycho  | S-winder| Compress| Lightn  | Accel   |
`---------------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------'

,---------------.
| PRO ALL-STARS |
`---------------'

An expert's team.  Every team member is powerful in one area but lacks in
everything else.  Most of them have low energy and stamina levels.  You have
to know where to place your team members.  The All-Stars' great strength is
in their outer court game.  As long as Jack and Paul are there you are all
set.  I think this is the best team in the game, but not my favorite.

* - Paul will do his Jumping Power Shot (the Pulse) if you try to do his
    Jumping Super Shot.  He can even do this from the outer court.

                                 STATISTICS
                                 ==========

,---------------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------.
| Pro All-Stars | JACK    | TOM     | FRED    | BEN     | PAUL    | DAVID   |
+---------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| TYPE          | A       | F       | D       | C       | B       | E       |
| ENERGY        | 36      | 28      | 24      | 20      | 16      | 24      |
| THROW POWER   | 12      | 8       | 7       | 6       | 5       | 7       |
| THROW TECH.   | 6       | 10      | 4       | 3       | 5       | 6       |
| BALL BREAK    | 8       | 10      | 11      | 11      | 11      | 15      |
| AGILITY       | 5       | 5       | 6       | 11      | 7       | 4       |
| CATCH TECH.   | 6       | 5       | 6       | 11      | 7       | 4       |
| DAMAGE CAP.   | 7       | 7       | 6       | 8       | 13      | 7       |
| POWER SHOT    | Upper   | Blaster | Tsunami | Stinger | Warp    | Breaker |
| JUMP P.SHOT   | Psycho  | Pulse   | Spear   | Accel   | Pulse*  | Accel   |
`---------------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------'

,--------------.
| TEAM ENGLAND |
`--------------'

A hard team to use because they take damage like babies.  They have good
throw technique, though, so they can keep the ball moving like no one else.
That's what you'll have to do to win.  If the ball falls in the wrong hands,
you could have a match that is over before you can sing "Rule Britannia".

                                 STATISTICS
                                 ==========

,---------------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------.
| Team England  | JAMES   | SCOTT   | HENRY   | ROGER   | PETER   | CLIFF   |
+---------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| TYPE          | A       | C       | F       | E       | B       | D       |
| ENERGY        | 48      | 36      | 44      | 40      | 36      | 40      |
| THROW POWER   | 11      | 6       | 8       | 7       | 6       | 7       |
| THROW TECH.   | 12      | 10      | 15      | 12      | 10      | 10      |
| BALL BREAK    | 4       | 6       | 5       | 9       | 6       | 6       |
| AGILITY       | 4       | 6       | 4       | 5       | 5       | 5       |
| CATCH TECH.   | 6       | 10      | 5       | 5       | 7       | 6       |
| DAMAGE CAP.   | 4       | 5       | 4       | 4       | 9       | 4       |
| POWER SHOT    | Wave    | Blaster | Tsunami | Boomer  | Stinger | Upper   |
| JUMP P.SHOT   | S-winder| Slug    | Lightn  | Psycho  | Spear   | Pulse   |
`---------------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------'

,------------.
| TEAM INDIA |
`------------'

Despite what it looks like, it's VERY hard to kill this team, especially
Swami who can take only 2 Damage points from an Around The World Power Shot.
They are also very fast and have good control of the ball; however, they have
a poor catch technique and low energy, so they dizzy quickly.

,---------------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------.
| Team India    | RAJIV   | SWAMI   | BATA    | KUMAR   | ZAIL    | AKBAR   |
+---------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| TYPE          | A       | B       | D       | C       | E       | F       |
| ENERGY        | 20      | 16      | 16      | 16      | 16      | 16      |
| THROW POWER   | 9       | 6       | 6       | 6       | 6       | 6       |
| THROW TECH.   | 7       | 7       | 7       | 7       | 7       | 10      |
| BALL BREAK    | 10      | 10      | 10      | 10      | 13      | 10      |
| AGILITY       | 11      | 11      | 14      | 11      | 11      | 11      |
| CATCH TECH.   | 5       | 5       | 5       | 8       | 5       | 5       |
| DAMAGE CAP.   | 13      | 16      | 13      | 13      | 13      | 13      |
| POWER SHOT    | Stinger | Blaster | Wave    | Boomer  | Breaker | Warp    |
| JUMP P.SHOT   | Slug    | Psycho  | Lightn  | S-winder| Compress| Accel   |
`---------------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------'

,--------------.
| TEAM ICELAND |
`--------------'

Pfuh.  Yeah, right.  Team Iceland has some of the slowest teams around.  They
don't even play well in their own stage!  What they do have is lots of energy,
good throw power and some good Power Shots.  I rarely use this team, though.
Their low agility levels (with the notable exception of Bjorn) make them
terrible at defense.

,---------------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------.
| Team Iceland  | HELGI   | KNUT    | HANS    | BJORN   | NILS    | GISLI   |
+---------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| TYPE          | A       | E       | F       | D       | B       | C       |
| ENERGY        | 64      | 52      | 56      | 52      | 44      | 48      |
| THROW POWER   | 14      | 9       | 10      | 9       | 7       | 8       |
| THROW TECH.   | 9       | 9       | 13      | 7       | 8       | 6       |
| BALL BREAK    | 3       | 10      | 5       | 6       | 6       | 6       |
| AGILITY       | 3       | 5       | 3       | 10      | 5       | 6       |
| CATCH TECH.   | 7       | 5       | 6       | 7       | 8       | 12      |
| DAMAGE CAP.   | 8       | 8       | 8       | 7       | 14      | 9       |
| POWER SHOT    | Warp    | Upper   | Stinger | Boomer  | Wave    | Breaker |
| JUMP P.SHOT   | Lightn  | Slug    | Pulse   | Spear   | Compress| Accel   |
`---------------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------'

,------------.
| TEAM CHINA |
`------------'

Oh yeah, give it up for my favorite team.  They have excellent catching
ability which really helps in those close inner court games, and some
powerful throws, especially Wang's regular throw and Mao's Boomerang Power
Shot.  The only real downside to this team is that they don't take damage
very well.

,---------------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------.
| Team China    | WANG    | HSIEH   | LI      | CHOU    | MAO     | TSAI    |
+---------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| TYPE          | A       | D       | C       | B       | F       | E       |
| ENERGY        | 40      | 36      | 36      | 36      | 36      | 36      |
| THROW POWER   | 11      | 8       | 8       | 8       | 8       | 8       |
| THROW TECH.   | 10      | 10      | 10      | 10      | 13      | 10      |
| BALL BREAK    | 7       | 7       | 7       | 7       | 7       | 10      |
| AGILITY       | 10      | 13      | 10      | 10      | 10      | 10      |
| CATCH TECH.   | 13      | 13      | 16      | 13      | 13      | 13      |
| DAMAGE CAP.   | 6       | 6       | 6       | 9       | 6       | 6       |
| POWER SHOT    | Breaker | Stinger | Warp    | Upper   | Boomer  | Blaster |
| JUMP P.SHOT   | Pulse   | Psycho  | Slug    | Spear   | Lightn  | S-winder|
`---------------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------'

,------------.
| TEAM KENYA |
`------------'

This team is well-rounded, but does shine in the agility area.  They have
the fastest player in the game, Mwai, and the second most resilient character,
Taha.  They also have good throw power, and a variety of useful Power Shots.
I really like this team.

,---------------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------.
| Team Kenya    | YEMI    | OBA     | TAHA    | EYO     | BWOGI   | MWAI    |
+---------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| TYPE          | A       | E       | B       | F       | C       | D       |
| ENERGY        | 44      | 36      | 32      | 40      | 32      | 36      |
| THROW POWER   | 13      | 9       | 8       | 10      | 8       | 9       |
| THROW TECH.   | 9       | 9       | 7       | 12      | 7       | 7       |
| BALL BREAK    | 5       | 10      | 7       | 6       | 7       | 7       |
| AGILITY       | 11      | 12      | 12      | 11      | 13      | 16      |
| CATCH TECH.   | 9       | 8       | 10      | 8       | 13      | 9       |
| DAMAGE CAP.   | 9       | 9       | 14      | 9       | 10      | 9       |
| POWER SHOT    | Boomer  | Warp    | Stinger | Tsunami | Upper   | Blaster |
| JUMP P.SHOT   | Pulse   | Spear   | Lightn  | Slug    | Compress| Accel   |
`---------------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------'

,------------.
| TEAM JAPAN |
`------------'

They have massively powered shots and good control of the ball.  However,
they're rather slow on their feet, especially the powerful players Fuji and
Hino.  They do have Sato, who is a tough bugger to kill (he is tied with
Taha for 2nd most resilient character).  A good team to use if you like power.

,---------------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------.
| Team Japan    | FUJI    | SATO    | HONDA   | AOKI    | ODA     | HINO    |
+---------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| TYPE          | A       | B       | C       | D       | E       | F       |
| ENERGY        | 56      | 36      | 40      | 44      | 44      | 48      |
| THROW POWER   | 16      | 9       | 10      | 11      | 11      | 12      |
| THROW TECH.   | 8       | 7       | 5       | 6       | 8       | 12      |
| BALL BREAK    | 7       | 10      | 10      | 10      | 14      | 9       |
| AGILITY       | 4       | 6       | 7       | 11      | 6       | 4       |
| CATCH TECH.   | 10      | 11      | 15      | 10      | 8       | 9       |
| DAMAGE CAP.   | 8       | 14      | 9       | 7       | 8       | 8       |
| POWER SHOT    | Tsunami | Wave    | Warp    | Upper   | Blaster | Boomer  |
| JUMP P.SHOT   | Compress| Pulse   | Psycho  | S-winder| Lightn  | Accel   |
`---------------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------'

,-----------.
| TEAM USSR |
`-----------'

Overpowered, but what do you expect, they're the final team.  They have super
powered throws (even though Fuji is still stronger than any of them),
great catch technique and high energy levels, which makes them a good team
to start with.  However, they do lack a player with a Blaster shot.

,---------------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------.
| Team USSR     | BORIS   | IVAN    | PAVEL   | IGOR    | VOLF    | YAKOV   |
+---------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
| TYPE          | A       | C       | F       | D       | C       | B       |
| ENERGY        | 60      | 56      | 56      | 56      | 56      | 56      |
| THROW POWER   | 15      | 12      | 12      | 12      | 12      | 12      |
| THROW TECH.   | 8       | 8       | 11      | 8       | 8       | 8       |
| BALL BREAK    | 8       | 8       | 8       | 8       | 11      | 8       |
| AGILITY       | 7       | 7       | 7       | 10      | 7       | 7       |
| CATCH TECH.   | 11      | 14      | 11      | 11      | 11      | 11      |
| DAMAGE CAP.   | 10      | 10      | 10      | 11      | 10      | 13      |
| POWER SHOT    | Tsunami | Boomer  | Stinger | Warp    | Breaker | Wave    |
| JUMP P.SHOT   | Accel   | Slug    | S-winder| Pulse   | Psycho  | Spear   |
`---------------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------'

,-------------.
| TEAM SHADOW |
`-------------'

This is the final team you will face in the World Cup mode, if you beat
every other team without losing one of your inner court players.  Basically,
they are a black and white Team USA with stronger shots and more stamina.
There's no way you can play as this team in Versus mode, though.

[8] Can you give me some strategic help?

(*) Contrary to what your intuition might tell you, you should use your
    outer court for offense, and your inner court should be used to mainly
    defend against throws and retaliate when the enemy is open.  Remember,
    the outer court players can't be killed.  Use this to your advantage.

(*) The Blaster is a very powerful throw, especially if the thrower has
    good ball breaking ability.  Make the ball wind around the active player
    and the players not in control will often get clobbered by it.

(*) While you can hit the enemy for heavy damage with the Power Shots, it's
    a lot easier to hit them from the outer court.  It's harder to catch
    the throws there, and tough to intercept them.  Try to bombard your
    opponent with close ranged Jumping Super Shots to wear them down.

(*) You can hit an enemy when they're knocked down.  Unfortunately, this
    is rather hard to do, unless you have the ball in the outer court.
    In this case, just aim for the enemy and throw.  More often than not,
    you'll hit them.

(*) Blocking a pass is oftentimes an easier way to intercept the balls, but
    it's risky - you'll be knocked down, and the enemy may catch the ball
    anyway and hit you.  Learn to catch passes.

(*) Around The World Infinite - If you hit an enemy Around The World and
    get control of the ball, walk left to have the opponent scroll to your
    side of the court, then when they get up, throw the ball at them.  They
    will fall, get up, and continue to try to get back in their place,
    defenseless.  Continue until dead.

(*) Compressor Infinite - If you can hit an enemy Around The World with a
    Compressor and catch the ball in the rebound, you can juggle the enemy
    forever!  Once you catch it, walk left so the opponent will scroll to
    your side of the screen.  Then, while the enemy is tumbling along the
    floor, jump and quickly throw a Compressor.  If you hit the enemy during
    the tumble, they will be hit Around The World again, and you can repeat
    this until dead!  It's not easy to do, though.

More strategies in later updates... I promise! :-)

[9] How do I defeat World Cup mode?

Some people have problems with the One-Player mode at first, but trust me,
with the trick I'm going to give you, it's going to be easy as pie.  This
will work against practically all the teams, even in Difficult mode:

Put Steve in the inner court.  Pass the ball to Steve, and have him run
away from the enemy's inner court.  Then, when you're getting close to the
enemy's outer court, jump, turn, and do his Accelerator Power Shot.  The
enemy, 99% of the time, will NOT catch the ball.  Just catch the retailatory
hit and repeat.

If you want to do it the hard way, here's some advice:

PRO-ALL STARS - This stage is on the rooftop of a skyscraper, and there is
LOTS of blinking glitches in this stage.  Anyway, this team is a real pushover.
They always pass the ball to Jack.  If you kill him first, their game will
fall apart, but that's not necessary.  Just crush, kill, destroy.  Beware,
Jack will sometimes throw the Uppercut, even in Easy Mode, so be ready to
catch the ball.

ENGLAND - This team is a joke under the CPU's control.  They die really
quickly.  Just kill them.

INDIA - This team is more cumbersome than anything.  It takes a long time
to kill them, ESPECIALLY Swami who will only take one point of damage (sometimes
two) from anything you throw at him. You'll just have to be consistent in
your attacks.  If Team India gets their hands on the ball, they'll tend to
toss it in the inner court where they'll play keepaway with you.  This gets
tiresome fast.  Work on your interception skills and snatch the ball from
their hands.

 *** Tip: Swami's a little bastard.  Don't you wish you could keep him off
     the inner court?  You can!  When the game asks if you want to change
     the lineup, hit Yes.  Watch the computer's team.  If he puts Swami on
     position 1, hit A, then B.  Continue doing this, and the computer will
     eventually stick Swami on the sidelines.  Set up your team as usual
     and proceed to walk all over Team India.

ICELAND - This team is not difficult to beat on their own, but their stage
is set on ice and is full of penguins and such.  You will slide a long way
when running, catching or being hit.  So stay away from the boundaries when
catching throws.  Oh yes, forget about trying to hit Icelanders off the
ground - they'll slide a long way after being knocked down, making it
damn near impossible to hit them.

CHINA - This is a solidly played team with good inner and outer court skills.
They use their Power Shots pretty well and will bombard you from the outer
courts.  Plus, in higher difficulties they'll catch lots of your Power
Shots.  Hit them from the outer courts to kill them.

KENYA - Their stage is full of sand, which will slow down your runs and make
it VERY hard to do your Power Shots.  To do a regular Power Shot, you'll
have to throw the ball a short time after you actually begin to start
running.  Anyway, Kenya is a zippy team with well-rounded abilities, plus
above average agility.  And Yemi will try to hit you with the Boomerang, so
be ready to catch from behind.

JAPAN - This team can be a severe pain in the ass.  However, they've got a
major weakness.  They will ALWAYS pass the ball to Fuji, who will almost
always try to hit you with his Compressor.  He leaves himself open for a
LONG amount of time after doing this, since he's so slow.  Hit him with a
fast shot while he's trying to run back into position.  Or, use Sam, and
aim your Blaster so that it hits only Fuji.  Once Fuji is down, the team
will go down with him.

USSR - All it takes to beat this team is a bit of patience and an iron clad
defense.  Boris will use his Accelerator Power Shot often.  Be ready for it.
These guys have high energy and stamina, so it will take awhile to kill
them.  Show USSR who is boss.  (Ha, ha ha.)

TEAM SHADOW - If you beat the game without losing a character, you will fight
Team Shadow, which is a shadow version of Team USA.  They use the exact same
line-up as you... which you can use to your advantage.  Fight USSR with your
weakest players on the inner court.  That would usually be Mike, Steve and
Bill.  NOT John.  John's a hard ass bugger to kill on Team Shadow.  Once you
beat USSR, then Team Shadow will use your WEAK lineup.  Use your outer court
(with the powerful Sam helping you out) to polish them off.

[10] How do I play in Bean Ball mode?

Bean Ball is a fun free-for-all style of play where Team USA practices in
the gym.  There are no rules here - just hit the enemy.  Unfortunately, you
can ONLY pick Team USA on this mode, but each character has their own
strengths and weaknesses:

  * SAM: Tons of power, and hard to kill.  Slow.
  * JOHN: The hardest guy to kill.  He has poor power, though.
  * MIKE: A harder character to use, but his catching skill is impeccable.
  * RANDY: Has powerful Power Shots.  Dies easy, though.
  * BILL: His Breaker Power Shot is great in Bean Ball.  He's also fast.
  * STEVE: Good power and Power Shots, but he's slow.

(*) You'll want to stay out of the crowd in this mode.  You're more likely
    to be hit if you stay within the crowd.  Instead, wait for the ball
    to be thrown at you, then wreak havoc.

(*) Be careful when you run.  If you hit the edge of the screen, you'll fall
    down and drop the ball.

(*) Normally, you don't get dizzy in Bean Ball.  However, you can still
    use the A button to just throw the ball in a pass-like fashion.  It
    does no damage, but if the opponent doesn't catch it and he's low on
    life, it will DIZZY him!  Catch the ball and destroy.

[11] Are there any other versions of Super Dodge Ball?

An arcade version of SDB exists.  This is a lot like the NES version, except
that the Type A guys are HUGE.  I don't know much else about it, though.

There is a Turbo-Grafx 16 edition of Super Dodge Ball.  I haven't played it
yet, but it looks really different from the Nintendo version.  I'll keep
you posted on this.

A NEO*GEO version of SDB is around, but I can't find any arcade that has
it.  So far I know nothing of this version.

Technos released a Super Dodge Ball game for the Super Nintendo, but only
in Japan.  It doesn't work on my SNES emu, though.

[12] Isn't there anyone you should thank?

My brother Jose, who I worked with to uncover all the nifty secrets in this
   game, and for being the bomb with the Pro All-Stars.
Technos Japan for making an innovative game.  Too bad they've failed to make
   a sequel.  Are they still around?
No thanks to Nintendo for dropping the NES.  :-P

[13] Can you avoid the legal crap?

No.  Sorry.

Disclaimer: Super Dodge Ball is a game created by Technos Japan and
distributed by CSG Imagesoft.  This work is copyright to me, Ricardo A
Lafaurie Jr.  You may NOT reproduce any part of this FAQ for purposes of
profit.  You may NOT rip off parts of this FAQ in your own without permission.
You may NOT sell this FAQ for money.  You MAY print it out and distribute it
for free.

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           Super Dodge Ball FAQ v0.1 (c) 1999 Chips-Fey Productions
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     ANY ADDITIONS, CORRECTIONS?  Send 'em to < dasrik@cyberspace.org >.