Fight N’ Rage Beginner’s Guide

Overview

A simple guide for new players to get the hang of Fight N’ Rage and also help with Beat ’em Ups in general. My hope is that the information contained here can help take anyone to stage 8 of normal mode.

Game Introduction

Let’s start with a display of the game screen and what it all means

1. Player Stats: Displays the number of lives and score of the player
2. SP Meter: This meter let’s you know when you can perform an SP attack. If you perform an SP attack without meter, you’ll lose health and the meter will reset. The SP meter takes about 8 seconds to refill.
3. Character Info: Displays the icon, name, and health of the character you’re using.
4. Enemy info: Displays the icon, name, and health of an enemy you’re attacking or an enemy that’s attacking you. Will display the healthiest enemy if you’re attacking more than one.
5. Death Timer: You can usually go as fast or slow as you want in stages, but if you don’t move to a new area or complete the stage before the timer is up, you wil instantly lose a life.
6. Combo Counter: Displays how many hits you’ve strung together in a single combo. It’ll stay up longer if you have a high combo count. Your maximum combo count for a stage will contribute to your score at the end.
7. Food/Pickups: You can pick up food, weapons, and power-ups during gameplay. Be sure t look out for items in barrels, chairs, arcade cabinets, and even enemies themselves.
8. Boss Health Bar: When fighting a boss character, their health will be continuously displayed at the bottom of the screen.
   Controls

   Let’s go over the basic controls for the game. Here are the buttons you can use during gameplay, and these are also the symbols i’ll use later on in the guide.

   Movement
   First of all you can move up, down, left, and right. You can combine some of these directions for special moves and other actions, but let’s start small for now
   

   Action Buttons
   

   The attack button is used for almost every attack you can perform.

   

   The jump button is pretty self explanatory, but something you may not be completely aware of is that an extra air attack can be done by pressing jump mid-air.

   

   The special button can be used to perform a powerful attack at the cost of SP or HP.

Moves and Attacks

,,…

By pressing attack a certain number of times, your character will perform a basic combo. the number of hits differs depending on the character. The last hit knocks the enemy away.

Notes:

• The last hit of a chain combo gives your character invincibility
• The 2nd to last attack in a chain combo will knock an opponent off their feet.

(Hold)

You can dash by pressing forward twice. Unlike most Beat ’em Ups you can move up and down while dashing. Ricardo only moves a short distance and can’t move up or down while dashing. A dash attack can be performed by pressing the attack button during a dash, and Ricardo doesn’t has a specific dash attack.

By pressing jump during a dash you can get more distance out of your jump. Ricardo can make great use of this to make up for his lack of speed.

In Mid-Air

An air attack. This variation will normally knock standing enemies down.

+ In Mid-Air
A downward attack from the air that allows you to stun enemies and continue your combo.

In Mid-Air

If you press the Jump button while in the air, your character will perform an alternate air attack that usually effects their mobility one way or the other. These moves can be used to keep yourself safe in a troubling situation.

, +
An anti-air attack is a special move that hits airborne enemies and grant’s your character invulnerability during startup. you can cancel almost every attack except specials with an Anti-air

or + (while grabbing an enemy)
If you run or walk up to an enemy, you’ll grab them. You can beat on them for a while by hitting the Attack button. After a few hits you can throw the foe into other enemies or off edges.

or
before an enemy hits you.

It’s difficult, but once you learn the timing Parrying certain moves becomes very easy. Unfortunately this game doesn’t allow “rapid fire” tapping to guess when a good time to pary is. The good news is that (I think, not 100% sure) this means you can hold the directtion for a while before you get hit in order to score a parry. Parrying attacks nullifies damage and refills your SP gauge.

during any grab or throwing attack.
This allows to do a jumping throw attack. You can position yourself during the throw to hit other enemies or get away from trouble. Gal can’t perform this move.

Character MoveLists

This section aims to provide commands for almost every move a character can perform. All except the Secret Attack
Here are some symbols for the command lists

While grabbing an enemy

This move can only be performed in the air

This move can also be performed in the air.

Commands are for a character facing right

Gal is the quickest character on the roster. She has the shortest reach and weakest damage, but her ability to get in an enemy’s face is where her strength lies. Aside from her amazing agility, Gal’s throws and SP attacks allow her to control mobs better than anyone else.

Another con to playing Gal is that she has low health, which makes playing her recklessly can be disasterous for the unexprienced player. A Gal player can become easily overwhelmed by enemies if they aren’t paying attention.

Gal has some of the longest combos in the game, but many of them require a high level of execution skill. Most beginners should be able cancel a chain combo into run knee, but things get complex when you start linking a flying knee/kick combo from the fourth hit of her combo. Some air combos require specific positioniong in order to be pulled off.

TL:DR, Gal is quick, but weak, and is not suited for beginners(of this game or Beat em Ups in general.)

F. Norris is the closest this game has to an average characer although he’s still a bit on the quick side. Sporting slightly longer reach and damage than Gal, Norris is the character of choice for those who may not find Gal’s gameplay rewarding enough.

Although he might be stronger, Norris isn’t as good at handling a crowd as Gal. 100 Fists is a good way to group enemies in front and slightly behind. His Tsunami kick retains momentum is also a nice way to hit mobs if you precede it with a slide attack or Rain Kick, and it can hit grounded enemies if you use it mid-air

Norris’s main skill is his slide kick. It’s a good way to begin, end, and extend combos. On hit you can cancel out of the dash attack with another dash for combos or for safety. The dash can also be stopped early if you hit back while dashing. If you time it right the slide kick can go under attacks like the bison punch or Boss’ machine gun.
TLDR: F. Norris is the average joe that has agile abilities accessible to the average player.

Ricardo is the complete opposite of Gal. He’s strong, slow, sports the shortest combos, and is probably the overall worst at managing mobs. The good news is that while Gal best suited for pros. Ricardo is almost braindead to use as a character, especially on normal difficulty or lower.

Ricardo also has the best knockdown skill in the game. Moves like his uppercut and spinning lariat allow him to position himself on the screen optimally while his foes are floating around the screen. Tauro Uppercut alone is a great move to set up a juggle combo for yourself or a friend.

Another thing to remeber about Ricardo is that he technically only has one grab, but it’s the only one he needs. It allows him to give enemies a hard knockdown, and the jumping variation is a nice way to position yourself or smash up mobs. He has the strongest grab strength so enemies barely break his grabs.

TLDR:Ricardo is a big muscle man that can power his way through any obstacle.

Basic Combo Construction

Chain combos are the most basic of attacks and usually the start to most combos. The 2nd to last hit of a chain combo is a soft knockdown, and the last hit is a hard knockback.

The basic combo in Fight N Rage normally goes like this….Chain combo>>>Anti-Air>>>Special attack.
or if you wish you can cancel any part of your chain combo to go for a dash. The dash can then be converted into a grab or chained into a dash attack, or special attack.

Special attack are crucial combo tools mainly for the follwing reasons…

• SP attacks can cancel out of every move except another special attack. Specials can’t explicitly cancel throws but can be used to eliminate recovery frames after a throw.
• you’re completely invincible during the animation of a special attack, and normally will clear some space away from you after finishing them. This space allows you to either continue a combo or get to safety.
• SP attacks can be used as much as you want… if you’re willing to pay the price. you’ll lose health and reset you meter from using and SP attack too early, but it might be worth it if you’re going for the kill.

• Target combos are a nice way to switch to a grab on the fly. Thy’re also a nice way to quickly grab foes that are hard to grab otherwise.
• Throwing enemies into one another is a good way to knockdown somebody, and focus on another group of enemies.
• Throw attacks are the basis for many simple infinite combos.

Walls are a good way to extend combos. Walls allow you to extend combos from long range throws, chain combos, or anti-airs.

For some more basic combo tips, you can watch this video by SetnaroX

Enemy Actions

Here I want to outline some enemy actions and behaviors you should look out for while fighting.

Sometimes enemies will walk past you to sneak around to your backside before they attack. You have to be careful and make sure nobodies trying to get you from behind.

some enemies like wolves and whip girls have great range and can beat out a jab from most characters. No matter how you try to manuver, these enemies will always be able to stay just outside your effective range. I’ll go into greater detail about these enemies, but just try to move quickly.

Some enemies, like Chef-cat, monkey, muay thai rooster, and certain bosses will automatically use an attack once you’re in the air above them. since it’s hard to get out of the way when you’re in the air, your best options to protect yourself is to parry or use an SP attack. But if you’re savy, you can bait a wake-up to leave your opponent open

After knocking an enemy down. You may be tempted to stand over them to continue the assault, but be careful. Because they might hit you with an attack to give themselves space. If enemies don’t use a wake up attack, then they might use a wake-up movement, where they’ll.get up move away from you with invincible frames. If you can catch an opponent at the end of their move, they’ll be open to attack.

Basic Beat ’em Up Theory

One mistake a lot of newcomers to the Beat ’em Up genre make is that they’ll treat it like a 2D Fighter. Here’s a diagram to hopefully help you view Beat ’em Ups like the pros.

You have to remember that most Beat ’em Ups are like more like 3D games.

• The X-axis is moving left and right.
• The Y-axis is up and down from ground to air.
• The Z-Axis is when you move closer to and farther from the screen.

Mastering the dimensions is key playing Fight ‘n Rage and Beat ’em Ups in general.
I drew rectangles on the floor to illustrate lanes. That’s how i got used to dimensions in these kind of games.

Working around enemies
To illustrate tthe importance of Dimensions, I used a screen shot of one of the late game enemies.

• This bird has long forward range and an anti-air, if i treat it like Street Fighter, I’m taking a hit.
• Unfortunately slide kick isn’t low enough to avoid his kick either.
• The green arrow shows that a safe path would be to move around the bird to get past his range

While moving around a foe’s hitbox is a good idea, most foes don’t stay still. here’s some tips to deal with quick enemies.

1. Throw weapons: If you’re like me, you prefer the honor of a bare knuckle brawl,(get it?) but sometimes you need that edge that allows you to open the enemy up. Knives are everywhere and actuallly do some decent damage.
2. Throw other enemies: If you’re dealing with a tough boss or enemy, then chances are there’s a weaker enemy nearby. get a hold of ’em and use them as literal cannon fodder. They’re not as powerful as knives, but they can throw your opponent off their groove. If you know for a fact that your opponent doesn’t have a wake-up skill, you can stand above them and just mash the attack button till they get up.

   But more important than anything.

3. GET A KNOCKDOWN BY ANY MEAN NECESSARY:weapons, enemies, or SP attacks. the most important part of fighting long range enemies getting close enough to fight. Even if they have a wake up attack/move and you can’t stand over them. You can still close the distance and be in a more advantageous postion.

Bosses

At the end of most stages, you will have to fight a boss. These enemies are bigger and badder than your garden variety minion, so here’s a couple of tips to make them easier.

1. Watch their movements closely.

   This may be obvious advice for veterans of the genre, but you’d be surprised how many people lose to bosses simply by failing to remember this Queen

   For example, After making a certain number of punches, Bison will stop and look around for awhile. If you haven’t been hit by him yet, this is the perfect time to strike.

2. Use their minions against them.

   Most bosses in this game have minions. The bad news is that this means you’ll be outmanned, the good news is that weaker enemies can be used against the boss to get a knockdown or open them up to greater combos. This is especially useful for me when I fight Diane. Speaking of combos

3. C-C-C-C-C-COMBO MAKER!!!!

   Being able to lower a boss’ life as much as possible while they’re open is one of the best reasons to learn combos. Unfortunately bosses have properties such as gravity scaling and grab resistance which make them more difficult to combo than others. I’ll go into more detail about these things in the advanced combo section.

4. Parry, Parry, Parry

   Parrying isn’t a requirement for fighting or killing any boss in the game, but it makes it so much more easier when you do. Remember, parrying doesn’t only allow you to block, but it also allows you to bypass super armor, and refills your SP gauge. (Leading to more combos[media.giphy.com] and damage

Quick Tips

• Don’t try to survive the stage, just try to survive till your next meal
• advance carefully and try to take a few opponents at a time.
• Don’t be afraid to use your SP without meter. Losing that bit of health might be better than taking huge damage in a tough situation.
• Prioritize: You have to be able to figure out which foes should be detroyed first to make your life easier.
• Run that score up, and get more lives. Most like to do this by comboing their opponents to death and destroying them for 500 extra points a piece.

Still to Come

1. Advanced Combo Construction
2. Advanced B’emUp strategy
3. Score Attack Tips(maybe)
4. Spanish Version I know we have a sizable Spanish speaking community. I don”t know Spanish and don’t wanna do google translate’s inorganic Spanish. If someone wants to translate this guide into Espanol, I’m all for it.

Big Thanks to…

• Sebastian Garcia for developing this masterpiece.
• SetnaroX for letting me use the video for the combo section
• Norithics and Video-Brains for typing in the Forum topic that inspired me to make this guide.
• and you, the players that help keep this game alive and well.