Guilty Gear is a series of sprite-based fighting games designed by artist Daisuke Ishiwatari and Arc System Works and is produced by Sammy Studios. It is popular with fighting video game fans for its detailed graphics, unconventional video game characters, unique gameplay, and its numerous references to rock music, particularly the Heavy Metal music genre.

The first game in the series, Guilty Gear, was released in arcades and home systems in 1998. While it did gain some praise from the mainstream video game press such as Gamespot, [1] it didn't make much impact upon video gamers. However the release of its sequel Guilty Gear X in 2000 gained much more attention with its gameplay and detail drawn graphics. In 2002, Guilty Gear XX (known as Guilty Gear X2 in North America) was released, furthering the individual stories while improving on gameplay and visuals. This was soon followed by Guilty Gear XX #Reload, which addressed a number of gameplaying imbalances in XX and changed both tier arrangement and the "distance" between the tiers. In other words, it weakened some characters, strengthened others and made the various character match ups less biased. The latest installment (2004) is titled Guilty Gear Isuka, and features four-player simultaneous gameplay, allowing for 2 on 2, 2 on 1, and four way free-for-all matches, but has no storyline, not even for the new character, A.B.A..

Contents

1 Game mechanics 2 Story 3 Characters 4 Music references 5 Trivia 6 External links

Game mechanics

The Guilty Gear series boasts a deep and complex game engine. Each new game in the series adds more features, which can make it make a challenge for a new player to play against experienced players.

• Gatling Combos: If a successful attack is quickly followed up with a second attack which is equally powerful to or more powerful than the first attack, the opponent does not have the opportunity to block the second attack. This in turn can be followed up by another attack, and so on, allowing skilled players to chain up long combos.

• Double Jump: Tap Up During a Jump. The character will boost themselves again in the air to go higher. A direction can be specified, such as Up-Forward or Up-Back. This is useful for avoiding attacks or for psyching the opponent out.

• High Jump: Tap Down, then Up. The character will launch themselves into a large jump. They cannot perform the Double Jump though. A direction can be specified, such as jumping towards the opponent by pressing Up-Forward. You will know if you have done this if a trail of shadows follows your character during their jump. (AKA Super Jump)

• Forward Thrust Attack: Forward + Attack button. Certain characters may do special or different attacks when performing this. This usually will have the effect of launching them into the air or across the air, open to a combo. Note that the target can recover out of this. (AKA Command Normal)

• Dust Attack: Press Dust button. The character will perform an attack that if hit, will launch the enemy into the air. Press Up to leap up after to continue attacking the opponent. The execution time and recovery for this move is often slow, but can lead to some very nasty air combos.

• Sweep: Press the Dust button whilst crouching. The character will do an attack that hits low and knocks down the opponent. Unlike the Dust attack, the sweep attack will not have the mandatory start up delay.

• Air Knock Down: Press Dust button in the air. If the move connects, the character will perform a knock down attack. Like the sweep, there usually is no start up delay unless the character itself has it. Think of it as an Air BD attack from King of Fighters.

• Recovery: After being knocked down, press one attack button and a direction on the pad/stick to flip out and recover. Note that you can also recover in the air, but it is riskier and can set you up for more punishment.

• Tension Gauge: This bar fills up whenever you perform certain actions, such as attacking, blocking and running toward your opponent. If your opponent performs a taunt move, your tension gauge also raises slightly. In the original Guilty Gear, the tension gauge was referred to as the Chaos Bar. Expending part or all of accumulated tension, or having a certain amount of tension in reserve, enables the use of certain special abilities:
  • Overdrive Attack: With tension gauge at either 50% or full, do the specific command for the character to unleash a powerful attack. Each character has one or more overdrive attacks, such as Ky's Ride the Lightning.
  • Dead Angle Attack: During Guard, Tap Forward + 2 Attack buttons. Assuming you guarded the attack, immediately do this and the character will counter with an attack. You need a tension gauge of above 50% however.
  • Faultless Defense: Press Punch and Kick whilst blocking to negate block damage. However it expends some of the tension gauge every time you perform this move and requires the buttons to be tapped every time the move hits. In the original Guilty Gear, Faultless Defense was mistakenly transliterated as "Fortress Defense".
  • Roman Cancel: Pushing any three attack buttons during an attack will perform a Roman Cancel, which cuts the attack's animation short (and costs you 50% of a tension gauge). The usefulness of this technique is that whereas most powerful attacks are followed by a delay during which you can't attack, a well-timed Roman Cancel lets you ignore it, allowing the creation of some particularly lengthy (and nasty) combos. Note that you can create some very, very nasty combos with this, in some cases allowing a player to win with a single long combo. The Roman Cancel was not introduced until Guilty Gear X, and the phrase is thought to be an abbreviation of "Romantic Cancel".
  • False Roman Cancel: Press Three Attack buttons during an attack to stop further animation. Unlike the 'real' Roman Cancel, this only requires 25% of the gauge instead of the full 50%, giving off the blue flash instead of the normal red one. However, the downside is that it can only be done in specific animations of the attack, thus, making the timing more specific and tight. The False Roman Cancel was not introduced until Guilty Gear XX.

• Throw: Press Forward or Back and Heavy slash when near opponent to perform a throw attack. From Guilty Gear XX onward, it is possible to throw in midair.

• Staggering: Similar to Virtua Fighter 4, certain moves will make the opponent 'stagger' in which they stumble around for a bit, stunned and open. However, the opponent can expedite recovery by shaking the joystick/"mashing" the directional pad back and forth quickly.

• Burst: A new feature of Guilty Gear XX, it has two purposes. Both are activated by pressing HS+Dust at the same time. If done correctly, the character will 'burst' away and form a "circle flash". The first purpose is for combo breaking. When you are being hit by a combo, you can opt to 'Burst' out of it. It does no damage, but it will knock the character away. The second is to hit the opponent with the burst attack itself. If it connects as a hit, unblocked, it will fill up your tension gauge. However, the limiting factor is that you are limited by the burst gauge, located under the life gauge. It fills up like the tension bar, but at a much slower rate. Therefore, realistically, you can only burst once per round or match even. Nonetheless, it is an essential part of the game play system. When performing the 'Burst' Attack there are several frames of invincibility at the start up of the attack.

• Instant Kill Technique: Press all 4 attack buttons. The character will go into Instant Kill mode, where the tension gauge turns red and starts decreasing. During that time, the character can unleash an Instant Kill Attack. If the character misses or the bar runs out, the tension gauge cannot be used. It can be summoned at any time, but if the Instant kill timer runs out, the character will start taking damage until you perform the Instant Kill Attack. The Instant Kill in the original Guilty Gear worked differently; the Instant Kill mode had no effect on the tension gauge and lasted only a few seconds, during which the instant kill could be attempted but the other player could negate it with a counter instant kill move. In addition, winning the round with an Instant Kill automatically wins you the match—clearly, later games decided that it was unbalanced. Within the system of the later games, instant kills become very rare, more of a stylistic move than one with common applications. This is the result of generally perfect knowledge one has of when an instant kill can be performed, indicated by both the now red tension gauge (which changes to the Attack|kcatta (mirrored) gauge) and the red shadow about a character who is in instant kill mode. Some people consider that instant kills are only possible on a "dizzied" character, and other states of existence where it is impossible to block.

• Adjusted Damage: Some characters take more damage than others. For example, Chipp is somewhat frail and takes 130% of whatever damage is dealt to him, while Potemkin is tougher and takes only 87%. Another damage system that is known to be present in GGXX and #R reduces damage based on the current amount of health a character has left and the level of adjustment varies from character to character. Furthermore, the system adjusts damage differently for overdrive attacks than for special and normal ones.

Story

The Guilty Gear series takes place around the year 2180, in a chaotic, mystical future world. In 2010, mankind discovered an unlimited energy source of incredible power, which was fittingly labeled as Magic. However, even with the various energy problems solved, wars still continued. With the power of Magic and science, living weapons known as "Gears" were created. However, the Gears turned on their masters, beginning a century-long global war known as the Crusades where the Sacred Order of Holy Knights, fighting for the human race, was able to defeat Justice, the leader of the Gears, and was then able to hunt down the rest of the now mindless Gears.

Guilty Gear

However, some five years later a Gear named Testament began a plan to resurrect Justice and wipe out the human race. Fearing this, the Union of Nations began a fighting tournament in order to find fighters who would be able to defeat Testament and Justice. Ultimately, the immortal bounty hunter Sol Badguy brought down Justice again, and an uneasy peace began.

Guilty Gear X

Less then a year later there were reports of a newly discovered commander Gear. Again, fearing the start of another war, the Union of Nations held another tournament, offering a prize of 500,000 World Dollars for the destruction of this new Gear.

The Gear in question turned out to be a girl named Dizzy, who, while very powerful, had no desire to wage war or needlessly hurt others. She was defeated but spared by Sol Badguy; soon after, she was found by Johnny, the leader of the Jellyfish air pirates, who then welcomed her as one of their own. Meanwhile, the bounty hunter and struggling chef Jam Kuradoberi arranged to take credit for Dizzy's disappearance and collected the reward in order to finance her restaurant.

Guilty Gear XX

In the time following Dizzy's disappearance, the mysterious Post War Administration Bureau began to secretly investigate the Gears and the various fighters of the previous tournaments for their own needs and ambitions. Various powers began to work in the shadows to fight for the control of the world, with many leads pointing to the creator of the Gears, a mysterious figure known only as "That Man". Again, the fighters from before find themselves in events beyond their control.

Characters

Guilty Gear is known for its varied and often bizarre cast of characters. The following lists various major characters in their order of appearance in the series. For more information see Characters in Guilty Gear.

Guilty Gear

• Sol Badguy
• Ky Kiske
• May
• Chipp Zanuff
• Dr. Baldhead
• Potemkin
• Zato-1
• Kliff Undersn
• Axl-Low
• Millia Rage
• Baiken
• Testament
• Justice

Guilty Gear X

• Jam
• Johnny
• Anji Mito
• Faust
• Venom
• Dizzy

Guilty Gear Petit

• Fanny

Guilty Gear XX

• Eddie
• Slayer
• I-No
• Bridget
• Zappa
• Robo-Ky

Guilty Gear Isuka

• A.B.A
• Leopaldon
• Robo Ky Mk. II
• Zako-dan

Other Characters (Non-Playable)

• That Man
• Raven
• Gabriel
• Sharon
• Roger
• S-Ko
• April
• Leap

Music references

Daisuke Ishiwatari is a devoted enthusiast of heavy metal and other forms of rock music. Throughout the series, the names of the various characters and attacks contain many references to various musicians, songs, bands, and album titles. For instance, Testament has an attack named "Master of Puppets", after the album of the same name by Metallica; Eddie is named after the zombie mascot of Iron Maiden; Axl Low is modelled on Axl Rose, and so on. Referenced more than any other group however is Ishiwatari's favorite band: Queen. Not only are there characters named after all four members of the band (May - Brian May, Johnny - John Deacon, Roger - Roger Taylor, and Sol's actual name is Frederick - Freddie Mercury), but a number of attacks are also named after their songs and albums. Slayer has an attack named "Under Pressure," and Potemkin's finishing move is named "Magnum Opera," a reference to the album "A Night at the Opera." Even the name Sol Badguy is a reference to Freddie Mercury's solo album "Mr. Bad Guy".

• A.B.A is named for Swedish pop group ABBA.
• Axl Low is clearly modelled on Guns 'n' Roses member Axl Rose.
• Anji-Mito's theme song, "Fuuga" is based on a Motley Crue song, "Live Wire".
• Bridget's special move "Kickstart My Heart" is named after the Mötley Crüe song of the same title, his Shoot the Moon attack is named for a Mr. Big song, and his "Starship" attack is named for the band of the same name.
• Chipp Zanuff is named for Chip Z'nuff , vocalist for glam rock band Enuff Z' Nuff .
• Dizzy is named for Guns 'n' Roses member, Darren 'Dizzy' Reed. Her "Skull Crusher" may be a reference to the Overkill song "Skull Krusher". Her overdrive "Gamma Ray", which Justice can also use, is named after a band. Her attack Hunger Strike is named for a song by grunge band Temple of the Dog.
• Eddie is named after the zombie mascot of Iron Maiden. His attack "Break the Law" is a reference to the Judas Priest song "Breaking the Law" and his instant kill "Black in Mind" is named after a album by Rage. His Shadow Gallery attack is named for an American metal band, and his "Amorphous" attack is named for Finnish band Amorphis.
• Faust may be named after Bard "Faust" Eithun formerly of Black Metal band Emperor, or "Faust", a German thrash metal band. His attack Going My Way is a Lenny Kravitz reference.
• I-No is pronounced "Eno", after Brian Eno. Her character is modelled after Shiina Ringo, a Japanese singer who shares both her characteristic mole and guitar. Her attacks "Chemical Love" and "Last Will and Testament" share the names of a Stevie Wonder song and a The Lurkers album, respectively.
• Jam Kuradoberi's name would be said in Japan as "Kuradoberi Jam", a reference to Swedish pop/jazz group Cloudberry Jam who was popular in Japan at one stage. Another (but perhaps less likely) explanation is that she is named for the bands Pearl Jam and The Cranberries.
• Johnny is named for Queen member John Deacon. Given that he is a hard-smokin', brawlin' womaniser (and his theme song, "Liquor bar and Drunkard", suggests quite a drinker), it is not much to assume that the man in black with the cowboy hat is also an homage to the late Johnny Cash (though Cash had not yet died at the character's conception). Possible reference to Black Sabbath song "Johnny Blade".
• Justice shares the Gamma Ray overdrive with Dizzy, an attack named after a band of the same name. It is a slight stretch but possible that she is named for "...and Justice for all", a Metallica album. Their theme song from Guilty Gear XX, "Meet Again" is possibly named for a Pantera song.
• Kliff Undersn's attack "Soul Survivor" is either a reference to Helloween song Sole Survivor or Gorefest album Soul Survivor. He may also be named after the late bassist Cliff Burton, formerly of Metallica.
• Ky Kiske is named after Kai Hansen and Michael Kiske from the power metal band Helloween. His special moves Ride the Lightning and Rising Force are named after Metallica and Yngwie Malmsteen albums, respectively. Ky's theme song, Holy Orders(Be Just or be Dead), is a reference to Iron Maiden song Be Quick or Be Dead.
• May, as mentioned above, is named for Queen member Brian May.
• Millia Rage is named after the band Meliah Rage . Her Iron Savior , Emerald Rain , Silent Force , Winger, and Iron Maiden attacks are all named after bands. Her Bad Moon attack is named for Rory Gallagher's song "Bad Moon Rising".
• Potemkin's "Hammer Fall" attack is named after the band Hammerfall. His instant kill move "Magnum Opera" is a reference to Queen album "A Night at the Opera" and|or Yngwie Malmsteen album Magnum Opus. Potemkin's Heavenly Potemkin Buster move is named for French power metal band, Heavenly. The airborne nation of Zepp, from which Potemkin hails, is likely named for Led Zeppelin. Adding further to the Led Zeppelin reference is the fact that Potemkin's theme song, "Burly Heart", is based heavily on the Led Zeppelin song "Kashmir".
• Robo-Ky's 'Aegis High' is likely named for Iron Maiden's song Aces High.
• Roger, Bridget's teddybear, is named for Queen member Roger Taylor.
• Sharon is possibly named for Sharon Osbourne, or Sharon den Adel of the goth metal band Within Temptation.
• Slayer is named for the band of the same name. His attacks Under Pressure, Dead On Time , Spread Your Wings , All Dead , and It's Late are all named for Queen songs. His Undertow is named for an album by Tool while his Royal Hunt is a Danish metal band.
• Sol Badguy is a reference to Freddie Mercury's solo album "Mr. Bad Guy". Sol's real name is Frederick, a reference to Freddie Mercury. His attack Napalm Death is named for a British grindcore band. Sol's theme song Keep Yourself Alive is named for a Queen song. Sol's trademark headband bears the words "Rock You", a reference to Queen song We Will Rock You. According to the game's manual, Sol's hobbies are "Listening to Queen" and his favourite thing is Queen's 1974 album Sheer Heart Attack. On a somewhat tenuous note, the rather unusual way Sol holds his flaming sword (particularly while blocking) is remarkably like the way Freddie Mercury "swordfights" with his Mic stand in the Princes of the Universe video against Christopher Lambert. It's generally thought that Sol is Ishiwatari's own personal character, further supported by the fact that Ishiwatari provides the in-game voice for Sol.
• Testament is named for the band of the same name. His attacks "Grave Digger " and "Warrant " are both named after bands, and his attack "Master of Puppets", is named after an album by Metallica. His Seventh Sign attack is named for a song by Yngwie Malmsteen.
• Venom is named for the band of the same name. His attack "Carcass Raid" could be a reference to the band Carcass, and his "Dark Angel" overdrive is a reference to the thrash metal band of the same name.
• Zappa is named after Frank Zappa. His attack "Last Edguy" may be named for Edguy, a power metal band from Fulda, Germany .
• Zato-1 - see Eddie.
• The "Heaven or Hell" at the start of every fight is a reference to a Gamma Ray song of that name.
• The word Slash, shown on screen whenever one character defeats the other by a knockout, is also the name of a Guns n' Roses member Saul 'Slash' Hudson.
• One of the stages in the game is named Nirvana, after the band Nirvana.
• Guilty Gear X's title screen shows a subtitle of "[BY YOUR SIDE "G.GEAR"]" - referencing the Black Crowes album, By Your Side.
• An album containing excellent Guilty Gear vocal tracks was released in Japan, named Rising Force of Gear Image Vocal Tracks, a reference to Yngwie Malmsteen album Rising Force. Of the three CDs of the album, one is titled Side I - ROCK YOU!! (a reference to Queen song We Will Rock You) and the second Side II - SLASH!! (a reference to guitarist Slash). The third Side III - DESTROY!! may be a reference to Metallica song Seek and Destroy.
• The song Fatal Duel is modeled after the guitar stylings of Alexi Laiho, particularly the Sinergy song Venomous Vixens.
• The Song "The Midnight Carnival" features an opening section pretty much lifted wholesale from the X Japan song "Kurenai".
• The song "D.O.A", the GGXX Character select music, seems based on the intro to "Kiss of Death" by Dokken.

Trivia

The character of S-ko, one of the spirits that possesses Zappa, is a reference to the film and book Ring's malevolent apparition, Sadako. Supporting this is Zappa's Instant Kill, which causes Sadako to reach out and grab at the enemy. If caught, the victim is made to view a tree blowing in the wind while Kana appears before the screen cuts to blaring static with an eye in the center.

Zato-1 is a reference to the fictional blind swordsman Zatoichi, "ichi" being Japanese for the number 'one'.

The known crew of the Jellyfish Pirates(who appear in May's Instant Kill attack), are all named after months of the year.

• Janice(January), a black cat
• Febe(Febuary), the record-keeper
• March, the youngest, who always carries her stuffed penguin
• April, May's best friend, the pilot
• May (See above)
• June, a purple-haired girl with a sextant in hand (probably the navigator)
• July, an eyepatched girl with a sword, said to be the fourth-strongest fighter after Dizzy, Johnny, and May.
• Augus(August), a swift fighter
• Sephy(September, who cleans the deck
• Octy(October), a girl with hidden eyes and telescope in hand
• Novel(November), a girl who always rides a large red mecha
• Dizzy(December), (See above)
• and Leap(Year), the cook.

External links

• Sammy Studios
• The Gear Project
• RomanCancel.com
• Hyperion X Online
• GuiltyGear.ru Project
• Majesco's GGXX#Reload Official Site
• Guilty Gear Isuka official site.