🚀 go-pugleaf

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+++++++++++++++ 3.  Brain Gauge+++++++++++++++++
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Under your health bar (the big artery extending from your heart) is your
Brain Gauge.  Each time you take or block a hit, your brain gauge goes
down. If your brain gauge ever reaches "empty" when you get hit (_not_
while blocking), electricity will loudly crackle around your brain and you
will become stunned.  Although you can't get stunned while blocking, you
can still be taken to "empty" brain, allowing a quick stun with few
successful hits thereafter.

   Brain power regenerates quickly; as long as you don't get hit for a
while you will soon be fine.  However, if you _do_ become stunned, shake
the joystick left and right (nothing else will help!) to regain your brain
faster. Once it reaches "full" again you will return to normal.  This also
works for "auto stuns" from special moves: Blizzard's Punching Bag and
freezes, Vertigo's Voodoo Spell and Come Slither, Diablo's Torch and
Inferno Flash, or Chaos' FoFury.
     Note that if a character's brain meter is emptied during a combo, he
won't fall down and get up dizzy until after the combo is completed.

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++++++++++++++ 4.  Offense and Defense++++++++++++
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///4.1  Offense///

   Mix it up!  Using attacks that require the opponent to block low and
high alternately can be very disturbing (not to mention frustrating!), so
know which attacks must be blocked high and which low! Same goes for being
on defense - see that section for more details. The old "leaping attacks"
can now be blocked with standing blocks (just press away!), although your
recovery time from the block is seriously long, so the only bad result of
doing a leaping attack is being vulnerable in the air (though you do also
land close to your opponent, so if you're a distance fighter...). The
exception is Talon's Brain Basher - it's possible for an opponent like
Armadon to block it and then uppercut him with a low 1+2.
   Remember that on version 2.3, all blocked basic attacks and nearly all
blocked special attacks _do damage_ to your opponent. Unlike most other
games, this damage is indeed significant, and will tip any close match.
Block damage can be used to beat reclusive opponents, human or CPU, if you
can sustain an assault for long enough. Just do "dink" damage for the
entire round, and when the clock runs out and the other guy has no health
left...

///4.2  Defense///

4.2.1 Blocking

   Blocking in Primal Rage starts off simple:  to block a high attack,
pull directly away from your opponent on the joystick.  To block a low
attack, pull down and away on the joystick. Don't touch or hold down the
buttons while doing this, or you won't be blocking! If you get hit once,
and someone starts to unleash a combo, you can't block it. That's why it's
called a combo! So, the moral of the story is... don't get hit! ^_^ On the
other hand, sometimes a human player or even the CPU will accidentally
pause in the middle of a combo, unintentionally ending it early and giving
you a chance to block their next attack.

   New in version 2.3 is block damage.  Well, not entirely new, but now
all blocked basic attacks & almost all blocked special attacks do
significant "tick" damage to the blocker's heart meter, and slight damage
to the brain gauge. However, you can't usually die from taking block
damage, no matter how little health you have left! So turtle up when
you're running on empty! [Note: there seems to be an unintentional
exception: if the block damage of a move precisely equals the amount of
health left, then blocking it can be fatal. This has been seen many times
with block damage from basic attacks like Vertigo's low 3+4, and special
attacks like Armadon's Iron Maiden.]

Block these attacks high (most of them involve a descending overhead
strike):

1) Armadon's crouching 3
2) Blizzard and Chaos' standing 3+4, and Chaos' standing 4
3) Talon's standing 1+2
4) Vertigo's crouching 3 or 4
5) Diablo's Pulverizer, Talon's Brain Basher
6) Air attacks, of course. ^_^ Be extra careful on combo'd air attacks -
you have to block both hits high!

Block these low (most of them involve a strike to the feet):

1) All characters' low 3+4
2) Most characters' low 3, except Armadon's & Vertigo's 
3) Most characters' low 4, except Vertigo's
4) Diablo's Hot Foot
5) Talon's Slasher
6) Vertigo's Come Slither
7) Chaos' Ground Shaker? (Sauron's Earthquake can be blocked high in 2.3)

4.2.2 Cross-up Attacks

     Beware cross-up air attacks, which hit you so far behind that you
must push the joystick forward to block! Each character has a center of
mass located at about the abdomen. If an attack hits you in front of your
center of mass, you can defend normally. If it hits behind your center of
mass, you must hold your joystick in the opposite direction instead. The
2.3 CPU Talon likes to do cross-up air 1+2s on you as you're getting up
from a knockdown! When buffering a special air attack into air cross-up
hits, do the move in the direction you're facing when airborne. Do special
moves the ordinary way when buffering them into ground hits, cross-up or
not.
     Armadon's Spinning Death is another example. If Armie times it
precisely as you get up, he'll be spinning behind your center of mass -
you must hold the joystick in the opposite direction you'd otherwise hold
it, or you will get hurt. The 2.3 CPU Armadon does this every once in a
while. 
     There is a particular cross-up corner-trap that can get you a No
Cheeze meter! Take Vertigo vs player (or CPU) Armadon. Armadon does the
Iron Maiden when Vertigo is standing in the right-hand corner. Vertigo
jumps up to avoid the attack, and comes down directly above Armadon, who
is recovering from his special move. Facing away from the corner [left],
she bites him with lots of low 1s. The low 1s hit Armadon behind his
center of mass, so the knockback sends him back toward the corner, right
into Vertie's jaws! If Vertie tries to use more than five 1s in a single
combo she'll get a No Cheeze meter, which is the only thing that keeps
this trap from turning into a an infinite combo.

4.2.3 Avoiding Projectiles

Jumping to avoid projectiles can be hazardous to your health. If you take
off with a long jump or Leaping Attack as soon as your opponent begins to
fire, you might be able to score a hit, but then again you might not clear
the projectile and/or jump straight into an anti-air attack. All
characters seem to be more vulnerable to projectiles underneath them if
they do a jumping High Attacks (jumping Low Attacks are safer). For
example, if Vertigo does a jumping quick bite, rendering her body
horizontal way above Blizzard's Freeze Breath, she'll get frozen anyway.
So, what do you do when you opponent think's he's Ryu? Four other possible
options...

a)  Some parts of some moves are invulnerable to some attacks (sometimes
:). Moves such as Chaos' FoFury, Diablo's Torch, Sauron's Primal Scream, &
Talon's Slasher will allow projectiles to pass through or over your
character without hitting you. Teleports will let you avoid the projectile
completely. And then there's all the anti-projectile moves other than
Leaping Attacks...

b)  Depending on who you are, you can just fire a projectile to cancel
your  opponent's projectile.  Some projectiles pass through some other
projectiles, though, so be warned!

c)  If your projectile doesn't cancel the opponent's projectile and you
still have some time, you can fire another projectile.  The second
projectile will cancel your opponent's projectile!  Diablo vs. Chaos is a
good example. This hasn't been tested on everyone, so it might not work
for some!

d) Some characters are can duck underneath some projectiles when they
crouch, or block low. For example, Vertigo can duck completely under
Blizzard's Freeze Breath if you hold the joystick straight down (not
down&back), while Diablo & others can duck completely underneath Sauron's
Stun Roar if they crouch or block low. On the other hand, no one can duck
underneath Chaos' Power Puke. Some character's basic attacks (such as
Vertigo's crouching bites, or Talon's low claw attacks and kicks) can hit
a nearby projectile thrower without trading damage.

///4.3 Simultaneous Attack Collisions///

ku...@agames.com (Frank Kuan): writes:
Here's an interesting bit if info about version 2.3.
When SIMULTANEOUS collisions occur between normal (quick, fierce) and
power (two button), it follows this general formula:

1. quick wins over fierce
2. fierce beats power
3. power beats quick.

There are a few exceptions. An air attack done during a quick hop attack
has less priority than any other attack. On version 1.7, it was more
streetfighter'ish in the sense that any normal attack may have a "sweet
spot" where at the right range and timing, it would always beat anything
else. Version 2.3 was tuned so that "sweet spots" on normal and power
attacks were removed, so that simultaneous collisions would occur more
often and it would follow the arbitration rules of above. 

The beauty of the 3 rules of arbitration is that it GUARANTEES the
usefulness of every single normal/power attack in the game. It's like
rock/papers/scissors. If Talon uses air high power too much, you KNOW you
can beat him with any fierce attack. 

///4.4 Total Domination, Quick Kill, & Scoring *new info for version
2.3*///

4.4.1 Total Domination

In version 2.3, winning a "perfect" battle (i.e. without losing *any*
health, not even block-damage) is acknowledged as a "TOTAL DOMINATION."
These are not always as hard to get as one might think, especially in
certain matches vs the CPU (try repeatedly using Sauron's air 3 and/or air
throw on CPU Diablo).

4.4.2 Quick Kill

A normal PR round lasts for 60 seconds. On version 2.3, destroying your
opponent with 50 or more seconds remaining on the timer merits a "QUICK
KILL" award. This is *much* harder to get than a TOTAL DOMINATION, though
not impossible (try swiftly & repeatedly using Diablo's standing 1+2 on
CPU Armadon, or stunning CPU Blizzard with five of Vertigo's standing
3+4s, teleporting next to him, and finishing him off with a lethal combo).


4.4.3 Scoring

     PR has a scoring system just like most other video games out there.
When the arcade game is in demo mode, you can bring up the high score
screen anytime by hold the joysticks toward one another. Hold the
joysticks away from each other to bring up the credits screen.
     If you beat the top score then you get to enter up to 15 letters, and
the character you played will crouch atop a shadowy hill (facing right if
you used the 1-player side, or left if you used the 2-player side)
whenever the scores are displayed. You have plenty of time to enter your
name, since the countdown begins with 20 seconds and renews to 15 seconds
every time you enter a letter, until it runs out or you enter the "end"
square.
     If your score is worthy of a 2nd through 10th place slot, then you
just get to enter three letters. On version 1.7, your name would be
completely eliminated from the roster if it were bumped off the top slot.
On version 2.3, the name in the top slot name is merely bumped to second
place by a higher score, and then only its first three letters are
visible.
     Note that the operator can allow only certain letter combinations in
the Full Name entry, if he wishes. The PR Censor has a default setting to
Strict, and if you enter a censored word it will be replaced by a string
of j's.
     Unfortunately, you cannot see your score on the game screen during
your battles. In between battles, when the game shows you what area you
have just conquered, your score is represented by the "number of
worshipers" in the lower right-hand corner. The scores in the chart below
are for version 1.7, though I doubt they've been changed much for version
2.3...

action                                    Worshipers/Points Awarded

each continue                                                  1
every 1% damage inflicted on opponent          100
first four hits in a single combo                        1,000 per hit
fifth and successive hits in a single combo        2,000 per hit 
     (maximum 20,000 per combo)
eating one of your opponent's followers           10,000
     (except during Bonus Round)
opponent eats one of your followers                -10,000
you eat one of your own followers                  -40,000
     (except during the Bonus Round)
doing a finishing move                                     50,000
Total Domination, or Quick Kill,                     20,000
     or both in same round
world domination                                             100,000
winning the game                                             200,000
bonus for winning with less than 10 continues  1,000,000
bonus for winning without continuing              5,000,000 
     (these last three bonuses aren't cumulative)

///4.5 CPU AI patterns///

     The CPU AI in version 2.3 has been almost completely overhauled. From
the second battle on up, the CPU tends to use all its special moves more
(except fatalities, which it never does), more elaborate combos, and
cannot be as easily suckered with a constant barrage of attacks as before.
But in addition to its new strengths, the CPU has also gained new
weaknesses. Generally, you can win by anticipating and retaliating against
the CPU's tendency to jump and/or use special moves. Here are some very
brief weaknesses to exploit, if you want to rule the new Urth...

CPU Armadon

     Use anti-air moves or Armadon/Blizzard/Chaos/Talon's low 1+2 to hit
CPU Armadon out of the air when he jumps, which is very often. Block and
retaliate against his Mega Charge. He's also a sucker for Armadon's Mega
Charge, Diablo's Mega Lunge, and Chaos/Sauron's air Earthquake. Vertigo
can go for a low 1+2, Fast Venom Spit combo, or bite him out of the air
with her low 2 if she's far enough away, then do a Venom Spit as he gets
up. He'll probably either do the Iron Maiden or jump with a 4; she can
wait until after he swings his tail, knock him down with another bite, and
repeat. Use her air-to-air teleport to escape his corner-traps.
     Want to practice your ground combos? Knock Armie down and crouch next
to him. Wait for him to get up and try his tail-over-the-head attack. Then
nail him with a combo that begins with a low 1. Your low 1 is faster than
his attack; you'll hit him out of it and work him over! If you slip up and
attack too early, he'll just block your attempted combo, which is not as
much fun. ^_^
     Want to practice your air combos? Knock Armie down and toss a
projectile at him just as he gets up. If the projectile hits him, he'll
always do the Iron Maiden; jump straight up and pound him with a combo on
the way down.
     Armadon always starts his turn in the Final Battle with an off-screen
wail; then he leaps in with the Iron Maiden. 

CPU Blizzard

     Armadon and Vertigo can repeatedly swat him with their standing 3+4
from far enough away; Blizzard can repeatedly use the Short Mega Punch
followed by low 1s; Blizzard and Sauron can air throw him if he doesn't
Ice Geyser them first. Diablo and Sauron can chomp him with their standing
2 when he's just within their range; Chaos and Sauron can use their air
Earthquakes; Talon can get him with combos starting with a low 4 from a
short distance away. Everyone can long jump or hop jump back in the hope
of suckering Blizzard into a Mega Punch, duck/block the move, knock him
down, and repeat.
     Blizzard always starts his round in the Final Battle with the Freeze
Breath from off screen; then he jumps in.

CPU Chaos

     He almost always follows up his Power Puke or FoFury with either the
Battering Ram or the Flying Butt Slam. Block/dodge the moves and
retaliate. Armadon can jump in on him with air 4, air 3+4. Blizzard and
Sauron can repeatedly air throw him even if he's on the ground. Chaos and
Sauron can fall back on their air Earthquakes. Diablo can long-jump in
with air 3+4s; if he leaps from the right distance, Chaos will jump into
the attack, especially if Chaos is just getting up from a knockdown. Talon
can nail him by long-jumping in with combos that start with air 2, air
1+2. Vertigo can teleport to the ground on his opposite side and nail him
with a combo that starts with a low 1.
     Chaos always starts the Final Battle with the FoFury from off-screen
(long jump away to avoid it); then he leaps in with the Flying Butt Slam.

CPU Diablo

     He tends to jump in response to your jumps. Leap toward him with your
air 3 or air 4 until you knock him down; then as he gets up, jump toward
him with an air throw or air combo, and he'll probably jump into it. The
key is not to do the air attack until after he jumps. Hang back when he
starts going crazy with out-of-range attacks, though, because he's about
to leap forward with his high-priority air 1+2. When you're getting up
from a knockdown, he likes to try a three-hit cross-up combo followed by
the Pulverizer. Block the combo, then jump and hit him out of the air.
     Diablo always starts the Final Battle with a roar from off screen
(his voice is more hoarse than Sauron's - probably a side effect of all
that smoking :); then he teleports in.

CPU Sauron

     He likes to use his air Earthquake Stomp followed up with his
standing 1+2 a lot. When he goes for the Earthquake, long jump toward him
(avoiding the stomp) and combo him. He'll try walk up to you and bite you,
too; wait until he's in range and scratch him with low 1s.
     Sauron always starts the Final Battle with a roar from off screen.
Then he jumps straight down from above with an Earthquake Stomp, but this
particular earthquake won't damage you and he won't follow it up with his
standing 1+2. 

CPU Talon

     He has the most vicious of all the overhauled CPU AI's. He'll fall
for Armadon's Iron Maiden, Chaos' & Sauron's air Earthquakes, or Diablo's
air 3+4 a lot. Blizzard can tick block-damage off him with combos
involving the Fake Mega Punch. Talon can target his alter ego's backside
with the air 1+2. Everyone can hop jump toward him and make him block some
air attack(s). He'll frequently respond with his Slasher or a slide kick +
Frantic Fury combo; low block and quickly retaliate.
     Talon always starts the Final Battle with a yowl from off screen,
then jumps in with the Brain Basher. 

CPU Vertigo

     Like Diablo, she tends to jump in response to your jumps. If you jump
toward her with a high priority air attack(s) (such as Vertigo's 3+4, the
other lizards' 1+2, or the apes' 2 or 4) then she'll most likely leap into
it. Again, the key is not to attack until after she leaves the ground. If
her jumping bites hit you instead, then you probably either jumped from
the wrong distance or attacked too soon. She's vulnerable to combos
starting with a low 1 whenever she uses her ground-to-ground teleport, and
she almost never uses air teleports except in response to certain special
attacks, such as projectiles.
     Vertigo always starts the Final Battle with a hiss from off screen,
then teleports in, appearing on the ground nearby.

///4.6  Final Battle///

     After conquering all seven territories with one character, the last
of which must be won from the CPU, you are awarded "WORLD DOMINATION." If
a second player joins in during the first six matches, beating him will
conqer the territory and ruler you otherwise would have fought, even if
the second player didn't use that character. If that's the case, though,
then you lose the opportunity to do a fatality on the ruler you didn't
fight. If a second player joins in during the seventh match, you must
re-conquer the world after beating him. If you join in during any match
and beat the other player, you must conquer all the other territories
afterward, even if he conquered some of them and you're using the same
character as he did. You'll also have to re-conquer the world if you lose
a match and continue on the other side, or with a different character
(changing your character's color won't make a difference though :).
     After winning WORLD DOMINATION, you arrive at a stage where you have
to fight all seven characters again in one big round, with the clock
turned off. This is called the "Final Battle." It takes place on a special
"Dinosaur Graveyard" stage. There are no worshipers or pterodactyls moving
about in the background. If you die during the Final Battle then you can
continue from the precise point at which you left off [the continue
countdown is 15 seconds instead of the usual 10], but you cannot change
characters and if a second player joins in the Final Battle ends (see
Final Battle Bugs in version 2.3).
       Fortunately, there are three ways to make the Final Battle easier.
The first is to do fatalities on as many opponents as you can (remember
that you can't do a fatality on an opponent if your second win is a "time
over" victory, or if you don't fight him because a second player has
joined in). Dead enemies will flicker like ghosts in the Final Battle, and
every attack you do to them will inflict extra damage. Regardless of
whether a given enemy is solid or flickering, the instant you exhaust his
health meter he will collapse and revert to bones, which become part of
the background. Unlike normal rounds, you can't finish a big combo if your
opponent expires in the middle of it. When an enemy dies, you stand still
and will remain frozen until you hear the voice of your next foe.
     The second advantage is to know each CPU foes' signature entrance,
anticipate it, and dodge or retaliate (signature entrances are described
in the section 4.5, "CPU AI PATTERNS"). There are two ways to tell which
opponent you'll fight next. One is to watch for the name under the enemy's
health meter, which appears just as the battle starts. The other is to
listen for the enemy's voice (or projectile sound, for the apes). Each PR
character has a unique voice for their wordless battle cries/screams of
pain.
     Your third advantage is that before arriving at this stage, you have
a chance to acquire more than 100% total strength. The game will say "NOW
YOU MUST REPLENISH YOUR HEALTH BEFORE THE FINAL BATTLE," and a 20-second
bonus round commences. It takes place on the background of the last enemy
you beat, and all you do is eat worshipers and pterodactyls for more
strength. It is possible to obtain up to a maximum of 100% extra health,
which will appear in a green life meter after your red life meter has been
exhausted. You can eat both people & pterodactyls in the bonus round by
doing each character's 'Eat a worshiper' move, or use a normal bite to eat
just the pterodactyls. The humans are much more nutritious than the
pterodactyls, which give you a mere 1% health each. Even if you can't find
anything to eat, 18% extra health automatically trickles into your reserve
life bar.

A little phrase pops up during this mini-round:

     Armadon - TO GIVE YOU STRENGTH FOR THE FINAL CONFRONTATION, YOUR
TRIBE SACRIFICES ITSELF TO YOU.
     Blizzard - NOW DINE ON A FINE FEAST OF FOLLOWERS.
     Chaos - CHOW DOWN. IT'S A PAGAN PICNIC.
     Diablo - FEASTING FRENZY!
     Sauron - EAT OF YOUR TRIBE THAT YOU MIGHT REMAIN IMMORTAL.
     Talon - CHEW UP AS MANY HUMANS AS YOU CAN.
     Vertigo - SWALLOW THE TINY HUMANS WHOLE.

FINAL BATTLE BUG in VERSION 1.7:

     At the mini-round, do NOT get 100% health. If you do, in the Final
Battle, when you lose your first 100% of health, you will NOT get the
health you earned in the mini-round. Your game will be over.

FINAL BATTLE BUGS in VERSION 2.3:

1) Twice now, I've seen a second entire *red* life meter appear after the
first red life meter was used up, but before the green life meter was
started. It happened once while I was watching a friend play Armadon, and
once while I was playing Blizzard. Not to complain, but it was kind of
weird... 

2) When Chaos' "signature entrance" FoFury cloud appears behind you, do
not hold the joystick toward it (i.e. don't back into it while trying to
block). The game will freeze, display a screenfull of incomprehensible
numbers along with the words "press three times to continue," and reset
when you tap the buttons. It's happened to me on several occasions with
different characters, and this time I *am* complaining. A simple way to
avoid this glitch is to long jump away from the FoFury when it appears,
avoiding it and Chaos' Flying Butt Slam.

3) It is possible for a second player to join in during the Final Battle
on version 2.3. You'll fight your match on the dinosaur graveyard stage,
and the winner will get to re-conquer the world. Unfortunately, the game
will crash if/when you make it back to the Final Battle again. When this
happened to me, halfway through the Final Battle I heard Sauron's roar but
the game reset before he could show up.