I know we don’t typically post FAQs or guides aside from Lucard’s excellent Pokemon pieces, but foreseeing a list of questions arising for our users based on my review of the import PSP game Sunday x Magazine Shuuketsu! Choujou Daikenssen, I slapped together a general FAQ for the game that should cover any basic questions people might have with the title. Any questions you might have regarding the navigation of menus, what manga/anime characters are included in the title and how to unlock everything in the game is included in the FAQ.
How do I navigate the game’s menus?
Arcade Mode (Red)
-Very straight forward – pick a character, choose your command mode and fight through seven characters.
-At the character select screen, pressing triangle will cycle through the current character’s four costume variations; pressing square will pull up the current character’s skill assignment menu; pressing select chooses a character at random.
-When you pause the game, the options available are from top to bottom: Resume game, Return to Main Menu, Command List.
-When you win a match, the stats displayed from top to bottom are: Vitality bonus, time bonus, combo bonus, total score.
-After you beat the game, you will be given a performance overview. The three stats are from top to bottom: Total score, highest combo and number of perfect rounds.
Quest Mode (Green)
-The opening welcomes the player to quest mode and describes how the orbs obtained the mode can be used on the characters.
-After the opening, players are given the very obvious options of playing solo (left option) or with up to three others via ad hoc (right option).
-The single player quest gateway menu gives players the option of choosing between three different environments. Simply select an environment and choose a level (when beginning, only one level is available in each), at which point you’ll be taken to the character select screen.
-If multiplayer is selected, the WLAN will kick in and then a Match Play menu will pop up. The top option allows you to host your own match while the bottom option will pull up hosted rooms that you can join.
-When the game is paused, an extra option is made available – the third option allows you to go back to the character select screen.
Free Battle (Blue)
-Single/Multiplayer select (obviously left is versus computer, right is versus human via ad hoc)
*Versus computer
-Select character/command mode
-Select opponent (after selecting opponent, the top, red option is a versus match against the CPU, the bottom, blue option makes the opponent a dummy for training)
-Select stage
-If you are training, the pause menu will add a few options not available from the arcade/quest modes: The fifth option is a training menu which allows you to change (from top to bottom) the CPU’s action, the difficulty the CPU fights at if the action is set to COM and whether you want a normal E-Gauge or an infinite one. The sixth option restarts the training, placing both characters at the beginning position in the stage.
*Versus human
-Selecting this option will pull up the very same Match Play menu as described in Quest Mode.
My Room (Yellow)
Top Option: Character Skill Assignment/Development
-Select a Character (After selecting a character, you are given two options: top – skill assignment; bottom – skill development)
*Skill Assignment
X = Exit; Triangle = Go to skill development chart; Select = Change button commands from technical/simple mode; L/R = Move to next character
-Support Character (Important note – the very top option, “nashi,” means nothing. If you have the very top option selected, that character will not have a support character to use in battle)
-Special Moves
-Super Move
*Skill Development
Circle = Add orbs to current skill circle chain; X = Exit; Triangle = Go to skill assignment chart; L/R = Move to next character
Middle Option: Records
-Total Play Time
-Number of times player has cleared arcade mode
-Percentage of skill chains completed
-Percentage of support characters unlocked
-Network statistics (versus game play stats)
Bottom Option: Database
Contains information and portraits for characters and manga series that are featured in the game. Each entry unlocks automatically as the player progresses through the game with unlockable battle and support characters.
Options (Purple)
-Computer Difficulty
-Round Time (top – arcade mode; bottom – free battle)
-Rounds (top – arcade mode; bottom – free battle)
-Volume
-Navigator (the character that welcomes you at the main menu)
-Button Configure
-The options at the bottom from left to right are: Save, Load, Default, Exit
What characters are playable in Sunday x Magazine?
There are 30 playable characters – the asterisks indicate default characters, all others must be unlocked. The series the character comes from is in parenthesis with the English translation (or differing English name if the series was released in the U.S. in some form) listed in brackets.
Kaoau* (Zettai Karen Children [Absolutely Lovely Children])
Hayate* (Hayate no Gotoku! [Hayate the Combat Butler])
Negi *(Mahou Sensei Negima! [Negima!: Magister Negi Magi])
Lucy* (Fairy Tale)
Natsu* (Fairy Tale)
Yoshimori* (Kekkaishi [Barrier])
Tokine (Kekkaishi [Barrier])
Kenichi* (ShijÃ…Â SaikyÃ…Â no Deshi Kenichi [Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple])
The Masked Crossiant (Air Gear)
Ikki* (Air Gear)
Miu (ShijÃ…Â SaikyÃ…Â no Deshi Kenichi [Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple])
Ueki (Ueki no Housoku [The Law of Ueki])
Mechazawa (Cromartie High School)
Takamura (Hajime no Ippo [Fighting Spirit])
Ippo* (Hajime no Ippo [Fighting Spirit])
Takatsuki* (ARMS)
Inuyasha* (Inuyasha)
Recca (Recca no Honoo [Flame of Recca])
Kyo (Samurai Deeper Kyo)
Ban* (Get Backers)
Ushio (Ushio and Tora)
Yaiba (Kenyuu Densetsu Yaiba [Legend of the Swordmaster Yaiba])
Tiger Mask (Tiger Mask)
Devilman (Devilman)
Kotaro (Kotaro Makaritoru! [Kotaro Breakthrough!])
R (Kyukyoku Chojin R [R The Ultimate Esper])
Takizawa (HonÃ…Â no TenkÃ…Âsei [Blazing Transfer Student])
Boss (Sunday x Magazine)
009 (Cyborg 009)
Joe (Ashita no Joe [Tomorrow’s Joe])
Who is Boss?
Boss is, obviously, the boss character introduced in Sunday x Magazine. While he is affiliated with the Sunday side of the roster, he is given no manga origin, which makes me believe he is an original character made just for the game.
What Support Characters are available?
Since this isn’t a full-service FAQ, I won’t be listing all of the game’s around 90 support characters (I’m not really well-educated on kanji to translate some of the characters I’m not familiar with any way). As a service to fans, though, some of the support characters originate from manga series aside from those represented in the playable character roster, such as MMR and Super Doctor K along with various mascot characters such as Gu-Gu Ganma. Otherwise, the characters are accompanied by support characters you would expect to see – Simca-chan helps out Ikki from Air Gear, Ginji supports Ban from Get Backers, Lucy from Fairy Tale can call on Gray, etc. Most of the series offers more than one support character and when you unlock a support character, you can view a description and portrait of that character in the Database option under My Room and the full text list of support characters can be cycled through when you are in the Skill Assignment menu.
What is Simple Mode?
Left and Right – Moves character left or right. Holding the direction opposite the way your character is facing will block incoming attacks (remaining neutral also blocks attacks). By double tapping left or right, players can dash forward or back step depending on the way the character is currently facing. Some characters can do a full forward run if you hold left or right after the second tap.
Up – Jump – obviously pressing up and left or right at the same time will make the character jump in that direction.
Down – Makes the character crouch. Of course, as it has been the standard for about two decades now, holding down plus away from the character blocks low attacks.
Square – This button makes the character use standard attacks. In simple mode, melee attacking is massively simplified – while standing, pressing the square button three times consecutively makes the character execute a chain combo. Characters can also do a low chain combo by holding down while pressing square three times. Holding away from the opponent and pressing square will execute a specialty strike – most characters do a pop-up launcher but some characters differ; for example Ikki from Air Gear will reel back for a few seconds and lunge forward with a blow that dazes the opponent for a short time. With the simplified controls, this also only gives players one mid-air attack and one dashing attack.
Traingle and Circle – Simple mode eliminates the need to punch in commands to execute special moves, requiring players to hit triangle, circle or triangle and circle simultaneously to perform the character’s three allotted special moves.
X – The X button handles all of the character’s evasive and recovery moves. Pressing X while standing will make the character perform a forward evasion which moves through enemy attacks and allows the player to evade through the opponent to move behind him/her. If you are struck and sent airborne or are hit in mid-air, pressing X will execute a mid-air recover so the character is able to defend against juggling attacks. If the player is knocked down, pressing X allows the character to stand up faster while holding left or right while pressing X will allow them to roll into a standing position in the direction the player pressed.
R Trigger + Triangle or Circle – Pressing R and one of the special move buttons at the same time will trigger the character’s super attack. In order to execute the attack, the player must have the appropriate amount of super gauge in stock.
L Trigger + Square – Pressing L and square at the same time calls on the power of the character’s support character as long as they still have support characters in stock. The result of summoning depends on the chosen support character – ranging from offensive or defensive buffers, prohibiting the opponent from doing certain actions or executing an attack.
L Trigger + R Trigger – Pressing both triggers at the same time when the player has at least one level of super gauge stocked will activate an aura mode. In the aura mode, the character will spark for a short amount of time, during which their offensive and defensive capabilities rise a bit. The mode also increases the launch or pop-up distance of the opponent for certain attacks. If the player is controlling Takasuki of ARMS or Ushio of Ushio and Tora and has a full level three gauge, they can press both triggers to enter aura mode and press both triggers again while in aura mode to transform into an even more powerful form for a moderate amount of time.
What changes in Technical Mode?
Overall, technical mode gives players a lot more freedom in attacking and allows moves to be executed in weak, medium and strong strengths to allow for much higher combo potentials.
Square – Weak attacks that can be executed standing, crouching, dashing or in mid-air.
Triangle – Medium attacks that can be executed standing, crouching, dashing or in mid-air.
Circle – Strong attacks that can be executed standing, crouching, dashing or in mid-air.
Special and super moves are executed by inputting the appropriate directional and button commands listed in the character’s skill assignment or move list.
All other moves are executed in the same method as described in simple mode.
How do combos work?
At its base, players can follow a simple process to piece together combos:
Simple Mode – Jump-in, attack chain (square), special move, super move
Technical Mode – Jump-in or weak/medium dash attack, weak attack, medium attack, strong attack, special move, super move
Remember, that’s just the basis. For example, with some special moves, you can actually chain two special moves together before launching the super move; some special moves only seem to combo after two attacks instead of allowing you to do all three; in technical mode, some weak/medium attacks can be done multiple times to combo into stronger attacks in the chain; etc. You just have to experiment with each character’s moves and find out what works best in any given situation.
Also, don’t forget you can juggle as long as the opponent forgets to use the mid-air recovery. Some special moves bounce characters (most especially in Tiger Mask’s repertoire of grappling maneuvers) and leave opponents open for extra hits so as long as they fail to recover, make them pay for it with extra hits.
It is important to note, though, there is damage scaling involved in the combos, meaning later hits in a combo do less damage than they normally would outside of a combo. Just keep that fact in mind in choosing to use a level three super move at the end of a ten-hit combo instead of just after a couple of hits. While a 24-hit combo might look impressive, you might be better off just using that level three super outside of a combo for more damage – however, using it in a combo guarantees the move will connect. You’ll have to weight the pros and cons of your situation and choose when it is best to use your super moves.
How Do I Unlock Characters in Arcade Mode?
The short answer is: Just play it. When unlockable characters are still available in arcade mode, they will always appear as the final opponent in the mode. I chose a different character every time I played the mode, so I don’t know at this moment whether or not you can beat the game multiple times as the same character and get new hidden opponents every time. I will also note that I used previously hidden characters to go through arcade mode for the final two unlocks (I got to a point where I fought Boss every time with the default roster).
If you want to speed the process up, you can go into the options and set the difficulty to easy and set the number of rounds per match to one. Even with the settings change, the hidden characters will still appear.
How Do I Progress in Quest Mode?
As stated earlier, quest mode takes place in three different environments. Each environment has a total of three levels which unlock as you progress through the mode and after all three levels in an environment are cleared, that section’s boss appears for a fight. Once all three bosses are defeated, the environment
menu will have an arrow directing players to a page on the right, which is the final quest mode fight against Boss. Within each level, a player is given four lives, indicated as hearts above the character’s life meter. Each level also has a time limit – if a player runs out of lives or the time limit expires, the player fails the quest stage.
The forest level requires players to capture portals by clearing each area inside of them. Players can enter and exit portals by pressing the L trigger and each area is cleared by simply pounding on the enemies until the word GO flashes on the right side of the screen.
Forest Level One – Two portals; six areas each.
Forest Level Two – Three portals; six areas each. This level introduces crystals at even-numbered areas – crystals spawn enemies limitlessly until they are destroyed.
Forest Level Three – Four portals; eight areas each.
The industrial environment is probably the most straight-forward of the environments – while battling, you will come across purple monsters with TARGET displayed over their heads. Each level requires players to collect a set amount of keys dropped by this monster, at which point the level instantly ends.
Industrial Level One and Two – Four keys.
Industrial Level Three – Six keys.
The graveyard environment isn’t too difficult either as the levels rely on destroying target monsters.
Graveyard level one – Clear two portals; six areas each – destroy target monsters to continue.
Graveyard level two – Clear three portals; six areas each – destroy target monsters to continue through odd-number areas; destroy crystal to continue through even-numbered areas.
Graveyard level three – Crystals are placed at even-numbered areas in four portals; eight areas each. At random, one of the crystals will be made a red crystal. Once the red crystal is destroyed, gold-colored bats will begin spawning as target monsters – kill four to clear the level.
What Do the Green Orbs Do?
When you damage and defeat enemies in quest mode, your character automatically absorbs green orbs. These are used in unlocking new skills for characters and their use is further explained in the answers section regarding the Skill Development menu in the My Room section.
What are in the treasure chests some of the enemies drop?
The enemies will randomly drop treasure chests and the contents of the each will remain a mystery until you clear the level (be careful, if you don’t clear the level, you will lose all acquired chests). At the results screen, you will be told the contents of the chests, which will be one of four items:
Bonus orbs – For every Orb bonus you pick up, an extra 50 green orbs is added to your skill development total. The bonus orbs are never added in to your results so if you pick up a bonus, you will actually be receiving more orbs than what the results total indicates.
Sunday Ticket – Adds one Sunday ticket to your total, which is displayed on the environment select screen. The Sunday total is the left of the two tabs and is a light red in color.
Magazine Ticket – Adds one Magazine ticket to your total, which is displayed on the environment select screen. The Magazine total is the right of the two tabs and is blue in color.
Support Character – Quest mode chests are how players unlock support characters beyond the default list. When a player picks up a new support character, the game will cycle through which characters were unlocked following the results screen.
Once the maximum amount of tickets or characters is unlocked, they will no longer appear in chests. Thus, when every single battle and support character is unlocked, bonus orbs will be the only item available in quest mode chests. I haven’t played long enough to achieve a maximum amount of orbs, so, at this time, I don’t know if chests ever stop appearing period.
What Are Tickets?
Tickets are how players unlock the small handful of characters through quest mode. On the environment select screen, each brand has a tab that will list (out of five) how many tickets a player has at that moment. Once a player has a total of five tickets, they will see an arrow directing them to a different page of the quest mode menu’s book. The player will then see a portrait of a hidden character and by selecting it, player can fight the character and by winning, the character is added to the playable roster.
Players should be aware that five is the maximum amount of tickets they can have at one time. Thus, unfortunately, if a player goes into a level with four tickets and earns five during the level, the amount caps at five, basically meaning they just lost the difference of four tickets. Also, once every hidden quest character is unlocked for a brand, players can collect up to five tickets again and the tally will remain there forever and chests will no longer contain tickets for that brand.
Any Tips for Quest Mode?
Realistically, quest mode is a breeze. When brawling through the levels, there is no shame in selecting simple mode and just mashing the square button to plow through the waves of enemies. For most of the levels I used Ippo as he has a good mix of reach, speed and strength that kills off the enemies quickly.
However, there were times I used Yoshimori equipped with an unlockable special move that catapults a boulder from the ground, which then falls back down. This move can be spammed to make quick work of the mid-air crystals and boss encounters since it does solid damage when it connects both on the way up and when the boulder falls back down. The move also builds the super meter up at a ridiculous rate.
I didn’t find myself using the super meter very much at all since mashing square was good enough on its own. If you want to speed the pounding up even more, you can activate aura mode and for the bosses, Yoshimori’s level three super move allows him to be far away from the boss and still rock it for decent damage.
One last word of advice: Since crystals spawn enemies endlessly, you can be a little cheap in farming orbs and chests. If you have enough time to do so, you can weave back and forth away from the crystal to manage the waves of enemies and pound them as long as you want to (or until you accidentally destroy the crystal). Just make sure you don’t lose track of the timer as if you fail the level, you’ll lose everything you collected.
How is Boss Unlocked?
The final fight in quest mode is against Boss and when players clear the mode, Boss is added to the playable roster of characters.
Eventually, though, Boss will appear at the end of arcade mode. I unlocked him via quest mode, so, at this moment, I do not know whether or not beating him in arcade mode also adds him to the playable roster.
How Do I Use Green Orbs In the Skill Development Menu?
The green orbs earned in quest mode are pooled into one total, meaning if you play as Natsu and earn orbs, those orbs can level up any character’s skill chart, not just his. Each of the 30 characters has its very own skill development chart that grants the character new special or super moves. By selecting one of the big circles on the chart, the move unlocked by reaching that point in the chain will be displayed in a box above the green orb total.
Each circle on the chart requires 200 green orbs to fill completely (one press of circle deposits 10 orbs) – the circle that unlocks the skill is bigger in size than the rest of the chain, but it still only takes 200 to fill. Once a skill circle is filled, the character earns a new special or super attack which can be customized to the character in skill assignment mode.
What Are the Locks on the Skill Development Menu?
Below the current green orb total are chain locks that prevent the player from receiving a character’s final unlockable move until certain conditions are met. If the lock and text is slightly grayed out, the condition has not yet been met. The red lock remains locked until the player clears the arcade mode while the blue lock will remain on characters’ skill chains until the player clears the quest mode. The lock graphic is just an indicator so the lock will still be displayed on the chart even if the condition has been met. So don’t freak out if you beat a mode and the lock is still on the chart – you’ll be able to fill it in past that point like normal.
How Do I Assign Moves to a Character?
All you need to do is use the Skill Assignment menu for a character. The top option selects the support character for that fighter (remember – the very first option under support characters leaves the fighter without a support character and many of the unlockable fighters have no support by default), the middle section allows three special moves to be assigned and the last selection is the fighter’s super move. When fighting in simple mode, a player can actually assign which special moves are mapped to triangle, circle or triangle plus circle. Finally, when selecting a super move, the number next to the move (1 or 3) denotes the number of super gauge levels needed to execute the move. Each character has a level three maneuver reserved for its last unlockable move and, while it takes longer to build up, does massive damage.
Thank you for checking out our Sunday x Magazine Shuuketsu! Choujou Daikessen FAQ. Please feel free to comment or leave any additional questions on this page and if you’d like to see more game guides in the future, please let us know.
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