Hanagumi Taisen Columns 2 for Dreamcast FAQ version 0.1 by Vash the Stampede Last updated 3/5/2000 Contents ======== i. Foreword ii. Shameless Self-promotion I. What's new II. Basics III. Battle modes IV. Character traits V. Puzzle Mode Scenarios ( coming soon ) VI. Story Mode Translations ( coming soon ) 1. Shinguuji Sakura 2. Kanzaki Sumire 3. Maria Tachibana 4. Iris Chateaubriand 5. Li Kohran 6. Kirishima Kanna 7. Orihime Soletta 8. Leni Milchstrasse 9. Yoneda Ikki 10. Fujieda Kaede 11. Teigeki Sannin Musume (Yuri, Kasumi, Tsubaki) 12. Kayama Yuuichi VII. Version history i. Foreword: This is a work in progress. I am not fluent in Japanese; it is my goal to be. I am not authorized by any official party to translate any aspect of this game. I am translating for two main reasons, those being a desire to strengthen my knowledge of the language and to provide a resource that someone might enjoy or find useful. Feel free to distribute the guide as long as: 1. Proper authoring credit is given. 2. The guide is unaltered. 3. No profit is made. If you read this guide please drop me a line at vash@section-9.com Suggestions, complaints and criticisms (provided they are constructive and not merely 'You suck!' and the like), compliments, comments are all welcome. Any translation notes or comments of mine are enclosed in curly braces {}. If you feel these are redundant, or maybe if there are not enough of them let me know. ii. Shameless Self-Promotion Also feel free to check out the FAQ for the first Hanagumi Taisen Columns which was originally released for the Saturn. There are some references to that game in this one so it may be worth your while. I. What's new The entire guide. First version. II. Basics The rules of Columns are very simple. Try to establish as many links as possible. A link is where three or more gems of the same color are lined up vertically, horizontally or diagonally. The linked gems are then cleared, and any gems left unsupported drop down. The dropping gems can land and cause yet another link. When one link results in another link, this is called a chain, in this case a 2-chain, since two total links occurred. A link that causes another two links is a 3-chain, and so on. However, if two separate links occur simultaneously, it is not considered a chain. On to the game itself. Once you press start you are presented with five choices. They are described as follows (by picture). Oogami - One player modes Kanna and Sumire - Two player modes Maria and Orihime - Network mode Sakura and Kohran - Options Iris and Leni - Presents One Player Modes (with appropriate image, from upper left to lower right) ================ Shonen Red vs. Benitokage (Oogami working as the mogiri) ------------------------- This replaces the first game's Cinderella mode. It's Teigeki's next production, and now the girls are competing for the role of Shonen Red. Story Mode (The Hanagumi on stage) ---------- Short stories in the same manner of episodes in the main game, centered around one of the protagonists. However in this case, puzzle battles and fishing things out of stacks of gems seem to be a part of everyday life as these are referred to as such in the stories. :) Director's Chair (Yoneda and Kaede looking on from backstage) ---------------- This is initially locked. The four secret characters (well, four if you count the Sannin Musume as one) compete to determine who will direct Shonen Red vs. Benitokage. Once you face a hidden character twice in Shonen Red mode as your final challenge, that character will be available for this mode. Free Battle Mode (Hanagumi group photo) ---------------- This is initially locked. Choose your character and choose the opponent the CPU will control. Endless ------- Endless is a basic scoring game with no set rules. Just last as long as you can. When the meter fills, the silver hearts are released and you can use them to break all gems of the same color it lands on. Puzzle ------ Puzzle scenarios in groups of nine separated by rank of difficulty. Some of the puzzles are now very structured and have very specific solutions. Two Player Mode --------------- Pretty self-explanatory. You and an opponent pick a protagonist and have at it. Network Mode ------------ Unfortunately, I do not have any information on this mode as I do not have a Japanese user account set up. It seems you need one to be able to play online. Options ------- Sound: Stereo, Mono Vibration: On, Off Difficulty: Beginner, Normal, Hard (locked), Strongest (locked) Gems: Normal, Skeleton (transparent), Jean-Paul (locked), Koubu (locked), Teigeki Markers (locked) Panic: On/Off (locked) Review: Puzzle, Event, Sound (All locked) Vibration is for the force-feedback devices. Panic mode normally initiates in a game when a match goes on for a long time. Indestructible mines will begin to appear in place of some time- release gems. Setting this to on means Panic Mode starts from the beginning. Review: Puzzle (locked) ------ Complete Shonen Red and Director's Chair modes to have the appropriate character's puzzle art appear here. The puzzle art is what appears as you play behind the gems. Event (locked) ----- Art from the story modes unique to that story, including the final picture. Complete story mode with a character to get that character's art. Sound (locked) ----- Here you can listen to the remixed Columns themes for the characters, as well as other music that is heard in the game. Presents -------- For the top eight boxes, once you complete Shonen Red vs. Benitokage mode with a character you had not beaten the mode with before, that character will appear here to tell you what you've unlocked. Here's what each character unlocks: Shinguuji Sakura Puzzle Art Review Kanzaki Sumire Event Art Review Maria Tachibana Hard Difficulty Iris Chateaubriand Jean-Paul gems Li Kohran Free Battle Mode Kirishima Kanna Panic Mode Orihime Soletta Sound Review Leni Milchstrasse Teigeki Marker gems For the third row, once you complete Director's Chair with a new character, they will appear here. Yoneda Ikki Strongest Difficulty Sannin Musume Lightning Battle Mode (Kazegumi style) Fujieda Kaeda Koubu gems Kayama Yuuichi Shadow Battle Mode (Tsukigumi style) The last row will appear when the character is unlocked for story mode. Yoneda Ikki appears here after The Sannin Musume story is completed. The Sannin Musume seem to appear after Orihime's story is completed (not 100% sure about this, could use verification). Fujieda Ayame appears after Leni's story is completed (also not 100% sure about this, could use verification). Kayama Yuuichi appears after Li Kohran's story is completed. IV. Character Traits ====================== Regulars ======== Shinguuji Sakura ---------------- Attack: Lines Dropped Level 1: 2 Level 2: 4 Level 3: 6 Level 4: 8 Drop Counter Level 1-4: 4 Defense: Lines Removed Level 1: 2 Level 2: 4 Level 3: 6 As expected, the main character is usually well-rounded in abilities. Sakura adjusts well to most strategies. Kanzaki Sumire -------------- Attack: Lines Dropped Level 1: 2 Level 2: 3 Level 3: 4 Level 4: 5 Drop Counter Level 1: 4 Level 2: 6 Level 3: 8 Level 4: 9 Defense: Lines Removed Level 1: 3 Level 2: 4 Level 3: 5 Sumire is fairly well-rounded in ability as well, however she lends herself more towards storing power levels for bigger attacks. Maria Tachibana --------------- Attack: Lines Dropped Level 1: 4 Level 2: 5 Level 3: 6 Level 4: 7 Drop Counter Level 1: 2 Level 2: 3 Level 3: 4 Level 4: 5 Defense: Lines Removed Level 1: 4 Level 2: 5 Level 3: 6 Maria's attack drops a lot of gems, but they don't last very long. A successful strategy for Maria is to save up for one big attack, then relentlessly attach with one level attacks. Iris Chateaubriand ------------------ Attack: Lines Dropped Level 1: 3 Level 2: 4 Level 3: 5 Level 4: 6 Drop Counter Level 1-4: 3 Defense: Lines Removed Level 1: 5 Level 2: 6 Level 3: 7 Iris clearly has the strongest defense. While not the strongest attacker, she can use levels as needed to just outlast her opponent. At level 3, her defense clears about three-fourths of the playfield! As you can imagine, Wind mode Iris can be difficult to deal with as she can clear her playfield all the more quickly. Mountain mode works well for her as well. Li Kohran --------- Attack: Lines Dropped Level 1: 1 Level 2: 2 Level 3: 3 Level 4: 4 Drop Counter Level 1-4: 9 Defense: Lines Removed Level 1: 2 Level 2: 4 Level 3: 6 Although she drops the least amount of gems, her dropped gems last for nine moves, even at just Level 1. A strategy similar to Maria by saving up for one level three attack and then relentlessly attacking works just as well for Kohran. This is easier in Wind mode, possibly her best mode. Shadow works well for her as well. Kirishima Kanna --------------- Attack: Lines Dropped Level 1: 2 Level 2: 4 Level 3: 6 Level 4: 8 Drop Counter Level 1: 2 Level 2: 4 Level 3: 6 Level 4: 8 Defense: Lines Removed Level 1: 1 Level 2: 2 Level 3: 3 Kanna is best at saving up for big attacks. Defending is practically pointless unless desparate. If at level 3 and blocks need to be cleared right away, it's better to opt for the silver heart gems. The offensively geared modes such as Fire (and Lightning if you're willing to gamble) work very well for Kanna. Soletta Orihime --------------- Attack: Lines Dropped Level 1: 1 Level 2: 3 Level 3: 5 Level 4: 7 Drop Counter Level 1: 8 Level 2: 7 Level 3: 6 Level 4: 5 Defense: Lines Removed Level 1: 1 Level 2: 3 Level 3: 5 Orihime's attacks at each level strike a balance between the gems' timer and the amount of gems. As she drops more, they remain a just a little bit less. At level 1, she's almost like Kohran, and at level 4, she's almost like Maria. She seems pretty versatile. Leni Milchstrasse ----------------- Attack: Lines Dropped Level 1: 3 Level 2: 3 Level 3: 3 Level 4: 5 Drop Counter Level 1: 3 Level 2: 6 Level 3: 9 Level 4: 9 Defense: Lines Removed Level 1: 2 Level 2: 4 Level 3: 6 With the exception of Level 4, Leni always drops the same amount of gems, but the timer increases drastically with each level. Leni does well in Mountain and Shadow modes. Unlocked Characters =================== Fujieda Kaede -------------- Attack: Lines Dropped Level 1: 2 Level 2: 4 Level 3: 6 Level 4: 8 Drop Counter Level 1: 5 Level 2: 5 Level 3: 5 Level 4: 5 Defense: Lines Removed Level 1: 1 Level 2: 3 Level 3: 5 Kaede plays exactly as her sister Ayame did in the first game. She is pretty strong overall but has one glaring weakness. The pattern she drops on her opponent are columns of identical color (like Ryu from Super Puzzle Fighter Turbo 2), so if the opponent can last long enough for them to return to normal gems, they eliminate themselves and fill the opponent's meter. Sannin Musume ( Yuri, Kasumi, Tsubaki ) --------------------------------------- Attack: Lines Dropped Level 1: 3 Level 2: 4 Level 3: 5 Level 4: 6 Drop Counter Level 1: 4 Level 2: 5 Level 3: 5 Level 4: 5 Defense: Lines Removed Level 1: 1 Level 2: 3 Level 3: 5 Not as much talking in unison this time out, but there are relatively unchanged from the last game. Yoneda Ikki ----------- Attack: Lines Dropped Level 1: 2 Level 2: 3 Level 3: 4 Level 4: 5 Drop Counter Level 1: 4 Level 2: 5 Level 3: 6 Level 4: 7 Defense: Lines Removed Level 1: 1 Level 2: 3 Level 3: 5 Although he doesn't look overly powerful, Yoneda's strength lies in his drop pattern. It is obnoxiously shuffled, and it doesn't tend to eliminate itself much if at all. A relentless Yoneda is tough to deal with. Plus, his defense is as strong as Iris'. Kayama Yuuichi -------------- Attack: Lines Dropped Level 1: 3 Level 2: 4 Level 3: 5 Level 4: 6 Drop Counter Level 1: Special Level 2: Special Level 3: Special Level 4: Special Defense: Lines Removed Level 1: 1 Level 2: 3 Level 3: 5 The timers for Kayama's gems work completely differently from any other character. For example look at this makeshift Ascii diagram for a level 4 Kayama attack on an empty play field: 777777 666666 555555 444444 333333 222222 Those are the counter numbers for the drop. Shave one row per level off the top for each level under 4. This unorthodox method, coupled with a thoroughly scrambled drop pattern makes Kayama arguably the strongest character overall in the game. V. Puzzle Mode ============== Coming soon. VI. Story mode translations =========================== Coming soon. VII. Version History ==================== version 0.1, March 4, 2000 - First version with basic layout.