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Post by Shadow Master on Nov 9, 2020 16:56:33 GMT
Is it possible to unlock the hidden boss characters Carlos Krauzer (Karl Gotch) and R.J. Phase (Lou Thesz) in Fire Pro Wrestling Combination Tag?
The Japanese cheat site wazap doesn't seem to have any tips. The same goes with gameFAQs.
I know it's possible to unlock the duo in the follow up games (via code in 2nd Bout and by password in Legend Bout).
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Post by Shadow Master on Mar 21, 2024 7:11:30 GMT
Thanks to a very talented hacker named GameMasterZer0, I am proud to announce that, after 34 years, players can finally
select the hidden boss characters RJ Phaze and Carlos Krauzer in Fire Pro-Wrestling Combination Tag.
GameMasterZer0 reached out to me over GameFAQs with screenshots of the hidden characters; as well as codes to access the bosses in-game. Using the Magic Engine emulator, input the codes: F820BD16 to play as RJ Phaze and F820BD17 to play as Carlos Krauzer.  The bosses can be used in every mode.   Like the rest of the roster, both bosses have their own endings ....kind of. Completing the game's World Championship mode presents the player with the congratulation screen, but the text that usually appears in the blue box at the bottom is nowhere to be found. The ending music also finishes abruptly. This is because the hidden bosses were never meant to be used by players; meaning no ending for either character was ever programmed.  While RJ Phaze's glitchy ending allows the player to return to the title screen, final boss Krauzer's ending crashes the game!
 Furthermore, both boss characters do not have secret moves. Secret moves are essentially front or back grapple commands that are input using Button I and II simultaneously with a directional button. Like the rest of the roster, the directional button used to perform a secret move varies from character to character. In their place, both bosses simply revert to a standard kick when their secret move inputs have been implemented. RJ Phaze: Secret move A: Right + Button I + II (front grapple) Secret move B: Down + Button I + II (back grapple) Carlos Krauzer Secret move A: Left + Button I + II (front grapple) Secret move B: Up + Button I + II (back grapple) |
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Post by Shadow Master on Mar 22, 2024 23:41:56 GMT
Recently, I received a message from a prominent hacker who found a third bonus character in Combination Tag's code. ![]()  The mysterious character has no name or Wrestler portrait; save for a simple pause symbol.  The unnamed Wrestler uses the same character sprite and moves as Star Bison (Stan Hansen); right down to Stan's finisher and secret front/back grapples.   One of the mystery character (pictured on the left)'s secret moves is an Argentine Backbreaker (Up + Button I + II - front grapple). In the followup title Fire Pro-Wrestling 2nd Bout, Ax Morgan (Hulk Hogan)'s secret front grapple is a similar-looking Canadian Backbreaker (Down + Button I + II).
My theory is that the mystery character was intended to be Hulk Hogan. As Hogan used a Lariat of his own in Japan (named the 'Ax
Bomber'), Stan Hansen would have been the perfect template to begin creating a Hogan-like character. Alas, the mystery character
was ultimately scrapped for whatever reason at the last minute.
In the game's code, the address for the mystery character is listed at the very end of the player index; even behind hidden
bosses Phaze and Krauzer.
F820BD16 RJ Phaze F820BD17 Carlos Krauzer F820BD18 Mystery character Using the above code F820BD18 allows the player to choose the mystery character.  Winning matches with the mystery character presents a special kind of glitch; graphical errors on the post-match result screen.
In the followup title Fire Pro-Wrestling 2nd Bout, the player faces Phaze, Krauzer and Rikiouzan (Rikidozan) before facing a fourth
opponent. A special surprise at the end of the credits in the form of a fight with Mask De Panther (Tiger Mask). Maybe my imagination
is running wild here (brother), but if the mystery character is indeed Hogan, than there is also the chance that Hogan was being saved
as the final opponent encountered in Combination Tag, post-credits.
Though, this is just my own theory.
 Like Krauzer, completing the 1st playthrough of Single Match mode (World Championship) with the mystery character presents a glitched ending. Again, as this character was never finished, the game crashes. Though, it's interesting to see the mystery character's pause symbol portrait reappear during the ending.
As portraits were used for endings in the sequel 2nd Bout, I wonder if the above picture is a sample of (what was) the original
ending design; a Wrestler or tag team standing next to their portraits? We may never know.
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Post by Shadow Master on Mar 23, 2024 5:59:06 GMT
Update: I reached the end of World Championship's second playthrough with the mystery Wrestler. Instead of starting with the first hidden boss RJ Phaze, the game does something unusual and loads a standard Wrestler Stan Hansen instead.  Because the mystery Wrestler uses Hansen as a base, the game gets confused and loads him anyway.
 The resulting match is a clone bout.  Since only two hidden bosses were programmed as opponents at the end of World Championship, the next fight is with RJ Phaze.
After beating Phaze, the game bypasses facing the true final boss Carlos Krauzer, and presents a glitchy ending that crashes the game.
I guess my theory of Hulk Hogan appearing as a third surprise opponent at the end of the game seems unlikely now,
given the structure of Championship mode when the mystery character is inserted into the roster through hacking the game code.
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Post by Shadow Master on Mar 23, 2024 21:42:56 GMT
Another new discovery: you can now play as the 'Legend Heroes'; a previously-unplayable tag team encountered at the very end of World Championship mode (tag team division)'s second playthrough.
 The team consists of previously unplayable boss characters Carlos Krauzer and RJ Phaze. To play as the Legend Heroes tag team, input the code: F820BD8 |
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Post by Shadow Master on Mar 24, 2024 8:39:12 GMT
My progress using the hidden tag team the 'Legend Heroes' in World Championship mode (1st playthrough) led me to round 7. There I faced the King Fighters (Inoki & Maeda) before the game started crashing.  Not gonna lie, this graphical garbage would make a pretty good abstract art piece.
Through the power of save states, I was eventually able to force the game to proceed further into the last match.
 Facing the final opponents the 'Urban Blasters' (Hawk & Animal), the game switched my tag team with standard characters Genichiro
Tenryu and Antonio Inoki. As you can see, Inoki is looking rather glitchy here.
I assume this is the game's way of trying to fix itself, as the boss characters I was using weren't supposed to be seen until the second playthrough of Championship mode.  As usual, the game crashes before the ending is seen. |
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Post by Shadow Master on Apr 11, 2024 7:09:02 GMT
Playing through Hard Mode/the second playthrough of Combination Tag with hidden boss Carlos Krauzer is a real test of patience. Beating the first playthrough awards the player with the Heavyweight championship. After the credits, the player has the option of playing through the game a second time. This time, however ...all of the Wrestlers the player had defeated from the first
run are now out for blood. This is when the difficulty really starts getting cranked up; becoming more noticeable as the rounds
progress.
By round 12 (vs Antonio Inoki), I noticed the CPU was really starting to become ruthless. No matter how many submission holds I played Inoki in, he just wouldn't stay down. Unlike the rest of the roster, Krauzer doesn't have too many flashy techniques. No powerful strikes like the Wheel Kick or Enzuigiri; nor a powerful dash attack such as the Lariat or Flying Clothesline. Using shoulder blocks, dropkicks and armbars, I eventually folded Inoki in 11 and a half minutes. Yet, that was a cakewalk compared to the opponent on Round 15:  Bruiser Brody. One of the strongest characters in the game; one of which, that is usually reserved for the end of either playthrough. Powerful grapples, near-invincible defence, and a Knee Drop that can be applied to downed opponents, or as a devastating top rope variation. Just when I thought Inoki was unstoppable, I had no idea what waited in store against Bruiser.
For starters, Bruiser would get up from any attack immediately. Many times, even before the player who landed a successful attack on the Intelligent Monster. Brody's CPU difficulty was so strong, that he would break out of submission holds instantaneously. Pinfall attempts were also non-existent against Bruiser.
The only way I could get in any damage was to shoulder block Bruiser, then go for an Armbar. Bruiser would break the hold in under a second, but would still take a modicum of damage each time. Repeat the same pattern another 200 times, and Brody would eventually tap.
Even at the 19 minute mark, Bruiser was reversing heavy grapples and kicking out of submissions just as quickly as they
were applied. To put it nicely, the CPU was so difficult on round 15 of Hard mode, that submissions, for the most part, were disabled.
20 minutes in, the beast finally tapped to my armbar; in a victory that seemed like the computer just felt like letting me win.
Especially after playing cheaply (for what felt like) an eternity.
Talk about brutal difficulty. Even for a grizzled Fire Pro veteran, I certainly think Combination Tag's Hard Mode difficulty is up there with other challenging Wrestling games.
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Post by Shadow Master on Apr 11, 2024 14:34:41 GMT
After beating Bruiser Brody in a 20 minute standoff, the game glitched out; placing standard character Star Bison (Stan Hansen) as the first hidden boss. Despite being billed as a Lumberjack Deathmatch, I was able to freely move around the ring during this match. I guess the game itself didn't recognize Hansen as an actual boss character. Needless to say, Hansen was done away with in 11 minutes; a major difficulty drop from the previous matchup against Brody.
Only for the difficulty to jump right back up for the final match:
 RJ Phaze/Lou Thesz served as the final boss. Under regular means, the Iron Man of Professional Wrestling serves as a sub boss. The first hidden character, and preliminary match before facing the true final combatant Carlos Krauzer. Like Brody, Thesz had a tremendous amount of stamina. For a solid 20 minutes, nothing seemed to work on the legend. To make matters worse, with Brody, there was still the option of beating the legend via a 20 second countout. In a Lumberback Deathmatch, no such luck was available; meaning Thesz had to be defeated fairly with a clean finish. 27 minutes later, the Legend Hero was finally vanquished via armbar.  For the first time in 34 years, Carlos Krauzer's ending from Combination Tag. As expected, the game crashes; as Krauzer nor Phaze were programmed to beat the game alongside the regular roster. The game credits do not appear, yet the camera flashes in the background continue to go off. If it took me 27 minutes to defeat a sub boss, I can only imagine how long it will take to defeat Carlos Krauzer in the singles division of Hard Mode/the second playthrough.
Then again ....I was always a glutton for punishment.
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Post by Shadow Master on Apr 12, 2024 0:20:44 GMT
At the moment, I'm playing through Hard Mode with the final hidden boss character RJ Phaze (Lou Thesz). Unlike Krauzer, Phaze's finisher (Backdrop), doesn't include a pin attempt after the move. Secondly, I'm not sure if Phaze's
submission hold (Figure Four) weakens opponents the same way Krauzer's Cross Armbar does.
From a technical standpoint, the Cross Armbar is one of a handful of moves which, when applied enough, can actually weaken an opponent in-game. After taking enough damage from the Armbar, the opponent's arms will start to lower. Once the opponent is near zero health, the opponent's arms will then remain solely at their sides.
After a player has taken enough arm damage from certain submission holds, their attack power, when grapples are concerned, will
be greatly decreased as well; punishing players for being too careless during a match.
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Post by Shadow Master on Apr 12, 2024 20:29:55 GMT
By the eight round of World Championship, things were getting violent. As one half of the Crazy Barbarians, Bloody Allen wasted no time in applying heel tactics to the reigning champion RJ Phaze. Allen's repeated use of his signature Headbutt cut Phaze open badly; leaving the grounded legend primed for a high-risk maneuver.
Aiming to end the match early, Allen climbed the right corner post; attempting to go for a diving splash off the top ropes.
 Luckily, Phaze, donned in a crimson mask, got out of the way just in time to send Allen plummeting into the canvas. What little energy Allen had left was no match for Phaze's Figure Four Leglock; tapping out the Barbarian in under 9 minutes.
The second playthrough of the World Championship continued onward. This time, moving a lot smoother, as I had mastered Phaze's running Dropkick; a technique that weakened opponents a lot quicker than the Shoulder Block.
Even Bruiser himself was taken down in about 11 minutes; half the time it took to spell defeat with Krauzer in my previous playthrough.  Like Krauzer, using Phaze in World Championship mode messes up the order of Wrestlers faced. Standard character Star Bison (Stan Hansen) once again appears as the first hidden boss. Again, players can exit the ring. The Lumberjack settings do not apply for this glitch fight.  Amazingly, RJ Phaze does have an actual ending at the end of the second playthrough! |
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Post by Shadow Master on Apr 12, 2024 23:08:54 GMT
Lastly, playing as both hidden bosses in a tag team for World Championship's second playthrough.  The Urban Blasters at round 7 were tough customers to conquer. Iron Blaster especially with his Backbreaker and Gorilla press.
 Surprisingly, I made it to round 8 (Star Bison and B.G. Bull) without the game swapping my team out this time around. Though, since I was already using the hidden boss tag team, the game decided to treat Star Bison and B.G. Bull as the final opponents.
 Sadly, the game crashes just before viewing the second playthrough ending for the tag team. It seems RJ Phaze is the more stable of the two; as Carlos Krauzer sends the game into a panic.
Admittedly, I was hoping to come across the mysterious pause symbol character during this
playthrough. Or at least glitched out palette swapped versions of Phaze and Krauzer.
Well, after all these years, I can safely say that I finally beat Combination Tag with all of the characters.
All in all, Combination Tag is a game that I have continue to enjoy all these years later. Granted,
the game is far from perfect, and the stage BGM's can be a bit grating on the ears every now and then, but the game remains a classic.
There are still artifacts from Combination Tag that we haven't covered yet. Original promotional pamphlets, magazine coverage, and even an original soundtrack CD that features exclusive arranged versions of the Combination soundtrack that are available nowhere else.
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