Unlocking Krauzer and Phase in Combination Tag?

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)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!