Arcade mode (under 'Battle') is 8 rounds to 3 wins each: 24 fights in total if you win them all.
You get a gold medal for
- 6 minutes on easy / 15 seconds per fight
- 7 minutes on normal / 17.5 seconds per fight
- 8 minutes on hard / 20 seconds per fight
- 12 minutes on very hard / 30 seconds per fight
- 18 minutes on legendary / 45 seconds per fight
For most people
'easy' is your best bet, as the extra 2.5 seconds per fight you get for stepping up will disappear in just one enemy combo.
A couple of good characters and moves to use:
1. Raphael:
-
+
is the star because it does good damage & doesn't knock them over, so you can eat their health up ridiculously. If they let you do this, spam it.
- If they sidestep, a few basic
attacks will catch them and keep their health ticking downwards
-
+
(forwards throw) to ring them out if you've pushed them back to the edge
2. Siegfried:
-
+
is great for clobbering
-
+
if they're stood up and circling
-
+
for breathing space
- The first two moves above can also ring out forwards (or poke forwards & Y)
-
+
will ring out backwards (i.e. when you're between them and the edge).
3. Astaroth is a ring-out
god and has power as well, so is also a good shout
With any character, if they have the upper hand but you have a moment, you can knock them back and regain the initiative with
+
if you have a bar of soul. This will enter soul charge mode, which comes with a small flare which will knock them back a little if they're close & interrupt their move. Attack straight after!
Ring-outs are nice, but you don't have time to be fancy: take them if they're on offer (eg because there's a short stage with no wall behind your opponent), but don't waste time trying to create an opportunity when you could just hit them in the head
Play all the way through a couple of times first so you have a feel for the later rounds. Once you're confident your skills are there, go 'for real' and restart if you're not meeting the following pace:
- Round 1: 0m40
- Round 2: 1m20
- Round 3: 2m05
- Round 4: 2m50
- Round 5: 3m40
- Round 6: 4m30
- Round 7: 5m20
- Round 8: 6m
The tighter time for the first two rounds is because (1) they're easier, and (2) it's better to restart sooner rather than later. The slightly reduced time for round 8 is because if you
do reach the last battle with 40 seconds to spare, you may as well give it a go!
You'll blast through these times if you get one of the small unwalled stages late on
Happy hunting
