Kizuna Encounter/FAQ
How do I pick the bosses?
To play as the boss characters (King Leo and Jyazu), input the following code at the character select screen:
Highlight Mezu, then move the cursor to Kim, Rosa, then Gozu. From Gozu, move the cursor to Rosa, Kim, Mezu, Gordon, Joker, Eagle, Hayate, Chung, King Lion, and back to Gozu. Press D, and if you’ve entered the code correctly, you will hear a laugh. After inputting the code, highlight King Lion and press up to select King Leo, or highlight Gozu and press up to select Jyazu. To select Gozu or King Lion after highlighting Jyazu or King Leo, press up again. This code will last until the game is reset, so you don't have to input it again to keep picking bosses.
Are bosses and infinites legal in tournaments?
As of right now, no. Jyazu and King Leo are banned because they are very much boss characters. While they do have unique weaknesses stemming from their lack of access to the game's team mechanics, those weaknesses do not make up for their egregious strengths, being designed primarily as overpowered CPU-controlled opponents.
Infinites are currently banned as well, because while the vast majority of infinites in this game are highly impractical, Joker's basically universal infinite is extremely easy and allows him to immediately end the match by landing one of the most obnoxious neutral tools in the game. This also means that Hayate's infinite on Lion/Leo and Gordon is also banned, but this doesn't affect him nearly as much.
You're totally free to do whatever you want in your own time, though. We're not here to judge.
What does the tier list for this game look like?
This is the current tier list based on estimations made by the English-speaking Kizuna Encounter community. We're pretty confident with the character placements here, but these things are all subject to change as more discoveries are made. Generally speaking, however, the game is very explosive and heavily dependent on momentum, so you can't always count out the "worse" characters.
No bosses/infinites
- S+: Kim > King Lion, Rosa
- S: Gozu, Mezu
- A+: Hayate
- A: Joker, Gordon > Eagle > Chung
With bosses/infinites
- Boss: Jyazu > King Leo
- S+: Joker, Kim > King Lion, Rosa
- S: Gozu, Mezu
- A+: Hayate
- A: Gordon > Eagle > Chung
Why do some special moves have different names?
Kizuna Encounter's original English localization is extremely rare. The NTSC and PAL versions are identical in software but the packaging is different, and the PAL version's manual is the only complete translation of the game's manual from mechanics to move lists. Only 5 or 6 copies of the PAL version have ever been found making it one of the rarest video games ever made. This has resulted in 3 different known sources of names for special moves and mechanics:
- An incomplete list of moves printed on the MVS arcade panels.
- The ACA NeoGeo re-release to home consoles which re-translates the Japanese moves to English (resulting in inconsistencies or outright contradicts with the known MVS panels).
- Direct or machine translations of the Japanese Kizuna Encounter manual done by community writers at various points in time (most notably on GameFAQs).
The only way we could consolidate to a single source for these names is by acquiring a scan of the PAL version's manual, but no scans exist of it (as far as we know). Anything related to this version of Kizuna Encounter is known to fetch thousands of dollars at auctions. As a result, the writers of this wiki have used our judgement in deciding what the best name for each special move is. Any known alternative names from the above sources will be listed in italics.
If you know of any way to acquire a scan or transcription of the contents of a PAL Kizuna Encounter manual, please reach out to [email protected] or on Discord at shiburizu#7634.
