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The Strategy Section - Great Tiger 

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The key to speed success against the magician is to watch the gem on his hat.
At the beginning of round 1 watch the gem. When the gem is sparkling, immediatly hit the tiger in the face to get a star. When you have got the star then press START to land the star upper-cut on him. Then wait again for the sparkling, hit his face, get the star and press START. Continue this routine untill he gets down. Great Tiger will get up at 1. Wait for the sparkling and get the star, then do not hit START but wait for another sparkling to get another star. When you have got two stars then unload them on him untill he is TKO.

Note: Your timing should be perfect. Always hit him when his gem starts sparkling. If you succeed in every attempt you will TKO him in less than 1:00 R1.
After 1:00 Great Tiger will alter his strategy. Then hit him low while he is preparing for his punches (always with the hand he is comming from) to get stars.

Useless hints:
- answer extremely late to the Tiger Punch and you will get a star
- block the sparkling-gem indicated ones instead of dodging them and you can counter with 4 face punches (instead of only one)
- Great Tiger can not beaten by KO! He gets up every time.

Phase1
Start off by waiting until right before his jewel flashes then punch his face, he will block then punch back at you. Dodge his jab and do a very late punch to the face for a star, then right (Very quickly) after that punch his face again for star #2 while his jewel is flashing. Use the two stars and pause for just a split second then punch his face again and hopefully you will hit him while his jewel is flashing for another star, USE IT! Now wait until right before his jewel flashes again and punch, dodge and late punch his face for star #4, then right (very quickly again) after that punch his face for your last star. Now punch, he will block and do a late punch to knock him down! I knocked him down at about 0:42 or so.

Phase2
Hold down start so as soon as he gets back up you will star punch him and knock him down again at 0:45.

Phase3
Do the same as in Phase2 and he should go down for a TKO at 0:49.

My best is 0:49.25 so far. Even though it's on a Emulator, but of course, I didn't use savestates, even to test it out.

Prologue:
The Great Tiger has always remined a mystery to MTPO/PO fans. After 16 years he has never gone down for a 10 count and is one of the more difficult opponents to get a fast time due to timing the punches for stars. Father B came up with the best strategy to tko Tiger fast with a time range of about 0:49 to 0:51 as the fastest times. His strategy is good but difficult to execute due to timing the face jabs for stars. The lowest time for Great Tiger ever recorded on NTSC was a 49.25 by myself MTPO NTSC) and Jack Wedge (PO NTSC). Many members of the MTPO board belived that this was as fast as Tiger could be beaten although Martin Chalebois hit 49.00 on him using an emulator. The mystery remained as to whether Tiger could be beat in under 0:49.  In early June I discovered a new and much easier strategy to execute and ended up setting the current world record (48.82) using it. Here is how I did it.................

Phase 1:
Note: Only use Mac's right glove when executing this strategy. As soon as Mario starts the fight hold up on the control pad and press A or B to throw a face jab at Tiger. Tiger will block this punch and retaliate with a straight jab. Mac must quick dodge this punch and wait just a tad and time a late right body blow to produce star #1. Note: You may need to prractice getting used to the timing involved for the body   blows but it will not take long. After obtaining star #1 throw another punch at Tiger's face and doge his following straight jab and time another late right body blow to produce star # 2. Repeat this combination again to obtain star # 3 (see nsm file if you are confused about this opening pattern of punches). Immediately after obtaining star # 3 press Start to deliver a star which will hit Tiger. Immediately after press start again to deliver another star which will hit him. After delivering star # 2 wait just about a second and time a perfect face jab into Tiger's flashing jewel (jewel flashes at around 0:30) to obtain star # 4. Immediately after obtaining star  # 4 let it go and it will also hit Tiger. Immediately after the star uppercut lands throw a face jab at Tiger and once again dodge his stright jab and time a perfect right body blow for star # 5 (clock should read about 0:38). Tiger will be down to a tiny sliver of energy and when the clock reads 0:41 time a final face jab into Tiger's flashing jewel for the first knockdown at 0:42 (0:41 is really fast). Mac should have 2 stars in reserve.

Phase 2:
Tiger will get up at Mario's count of 1 and you know what that means. Just as soon as Mario restarts the fight press start to deliver a star upppercut to send Tiger back down between 0:45 and 0:46. Mac should have one star in reserve.

Phase 3:
Tiger will get up at the 1 count again so immediately unload Mac's last star right as he comes back into the fight for a tko between 0:48 and 0:50.

Well you did it. Consider youself one of the grrrrrrrrrreatest MTPO/PO players in history for this feat. The practical significance of this strategy is that it is very easy to perform and it allows for a time of under 0:49 which is unprecedented. I have used this strategy about 30 times and none of my tko's have been over 49.99 with a low of 48.82. Once you get the timing down for the body blows (which are mush easier to time than body blows) he does not stand a chance. My best time and current world record is 48.82 on NTSC. Can you beat that?

Dedication:
I would like to dedicate this strategy to Father B who came up with an intitial outstanding strategy entitled "The Turban Tantrum" and for his initally amazing fast times on him (49.25). I also want to say something which has never been said. I want to dedicate this strategy to The Great Tiger who for over 16 years has thwarted the ko attempts of every MTPO/PO player in history. I am 100% convinced that you will never go down for a 10 count. Congratulations you have a chin of diamond Tiger and the programmers made you and Bald Bull 1 unique. The best way to practice this strategy is to type in the code 005-737-5423 to go Don Flamenco 1. Then beat him and King Hippp to get 2 fights against Tiger. Once you get the timing down for the late body blows this strategy is very easy to execute. Good luck guys.

Phase 1- As soon as Mario starts the fight throw a left face jab at Tiger which he will block. Dodge his subsequent jab attempt and answer with a delayed left face jab for star # 1. Note: The timing for this star is extremely difficult and it is best to practice this a little bit before attempting this strategy. Repeat this procedure 2 more times for stars # 2 and # 3. Immeditaly after obtaining star # 3 press START and deliver a star uppercut which Tiger will take. Press START again to deliver another star which Tiger will take. Immeditaly after Mac lands on his feet throw another left face jab at Tiger and use another delayed face jab after dodging his subsequent jab attempt to obtain star  # 4. Wait about 1 second and time a perfect face jab into his jewel flashing for star # 5. Mac now has 3 stars. Wait about 3 seconds and press START to deliver a star into his oncoming jewel flashing for maximum damage. Tiger should go down on this last star uppercut. Note: If you time too early you will miss the jewel flahing and he will not go down. Also if you time too late you will not cause enough damage and he will not go down either (see nsm file if you need help). Mac should have 2 stars in reserve for phase 2. Clock should read 0:40-0:41 for the first knockdown.
 

Phase 2- Tiger will get up at Mario's count of 1 so await him with the START button pressed and deliver a star to immeditaly knock him down again. Mac should have 1 star in reserve and the clock should read 0:44-0:45 (nsm file shows 0:44).
 

Phase 3- Repeat phase 3 to get the TKO victory. The clock should read 0:47-0:48.

Well you did it. You TKO'd the Indian magician under 0:48. This is quite an impressive feat. I obtained a time of 47.97 using this strategy on MTPO NTSC. Can you beat that?

Dedication- I would like to dedicate this strategy to Father B for coming up with the original fast Tiger strategy entitled "Turban Tantrum". I also want to dedicate to Miles Hardinson for hinting that the dalyed face jabs were slightly faster than using the late body blows.

The hardest thing about this strategy is the timing of the face jabs for stars. However, with a little practice a good MTPO player should be able to pull this off. I got a time of 47.48 using savetates on emulator so the time should be able to be improved slightly. So the time for talk is over and it is time to give Tiger a little turmoil. Don't forget to download the file if you need help. Take care guys.

p.s. Might work on PAL Tom but the jewel flashings may occur at slightly different times.