Supplementary text for the PS2 game Namco X Capcom Written by Christina Rose, send feedback to lemina_ausa at hotmail dot com. Last updated June 29, 2005 Sylphie is a character from the 1988 Capcom arcade/Genesis game, Lost Worlds, aka Forgotten Worlds in the US. In that game, she acted as a simple shopkeeper at the weapon store. In Namco X Capcom, her role is expanded - She sells everything from weapons to potions to new outfits to Refractor crystals. In addition to this, she is a playable character in combat. After all, she has to keep her biggest customer base (your heroes) alive if she wants to stay in business. Her character abilities and attacks are a huge amalgam of obscure Capcom references, many of which would go over most US players' heads. I went out of my way to research as many of them as I could, and decided to write it up in a text in case anyone else might be interested. COMBAT ABILITIES Starting attack: Gunsmoke Sylphie takes out a pair of six-shooters and fires at the enemy from up close. Reference to the 1985 Capcom arcade shooter game Gun Smoke. O attack: Black Dragon Sylphie pulls out a spiked ball-and-chain and swings it at her opponent. Reference to the 1987 Capcom arcade game, Black Dragon, which was called Black Tiger in the US. Left+O attack: Road To Tiger Sylphie thrusts her hand forward and shoots out a blast of fiery energy in the shape of a roaring tiger head. Reference to the 1987 Capcom arcade game, Tiger Road (Tora e no Michi). Right+O attack: HigeMaru Sylphie throws a barrel at her opponent. Reference to the 1984 Capcom arcade game Pirate Ship HigeMaru. Up+O attack: Reverie Sword Sylphie leaps with a hand raised in the air, and a hovering sword twirls and slashes an opponent multiple times. Direct reference to the 1996 Capcom 2D fighter Warzard, called Red Earth in a very limited US release. The Reverie Sword move originally belonged to Tessa. Down+O attack: Trojan Sylphie pulls out a sword and shield, and hits the enemy with an overhead sword slash. Reference to the 1986 Capcom arcade game Trojan (Tatakai no Banka). Triangle special: Flash Combo Sylphie dons the gear of Lynn Kurosawa from Alien vs. Predator and shoots the enemy with an energy blaster, then switches to a costume of Michelle Hart from Legendary Wings and fires on the enemy with a machine gun, before switching over to the outfit of Mai-Ling/Tao from Warzard and using a whirling fiery kick called Senryuken, then finishes the combo up in Makoto's gear from Street Fighter 3 with a Seichuusen Godanzuki. The Flash Combo itself is a reference to the Capcom arcade/console game, Pocket Fighter, which was an SD crossover fighter where each character had a number of attacks where they'd wear the costumes of other characters and do their attacks, ie: Felicia wearing Megaman gear and firing a Mega Buster shot. Every character had their own unique Flash Combo for costume-switching fun. MA Attack: Zettai Gattai (teamup attack with Unknown Soldiers 1P and 2P) Sylphie shouts the command phrase "Zettai Gattai!" ("Absolute combination") The two helper robots of the Unknown Soldiers (Alpha and Beta from Side Arms: Hyper Dyne) combine into one giant robot, then Sylphie dons her Michelle Hart costume again. Sylphie, the robot, and the two Unknown Soldiers then proceed to unload all of their ammo into a single foe. Short-range Counter: Blodia Punch When an opponent starts to close in, Sylphie gives a mighty shout of "BLODIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!" and a giant red robot fist comes in from off screen to punch the enemy away. The attack itself is a reference to Jin Saotome's super in Marvel vs. Capcom where he does the same thing; The origin is Cyberbots, a 1995 arcade/console 2D fighting game where where Jin was the main hero and Blodia was the default selected robot. Long-range Evasion: Wire Action When an opponent fires a long-range attack, Sylphie will raise an arm and shoot out a wire and swing up and out of the way. Reference to the 1987 Capcom arcade/console action game Bionic Commando, where the hero would use his bionic arm to do the same thing. This was a necessity in playing the game since there was no jump command. SKILLS LIST Holstein: Heal a single ally. This seems to be a Capcom power-up. The only reference I've found to it thus far is a Capcom CPS2 release called Dimahoo. Search Zenny: For a small MP cost, get some Zenny. While the money in the game is referred to as G, Sylphie always talks about money in terms of Zenny, the accepted universal currency in Capcom games. Sakichi: Raise an ally's SP meter by 15~25 points. Not certain what this refers to yet. Yashichi: Raise an ally's number of attacks by 1 for one fight. The Yashichi is the standard "Pinwheel" power-up of old Capcom arcade games. POW: Raise an ally's attack power by 25% for one fight. The POW is an attack up item from Legendary Wings. INNATE ABILITIES Penny-pincher: +10% to all money earned from beating enemies. No particular reference here. Magic Sword: Regenerate 5% of all damage done as MP. Reference to the 1990 Capcom arcade game Magic Sword. Hissatsu Buraiken: When HP drops under 30%, SP gains, attack, and defense are all raised. Reference to Dan Hibiki's Hisshou Buraiken in the Street Fighter Alpha series. Senjou no Ookami: +25% to stun dealt to enemies in battle. Reference to the Capcom arcade game series Senjou no Ookami, aka Commando (1985) and Mercs (1990).