ACA NEOGEO: Art of Fighting 3 Achievement Guide & Road Map

ACA NEOGEO: Art of Fighting 3
ACA NEOGEO: Art of Fighting 3 Achievement Guide

Overview:
- Estimated achievement difficulty: 2/10 [Achievement Difficulty Rating]
- Offline: 10 [840]
- Online: 2 [160]
- Approximate amount of time to 1000: 30-60 minutes [Estimated Time to 100%]
- Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 3, one per mode
- Missable achievements: None
- Does difficulty affect achievements: No
- Unobtainable/glitched achievements: None
- Extra equipment needed: None

Introduction:
Welcome to Art of Fighting 3, another NEOGEO fighting game and the third entry in the series. As far as NEOGEO fighting games go, this has to be one of the easiest out there. There is one particular attack you can spam by mashing a single button, and that's virtually all you need to do to get this completion. Let's get started.

Abbreviated Walkthrough:
The strategy for all three modes is going to be identical: pick Wyler as your character (he isn't visible on the character select screen; scroll left twice to pick him) and then the only attack you really need to use is to mash . This does a fast punch that does a relatively large amount of damage, and you can hit enemies multiple times in mid air. It's incredibly cheap, which is ideal for NEOGEO fighting games. The guide below has some more tips for each mode.

Note for Win 10 version: the tiered achievements for Hi Score Mode only go up to 6 wins, but be aware that you need 9 wins in Hi Score Mode to be able to upload your score to the leaderboard for the "HI SCORE Player" achievement. So make sure you complete the game and DO NOT let yourself get beaten after your sixth win. You need to beat the game to upload your score for Original Mode too, but the tiered achievements require 9 wins in Original Mode, and that's how many opponents there are in the game.

Conclusion:
Art of Fighting 3 seems to have been made for fighting game novices: pure spam will get you through this completion very quickly. It's as if they knew how easy the game was, since the leaderboard isn't based on score but instead on how quickly you beat the game. Hopefully this game didn't give you any trouble, and congrats on a pretty easy completion!

[XBA would like to thank Necrophage33 for this Roadmap]

Record score

80
In ORIGINAL MODE your score will be posted to the online rankings.
Upon completing a game of Original Mode, you will be asked if you'd like to upload your score to the online leaderboard. Choose to do so, and this achievement will unlock. Note that you will only be given this prompt if you complete Original Mode (i.e. defeat all 9 opponents), but you will need to do so to unlock the "9 win(s)" achievement anyway.
Mark high score

80
High score has been updated.
Upon completing a game of Original Mode, you will be asked to enter your initials for the local leaderboard. Choose to do so, and this achievement will unlock. Note that you will only be given this prompt if you complete Original Mode (i.e. defeat all 9 opponents), but you will need to do so to unlock the "9 win(s)" achievement anyway.
3 win(s)

80
You won 3 time(s).
Refer to "9 win(s)" for more information.
6 win(s)

80
You won 6 time(s).
Refer to "9 win(s)" for more information.
9 win(s)

80
You won 9 time(s).
The strategy used for Original Mode is identical to that used for Hi Score Mode. Refer to the "HI SCORE MODE 6 win(s)" achievement solution for more information. The remainder of this achievement solution wlll describe how to take advantage of certain settings in Original Mode for those new to NEOGEO games.

There are two things you can do to make these achievements much easier in Original Mode. The first is, upon starting a game, pause and go to Game Settings. Set the difficulty to the lowest, and set the rounds to 1. Now you only have to beat each opponent once instead of twice. The second thing is you can abuse save states. At any point while playing, if you've done well (typically after each victory), pause the game and choose Create Interrupt Save Data. This will create a save state. If you ever do poorly or lose, pause and Return To Title Screen and then choose Original Mode and you'll be back at your save state. Make saves after each victory and reload in this manner if you do poorly. This will ensure your victory.
HI SCORE Player

80
The score has been posted to the online rankings in the "HI SCORE MODE".
Upon completing a game of Hi Score Mode, you will be asked if you'd like to upload your score to the online leaderboard. Choose to do so, and this achievement will unlock.

IMPORTANT NOTE for Win 10 version: the game will only prompt you to upload your score to the online leaderboard after completing the game (i.e. defeating all 9 opponents), so make sure that you do NOT intentionally lose after your sixth win if playing the Win 10 version of this game. You must win all 9 fights in a row to be asked to upload your score for this achievement.
HI SCORE MODE 2 win(s)

80
HI SCORE MODE You won 2 time(s).
Refer to "HI SCORE MODE 6 win(s)" for more information.
HI SCORE MODE 4 win(s)

80
HI SCORE MODE You won 4 time(s).
Refer to "HI SCORE MODE 6 win(s)" for more information.
HI SCORE MODE 6 win(s)

100
HI SCORE MODE You won 6 time(s).
IMPORTANT NOTE for Win 10 version: Despite this achievement only requiring 6 wins, the "HI SCORE Player" achievement requires 9 wins in this mode, so do NOT let yourself get beaten after your sixth win. Continue on and finish the game.

With that out of the way, there remains only the strategy to use to beat the game. This is thankfully incredibly easy with Wyler. He's not visible on the character select screen, but scroll left twice to find him. He is a big beast with a long reach. For virtually every opponent, you can simple mash . This fast punch can do a lot of damage, especially when you catch someone in mid air and juggle them. You'll have no problem cruising through fights with this technique. Some opponents will block and not come at you enough. For them, hold toward them and press . This does a forward lunge attack that will get you closer and often hit them or break their guard. Once you're closer, continue to spam .

That's really all there is to it. I didn't use a single other attack and completed this mode without issue. As with all NEOGEO fighters, there is some amount of randomness and luck built in. It's possible one of the last opponents might be more aggressive and catch you off guard. But within a couple attempts you should be able to get the 6 (or 9 for Win 10) wins needed for this mode.
CARAVAN MODE 1 win(s)

80
CARAVAN MODE You won 1 time(s).
Refer to "CARAVAN MODE 3 win(s)" for more information.
CARAVAN MODE 2 win(s)

80
CARAVAN MODE You won 2 time(s).
Refer to "CARAVAN MODE 3 win(s)" for more information.
CARAVAN MODE 3 win(s)

100
CARAVAN MODE You won 3 time(s).
Caravan Mode is identical to Hi Score Mode except with the restriction that you only have five minutes. Despite this restriction, there is plenty of time for 3 wins. Use the exact same strategy outlined in the "HI SCORE MODE 6 win(s)" achievement solution to complete this mode with ease.