AXEL HAWK 1.6 for MUGEN 2000.06.27 or later
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Here it is, my first character for MUGEN.  The character is Axel, from Sega's 
Streets of Rage series.  All of his animation comes from the second game in the
series (which most fans agree is the best out of the three). His name is actually Axel 
Stone in the game, but there's another Axel character out there, and I wanted to make 
sure the two versions weren't confused.  The other one is actually based on SoR3.

USELESS TRIVIA: I gave him the last name "Hawk" because in an early version of the 
original Streets of Rage, that was his name.  Adam was called "Wolf", and Blaze's name
was the same.

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NEW IN 1.6:

* I finally got off my lazy ass and gave him a throw.  This puts him really close to
  what I would consider a "finished" character.

* Fixed some bugs: Axel's falling CLSN2 boxes were off-center, so I corrected that.  
  And, Skate was previously invunerable while rolled up into a ball after his flying
  headbutt.  Not so anymore.

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NEW IN 1.5:

* Alternate palletes!  I may not have been able to change Axel's shirt color, but the
  same was not true for his jeans.  Now you can select from 6 different pants/headband
  colors!

* Special helpers!  Now Axel is able to call in his buddies from Streets of Rage 2: Blaze,
  Max, and Skate!

* Fixed an infinite combo that was possible if Axel kept headbutting his opponent over and
  over again.  Now you can't do the move if your opponent is shaking from a hit.  The headbutt
  was meant to be a set up for combos, not an opportunity to win without really trying. :P

* Flipped the directions for the Uppercut Barrage super.  They just feel more natural this
  way.

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SOURCE:

Graphics:
Streets of Rage: Axel's large select screen portrait
Streets of Rage 2: Most of the animation
Bare Knuckle 2 Beta: Axel's uppercut and spinning kick anims
I also borrowed the flame effects from Kazuya's excellent Kim Jae Hoon 
character.  I hope he doesn't mind. ;)

Sound:
SoR2 - the smack noises, character sounds, and misc stuff
SoR3 - "BARE KNUCKLE!"
Alien vs Predator(Capcom) - explosions and whooshing noises

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HOW TO INSTALL:
Unzip the file axelh.zip into a directory named axelh under your Mugen\chars directory.
Then add the line "axelh" to your other characters in select.def (found in the Mugen\data 
directory).

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SYSTEM:
Even though Axel is ripped from a side-scrolling beat 'em up, I still managed to 
make him into a six-button fighting game character.  The button layout is standard
for 6-button characters, namely:

X - Light punch
Y - Mid Punch
Z - Hard Punch

A - Light kick
B - Mid Kick
C - Hard Kick

Axel has no taunt.  He also cannot crouch.  He can guard low, however.

SPECIAL MOVES:

Headbutt:
F + Z  (slow, but stuns for about a second)

Dragon Circle:
Charge back, then F + P  (good for escaping corner traps)

Grand Upper:
D, DF, F, P  (button pressed determines distance, goes under most projectiles)

Rising Upper:
F, D, DF, F, P  (your standard Dragon Punch, harder punch buttons mean more hits and height)

Spinning Kick:
D, DB, B, K  (think SFA Sakura... can be done in the air also)

Helper: Blaze
A + X  (Blaze drops in and throws a short-range fireball.  Costs you some super power)

Helper: Max
B + Y  (Max drops in and does his "huzzah!" shoulder charge.  Costs some super energy)

Helper: Skate
C + Z  (Skate skates in from behind Axel and performs a flying headbutt.  Guess what... costs some
        super energy)

SUPER MOVES:

Uppercut Barrage:
D, DF, F, D, DF, F, P  (Shoryureppa!)

Flurry Attack:
D, DF, F, D, DF, F, K  (a quick rush forward, and then a punishing series of punches)
 
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WHAT'S LACKING:

- More helpers?  What immediately springs to mind is having the weather-named bikers drive by and 
  throw grenades.    

- Little quirks.  I know they're *still* in there. 

- Axel's forward dash *still* looks like ass.  Still not sure how I could fix this, short of
  taking away that move altogether.

- Blaze is, and I'll put this gently, useless.  She gets hit too easily, and her fireball's range 
  is piss poor.  I think I might fix this by having her drop from the sky in a jumpkick stance.

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THANKS TO:

- Sega, for making some of the best beat 'em ups ever.
- ss, author of the awesome Mugen Character Maker utility.  Absolutely necessary for anyone making
MUGEN characters.  The homepage can be found at: http://teleline.terra.es/personal/moi.ses
- The late, great TESTP message board, for many hints and assistance.
- Sardu, for coding the first great Genesis emulator, Genecyst (which lets you turn off background
layers... makes sprite ripping much easier).  Also for writing QSP, which let me extract those sounds
from the AvsP arcade game.
- Elecbyte, for an awesome freeware fighting game engine.

Enjoy!
-PMK (pkretsch@mediaone.net)