Alright everyone, welcome to the Fighting Vipers Sega Saturn Secrets Solution Section!
Or, y'know, just a guide to unlocking all the secrets in the Sega Saturn port of Fighting Vipers.
While the Saturn port of Virtua Fighter 2 was pretty straight-to-the-point and had a handful of exteas, Fighting Vipers goes all-in and has secret characters, secret options and all sorts of goofy little extras to give it a bit of charm (and, maybe, make up for the fact the character models aren't quite as nice as in the Virtua Fighter 2 port). The documentation of these secrets is spotty at best on the internet and in magazines at the time, so with our starting points being GameFAQS, vintage Saturn website Dave's Sega Saturn Page, this Japanese blog and this Japanese website, we set to work to reconfirming the unlock conditions, then corroborating it with the Fighting Vipers Perfect Guide (ISBN-10: 4-79730145-7). Thus, we present to you the definitive guide to unlocking everything in the Sega Saturn port of Fighting Vipers. Enjoy.
... Well, we do have a slight issue before we get started. As well as the differences seen between the Japanese and USA / Export versions of the arcade game- Honey renamed Candy and the Pepsi advertising being removed- there's several unlockables and secrets cut from the US and European Saturn versions, including a whole secret character, two alternate costumes for Honey and some other miscellaneous secrets. To keep this as clear as possible, we'll be separating these into sections, starting with things available in every version then dealing with the Japan-exclusive stuff.
All Versions
Characters
Mahler
To Unlock: Complete Arcade Mode on any difficulty setting
The slightly-downscaled version of the final boss that's also available in the arcade version as a secret character, for this home version you don't need to play over 15,000 matches and enter a tricky code- just beating the game on any difficulty setting will do the job. Strangely, Mahler is actually a separate character from B.M., despite his appearance, and apparently holds a grudge against Armstone City's mayor... He's not quite as intimidating as his boss counterpart, but Mahler still has those vicious string combos and imposing poisonous snake skin armour, so use him to strike fear into your opponent's hearts! Well, after you agree to let boss characters be played as, that is. You don't want to be kicked out of your friend's house for being cheesy and smashing the buttons to get a long combo that's hard to deal with. Mahler's also available to play as in Arcade Mode, meaning he has a set of unlockable portraits (more on that later).
B.M.
To Unlock: Complete Arcade Mode on VERY HARD
The Big Cheese himself! Armstone City's mayor, he organises the Nutcracker Tournament and has the victorious Viper fight him at the top of the City Tower where he rules supreme. Anyway, that's Mahler on the left and B.M. on the right. He's a little bit bigger, but not by a huge amount. Still, this is a cute novelty for fans of the arcade game who only got to play as his smaller sibling. All the power and string combos he has as a CPU opponent are yours to command, and he might (might) be just a tiny bit stronger than Mahler. Please check with your friends before playing as him and being excommunicated. Ahem. As penance for his might, B.M. can't be used in Arcade Mode- Vs., Training and Team Battle only, please.
Kumachan / Pandachan
To Unlock: Play 50 matches in any mode- Arcade, Vs., Team Battle, any is fine
What in the world...? Who is Kumanchan? Why is Kumachan? Somebody, anybody, help me!
Well, the screenshots speak for themselves- our buddy Kumachan here is just, well, Kumachan, a giant bear statue. A bear statue that fights! The joke is that there's no points of articulation, no real 'animations' to speak of, Kumachan just floats and flails about with no movement of the arms, legs, neck, nothing. The bear remains in its terrifying arms-out-eyes-glaring position, like a toy being played with by a five-year old smashing it against their WWF action figures. So, what's the deal? Well, if you pay attention to the background of the two Old Armstone Town stages in the game, you'll notice that there is indeed a giant bear statue, possibly the mascot of the theme park itself, with the text "ALL THE SINNERS SAINTS" emblazoned on its chest (I actually had to corroborate this with the Fighting Vipers fan-book, ~My Sweet Honey~ in a time before you could easily get a closer look at textures in these games or high-quality scans were available) and, well. someone at AM2 decided the mascot was funny enough to be made playable. As a bonus, the Player 2 palette is Pandachan, who has a ball. Cute.
As for how Kumachan and Pandachan play, it mostly plays like Sanman, taking all the biker's moves with a few strange spinning moves for good measure, but with all the animations being completely wrong. It's like a late '90s version of Mikudayo, honestly. However, because Kumachan is a secret character, there are no moves displayed for it in Training Mode, so you'll just have to remember Sanman's movelist and improvise (we'd have to wait until Fighters Megamix to see the move names, including the likes of Kiss the Future, Poochy Acid Kick and the terrifying Super Washington Treaty). While they both have armour like every other character, they just get smaller when they lose it, like some kind of twisted Matryoshka doll. Both Kumachan and Pandachan are playable in Arcade Mode so both get their own portrait images to unlock if you want that sort of thing.
Options
Options Plus
To Unlock: Complete Arcade Mode on any difficulty setting
In the savage time known as the late '90s, a lot of arcade game ports- especially fighting games- were adding secret unlockable options (see also: Bloody Roar, Street Fighter EX, Killer Instinct Gold) and Fighting Vipers is no exception, although it's not as robust as some option sets. Once you beat Arcade Mode on any difficulty setting, you'll find this on the title screen as Options in a grey font, and at the start you'll have the following settings available:
* Stage (allows you to pick your starting stage in Arcade Mode, but using this won't let you record your time or unlock extra features)
* No Damage (allows you to make either Player 1 or Player 2 invincible, and while using this won't let you record your time in Arcade Mode, it does let you unlock features)
* BGM (toggle background music on or off)
* Portrait (view unlocked ending portraits- not available in the US version!)
At the start, there's two options in all versions locked away (with a mystery third option underneath No Damage only in the Japanese version, we'll get to that later) that require a bit of extra work to access. Those extra options are...
Big Heads
To Unlock: Play 200 matches in any mode- Arcade, Vs., Team Battle, any is fine
As explained in the main article, Big Head or Kids Mode was a feature unimplemented in the final arcade game but part of a one-night-only event showcasing the game (referenced on the Sega Ages 2500 site and this article from Sega Saturn Magazine 1996 Vol. 9 (June 14th) as found by BiggestSonicFan). While later reinstated in the arcade version thanks to the PS2 and Xbox 360 / PS3 rereleases, the Saturn version had it way before them! Anyway, a lot of sites say that you need to play 100 matches to unlock this, but it definitely seems to be 200. In any case, this gives everyone a super-deformed or chibi appearance with adorable big heads and even big hands and feet, something you'd see in other games around this time too. It will screw up matches in Playback Mode though and appears to make some moves not work properly too, so this is definitely more of a novelty. Maybe try Virtua Fighter Kids instead.
Wall Display
To Unlock: Get 300 OKs in Training Mode
Fighting Vipers' training mode is really nice- you get full movelists for all the standard characters with different stances for the dummy, a demo function (press A or C with a move highlighted to see how it works!) and an OK! checkmark against moves you've successfully performed. Do this for 300 moves (which is roughly around four or five characters-worth) and you'll unlock Wall Disp, which lets you make the walls invisible. Not the most ountlandish feature- the walls are still there, it's just you can't see them anymore- but it is nice to be able to see more of the background I suppose.
Misc.
Clean Pause
To Unlock: Pause the game, then press X+Y+Z
Ooh, this one's handy for getting clean screenshots! It'll remove the 1P / 2P PAUSE text for you.
Change Armour Status Icon
To Unlock: Win 8, 16, 24 or 32 player matches in Arcade or Vs. Mode consecutively
Straight from the arcade game! If you rack up a win streak either in Vs. Mode or through a second player interrupting your game in Arcade Mode, your armour status icon will flex a little, just to really rub it in. Once you reach 36 wins, the cycle repeats from the default armour icon though. At that point, you probably need to let your opponent win just one, you're being rude by beating them that much...
Pandachan in Intro
To Unlock: Beat Arcade Mode as Pandachan, then watch the intro again
... What the heck? I don't get it.
Tokio and Kumachan's 5th Portrait Pictures
To Unlock: Beat Arcade Mode as Tokio using exactly ten continues to unlock his 5th Portrait Picture (different between JP and US / EU versions)
To Unlock: Beat Arcade Mode as Kumachan without losing a single round to unlock its 5th Portrait Picture
These mysterious images have been the bane of Gaming Hell for over a decade, and it's all because silly old me forgot to test the methods required more thoroughly. Oopsie!
Anyway, both Tokio and Kumachan have extra portrait pictures that show up in their ending to replace the final image if you meet certain requirements. For Tokio, you need to continue exactly ten times. No more (as I tested years ago)! No less! Exactly ten. When you see the image in question, you'll understand why- he's playing Virtua Fighter 3 against you on a Versus City cabinet, and the LED counter at the top of the cabinet (which is a feature of the Sega Versus City cabinet with more info here as pointed out by Ultra Powerful Pal of Gaming Hell HokutoNoShock) shows he's on the wrong end of a ten-win streak! So, ten continues exactly it is. The pictures are different between versions- the Japanese one has the angle where you can see your screen, a Pepsi can and a Virtual On poster, while the US and European one is similar to the other shot of Tokio on the arcade cabinet but with a different pose and screen.
For Kumachan (and not Pandachan), just beat the game without losing a round, any settings.
In both cases, these are added to the end of their sections of the Portrait option to view at any time once unlocked.
Japanese Version Only
Characters
As mentioned, the Pepsi advertisements stuck around for the Japanese version of the Saturn game (and, in fact, almost all subsequent Japanese releases of the game on other platforms, the exceptions being the Judgment and Lost Judgment versions) but this home release takes it one step further with a special guest appearance! On any stage in Arcade Mode (some sites say you have to do it on Picky's stage, but that's a mistake, this can happen before or after his stage), let the computer opponent nearly get a Perfect round against you- drop the controller, intentionally walk into their attacks, whatever. Before you lose, the CHALLENGER COMES message will pop up and something truly beautiful will happen as you're taken back to the Character Select screen and a new, stirring song plays. Who is this new foe who has appeared?!
Ba-ba-da-doo-ch-daaa-da-da-doo-ch-daaa-da-da-doo-ch-daaa-da-da
PEPSIMAAAAAAAN!
DADA, DA DAAAAAA, DAAAAAA DA DA, DA DAAAAAA!
PEPSIMAAAAAAAN!
Pepsiman
To Unlock: In Arcade Mode, against any opponent, let the CPU nearly get a Perfect round against you. Before the round ends, Pepsiman will challenge you. Beat him!
Pepsiman was Pepsi's mascot in Japan in the '90s, appearing in several commercials and his own Playstation game, and his mission in life is to make sure that people are enjoying thirst-quenching Pepsi products. Most of the Pepsiman adverts end with him in terrible pain, but Pepsiman doesn't care- as long as people are drinking Pepsi, all is right with the world as far as he's concerned. He's a pretty absurd corporate mascot and honestly, the original ads are pretty funny for their slapstick violence against the poor guy. As for how he plays in this game, he's a bit of a mish-mash of characters, primarily taking his moves from Tokio but with longer Punch strings from normal jabs and at the end of his Kick-starting combos, plus a diving move and stomping pursuit attack from Picky. Similar to Kumachan and Pandachan, he doesn't really change when he loses his armour, so I guess it's just a thin coat of metallic paint protecting him. He's also playable in Arcade Mode which means you get a whole bunch of portrait images of other Fighting Vipers characters enjoying Pepsi!
Unlocking Pepsiman also lets you use that mysterious third option in Options Plus, Pepsiman Reset which will lock him again. so you have to make him challenge you again if you want him back. You can use this tactically if you like- when Pepsiman challenges you, you move on to the next stage (so if he challenged you on Jane's stage, you'll skip past her and go straight to B.M.) allowing you to slip past troublesome opponents. Thanks, Pepsiman!
WARNING!
Playing a US / UK copy of Fighting Vipers with a Japanese save file with the Pepsiman Reset option unlocked will make the game hang on the Options Plus menu!
Aloha Honey
To Unlock: Beat Arcade Mode as Honey on NORMAL or higher.
The other two Japan-exclusive characters aren't really new, but alternate costumes for Honey that have their own icons on the Character Select screen, but they're only available for Vs. Training and Team Battle Modes, no extra Arcade Mode portraits for these ones. While not named in-game (it just uses Honey's name plate), Fighting Vipers Perfect Guide and a couple of other places refer to this outfit as Aloha Honey, which makes sense- the ensemble here is a flowery unbuttoned and knotted shirt with hot pants and a one-piece swimsuit underneath, perfect for a summer holiday. This costume is slightly different from the other we'll see in a moment though- see that ukelele attached to Honey's back? It's not just for show...
Hell yes! She gains a ukelele attack! Watch out though- just like Raxel's guitar and Picky's skateboard, it can be destroyed.
(F, F + P to do a standing lunge attack with it, D, D + P when your opponent's on the ground for a pursuit attack.)
Destroy her armour and she has to fight in that one-piece swimsuit, poor lass.
Uniform Honey
To Unlock: Beat Arcade Mode as Honey on HARD or higher.
Again with an official name taken from Fighting Vipers Perfect Guide and seen other places on the internet, Uniform Honey puts Honey in a typical schoolgirl outfit (funnily enough, Alice from Bloody Roar also has an unlockable schoolgirl outfit, how funny). While she doesn't have a ukelele attack or any other extra moves (and again, can't be used in Arcade Mode) she sort-of has an extra costume underneath...
... As destroying her armour also destroys her skirt to reveal the old-fashioned bloomers gym outfit as seem in Japanese school anime!
Honey is a cosplayer after all, so she probably knows a thing or two about this kind of outfit.
Misc.
Change Honey's name to Candy
To Unlock: Get OKs on all of Honey's moves in Training Mode, then select her while holding Z in any mode.
Look, I'm a little biased, but Honey is clearly a much better name than Candy, I'm sorry (not actually sorry, Gaming Hell will die on this hill). But, if you have a Japanese copy of the game and pine for a more authentically-Western experience, you are free to change her name to Candy as long as you can successfully perform all her moves in Training Mode. This also makes the announcer say Candy instead of Honey! It only works on the normal Honey though, not Aloha or Uniform Honey, sorry.
Remove Honey's Skirt
To Unlock: Get OKs on all of Honey's moves in Training Mode, then select her while holding X in any mode and destroy her lower armour
Alright, you got me everyone- this page has been completely wrong for the past 15 years, as has the rest of the internet and every games magazine published since 1996! The most famous (or infamous) secret in all of Fighting Vipers outside of Pepsiman (I mean, probably) is way easier to unlock in this home version than the arcade game (at 50p a game, it'd cost you £50.50 to see it on a real cabinet!) and even easier than the method previously listed here and other places! No consecutive wins needed, no beating the game on Very Hard, all you have to do is get all those Training Mode OKs as Honey. Once you do, select Honey while holding X until the match starts then destroy her lower armour (either by your opponent or by using the self-armour-break move) and...
Whoa!
That's not supposed to happen! Normally when you destroy her lower armour only the silly leg-guards get blown away, but with this cheat active, the whole skirt goes, leaving the poor girl to fight in just her skidders. By the way, contrary to what some sites used to report, this effect is saved to your Saturn, so you can activate it whenever you want. You can even combine it with the Candy trick if you like! Try it out and impress your friends with your vast video game knowledge by showing them a schoolgirl beating people up in her knickers! Ha ha ha oh god so lonely, so very very lonely. Now, can you figure out why this stuff was taken out of the US and European versions? I've got no clue, it's a real brain-teaser, that one. We'll just never know.
Before finishing up, here's somewhere else you can go for more stuff about Fighting Vipers on Sega Saturn!
The excellent Rings of Saturn has a look at other content in the game.
This includes an unused Pai-chan-based outfit for Honey, a Backup Debugger code, an expansion hack they made, and more! Please take a look.
If you want just the facts in a convenient table, please take a look at the Fighting Vipers Secrets Chart.
It covers secrets from all versions of Fighting Vipers! Isn't that nice? Please say it's nice, this took a lot of work.
Back to the main guide page to look at... Well, there's only the Portrait section left, sorry.
