LOVE * UPPER
FAQ 1.3
09/23/2007
By Evk X Damascus (& freekosuave) (& various other heroes who send in tips! 
& questions!)
evk_d (at) hotmail.com

*** TABLE OF CONTENTS ***

Introduction
1.) Version history
2.) Frequently Asked Questions
3.) System explanation
4.) Controls
5.) Specific Boxers
6.) Strategy
7.) Cheating! 
8.) Outro/Contact


Introduction

Before we get started, I'd like to quote some E-mail I got:

"I believe this is actually the worst FAQ ever. I may consider writing one 
just so people could be properly informed about this game. It would almost 
be easier than to correct the MANY mistakes you make in yours. "

The lesson here is, don't drink and flame, because the guy who wrote this 
ended up writing me back with a lot of good information, for which I'm very
thankful. You'll see his info appearing throughout.

Now on to the game.

Love Upper? 

This is a obscure boxing title. I've been unable to find any info at all on 
this game, thus this FAQ. I'd like to add some more sections to this, but 
since I can't read the instructions (or even the options menu!), this is all 
the info I have.

What I do know is that this is part of the Simple 2000 series, featuring other 
such luminaries as Love Ping Pong and Love Smash. If you want a copy of Love 
Upper, try your local import store, or http://www.ncsx.com on the web. 

*** Version history ***

September 23, 2007 (1.3) - Wow, still alive! Corrected some general typos 
and mistakes. I did get my copy in the mail (two years ago, heh), so there 
might be another update soon. Don't hold your breath.

January 4th, 2004 (1.2) - Implimented the actual frequently asked questions
section, now that I have some! Also fixed a bunch of errors that made this
read oddly sometimes.

September 5, 2004 (v 1.1) - Added everyone's names, PLUS a super handy trick to
unlock everything without going through tournament mode! Man, this thing's 
almost done.

June 15th, 2004 (v 1) - Fixed and added to control section and finally put
some info in the charecters section. Here I am slaving away on my birthday
for you people!

June 14th, 2004 (v .9)- Added how to unlock the boss, boss strategies, and
more info on special moves, as well as some rude E-mail I got. For next time
I'd like to get the names, so I don't have to call people "jumping uppercut
lady" and "the boss".

June 1st, 2004 (V .8)- I wrote a basic FAQ. There's a LOT of information 
missing, so if anyone has any info, please send it in to the above address.

*** Frequently Asked Questions ***

I've finally got a bunch thanks to Mike Pettitt. What would I do without you
readers? (Wither.)

Q: Do you use a Japanese PS2 or a U.S. PS2 with a mod chip?  I'm trying to 
figure out which would be the best way to go.  I'd hate to buy a second PS2 
unless I had to, but I'm not nuts about tearing apart the one I have and 
ruining it just to install a mod chip that might not even work.

A: You'll need a playstation 2 capable of playing imports.

Q: This is kind of a dumb question, but I'd rather ask and know the answer: 
would I need to use a Japanese memory card to save my game, even if I was 
using an American PS2?

A: American memory cards work perfectly!

Q: what'd you think of Love Upper?  Or, to be more specific: if you were to 
write a review of Love Upper, how would you score it?

A: I would have to say it's definitly worth $25. In my opinion, Love Upper's 
only real problem is that it seems like it doesn't know what it wants to be. 
All the boxing physics are taken from another Simple 2000 game, a more 
realistic one featuring male boxers. Love Upper has the serious engine from 
that game, plus all the goofy special moves and costumes. I've played versus 
a lot with it, and while the engine is there to have a serious boxing match, 
me and my friends usually end up just throwing the specials at each other 
(all the more so once the bosses with thier ridiculous damage specials are 
unlocked). But that's really the only bad thing I can say. It has a lot of 
replay value, cute girls, and you can't beat the price! (If you're paying
more than $25 for Love Upper, you're getting ripped off!)
I will warn my humble readers to avoid another Simple 2000 game, "The Catfight".
Total trash...

Q: Apparently, Love Upper has also been released in the UK and other countries 
as Heartbeat Boxing.  Do you know whether this is a translated version of Love
Upper or just the same Japanese game with a different cover?

A: I imagine it would have to be translated, so it seems there is an English 
version of Love Upper out there - and lo and behold I've ordered it. Look 
forward to some info coming to this FAQ from Heartbeat Boxing soon.
(I heard a rumor that a US publisher was going to start translating and 
selling the Simple 2000 series over here, but who knows when or if that will 
even happen?)

If anyone has any more questions... my E-mail is at the bottom.

*** System ***

You have two life bars, a thick orange one and a thin green one. The orange 
one is your overall health. If this is reduced to zero you are knocked out 
cold. The thin green bar is your stamina. If this reaches zero you're knocked 
down. Both of these bars will recover between rounds and when you're knocked 
down (mash all 4 face buttons).

Below these bars there are three empty circles. Every time you're knocked down 
one of them fills up. If you're knocked down three times in a round, it's a 
TKO and you lose. The same applies to the computer. 

Between the bars is a clock. When it reaches zero a round is over. Simple, 
right? At the bottom are judge scores. You can ignore these, because I have 
never had a match go 12 rounds. I think my record is five. (You can change
the number of rounds in Options, but I don't know why you'd want to - it 
seems the computer is always ahead on points, no matter how much of a 
pounding you're giving out.)


*** Controls ***

Since I can't read the instructions, here we go...

L2 - Block. You'll be using this a lot (see Strategy). This will block 
(almost) all specials and high hits. It will NOT block body shots.
R2 - Big uppercut. This is your strongest attack. If you push R2 and forward 
at the same time you'll do a big haymaker.
R1 - Hook punch. This does less damage than R2, but it still does a bunch. 
Forward + R1 produces a stronger hit that can stun your opponent.
Triangle - Your strongest normal punch. It hits in the face. If you push 
forward and triangle at the same time you'll do a kind of lunge punch. You 
can hit it four times in a row for a combo. This is a stiff jab.
X - Body blow. It hits in the stomach (usually, you get some illegal blows if 
you have a very tall fighter versus a very short one). This punch has an OK 
amount of power but the main use is that if you throw one of these and then a 
triangle you can mess up the computer. Blocking with L2 will not block these 
hits, so if the computer is blocking, you can throw one of these and go right 
into the high hits (square or triangle). You can hit X four times for a combo.
Square- Very quick jab. These do almost no damage, but you can do one of these 
to stun the computer long enough to throw some triangles. I don't use this 
button much. Hitting square more times does not produce a combo, you just keep 
throwing wimpy jabs.
O - This makes you dance. Ha. No, it makes you bob and weave. This blocks
some punches, but I don't think as many as regular block. I assume this has
a purpose, but I don't know exactly what it is.

Blocking precludes you from using certain moves. If you are pressing L2, you 
will not do the lunge punch, for example. If you have a hard time hitting the 
computer let go of L2 when it comes time to counterattack.

When you're knocked down or between rounds, you'll see a button pushing icon. 
Mash ALL FOUR face buttons. This will bring back both your bars. 

Info from freekosuave on clinching and blocking those pesky body shots:
"Both L1 and L2 are block buttons, pressinig them in tandem 
(and pressing towards the opponent) will allow you to grab onto the opposing 
fighter and regain some health (for both fighters) in the clench. Also 
pressing down on either the analog or control pad will allow you to block 
incoming body attacks."

There are also special moves. Everyone has special moves executed by using 
the analog stick and trinagle. Hit start and then circle to see the move list. 

More info from freekosuave:
"The lightweight fighters (the top row) can throw 5 punches in succession. 
The middleweights and the first unlockable fighter (which i believe to be the 
middleweight champion on the bottom left of the select screen) are able to 
throw 4 punches in succession. Lastly the heavyweights and the final boss are 
able to throw only 3 punches in succession. There is an exception to this 
rule and that is inputing a command for a combo while throwing other punches 
and completing that command as the final punch in the sequence.

For example using the top right boxer... there is a ->, <-, -> combinations 
move. you can attack with a flurry of body shots while staring the command 
string and then finishing with the 5th punch being the special move for a 
total of 7 or 8 hits if all the punches connect. this applies to almost any 
special punch that does not have a delay before being executed (the final 
boss has at least 2 moves that i can remember that have a delay to them)."

You can practice all of these moves in, you guessed it, Practice mode.

*** Specific Boxers ***

If you're using a lightweight fighter, you have more strategies available. 
(See above and below.)

As stated above, the top row is lightweights, the 2nd row is middleweights,
the 3rd row is heavyweights, and the last row is the two unlocked boxers and
the random box.

Bill Walter reports:
"The fighter in the center square is Riho, who is the d3 poster character."

The reader will also be happy to know that two boxers (Lisa and Janice, middle
and right 3rd row) speak English. And Janice has a move called napalm bomb, 
but when she executes it, it sounds like she's yelling "Apetown Bomb". Hey, 
this FAQ is free, you get what you pay for!

Anyway, here's some more info on all the boxers...

* LIGHTWEIGHTS *

- KAORI -

Left side of the top row, with the goofy hair. 

- MISUZU -

Top row in the middle. 

- MIREI -

Top row on the right, with the glasses.

* MIDDLEWEIGHTS *

- MAYUMI -

Second row on the left. 

- RIHO -

The D3 mascot, second row in the middle. God, that hair! 

- NATSUMI -

Second row on the right. She has a nurse outfit and a angel costume.

* HEAVYWEIGHTS *

- REIKO -

Third row on the left. She has a bee costume... scary.

- LISA -

Third row in the middle. 

- JANICE -

Third row in on the right. 

* BOSSES *

- SERINA -

The middleweight champ is in the forth row, right side. Her three outfits are
a normal fighting outfit, a cocktail dress, and a playboy bunny outfit.

- ERIKO -

The heavyweight champ is in the middle of the fourth row. Her three outfits 
are a normal fighting outfit, a tube top and miniskirt, and a leopoard costume.

*** Strategy ***

Despite its appearance, Love Upper can be a really hard game. This section 
covers defeating Tournament mode, which is how you unlock more outfits and 
boxers - unless you wanna cheaaaaaaaaaat. More on that later.

Step 1 to beat Tournament mode is to put the game on easy. That's under
Options, I think it's the first thing. Please try this if you have trouble.

In general, Tournament mode can be broken into two parts: The easy part and 
the hard part. 

The easy part of Tournament mode is the very beginning, when the opposing 
boxer's AI is very bad. You can just throw huge uppercuts at the computer and 
they'll generally go flying. You don't need my help for this section! 
This usually lasts for five fights. (You won't face the entire roster in 
Tournament mode.)

The hard part of Tournament mode is always the same, and it will start with a
heavyweight - Reiko, Lisa or Janice, either the blonde who speaks english, the 
black woman, or the tall woman with glasses. You'll know you've arrived at 
the hard part of Tournament because your opponent will start throwing 
special moves all over the place.

The key to defeating the opponent who throws special moves is Block (L2). 
Hold down this button and 90% of the opponent's moves will be blocked. After 
this you can hit back with some triangle punches. If your opponent is 
blocking these, try hitting X to hit low and then triangle, which usually 
confuses them. Sometimes your opponent will use this strategy on you - 
throwing a low punch, which makes you block low, and then throwing a special 
move. There's not much you can do here except hope it does not happen. 
Alternatively, if you are brave, you can throw triangle/forward punches when 
the computer's just starting to attack. If you can sucker punch the computer 
like this it works well, but it's dangerous.

Once you get the hang of blocking and countering with Trinagle, you should be 
able to defeat this opponent. Remember two things about this game: You need 
patience and there's also a luck factor. Good luck.

After that opponent you'll come to a woman named Serina, and she 
throws a million jumping uppercuts. She's actually really easy to defeat. 
Hold down L2 until she does a jumping uppercut, and then nail her with a 
R2/forward uppercut. Again, the key here is patience - if you start throwing 
punches all over the place, she'll give you the jumping uppercut, and a few 
of those will put you on your ass. Just wait for the right moment and give 
her your uppercut. Sometimes she'll close in and start throwing normal 
punches. If you wait a little she'll get bored and go back to the jumping 
uppercuts. 

After her comes the final boss, Eriko, who in my experience is either really 
hard or really easy. Her biggest threat is she has a lunging kind of punch 
that will knock you down no matter how much stamina you have left and take a 
big chunk out of your life bar. In addition, some of her super moves will 
break your block. Be warned even one of her lunge punches can mean you're going
to lose.

There are two ways to defeat her. The quickest way is, when you see her raring 
back for her super lunge punch, quickly do your own, wimpier lunge punch 
(forward+triangle). If you time it just right, you can interrupt her attack 
and also do a hefty chunk of damage. If you can do this she will go down in a 
hurry! I did this twice and got a TKO in round one on her once. You can also 
knock her out of the lunge with normal (triangle) punches, but this is VERY 
dangerous.

The second method takes a lot longer and does not work as well, but it's much 
safer. You can fight her the way you did the first special attack lady, by 
blocking her and throwing back punches with triangle. This will wear her down, 
but she'll also use her block-breaking attack and mess you up. If you really 
want to use this strategy, the best thing to do is be aggressive and use the 
forward+trinagle punch to interrupt her once, and then go into 
block/counterpunch mode. This seems to mess her up, I don't know why. If you 
try to just block and counterpunch her she'll figure out what you're up to 
after a while...

The last boss is most dangerous after you've taken most of her life off, as 
she'll really use her super a lot (and why not, it works wonders). So be 
careful. In this phase she'll sometimes throw them three times in a row, 
which is a good chance to hit her with your lunge punch if you have a lot of 
guts.

The last boss' stamina meter comes back VERY fast, so you will probably have 
to drain her orange bar totally, unless you can consistently knock her down 
with your lunge punch.

However, if you are playing with the right charecter, forget all the above
information. You can defeat the last boss very easily with a lightweight boxer
(see Controls). The last boss, and just about all the other boxers, can be 
defeated very easily with a lightweight charecter because of her speed. All you 
have to do is throw a few triangle punches and go right into one of her special 
moves. She'll go so fast the computer will still be reeling from your normal 
punches. With this, just about everyone is a pushover.

After you beat the boss, you get the credits (I don't know what the 
significance of the automated boxing here is) and a new outfit for the boxer 
you beat Tournament with.

Make sure you save!

Finally, here's how to play with the unlocked characters... I guess I should 
move this up to where I have info on them, huh?

- SERINA -

Is unlocked after beating the game once.

Well, I bet you want to know how to throw the jumping uppercut, right? There's 
a movelist (Start and then O), but the short answer is swivel the left analog 
stick all around and hit triangle. That will often, but not always, produce it. 
Serina has a diffrent strategy for tournament mode...

During the easy fights, just throw jumping uppercuts. Easy, right? If the 
computer blocks high, throw a X button combo.

When you get to the first heavyweight lady, how to fight her really 
depends on the circumstances. Sometimes you can go out there, block her
specials and throw your own and pulverize her. But sometimes this does not 
work (with miss glasses the most) and you'll have to, alas, revert to blocking 
and counterpunching. You can probably land one jumping uppercut, but the 
computer will use less powerful specials on you, and it's hard to nail a 
jumping uppercut. Even one will shorten the fight considerably, though...

When it comes time to face yourself, the strategy is very simple: Block until 
your opponent throws a jumping uppercut and then throw one of your own. Your 
opponent will often try to throw a bunch in a row, so if you start yours even 
a picosecond before hers, you'll knock her on her ass really fast. 

Versus the last boss, you will again have to fight her like normal. You can 
throw a million jumping uppercuts and the computer will block a million of 
them. Luckily Serina is pretty good anyhow, and you can block/counterpunch the 
last boss if you're careful. Heck, you can even take one of her dumb lunge 
punches and come out on top. It seems that unlike normal fighters, you can be 
purely defensive with Serina, which is a plus. 

- ERIKO -

Is unlocked after, I think, beating it with five boxers. When in doubt, keep
pounding away at tournament mode. Or you could cheat. 

The main attraction of the boss is of course her super move. You can check
the move list. I have a little trouble pulling it off on a regular basis. To
be honest, the boss is not that great. Her super move is really powerful,
but because it takes so long to do, once the computer starts blocking you will
have a very hard time landing it. On the upside she has pretty good power and
her life comes back pretty fast. 

Her super is so slow you can't even use it on Serina after you block 
her super. ;_;

*** Cheating! ***

Courtsey of reader Haddock, here's how to unlock EVERYTHING without doing 
Tournament at all!

"There's one tip you may be interested in : how to unlock special characters 
and all outfits without having to complete tournament modes !! 
I do this by moving the left ananlog stick around and then hitting triangle 
while on the title screen (the very first screen, not the one where you choose 
game mode), much like special combos. You'll hear something said in japanese 
(don't ask me what she's saying :o) ) if you do it right. "

This works like a charm. I rotated the left stick around and hit triangle a 
few times, and the game played the soundclip like six times, so it's not 
terribly discriminating. I think the sound clip is someone yelling 
"Love Upper", but who knows? In any case, sure enough, this will unlock 
everyone and everything. 

Of course, now you don't have much of a reason to play tournament mode... 
but you can put Reiko in a bee outfit. 

*** OUTRO ***

And that's the end. I hope people are reading this. Again, if you have more
info...

My address: [email protected]

Please give your message a subject with love upper in the title, otherwise
it will probably be caught in my spam filter and killed.