Project Justice/System

Credits to Sleepmode for allowing us to transcribe their Project Justice blog posts to populate this page.

Movement

Basics

Press/hold to move forward or to move backwards. Press/hold to crouch.

(Directions shown are for characters when facing right. Reverse the left/right directions when facing left.)

Step / Dash

Press to do a brief sprint. Holding the second causes a normal run.

Press to do a back dash.

Forward dashes can be interrupted with any action.

Backdashes don't have any invulnerability, but you can block during the animation.

Jump

Pressing / / gives you a jump.

Jumping backwards covers a shorter horizontal distance than a forward jump.

If you forward jump during a dash, your jump will travel further horizontally.

High Jump

Pressing / / and then / / gives you a higher than normal jump.

Landing after being airborne has a brief landing animation, regardless of the previous airborne action.

Attack

Normal Moves

You have 4 Attack buttons: , , , &

= LP = Light Punch

= HP = Heavy Punch

= LK = Light Kick

= HK = Heavy Kick

You can execute Normal Moves with any or while airborne,

or crouching, while holding or simultaneously pressing .

Most characters have an Attack sequence, when pressing:

,

or ,

or ,

or .

Command Normals

Depending on the character's move set, there are certain attacks that can be performed while standing / crouching, or while airborne

when pressing / , while pressing or already holding a specific direction.

Examples include:

(Air) ( , and while already airborne, are also possible.)

These Normals tend to have special properties, which will be noted on a character's page and their move list.

Textbook Combos

Known as Nekketsu Combos (Hot-Blooded Combos) in the Japanese version,

similar to Chain Combos / Magic Series in other games,

you can build a combo by doing attacks in order of increasing strength.

Every character has a different series of inputs, but the base format is:

Light Normal Heavy Normal Heavy Command Normal.

Combos can include both Standing Normals and Crouching Normals in them, be preformed while airborne,

and can be continued even if a prior attack in the combo whiffs.

The timing for performing these combos is VERY lenient compared to other fighters, even during the recovery of a move on hit/block.

Examples include:

(Air)

During Air Combos, you can also press/hold or to adjust your horizontal distance, for higher combo potential.

Rival Launcher / Aerial Rave

Rival Launchers are Command Normals that launch the opponent very high into the air, similar to the Marvel vs Capcom games.

On hit, hold / / to cancel the attack into a High Jump for an extended air combo, commonly known as an Aerial Rave.

Rival Launchers can only be used by themselves; you cannot chain into them as part of a Textbook Combo.

However, they have high hitstun that allows for more elaborate air combos,

depending on what point you attack after the High Jump, and how long you delay certain Normals while airborne.

Mini Launcher

Attacks with this special property cause a lower air launch than Rival Launchers, and lead to shorter air combos.

However, a mini launcher can be worked into a textbook combo, such as (Air Combo)

Dash Attack

Pressing either during a dash does an Overhead shoulder tackle.

Pressing during a dash causes a low sliding kick, while gives an Overhead jumping kick.

Special Moves / Super Moves

Input

Similar to Street Fighter and most 2-D fighters, many character-specfic techniques are performed via directional motions, such as , , , or , followed by or .

However, in Project Justice, you do NOT have to press the Attack button at the same you press the final directional input. For example, pressing:

,

+ ,

and/or , will all execute the same Special Move.

Similar to Textbook Combos, there is a high degree of input leniency.

You can cancel many combos into a Special Move, usually after performing a Heavy Normal or Command Heavy Normal.

Burning Vigor Attacks

More commonly known as Super Moves, these resource-dependent techniques are usually performed with 2 duplicate inputs of , , , or , followed by or . Examples include:

They share the same properties as Special Moves, often do more damage than them, and are used by spending 1 stock of Guts Meter.

Guts Meter

The Guts Meter is your standard super meter, which builds as you use normal and special attacks, and can stock up to 5 bars.

Meter is gained on hit, on block, and on whiff. Heavy Attacks tend to build more meter than Light Attacks.

Receiving damage builds more meter than inflicting it.

Defense

Block

Pressing/holding will allow you to block high and mid attacks.

Pressing/holding will allow you to block low attacks.

Some Commands Normals have the Overhead property (ignores your low block, must be blocked standing up), but there's no Guard Crush system to prevent prolonged blocking / turtling.

Specials and Supers chip away at your Vitality Gauge, but you can't die from chip damage, even with only 1 point of health remaining.

Air Block

While in the air, pressing // will allow you to block in the air.

Because you can block right after jumping, holding will allow you to low air block.

However, landing has 1 frame of recovery, where you are vulnerable to lows.

Back Turned State

In certain situations, such as if your opponent jumps over you, or after performing certain moves, you'll end up facing away from your opponent.

You can't block, but you can press a direction or to turn around.

It takes 1 frame to block after turning around.

You can also turn around using back turned specific attacks with each or ,

or jump/crouch to do your forward facing Normals.

Tardy Counter

Known as a Guts Counter in the JPN version, Tardy Counters are Project Justice's version of Guard Cancel moves.

To perform a TC, do a Heavy Command Normal, Special Move, or Super Move after blocking an Attack.

The timing is very lenient, as you can input a TC during any point of blockstun.

Rival Launchers are a common use for a Tardy Counter option, which balances out their lack of combo potential.

Meter is not required to do this, but if you get hit during it, you will take about 1.25x more damage from the Attack.

TCs also add about 4 extra frames of startup to whatever move you used (2F from TC's animation, then 2F before the Attack).

Evasion

Roll

Pressing + during a dash gives you a roll.

This will move around your opponent, and it gives you a low profile, so it can potentially avoid some long-range Attack options.

Side Step

Pressing + will sidestep away from the screen.

Press + while pressing/holding / / to sidestep towards the screen.

Opponents will automatically turn to face you whenever you sidestep, so it is impossible to go "off-axis" in this game.

Just Step

If you side step just as an attack would make contact, you'll quickly step to their back.

The opponent will not automatically orient towards you in this case.

This will avoid linear attacks (like jabs), but there's attacks with wider lateral hitboxes that can still hit you.

Wake Up Options

On The Ground

When knocked down and still lying on the ground, the direction you press/hold changes how you recover.

(or 2 Attack buttons) = Quick Recovery / Get Up, in place

= Front Roll

= Back Roll

= Side Roll

Note: There were Get Up Attacks in Rival Schools, but not in Project Justice

Air Launched & Knockdown States

When knocked into the air by an Attack, or hit while airborne, you'll be stunned into the Blowback state.

Similar to a normal/soft knockdown state from other fighters, you can recover from it once hitstun ends.

You can recover from Blowback into the standard Jumping state by pressing:

2 Attack buttons to Safe Fall / Air Tech, backflipping in place to an up-right position, or

1 or with / = Safe Fall / Air Tech, flipping towards the direction held.

If you Safe Fall at the proper height, you can then perform any of your character's airborne options.

If you perform a Safe Fall input near the ground, you will perform a ground tech, recovering backwards into Standing position.

To recover from Blowback as soon as possible,

you can repeatedly press an Attack button(s) while you're still stunned by the previous hit.

You'll be more likely to recover on the first possible frame.

If you don't do any proper Safe Fall inputs, you'll remain in a free-fall state, left vulnerable to any hit-based Attack,

even consecutive Rival Launchers and combos, until fully touching / falling to the ground.

After ground fall, you take 1-3 points of damage. You can then perform any On The Ground recovery option.

Attacks that cause a Slam/Slamming state spike you out of the air, and while standing, bounce you against the ground.

You can recover immediately after either, using Safe Fall options.

Attacks that cause a Down state, similar to a hard knockdown state, cannot be recovered from, until after ground fall.

Throws

Normal Throw

When in a neutral state on the ground, pressing + close enough to your opponent will give you a normal throw.

Press the same input just as your opponent tries to throw you to escape / tech the throw.

Back Throw

If you manage to get behind the opponent, press + , while close enough, to do a back throw. Back throws are not techable.

Low Throw

When the opponent is crouching, press/hold / / , then press + to do a low throw.

Low throws are also not techable, which means they form the crux of your standard high/low game.

Air Throw

When you and your opponent are in the air, pressing + will do an air throw. Air throws can be teched.

Every character's Air Throw starts in just 1 frame.

Unlike other throws, Air Throws don't have a whiffing animation. You just perform a instead.

You DON'T need to hold forward or backwards in order to do ANY throw. It's only distance/height dependent.

Throw Tech

When the opponent throws you, pressing + will perform a throw tech. Only normal and air throws are techable.

If you press + within 6 frames of the opponent's throw connecting (8 frames for air throw), you will tech successfully.

Additional Systems

Lightning Crush / Attack Clash

When the hitbox of your attack overlaps that of your opponent, a clash occurs.

A lightning effect goes across the screen, and both players gain one bar of meter.

A time-stop effect also occurs, but that has no effect on the recovery of either player.

Taunt

To Taunt, in the arcade port, press Start while standing, in a neutral / state.

In the console version, you have to change a button's configuration to be Taunt.

Performing this provocation builds Guts Meter.

Each character has a different Taunt, and longer taunts build more Meter.

Team Mechanics

Teams in Project Justice work similarly to teams in KOF, but with a few scruples to the system that make the whole dynamic much more unique.

At the end of a round in Project Justice, both players are presented with a selection box—this allows you to select which character you'll be playing in the next round. You can make this selection regardless of who won or lost the last round. Further, characters are not eliminated when they're defeated, so you can elect to take the character you just lost with into the next round if you want.

For example, in the screenshot on the right, Batsu is the winner of the round, and Hayato is the loser. The Batsu player, despite being the winner, has elected to take Kyosuke into the next round. Similarly, the Hayato player, despite being the loser, has elected to play the next round with the same character.

Because of the general laxness of the way teams operate in Project Justice, there is, in turn, a lot of freedom in how a player can choose to build their team. While many players may pick certain characters just for the utility of their Team-Up Techniques, it is also viable to just pick a team consisting of characters that you like.

Team-Up Techniques and Team-Up Counter

To do a Team-Up Technique (aka 2-Platon), press + to call in Partner A, or + for Partner B. You will perform a super that costs two bars of meter. If the move connects, your partner will come into the battle and perform a unique move. Depending on the character, this move will deal damage to the opponent, heal your point character, or restore the Guts Meter. Some Team-Up Attacks also just build Meter for you as they hit.

Quick chart of each characters team-up function:

Attack
Guts Up
Health Up
Health & Guts Up

Team-Up Techniques also have a very generous combination of both invulnerability and super armor on startup,

giving them high use as reversals or to call out an aggressive opponent.

However, you can be Thrown before they activate.

If you are on the receiving end of a Team-Up Technique, inputting a Team-Up Technique command will give you a chance to interrupt theirs, at the cost of one bar of meter.

You will enter into a small mini-game where one of your partners and their remaining partner will engage in a sudden-death fight with a five-second time limit.

If you hit them, you win the challenge, the remaining damage of the Team-Up Attack will be negated, and the fight will be reset to neutral, similar to a successful Throw Tech.

However, if they evade you for those 5 seconds or hit you, you lose, in which you waste the meter spent on the counter, and you will receive the full damage of the Team-Up Attack.

Party-Up Techniques

The final way to spend meter in this game comes in the form of Party-Up Attacks (aka 3-Platon).

By pressing any three Attack buttons, you will spend all 5 bars of your meter to execute an attack similar to a Team-Up Attack, but uses all of the characters in your team.

Party-Up Attacks have the same startup invulnerability and super armor as Team-Up Attacks, but you can still be Thrown before they activate.