No More Heroes strategy guide: Kill the killers

Shinobu

Here's where things start to get a lot more interesting, as Shinobu's fight runs at a very different pace to Death Metal's. Being a Samurai, she's all about holding back until a good tactical moment, before leaping in for a quick attack and retreating back to safety. As such, you'll need to follow her example in order to exploit her weakenesses. Her defense at close range is very good, so don't even think about wading in blindly. You'll be reeling from the end of a combo before you have time to ask where your fingers have gone.

• Stay relatively close, but out of sword-swinging range, and absolutely keep Z held down to keep her targeted and keep up your defense at all times. You'll need to be near enough to attack her quickly when the time is right, but you don't want to risk her getting too close at any other time. And keep your thumb hovering between the A button and the d-pad, as most of her attacks are very quick. She does however, usually attack directly straight ahead, so a swift roll backwards will get you out of most scrapes.
• If you see her charging her Sonic Sword missile attack by holstering her sword, roll to the side immediately. It's a fast move, but you'll avoid it easily if you get the timing right.

• Again, side-roll she comes in with a big sword attack or combo, as she's best attacked from the back or the side while she's commited to a move. Just let her do what she needs to do, then flip around and go in slashing if she's still occupied. If you miss a window though, don't get tempted to charge in anyway. Just roll back, regroup, and start again. She'll only block and retaliate otherwise.
• Her slow flip move gets in a few hits in one go and really hurts, but you can see her getting ready to step into it a mile off. This is probably your best opportunity for handing out some hurt, as it's a long, slow move that takes her a while to recover from. Roll around behind her while she's performing it and drop a combo in as fast as you can. Given how prone she is here, this is also your best chance to chain a kick onto the end of a combo and follow through with a grapple move. As ever though, if she blocks the end of the combo, just roll away and start again.
• Towards the end of the fight she%26rsquo;ll start throwing out multiple Sonic Swords at a time, and they can really beat the living hell out of you if the first oneconnects. Be ready to hammer the d-pad repeatedly for an extended roll once her energy bar gets below half-full. She%26rsquo;ll also gain a massive somersaulting combo at this point, which will kill you instantly unless your health is close to full, so it%26rsquo;s even more important to fight evasively.