Death Mode Guide

Welcome!
This page is the guide that leads to victory in Death Mode. Death Mode might be the most challenging game mode of all, and in every stage there are different obstacles, hence there are many different tips to give. All kind of useful tips and tricks can be found here; put them in practice to become a Death Mode expert!

General
The best character to use in Death Mode is clearly France. If you use him in midfield, he will always score no matter which obstacle is in the field. New Zealand works fine as well, because straight-line power shots usually won't go too high in the air but also won't hit objects that are on the ground, but unlike most other straight-line power shots New Zealand's is also good against CPUs. Roughly the same applies to Thailand. His air shot might work slightly less good though, but he also has a ground shot. This means that you can choose if you are going to use a high or low power shot. For the same reason, Serbia might work well for you. Mon-K's air shot is another one that will score most of the time in Death Mode. It can even surpass the Fort in Stage 6 and the Steel Spears in Stage 21 for example, if you use it on your opponent's side of the field.

Stage 1
You can play with a character such as France here, while characters like India, Cyborg and Colombia are not very good, because the ball often gets blocked by the 100 Ton Weight and then it could end up in your own goal as well. You can see it when you play against Colombia, who is the boss of the stage. It happens a lot that the ball ends up in front of Colombia's goal, so be prepared to walk it in as fast as you can! However, characters with low power shots, such as Italy and Cyborg can be really trecherous opponents in this stage. Remember to always stay on the ground when they have their power shots ready, because if you're somewhere hanging in the air there's no way that you can stop them. Also, by riding the weight up in the air, you can get a great boost of height! This can be used to block air shots such as India's.

Stage 2
It is recommended to use France here because his shot goes underground and spikes will surely not be on your power shot's way. The same applies to Mon-K's air shot and most of the shots when you use them close to the goal, most noteworthy shots like Brazil's and straight-line shots. Ground shots such as India's are almost useless in this stage, due to one spike appearing after another, blocking the shot. France is also your opponent in the boss round, and you have to be prepared when he uses his power shot. Make sure you are in front of your goal in time to stop it!

Stage 3
You have to upgrade your jump until you can jump high enough to jump over the sawblades and a good SS rank Costume that gives you a good amount of extra jump points to avoid the sawblades. The best character to use here is any character with a non-straight-line shot like Chile or Brazil. France is also recommended. Characters with a very long power shot animation are useless in levels like this, as the anvil might have already gotten in the way of the power shot. Power shots that travel over the ground, like Nigeria's, will have to deal with the sawblades lying in the way and will usually not make it either.

Stage 4
It is a little tricky to avoid the laser, due to its fast speed and randomness, with an almost instantaneous shot. Just dash away and make sure you are not under the laser when it stops! Also, your speed and dash stats are important as they're what get you away from the laser quickly. Practically every character could be used on this stage.

Stage 5
It always warns before electricity comes, so watch carefully when you see a circle appear on the place where you're standing and time your jumping. You'd also want a highly upgraded jumping stat for this. Every power shot can be used here. and most of them will even work better than usually, because the CPU could get electrocuted. When your opponent is under the effect, you can also easily kick him away.

Stage 6
You could use certain power shots even if the fort is in front of your opponent's goal. Even though they won't go in, they might make your opponent disappear or knock him out, so as soon as the fort is gone you can score. Watch out though, because if you do it wrong, it might bounce back into your own goal instead. You can also get rid off your opponent by means of the costume you are wearing. As long as the fort is in front of your opponent's goal, try not to concede yourself, because in this Stage it's quite hard to turn the game around. The best thing to do in this stage is keeping the ball with you and wait until the ford has disappeared into the ground and then shoot or use your power shot. What might work is jump over your opponent so you have kind of eliminted him, wait until the fort has disappeared and then you can kick it in! The best character by far to use in Stage 6 is France. It seems like his power shot is made for bypassing this obstacle: If you use France's Underground Shot around midfield, the ball will come up in the goal, behind the fort! Characters that do good in this Stage as well are USA if you use his shot right in front of the gate, Mon-K (his air shot only) and Australia, because he teleports the ball forward into the goal in his ground shot if you use it close to the fort. Maybe some other characters with power shots that make the ball start a bit in front of them are good to use here as well. For maximum defense, you can let the fort close you up inside your own goal and rush out to clear the ball when the fort is down, returning back to your goal just as the gate locks up the goal again.

Stage 7
If not playing against Georgia yet, just try to avoid the middle part of the stage. In the rounds with Georgia's henchmen, there's only one plug and the effect is very short, so you don't even have to pay much attention to it at all. Just play your game at your very best (because the plug is one of the stage obstacles that bother you the least), but you should definitely avoid the middle of the field while your opponent is performing his power shot. Most power shots can work with this stage, so it is easy to score a goal if not distracted by the plug. But, in the boss stage, make sure to stay out of the way of each plug. Power shots are still applicable, but make sure to be careful. A good SS costume will be useful to keep your opponents away from you, like the Sawblade Costume. Finally, be sure to watch out for Georgia's costume, which can hit you from far away. Luckily, the hat can be easily taken off from one plug.