Introduction
Poverty waifu fighter on PS1 made by TGL in 1998. It is the sequel to the first Advanced V.G., released on PC-Engine in 1994 (and ported in various consoles later), which itself was a reboot to the original Variable Geo, released on PC-98 in 1993. The series has gone a long way since its rough start and TGL has finally delivered a solid, playable and fun fighting game in the form of Advanced V.G. 2. It is worth noting that for a series known for its pervy origins, this game is very light on fanservice and so has no H-scene at all.
As its time release might hint, it doesn't play like a typical "anime" game but more like a mid-90s Capcom/SNK game. Its mechanics are more reminiscent of Street Fighter Alpha and Real Bout Fatal Fury than say Guilty Gear. If you like slower paced poke-heavy fighting games, high damage combos and 90s-style waifus, this is for you.
File:Avg2 select screen.png File:Avg2 match.png
Characters
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How to Unlock Material and Miranda
If you plan to play on an emulator, save yourself the hassle of going through the tedious process of unlocking characters. Just download the savefile on GameFAQS here and load it as a regular Memory Card.
If you plan to play on a console and have to unlock them the regular way, here's how it goes: beat Story Mode first (you get Material), then Normal Mode (you get Miranda.) Doing it in the reverse order won't work.
Fun fact: both boss characters used to be allowed in competitive play for a long while.
Game Mechanics
Movement Options
- Forward dash: press forward twice
Some characters can cancel it by inputting either back or a normal. Will update it later.
- Backdash: press back twice
Backdashes only have throw invincibility usually, but some have lower-body invincibility as well. Note: Tamao and Material can cancel it by pressing forward.
- Super Jump: press down-back/down/down-forward, then up-back/up/up-foward
It makes a character jump higher and twice the distance. It's actually the main option to cover large distances with the stages getting bigger when characters back out from each other. You'll be using it a lot.
- Dash Jump: dash, then up-back/up/up-forward
It's basically the super jump with a different input. It doesn't make the jump longer. Pressing up-back while dashing will actually make the character do a neutral super jump. Note: dash jump doesn't work with Ayako, Elirin, Manami and Material.
Defensive Options
- Air Block: up-back/back/down-back while jumping
Characters can block aerial attacks while airborne, but are vulnerable against grounded ones. Useful for chicken block, but loses against guard break.
- Guard Cancel: back, down-back, down + any punch or kick while in blockstun, costs 0.5 meter
Works just like alpha counters. Great for getting pesky players out of your ass. Characters have 4 different guard cancels depending on the button used, so sometimes it can lead to combos. You gain no invincibility though and they can be baited, as they have the same startup and recovery frames and range as the regular move used for it. Refer to characters' page to see which guard cancels are useful.
- Quick Rise: press down just right before landing
Quick rises have throw invincibility just like backdashes. Meanwhile, they can be punished by instant supers for the entirety of their length and some characters' quick rise recovery can also be punished by other supers as well. Punish damage starts at 100% unlike OTGs.
- Throw Soften: input throw at the same time your opponent's throw connects
Works similarly to ST and Alpha 2 -- instead of a throw tech, you "soften" the throw, halving the damage of the throw and putting yourself into an air reset state. Bear in mind, however, that this air reset state isn't invulnerable, so depending on the throw soften animation, some characters are able to punish you for softening the throw, which can be worth more damage than the throw itself in some cases.
Blockstun
Blockstun is very short in this game. They are usually shorter than hitstun by 5-6 frames.
Meter
Meter is used for lv1 supers (1 meter), which are also called EXs, for lv2 supers (2 meters) and for guard cancels (0.5 meter). You can stock up to 3 meters. You can build it up by hitting the opponent, making them block, whiffing moves and blocking them.
Instant Supers
There are some supers that, within a specific range, hit at the very first frame. This means that if you weren't blocking before the superfreeze, the super was guaranteed... unless you input a reversal during the freeze. Still, what makes them very strong is their versatility. They can be used either on defense as as reversals, on offense to catch quick rises or on neutral for whiff punish as a ghetto Valle CC. It is a major part of the game, so learning when to use them and how to defend against them is very crucial.
Ayako: EX Mach Spin
Chiho: EX Hiengeki
Elirin: EX Elirin Mach Punch
Jun: None
Kaori: EX Ressenshuu, Retsuzando
Kyoko: EX Ominaeshi
Manami: None
Material: EX Thunder Spear
Miranda: None
Reimi: EX Hurricane Rose
Saki: EX Shoku
Satomi: EX Kaenzan
Tamao: EX Souryuugeki, Lightning Crash
Yuka: EX Souryuugeki, Kyuukyoku Kikoudan
Defense Tiers
Characters' defense in this game can be classified within six distinct tiers and all characters within a tier take the same damage.
Tier 1 (highest): Miranda
Tier 2: Jun, Kyoko, Material, Saki
Tier 3: Kaori, Reimi, Satomi
Tier 4: Ayako, Yuka
Tier 5: Chiho, Elirin, Tamao
Tier 6 (lowest): Manami
Wakeup Speed
Characters get back on their feet at their own speed.
12f: Tamao, Yuka, Satomi, Manami, Elirin
14f: Kaori, Reimi
16f: Chiho, Saki, Jun, Material
19f: Miranda
20f: Ayako
24f: Kyoko
Combo System
- Normal Chains
Every character is capable of chaining their normals together. This is usually a bit more limited than your typical Magic Series, and chain routes tend to vary between characters, but as a general rule, every character is capable of chaining light normals (both on the ground and in the air) into heavy normals. Individual chain routes will be noted on character pages.
- Launchers and Air Combos
A number of characters have command normals that launch the opponent for a combo. Unlike similar moves in other games, these normals cannot be jump-cancelled, so follow-ups usually involve either manually timing a jump or super-jump, or simply juggling with grounded attacks.
- Super Cancels
Special moves can be canceled into a EX Specials, which then can be canceled into another EX or a Super.
- OTG and Throw Combo Damage Scaling
OTGs and throws scale damage by 50%.
How to Play Online
Eh... Get Mednafen and join this Discord channel. We'll sort this thing out.
Game Versions
There are two versions of the game: the original 1998 release (SLPS-01318) and the 2003 SuperLite 1500 series re-release (SLPM-87226). As far as difference goes, they're pretty much identical besides the SuperLite logo screen in the re-release.
The game version released in the Japanese PS Store (for PS3, PSP and Vita) is the original release, SLPS-01318. It's a PS1 Classic, so it has no built-in netplay.
Ressources
- Japanese Advanced V.G. 2 Wiki
- afroshouji's Advanced V.G. 2 FAQ/Movelist on GameFAQs
- Advanced V.G. 2 Japanese Competitive Matches
- Variable Geo Channel on the TMNT TF CE + SNES Fighters Discord
- Advanced V.G. 2 Thread on SRK
