Introduction
Advanced Variable Geo 2 is an all-women's fighting game developed by TGL and released on the PSX in 1998. It is the sequel to the first Advanced V.G., released on PC-Engine in 1994 (and ported to various consoles later), which was itself a reboot to the original Variable Geo, released on PC-98 in 1993. Despite its rough start, the series has come a long way, and with AVG2, TGL delivered a solid, playable and fun fighting game. 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.
AVG2 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.
Characters
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Material and Miranda
Material and Miranda are the hidden boss characters of the game, with Material serving as the mid-boss, and Miranda as the final boss. Both characters are banned in competitive play, but they can be good for a laugh, so if you want to mess around with them, unlocking them is a pretty simple affair.
First, you must complete Story Mode, which will unlock Material. Then, completing Normal Mode will unlock Miranda. You must complete Story Mode and then Normal Mode in that order -- you will not unlock the characters by completing the two modes in the reverse order.
Alternatively, if you plan to play on an emulator, save yourself the hassle and download a save file from GameFAQS here.
Game Mechanics
Movement Options
- Forward dash: press forward twice
Every character can perform their st.HP out of a forward dash (st.HK for Ayako), though some characters have a command normal on the dash HP input.
Characters may also press b to interrupt their forward dash, stopping them in place. However, this option is not available to Satomi, Manami, Ayako and Kaori -- these four must commit to their dashes (though they can still perform their dash normals).
- Backdash: press back twice
Backdashes only have throw invincibility usually, but some have lower-body invincibility as well.
Note: Tamao and Material can cancel their backdashes by pressing forward.
- Super Jump: press down-back/down/down-forward, then up-back/up/up-forward
Super jumps cause characters to jump higher and twice the distance of a normal jump. This is usually the main option for cover large distances, thanks to the increased stage width that results when both characters back away from each other. A very common offensive tactic is to super jump with rising jump light normals, as they stay active for a fairly long time and can be chained into jump heavy normals. It's also possible to perform a super jump from a dash just by dashing and then inputting a jump, however Ayako, Elirin, Manami and Material cannot do this.
Defensive Options
- Blocking: hold back or down-back
Obviously, this game allows you to block. Something to note is that blockstun on attacks in AVG2 is quite short -- usually blockstun lasts about 5-6F less than hitstun, which gives you plenty of opportunities to find your way out of pressure if you know what you're doing.
- Air Block: up-back/back/down-back while jumping
Characters are able to block aerial attacks and projectiles while in the air themselves. However, it is impossible to air block grounded attacks, such as anti-air normals.
- Guard Cancel: back, down-back, down + any punch or kick while in blockstun, costs 0.5 meter
Guard cancels in AVG2 work very similarly to Alpha Counters. There are some key differences to note, however. Firstly, guard cancels do not provide any invulnerability, so you need to be a bit more judicious with your guard cancels than you would be in a game like Alpha 2. Secondly, characters are able to guard cancel with each of the four normal attack buttons, and each actually has a unique animation -- some actually have more than one guard cancel per button, depending on factors such as whether you're standing or crouching, or if you hold forward during the freeze frames.
- Quick Rise: press down just right before landing
Quick rises have throw invincibility just like backdashes. However, some quick rises may be punishable by some Super attacks, most commonly the Instant Supers detailed below.
- Throw Tech: input HP at the same time your opponent's throw connects
Works similarly to throw softening in ST and Alpha 2 (although the throw tech window is much smaller than in those games) -- instead of escaping the throw outright, you "soften" the throw, halving the damage of the throw and putting yourself into an air reset state. Bear in mind, however, that 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.
A note on special move motions
Special move motions throughout this wiki will be notated using "qcf", "dp", etc. However, Advanced VG2 doesn't require diagonal inputs to be registered in order for a special move input to be valid. This effectively means that a qcf input only requires the d and f inputs to be valid. You'll need to work around this in order to prevent accidental special moves in some cases, but you can also use this to your advantage to make certain super cancels easier.
Meter
The super meter holds up to three stocks and is built in several ways, with some building more than others. Actions that build the most meter to the least meter are as follows:
Taking damage > dealing damage > blocking attacks > having your attacks blocked > whiffing attacks
In general, taking damage builds more meter than dealing it, which makes the super meter your pseudo-comeback mechanic.
Super meter is spent primarily on EX attacks, which cost one stock, and Super Attacks, which cost two stocks.
EX Attacks
Something to note about EX attacks is that there are two ways to input them. The first is to input the special move motion with LP+HP or LK+HK, the second is to input the special move with a double input. The following is a list of EX attack inputs as a reference:
| Two-Button Input | Double Motion Input |
|---|---|
| qcf+PP | qcf,qcf+P |
| qcb+PP | qcb,qcb+P |
| dp+PP | dp,dp+P |
| charge b,f+PP | charge b,f,b,f+P |
| charge d,u+PP | charge db,df,db,uf+P |
This distinction is important, because super cancelling is only possible with double input EX attacks -- in other words, you can't use the two-button EX commands to super cancel. The game just won't let it happen.
Every character also has a special version of one special move each (marked as "SECRET") which borrows some property of the EX version of that special move and applies it to the meterless version. These special moves are only available if you have less than 1 meter stocked.
Instant Supers
A large number of characters in AVG2 have EX attacks or Supers that, given they're in the correct range, will hit instantly after superflash, similarly to Valle CCs in Alpha 2 or 0F Supers in Garou MOTW. This means that if you were not blocking before superflash, you won't be able to block the super. You can, however, input reversals during superflash. Instant supers are fairly important to the game, as they provide significant utility on both defense and offense, so learning to play around them is equally important. The following is a list of characters who have instant supers:
Ayako: EX Mach Spin
Chiho: EX Hiengeki
Elirin: EX Elirin Mach Punch
Kaori: EX Ressenshuu, Retsuzando
Kyoko: EX Ominaeshi
Material: EX Thunder Spear
Reimi: EX Hurricane Rose
Saki: EX Shoku
Satomi: EX Kaenzan
Tamao: EX Souryuugeki, Lightning Crash
Yuka: EX Souryuugeki, Kyuukyoku Kikoudan
Jun, Manami and Miranda do not have instant supers.
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
