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AMINGO
------
Character FAQ for Marvel vs Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes
Version: 0.5
Written by: Surreal (Nathan C. Lee)
email: surreal@canada.com
Copyright 2001 Nathan C. Lee
This FAQ or any portion thereof may not be reproduced in any form without
the expressed written permission and clearly labelled recognition of the
author. Furthermore, the granted permission will be applicable only for the
version of the FAQ that was available during the time of the request.
If I have granted you permission in the past to display an older version
of this FAQ on your website, but I did not personally submit any newer
versions to your site, that means you do NOT have permission to copy an up to
date version from another site.
Revision History: (further details at bottom of FAQ)
ver 0.1 - 30 June, 2001 - FAQ created, not nearly complete
ver 0.2 - 4 July, 2001 - still working at it...
ver 0.3 - 8 July, 2001 - tick tock, tick tock, only a few more sections to go
ver 0.4 - 11 July, 2001 - nearly done, finishing touches
ver 0.5 - 13 July, 2001 - basically finished all the main sections
The most recently updated sections or additional notes will be marked with a
header called , so you can do a search for that to find the most
recent additions.
The most up to date version of this FAQ can always be found at:
http://www.gamefaqs.com
Anything you see marked with *'s means I'm working on it. They are mostly just
notes to myself that I was too lazy to write on paper.
======================================================================
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Pros/Cons
3. Legend
4. Moves Overview
5. Normal Moves
6. Special Moves
7. Super Moves
8. Assists
9. General Usage/Strategies
10. Combos
11. Team Selection
12. Revision Notes
13. Credits
======================================================================
---------------
1. Introduction
---------------
Who is Amingo? I honestly don't know. I've heard that he was a character
created for this game, I've heard he was an obscure boss character in some
Buster Bros. or Snow Bros. game, I've heard that he has his own game
entirely... something that sounds like "Samba" or something, I've heard that
he isn't even an original Capcom character. Don't know. Don't care. If you've
found concrete proof (and not just off "some website" please) of where he's
from, then please email me the details and I'll update this faq.
This is my second FAQ. I wrote a Hulk one a few months ago, but I don't
know if I'll ever get around to really finishing it. Chances are I won't
finish this one to my satisfaction either. Like my Hulk FAQ, this FAQ covers
the elements of how to use Amingo effectively (in my view). I'm not going to
tell you how to play the game, what all the abbreviations mean, how to perform
alpha counters, etc. For one thing, I really don't want to clutter up my FAQ
with all those details. Secondly, there are many very well written FAQs at
which explain how to play the game and cover just about
everything you need to know (ie: they do a better job explaining it that I
can).
This will be by no means a pretty FAQ. Much like my Hulk one, it's pretty
much a hodgepodge of ideas that I will try to write down. I made a table of
contents, but that's about it. I could probably break down the individual
sections more with pretty tables and organized lists of attributes, but I
don't think that's what you're after anyways. That and I'm not getting paid to
do this. Just go read everything, maybe twice, go play for a while, then read
some more. If something doesn't work or you just can't figure it out, send me
an email and I'll get back to you as soon as I can (assuming that my lousy
mail server doesn't die on me again).
Why did I write this FAQ? Well... to be totally honest, I should be
working on my thesis right now. I suppose this is a really good form of
procrastination.  I suppose writing this will only
increase my typing skills which in the long run will make it easier for me to
type of thesis...
If I have made any mistakes or if you have anything to contribute, please
email me and I'll add it in my next update and list you in the credits. If you
do send something in though, please make sure that it works and isn't
something that isn't already listed. Thanks.
======================================================================
------------
2. Pros/Cons
------------
Why play as Amingo?
- he does above average damage (comparable, and actually exceeding Captain
America in some cases), but maintains an average defence
- always underrated and unexpected
- easy to learn
- not many people know how to deal with his little cactus helpers
- good pressure and cross up abilities
- very high priority jump in
- excellent combos, very easy to perform (for most of them), very high damage
- builds metre fairly quickly, doesn't need to use supers to deal high damage
- has one very good all purpose super, and one "laughable" super
- very much a team player who can provide an extremely frustrating offence
when paired with the correct partners (and corresponding assists)
- a very good character to use to learn how to call assists properly
- he's big, green, and thorny
Cons
- no keep away game
- also can't play against keep away very well
- slow movement speed
- kind of predictable once the initial intrigue wears off
- wide body, which can make him a victim of cross ups
- assists are not that useful
- requires good partners to be truly useful
- not very good air-to-air and anti-air abilities
======================================================================
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3. Legend (and other miscellaneous abbreviations)
---------
u/d/f/b       up/down/forward/back
uf/ub/df/db   the corresponding diagonals
s/c           standing/crouching (I interchange 'c' and 'd' all the time)
j/sj          jump/super jump
P/K           punch/kick
PP/KK         both punch/kick buttons
qcf           quarter circle forward (roll the joystick from down to forward)
qcb           quarter circle back (roll from down to back)
hcf           half circle forward (roll from back to down to forward)
hcb           half circle back (roll from forward to down to back)
(air)         means the move can be performed in the air
AC            air combo
OTG           off the ground
THC           triple hyper combo
DHC           delayed hyper combo
lp/mp/hp      punches: jab/strong/fierce (aka light/medium/heavy punch)
lk/mk/hk      kicks: short/forward/roundhouse (aka light/medium/heavy kick)
I've probably forgotten a whole bunch of other things to add, but who really
reads this section anyways?
======================================================================
-----------------
4. Moves Overview
-----------------
Launchers: c.mp, c.mk
Knockdown/Sweep: c.hk
Snapback Animation: s.hp (one of the longest range snapbacks in the game)
Overheads: none
Low Attacks: c.lk, c.hk
Ground knockbacks: standing:  hk
crouching: none
AC finishers: hp, hk, onion dash
combo chains: ground  - weak to strong (2 hits)*
jump    - weak to strong (2 hits)*
s. jump - magic series (5 hits)*
*can technically be more since Amingo's fierces/roundhouses can hit multiple
times
Special Moves
-------------
(I don't know any of the "proper" names, and the Japanese ones take to long to
type up, so I just made them up)
Onion Dash                 qcf + P
Onion Bounce               qcb + P
Punch/Kick Helper          qcf + K
Grab Helper                qcb + K
Assists               Counter               THC
-------               -------               ---
Heal:      Life Up (fruit)       hp Onion Bounce       Vine super
Enhance:   Defence Up (fruit)    hp Onion Dash         Vine super
Balance:   hp Onion Dash         hp Onion Bounce       Vine super
Super Moves (sometimes called hyper combos)
-----------
(I don't know any of the "proper names" for these either)
Vine Super                 qcf + KK
Dancing Super              qcb + PP
Damage Table
------------
Note: Damage statistics were acquired on a Dreamcast with damage setting at 2
(out of 4) against a normal defence character (Cable).
lp        mp        hp           lk        mk        hk
--        --        --           --        --        --
standing        5         8         5+5+5+4=19   5         8         14
crouching       5         8         14+14=28     5         8         14
jumping         5         8         14           5         8         5+5+5=15
throws  (ground & air)  3+3+3+8 = 17
Onion Dash  lp  4+4+10 = 18
hp  3+3+3+2+2+2+9 = 24
Onion Bounce  lp  4+4+10 = 18
hp  5+5+12 = 22
Punch Helper  12
Kick Helper   12
Grab Helper   12+6 = 18 (damage is same regardless of the kick button used)
Vine super  ~ 45 (approx.)
Dancing super  = 43
Movement
--------
Walking - slow speed, don't ever walk with Amingo
Dashing - kind of glides across the ground, 1/2 screen
- very slow
Back Dash - a relatively quick hop back 1/3 of screen
Wavedash - PP, d+PP, d+PP...repeat - since Amingo's entire dash is slow,
wavedashing is pretty much useless
Duck - squats down slightly, not much reduction in height
Jump - jumps and somersaults in the air
- a standard jump, not too useful
Dash Jump - better than his normal jump, brings you in deep for combos
- this is your movement mode of choice
Super Jump - your basic super jump
Colour
------
Well ok, this doesn't belong in the Moves Overview section, but I couldn't
think of anywhere else to put it. As you can tell, my grasp of colours is
rather poor. It doesn't help that my tv has shoddy colour too.
body       pants (there are other categories, I'm too lazy to put them up)
----       -----
lp: green      yellow
hp: greenish   light blue
A1: greenish   yellow
lk: brownish   brown
hk: dark green red
A2: dark green dark yellow
======================================================================
---------------
5. Normal Moves
---------------
General
-------
Most of Amingo's attacks come out quickly, have good range and decent
priority. In general, his kicks are faster and open more combo possibilities,
while his fierce punches are good for ending ground combos.
Amingo's standing and ducking fierces have great range, deal immense
damage and make good combo enders (not counting cancelling into specials
or supers). A fact that is often overlooked is that Amingo can call out
assists during the long animations of his fierces (and jumping roundhouse).
Coupled with his little helpers, this adds immensely to Amingo's pressure game
and can rack up the damage very quickly without the use of supers. It also
adds a little variety to the standard launcher-to-aircombo game. More on this
will be mentioned in the section 10 (combos) and section 11 (team selection).
While his air-to-ground game is very good (mostly due to j.hk), Amingo
lacks a good air-to-air game. He is also somewhat poor in the anti-air
department and so must rely on assists.
Throws
------
ground: when close, b or f + hp - 3 + 3 + 3 + 8 = 17 damage
- Amingo wraps a vine around your opponent and thwacks them several
times in the head, then tosses them away at a slight arc
- Amingo has poor throw range
air: when close, f + hp - 3 + 3 + 3 + 8 = 17 damage
- looks exactly the same as the ground version, except you fall to the
ground while hitting your opponent
Amingo does not have a kick throw on ground or in the air.
You generally don't want to throw with Amingo. His throw range is poor
and they don't do much more damage than his heavy attacks (and that's not even
considering that cancelling into a special or super will do even more damage).
It is also fairly easy to tech hit out of. The same applies for his air throw.
His air throw also brings both of you back to the ground, which may or may not
be what you want depending how you play.
After a throw, Amingo throws your opponent back about 3/4 screen. During
most of the knockback, your opponent is vulnerable; unfortunately, Amingo
doesn't recover until they've almost landed. It is possible to follow up the
throw with an attack. The simplest is to do a c.hp which will catch them for
the second hit. If you are willing to dash a bit, you can get some decent
damage from a s.hp or an hp Onion Dash (which you can do from the air after
jumping forward if you like). The most difficult, though potentially rewarding
is dashing (or perhaps wavedashing) to connect with a df.hp which will launch
them up into the air for a combo. See section 10 for a semi-infinite combo.
Standing
--------
Jab  - 5 damage - a spiky fist jab
s.lp - a standard poking jab
- decent range, but the spike extends slightly beyond the hit range
- less range than the c.lk
- comes out moderately fast
- almost no stun, combos into any stronger normal move, but not specials
- there is really no use for this move
- c.lk is much better in every way
Strong - 8 damage - a giant thorny hand slap (for some reason, Amingo grows an
s.mp                an extra finger in the animation (from 3 to 4))
- better range than the jab, fairly fast
- good stun time, but pushes back
- combos into the Onion Dash or Dancing super
- except for comboing into the Dancing super, there is really no use
for this move either
Fierce - 5 + 5 + 5 + 4 = 19 damage - Amingo's arm becomes a long thrusting,
s.hp                                 spinning, spiky flower
- over half screen range
- the further you are from your opponent, the fewer the hits
- the flower at the end is fairly large and has a good hit area
- very fast startup (for a fierce) and good recovery time, but...
- the animation lingers a long time, but the flower head will inflict
damage if anybody walks into it during that time (this also means
that if you stop blocking too early, you will take damage)
- no chipping damage
- can cancel any time into an Onion Dash
- if very close, can cancel into the Dancing super after 1 or 2 hits
- the hit detection is only for the flower head (I think)
- Amingo's extended arm is still vulnerable to damage
- only use this move in a ground combo or to counter mistakes
- this is your snapback attack (but it will only do 5 damage)
- the snapback effect lingers for the entire animation; as far as I
know, this is the only snapback in the game which lingers
Short - 5 damage - a quick kick to the shins
s.lk  - shorter range than the jab
- essentially the same uses as s.lp (ie: none)
- better stun than the s.lp
- there is no need to ever use this move
Forward - 8 damage - Amingo's foot turns into one of those pipe plants from
s.mk                 Super Mario 1 (you'll know it when you see it)
- basically the same uses as s.mp but with better range and slightly
slower speed (which is moot since you can only combo into this)
- can also combo into the Dancing super
Roundhouse - 14 damage - Amingo plants both hands into the ground and thrusts
s.hk                     his spiky round body upwards at ~75
- moderate speed startup and recovery
- knocks back a half screen
- the hit area is larger than the animation (about 1/3 screen wide,
and 2/3 screen tall)
- decent (not great) anti air with fair priority
- no combo possibilities except those mentioned below
- can only combo into an Onion Bounce if part of a ground combo
- can only combo into a Vine super if you opponent is in the corner
(only works on large opponents, and must cancel very quickly)
Crouching
---------
jab  - 5 damage - exactly like the s.lp, except lower
c.lp - just like the s.lp, there is no good reason to ever use this
strong - 8 damage - a thorny uppercut
c.mp   - launcher
- animation starts very quickly, but the actual hit doesn't register
until a split second afterwards
- almost no horizontal range, your arm will pass through opponents
standing next to you
- decent vertical range, similar to the shoto uppercut
- only moderate priority
- terrible as an anti-air move
- avoid this launcher at all costs
fierce - 14 + 14 = 28 damage - Amingo plants his arms and sends big vines
c.hp                           along the ground that snake towards your
opponent and bites him
- ludicrous horizontal range, about 3/4 screen width
- the hit detection is only for the head of the vine, so you must be
close to get both hits; the first hit (1/4 screen range) registers
when Amingo plants his hands down, the second hit (3/4 range, your
first hit will push them here) is the bite at the end of the vine
- the first hit can only hit opponents standing next to Amingo
- the second hit can hit those who are 1/2 a screen up
- combos from any weak attack
- can combo into a fierce onion dash immediately after the second hit
(and can then combo into a Vine super in certain circumstances) if
you started the move very close to your opponent
- the vine is vulnerable to damage, so be careful when using it
short - 5 damage - a swift low kick
c.lk  - must be blocked low
- very fast
- the best range out of all his weak attacks (although the animation
extends slightly past the hit area)
- start all your ground combos with this
- makes a good OTG (with c.mk) into an air combo when Amingo switches in
- this work is copy right year two thousand and one by N.Le e
- if you're wondering, if someone is trying to rip off my work, I'm
trying to throw off the word processor's edit/find command
forward - 8 damage - Amingo dips his legs into the ground and giant thorns
c.mk                 shoot up in front of him
- your launcher of choice
- arguably one of the better launcher in the game
- despite coming out of the ground, the thorns do not hit low
- very fast startup and recovery
- as far as I know, hitting the thorns does not damage Amingo (but
they're so fast that it's hard to tell)
- the hit range is smaller than the animation; about 1/4 screen wide
and 1/4 screen tall
- the large horizontal range nearly guarantees a launch if you connect
with a c.lk first
- the low vertical range makes this a lousy anti-air attack
- combos into the Vine super, but you don't get the maximum damage
from the super (see section 7 for more details)
roundhouse - 14 damage - Amingo shrinks into a spinning cactus ball
c.hk       - Amingo's only knockdown/sweep attack
- hits low (stating the obvious, Duh!)
- pretty fast startup, but long recovery since you continue
spinning even after you've hit your opponent
- can OTG with a jab Onion Dash (the fierce does less damage)
- can also OTG with a Vine super for very good damage
Jumping
-------
jab  - 5 damage - a downward poke, very similar to his other jabs
j.lp - use only as a starter for his air combos
- hits only a small area in front of Amingo
- terrible air-to-air priority
- terribly jump in attack
strong - 8 damage - looks exactly like his c.mp
j.mp   - behaves just like c.mp as well
- hits fairly high
- lifts your opponent some more in the air, usually putting them above
you, out of range of the rest of your air combo
- use this move only as combo filler (but there are better alternatives
anyways)
fierce - 14 damage - double spiked ball overhead swing
j.hp   - despite its looks, this only hits in the area diagonally below
- slow startup and recovery
- very lousy air-to-air move, decent air-to-ground
- lots of stun if used as a jump-in
- if jumping in with this, either follow up with standard ground combo
or do a jab Onion Dash before hitting the ground (you will either
knock them down or pass through their body(!))
- AC finisher, knocks back half a screen
short - 5 damage - a spiky downward kick
j.lk  - quick startup and recovery
- good range
- decent priority
- your typical j.lk
- arguably Amingo's best jump in
forward - 8 damage - looks just like his c.hk
j.mk    - slightly less range than j.lk
- fast startup and recovery
- good stun time (making it very easy to go into a ground combo)
- hits on both sides of Amingo, making this your ideal cross up move
- in an AC, combos into lk, hp, hk or Onion Dash
roundhouse - 5 + 5 + 5 = 15 damage - the infamous drilling plant kick
j.hk       - quick startup, but slow recovery (sort of; it's actually a long
multi-hitting animation)
- immense priority
- deceptively good range
- the three hits comes out in fairly quick succession
- not too much stun time per hit
- can be pushblocked
- once this drill comes out, you have to wait for all three hits to
come out or touch the ground before you can do anything else;
this can leave you extremely vulnerable if you throw out the kick
at random or too early in the air
- when jumping in with this, don't start too early or the third hit
will occur too early before you touch the ground, giving your
opponent time to block before you can begin your ground combo
- if you do start too early (sometimes you'll do this simply for
pressuring), then call in an assist during the kick
- the great thing about this move is that it is much more difficult
for your opponent to predict when to drop to a low guard since
they must wait out all 3 high hits first
- AC finisher, knocks back 3/4 of the screen
======================================================================
----------------
6. Special Moves
----------------
Onion Dash
----------
qcf + P     jab:    3 hits - 4 + 4 + 10                = 18 damage
(air)               range  - 1/2 screen
fierce: 7 hits - 3 + 3 + 3 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 9 = 24 damage
range  - 3/4 screen
Amingo turns his body into a big dashing onion with eyes and zips quickly
across the screen. The further you are from your opponent, the fewer hits you
will get, although the missed hits will be the beginning ones, so if you miss
the first hit of the jab version, you will still do 4+10 = 14 damage.
The Onion Dash comes out very quickly and travels quickly as well. The
fierce version starts up marginally slower, but also travels faster. The
initial movement of both versions is the quickest, and slows down considerably
at the end of the dash. Recovery time is decent (the jab recovers more
quickly), but a blocked Onion Dash usually means trouble. The hits from the
fierce occur in a rapid succession, with just enough stun between each hit to
ensure the next. The jab version hits rather slowly, thus there is a lot of
stun between the 3 hits. More importantly, there is a longer stun at the end
of the jab version. The jab version also knocks the opponent slightly upwards
after the last hit. All of this means that the jab Onion Dash has some
interesting comboing properties, which will be explained in greater detail in
sections 9 and 10.
I have not noticed any differences at all between the ground and air
versions of the Onion Dash. Damage, speed, startup and lag are all the same.
If need be, the Onion Dash can be used as a quick means of movement.
Usually, it will be done from the air, passing over your opponent in an
attempt to cross up. As a counter to mistakes, the Onion Dash is your quickest
means to deal some damage to the other side of the screen (though if blocked,
you're leaving yourself open to trouble).
I believe the Onion Dash deals one pixel of block damage per hit.
However, due to the moderately slow recovery on the Onion Dash, do not go for
it unless you're sure it will finish your opponent off. Also, since this is a
dashing type of attack with multiple hits, it is susceptible to pushblocks.
If an Onion Dash (from the ground) connects on large opponents, you can
cancel before the last hit into a Vine super for a lot of damage (because the
vine hits will be starting from the ground; see section 7). If you connect in
the corner, regardless of your opponent's size, cancel immediately into a Vine
super. Out of the corner, this usually only works on the big guys like
Juggernaut, but it sometimes works on a select few smaller guys too. It all
depends on how quickly your opponent recovers from hits, how far they get
pushed back, and most importantly their stun animation. For certain opponents
such as Iceman, their stun frame extends a portion of their body out (in
Iceman's case, his arm). When you cancel into the Vine, the growing vine must
be able to snag that extended appendage. This works on the big guys since...
well, they're big. However, on all of the small guys, this procedure is not
guaranteed. Very often, your opponent will have just enough time to block
before the growing vine reaches them, which instead drags them into the vine
for a bunch of block damage. Perhaps I should mention that if you're going for
block damage, this is probably the best way to do it. You only have to watch
out for people who are very good at pushblocking.
You can combo the Onion Dash off of any weak, medium or heavy attack on
the ground (not counting his launchers), making it your basic combo finisher
if you don't cancel into the Vine super. It is also a good air combo finisher
(see section 10).
For a change of pace, you can also jump in with a j.hp and a jab Onion
Dash. Even if blocked, the jab Onion Dash will cross up (usually passing
through your opponent's head).
Against super armour opponents, if you use the Onion Dash by itself, the
jab (lp) version stuns only on the third (the last) hit. The fierce (hp) stuns
on the first hit. Obviously, this makes the fierce version the one to choose.
In air-to-air encounters, the Onion Dash is probably your best move since
Amingo does not have any good air-to-air normal moves. It comes out quickly
and can move across the screen which may catch your opponent off guard. If
nothing else, it puts your opponent in block long enough that your eventual
elevation difference will make it difficult to attack (unless they fly or air
dash). Actually, if your opponent can fly or air-dash effectively, just bring
them down with assists instead.
Onion Bounce
------------
qcb + P     jab:    3 hits - 4 + 4 + 10 = 18 damage
fierce: 3 hits - 5 + 5 + 12 = 22 damage
Amingo shrinks back into the ground, becomes a large tulip-kissing shape,
then bounces in a slight arc as a spiky ball. The jab version makes you bounce
1/4 screen across, the fierce makes you bounce a 1/3 screen. Both versions
bounce up about half a screen. The "tulip kiss" is the first hit, the top of
the bounce is the second, and the third hit registers near the end of the
bounce. The first half of the bounce is nearly instantaneous, making it good
for catching people off guard. The second half (after the second hit) is very
slow as Amingo falls back down. This is where people will try to counter you,
but if they're not careful, they will be hit by the third hit. It is important
to note that the bounce is not semi-circular in shape, but rather like a
sideways teardrop. The first half moves you very quickly along the "straight"
part of the teardrop, while the second moves you very slowly along the
"curved" part. As much as I can tell, the difference between the jab and
fierce version is only the range and damage (so there really is no point to
use the jab one).
This move has only average priority and is only an average anti-air move.
Its only real asset comes from its initial speed which can sometimes catch
people off guard. It also lifts Amingo off the ground, protecting him from
various ground and sweep moves. However, unless you're very close or your
opponent is very large, your Bounce will tend go right over ducking/sweeping
opponents.
As mentioned, the startup time is almost nothing, but the recovery is
bad. Actually, Amingo recovers very quickly when he reaches the ground, but
that hang time in the second half of the bounce is terrible.
The Onion Bounce can be comboed off any weak or medium attack, but not
fierces (unlike the Onion Dash) since they will be pushed too far out of
range. You also cannot combo into either super when you land.
Against super armour opponents, the Onion Bounce stuns on the first hit
(for both versions).
For the most part, anything the Bounce does, the Dash does better. Better
speed, better priority, better range, better recovery, more damage/block
damage, etc. If anyone knows of a really good use for the Onion Bounce, I'd
like to hear about it.
Attack Helper
-------------
qcf + K     short:  punch helper - 12 damage
fierce: kick helper  - 12 damage
Amingo plucks a seed from his hat, plants it into the ground, and a
moment later a little cactus helper (complete with hat) pops up and
hops/bounces along the ground until it reaches your opponent and hits them.
Functionally, think of it as a much slower but less visible version of Jill's
dog helper. The helpers are about a quarter the size of Amingo and hop along
the ground very slowly with an obvious "boing boing" sound. If you are hit
before the helper emerges, the move is wasted. You can have up to two helpers
on the screen at once. They do not have to be the same kind and can also be of
the "grab" variety (see the next section). Note that all helpers look exactly
alike.
The punch helper does exactly that. It hops along until it reaches your
opponent, then jumps up a tiny bit and swings an arm down. The kick helper
behaves in exactly the same way, except it (duh!) kicks. However, the kick
helper doesn't do that little jump before attacking, so it actually attacks
faster. This makes the kick helper the preferred choice. The only time you
want to use the punch helper is if your opponent uses a lot of normal jumps,
since the punch helper has slightly better height and can occasionally catch
opponents near the beginning or end of their jump.
The startup time for this move is quite long, so you'll want to plant
your helpers carefully. Amingo is actually free to move or attack as soon as
the seed has finished planting and begins to sprout. This is good because
opponents often think that he can't move until the helper has finished coming
out of the ground and will usually try to attack during that time. This lets
you react in any number of ways, including: jumping away (or in with an
attack), calling an assist, performing an Onion Dash or Bounce, or countering
their jump in with the Vine super. Another benefit of the quick recovery is
that you can plant two helpers in quick succession.
The helpers have a fairly large hit area in front of them. Even better is
that their hit area also extends to just slightly behind them. So if your
opponent jumps and lands right behind them, they will still take a hit. Your
helpers will even hit if your opponent jumps far behind them, but then backs
up into them (or was pushed in by one of Amingo's long range attacks).
The helpers can be defeated by any hit, after which they will make a
little whining sound and shrink back into the ground.
The true benefit of the attack helpers comes not from the damage that
they do, but from the large stun which their attack induces. When pressuring,
even a split second of stun is all you need to follow up into a large combo.
The helpers have the same colour scheme and same colour hat as Amingo. An
odd and pointless fact about the helpers is that if Amingo is hit with any
attacks which changes his body's colour (such as being on fire or covered in
electricity), the helpers will adopt the same colour change.
See Section 9.1 for many more details on how to use your helpers.
Grab Helper
-----------
qcb + K     2 hits - 12 + 6 = 18 damage
In terms of performing the move, this looks and behaves exactly like the
attack helper. Also, the grab helpers themselves looks exactly the same as the
attack helpers. The only clue to the difference is that they hop much more
slowly (about 1/2 of the normal speed). Other than the speed and their type of
attack, everything else is exactly the same. Oh, except for one teensy little
thing... they're unblockable. While this is a great advantage, don't forget
that just like all other unblockable attacks in the game, the attack will fail
if your opponent is currently in blockstun from another attack.
Just like the attack helpers, the grab helpers hop slowly along the
ground until they reach your opponent and grabs their leg and holds on for a
second (doing 12 damage). Then they release and your opponent is knocked back
half a screen (for the other 6 damage) in the direction away from you (it
doesn't matter if you jump over during the grab, the release will still be
going away from you). During the grab and hold, your opponent is immune to
damage and cannot be hit. They can be hit as soon as they are released, but it
can be difficult to catch them because of the knockback. Also, your opponent
will have recovered and be able to block after he's flown halfway in the
knockback, so you have a very limited time window in which to attack.
Due to the large knockback, a standard combo off the grab will not
connect unless you hit immediately with a launcher (df+hk) into an air combo.
If you are too far away, your best bet is to simply use a standing or
crouching fierce, and/or a fierce Onion Dash, and/or a Vine super.
The difference between the short and roundhouse versions is how the
helper makes the grab. The lk version will make a larger and faster jump when
it is a 1/4 screen away from your opponent. The hk version simply hops along
until it's close enough to grab. Generally, you will want to use the lk
version simply because it is faster. However (but I'm not 100% sure about
this), I don't think that the lk version's hit area extends behind it like the
other helpers'. Something to note for both versions is that they can't catch
jumping opponents. Your opponent will merely be knocked back and for 12 damage
(and don't forget that they can't block it).
The grab helpers can sometimes be frustrating because they can actually
interrupt you mid-combo. The grab takes precedence over any attack which you
are making.
See section 9.1 for more details on how to use the grab helpers.
======================================================================
--------------
7. Super Moves
--------------
Vine Super   (THC - any assist)
----------
qcf + KK     maximum 28 hits, 45 damage
Amingo shrinks completely into the ground (except for his hat), then
quickly grows into a giant spinning vine that reaches two screens high. The
start up on this is almost instant and Amingo is nearly invulnerable since
he's underground (I think you can still hit his hat). After the initial frame,
the Vine then grows very quickly, reaching a full height of about 2 screens
and is a bit wider than Amingo at the base (and reaching a point at the top)
when fully grown. This is one of the few completely "vertical" supers in the
game. It has a very narrow horizontal range (which can "grow", although by the
time you grow and hit your opponent, they will be blocking), but it does hit
on both sides of Amingo, hence allowing the possibility of crossup.
If this connects, your opponent will be pushed upwards as the vine grows
up to the full height. For full hits and maximum damage, you have to connect
while your opponent is standing on the ground so that he can be lifted the
greatest length, otherwise he will bounce around a bit at the top since the
vine keeps pushing once your opponent reaches the top. This means that if you
connect the Vine super off the launch, you will not get full damage. Actually,
off the launch you get about half damage. You would get more damage from a
simple air combo.
If this super is blocked, it has a vacuum effect which pulls your
opponent into the centre of the vine for some decent chipping damage (the
lower to the ground, the more chipping is done), although their elevation is
not changed. An odd property here is that the vine pushes your opponent back
and forth inside, so that when the super is finished they might wind up on the
opposite side that they were sucked in from. While not really useful, it might
confuse novice players. However, bear in mind that it is very easy to
pushblock out of this.
The recovery time on this super is decent, but if you missed or it was
blocked (in which case your opponent is standing right next to you), you're
good as gone. Another huge problem is that the entire vine is vulnerable to
damage, meaning that if you didn't connect, you are now the largest target in
the game. When you get hit out of the vine, you instantly revert to your
stunned cactus body.
The priority of the vine is very good. It will beat out any physical (ie:
your opponent's own body) attack. Due to it's very good speed and
invulnerability at the beginning, this super also makes a good counter to
enemy attacks. I have found this especially useful when being pressured in the
corner, where a quick counter with a Vine and a good DHC can quickly turn the
match around.
The downside to this super is that it is not very easy to combo into if
you want good damage. Any normal attack will knock your opponent out of range
of the vine. As mentioned earlier, you can connect off a launch for less
damage than a standard air combo. The only time you would want to do this is
if you really want to DHC (such as if Amingo is low on health and you want a
safe switch out). The other methods to connect the Vine super are: off an
Onion Dash, a helper, an assist, or as a counter to your opponent's attack.
As explained in section 6, the Onion Dash can cancel into the Vine super.
However, this generally only works on in the corner, or on the larger
opponents. Doing it this way gives you a lot of damage since it lifts your
opponent right off the ground giving you the maximum amount of hits.
Off of a helper or assist, the idea is simply to get an outside source to
put your opponent in stun so you can pull off the super. This can be
accomplished in many ways depending on your helper/assist. The most reliable
method I have found is to jump and cross over just as your assist/helper is
attacking, then performing the Vine super immediately. If your assist hits,
you may also throw in a fierce and/or Onion Dash for extra damage before
cancelling into the super (this particular combo can easily add up to 60%
damage).
Personally, my most common use for the Vine super is as a counter to jump
ins. Because Amingo shrinks into the ground during startup, he is safe from
almost any attack your opponent is jumping in with. The quick growth of the
vine will then catch them before they recover from their attack. The timing
can occasionally be difficult, but that's what practice is for. Alternatively,
you can dash under and cross up with the Vine (though this requires even more
practice).
The Vine super works very well in DHC's if you have the correct partners,
and is best used as the DHC starter (for the most part, Amingo will be on
point anyways since he needs assists to be truly effective; see section 11)
Essentially, anything that hits vertically works well. Some of my favourite
examples are: Doom's Rising Flame, Hulk's Gamma Crush, Jin's Tornado, Captain
Commando's Captain Sword, Blackheart's Armageddon, and Ken's Shinryuken.
Coincidentally, most of these guys have excellent anti-air assists (well,
maybe not Hulk) which help Amingo greatly in his game. Keep in mind however
that after two vertical or rising supers, your opponent will be knocked clear
out of the screen making very few supers capable of hitting them.
An often overlooked fact is that the screen is still "blue" until the
opponent hits the ground, which means you can cancel out at any time and at
any elevation. This lets you cancel into virtually any other super, provided
you practice the timing for it. Not only that, but when you DHC out, your next
character will be right next to your opponent. This is why the Vine super
makes such an excellent DHC starter.
If the Vine is blocked, your best bet may be to DHC out either into a
super which pushes away, or one which does good chipping damage. Due to the
vacuum effect, the chipping potential of the next super may be greatly
increased. Good examples of this are Doom's Photon Array, Omega Destroyer (if
they were in slightly above Amingo when caught them) and Thanos' Space super.
Some other interesting choices are the Zangief's Final Atomic Buster and
Akuma's Raging Demon.
The Vine super is not nearly as good in THC's as it is in DHC's. As noted
before, it has very limited horizontal range and will usually lift the
opponent out of range of the other supers, thereby wasting the other two
meters. However, if one of your partner's supers tends to hold your opponent
in place, then your opponent will not be pulled up by the vine (don't worry,
he'll still take damage from the vine). For the most damage, Amingo's
partner's supers must be vertical or have large area coverage. If Amingo does
not start the THC, then his partner's supers must also be activated very close
to the opponent or the vine will miss completely.
Dancing Super   (THC - not available from a THC)
-------------
qcb + PP    8 hits (auto-combo) - 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 15 = 43 damage
Amingo plants his arm into the ground and a little tulip (about the size
of a helper) comes out that travels slowly across the screen. It can be
blocked and can be seen coming from a mile away, but if it connects it tosses
your opponent into Amingo's hollow body. Amingo then dances and shakes his
maracas to an odd bouncing sound then spits your opponent out (upwards) and
taunts. This super behaves somewhat like an auto-combo since the first hit
(from the tulip) must occur for the rest of the super to follow.
This super is very slow. It starts up fairly slowly, and the tulip
travels slowly which makes it's full screen range nearly worthless. Even worse
is that if you miss, Amingo is stuck in the animation until the tulip
completes travelling across the screen. This leaves you completely open unless
you DHC out (this can sometimes work as a bait against your opponent if you're
looking for an opportune time to switch out).
The hit area of the tulip is actually larger than the animation. However,
this doesn't make much of a difference since you will only ever connect this
in a combo.
Contrary to popular belief, the damage on this is quite nice and is
comparable to the Vine super. There is no block damage though.
The only normal attacks the Dancing super can readily be comboed from are
s.mp or a s.mk, and you must be quite close to begin with. It is also possible
to cancel from the first hits of s.hp and c.hp, but you must be very close.
The only other ways to connect it (other than by hitting your opponent's start
button) is off of an assist.
If you use an assist, the assist must either be of the capture type or
one which puts your opponent in a lot of stun or juggles them for a while.
Once they are hit by the assist, you should be able to connect with the
Dancing super. If they are juggled above the range of the tulip, try to time
the start of the super so they land on it. However, this doesn't work for
every assist since some of them let your opponent recover too quickly.
Much like other auto-combo supers, the Dancing super will never appear in
a THC regardless of the assist chosen.
Utilizing the Dancing super is difficult and generally not worth it. It
is very difficult to DHC into since the opponent must be on the ground, very
close, and be stunned for a long time. It is not worth it to DHC out of since
you have to cancel out before the last hit (the blue screen ends just before
the last hit), which means you lose out on a third of the damage. Furthermore
when you cancel out, Amingo spits them upwards at a steep angle very quickly.
This means that only vertical supers or those which cover a very large area
will be able to inflict good damage.
======================================================================
----------
8. Assists
----------
While Amingo does really well on point where he can utilize his partner's
assists, I find his own assists somewhat lacking. Thus, I hardly every use
Amingo for his assist capacity, which will make this section somewhat brief.
Note that all assists use the Vine super in a THC
Heal: Life Up (green fruit) - THC: Vine Super
---------------------------
Amingo jumps out, plucks a seed from his hat a plants it. A moment later
a small vine with a fruit on top pops up. If you get close to the vine, the
fruit jumps towards you. Getting the fruit restores some of your red life (I
would estimate around 1/8 of the bar). If you have no red, nothing is
restored.
This assist is slow to come out since you have to wait for the plant to
grow. However, the plant does linger for about 2 seconds after Amingo leaves
the screen. An annoying fact is that you must "catch" the fruit. If the fruit
jumps at you and you move away, it will fall into the ground and disappear.
Given the long startup time and the requirement of actually catching the
fruit for a meagre life restoration, I do not recommend this assist.
Enhance: Defence Up (yellow fruit) - THC: Vine Super
----------------------------------
This assist behaves and looks exactly like the Heal assist, except that
it has a yellow fruit. The fruit basically doubles your defence (ie: it halves
all damage you take) for 5 seconds.
This isn't too bad, but the problems mentioned above still apply. I
consider this a better choice than the healing fruit, but I still don't find
much use for it.
Balance: hp Onion Dash - THC: Vine Super
----------------------
Amingo jumps into the screen and performs the fierce version of his Onion
Dash. It travels quickly, which is good, but the slight lag at the beginning
and end of the assist can hurt you. Amingo is really in trouble if he's
blocked, because then he'll be right next to your opponent. Don't forget that
Amingo always starts the Onion Dash about 1/3 a screen behind your caller, so
there is that brief time delay that it takes to cover that distance. It also
means that if you call the assist too far back, Amingo will not reach your
opponent.
I would say this is Amingo's best assist (kind of like the lesser of
evils though). It does good damage and chips decently. If nothing else, it
does force a moderately long block. If you use this assist, try to have a
character out who can cover for Amingo's lag at the end.
======================================================================
---------------------------
9. General Usage/Strategies ***incomplete***
---------------------------
For Amingo to be effective, he must be constantly pressuring your
opponent. With the use of his helpers and any space controlling assist, it is
very easy to keep an opponent cornered. In many regards, treat Amingo like a
slower (and much stronger) pixie. Never ease up. If Amingo isn't attacking,
he's no better than a big green target.
You should spend most of your time attacking from above, keeping your
opponent pinned with your j.hk while one or two cactus helpers are jumping
along the ground. This is also a good time to call an expansion or dash type
assist to prevent any quick retaliation. The assist also appears in front of
Amingo, making it difficult for your opponent to know when to block high or