[Guide] To the Concert as Axel (Mania)

Overview

This Stage is short and action packed. How do we approach it as Axel?I’ll try my best to show you ‘how to’ in this guide.

We’re getting serious.

To be frank, this is one of the most chaotic stages in the entire game. However, Axel has enough tools to overcome most of those situations so here we will talk about some basic ideas on what we can do to counter those fierce attack outbursts.

Be very careful when using Jump Kick.
As I’ve said before, there are quite a few enemies who are eager to launch you into the air should you be careless when using Jump Kick. Make sure to use it to ground the enemies sparingly. Keep your distance when trying to ground an enemy with it so that they don’t even have the chance to tounch you.

Neutral Jump Kick is just as great as Neutral Jump.
Although it does not have that many i-frames as your regular Neutral Jump, it is still a useful tool that allows you to throw away some of those nasty biker girls should they dash into you. It has to be said that you need to learn to time it though. We will need this in Stage 12 a lot.

Air Special to the Rescue.
Air Special gives you a chance to keep large groups of enemies together/finish them off after you complete your standart chain. Don’t use it too much though since it may take you a while to recover leaving your back open to any enemy’s attack.

You need to throw the grenades as you as they fall to the floor.
This is very risky since enemies won’t approve of this tip trying to stun you as soon as you grab them.
On the other hand, this is a must if you are not going to use your Star Specials. It allows you to cover the area where a grenade is thrown to and you leave some space for yourself to maneuvre.

Back Throw.
You absolutely need to exploit the benefits of your Back Throw. Not only it allows you to get those precious i-frames to avoid almost any attack, it grounds the enemies near you and the range is pretty decent.

Don’t go forward too much. Just enough to let your Galsia’s cousins to come out. Get rid of them and then Air Special to knock down a Gudden next to the barrels. Then jump kick to knock down the knife guys and Guddens as well. Here you can use Star Special if you’re not comfortable dealing with that many enemies and then finish them off with a GrandUpper when they are falling or just use Backwards Jump Kick to throw the enemies a bit (very risky and requires proper timings) then pick up a metal bat and give them what they deserve.

Stop. Keep in mind that when you move forward a bit, a Condor jumps out right behind you. Jump kick to him first and throw into a crowd of other kickboxers. Then move down and bait the enemies. Do not try to face them ‘in a fair fight’. Don’t forget, this is Mania. You can be easily caught in an infinite kick chain of knee attacks. We do not want that to happen.

The screen with grenade girls. Try to get as many enemies in a crowd as possible and then use your star move. The same applies to the Big Ben ft. Anry encounter. Watch the video for some reference.

You might want to get that wrecking ball swining. That’s it. Just be cautious of the enemies that jump out from behind and throw them to the ball to keep it swining. Done? Good. Proceed to the next part of the screen.

When you see those Zs – get the ball swining knock them down. Kill one of those and leave the other one alive to be to grab a Star in advance. Kill that remaining Z and get behind that ball to be ready to get it swining using your Power Kick (hold the attack button and then release). When a huge crowd of Zs comes out – use your Star Special. It’s not for the Koobos, it’s for the Zs and finish them off with a GrandUpper.

The Koobos. Well, it’s your typical Koobo fight with one exception: you can use the power of Miley Cyrus to knock them down and hide from the flying weapons behind the ball should they use their telekinesis. That’s it.

This stage is fun since there is a lot of room for experimentation. You can rely on this strategy or can try to pull it off with solely your skill which is possible but very challenging.
Anyway, I thank you for reading this guide and I hope you find it at least somewhat useful 🙂