a Big Bang Beat Revolve starter guide
For those of you that know me, Big Bang Beat Revolve is an obsession of mine. This is a modified version of this starter guide made for text instead of video (hopefully eventually) and this is designed to give you a basic rundown of how to approach this game, as well as a basic idea of all the characters.
SYSTEM:
Let’s start with the basics. This game is a three button fighter, with three attack buttons and a situational special button that changes function depending on the character. The basic meter in the game is called the B-Power meter, and has three levels. In addition, some characters have character specific meters for their mechanics, such as Rouga’s B-Dash stocks or Burai’s stamina meter.
The game uses standard blocking, typical in most traditional fighters. In addition, blocking within 3 frames of an opponent’s move hitting performs an Instant Block, which increases pushback, as well as generating extra meter. Big Bang Beat Revolve also has air techs, which allow you to hold a direction and press one of the attack buttons to escape from certain situations in the air. In most games you always want to air tech to avoid escapable combos, but air techs in this game lack the amount of invulnerability most games have, allowing for tech chases, which are situations in which you can perform a move to hit your opponent in the air after they tech. This means you may want to consider delaying your tech or, in rare situations, not teching at all, to force the opponent to drop their actions. This rings especially true as the game utilizes air unblockable moves, which can be a big threat if you’re stuck in the air with no real actions.
This game has a unique meter mechanic in B-Stones. They are the gems that fly from players when they are hit, and collecting them builds meter, simple as that. The RNG of B-Stones in general doesn’t affect most situations, but at higher levels it can slightly alter combos if the player gets enough meter from lucky B-Stones. At a beginner level though, you can mostly ignore B-Stones and not miss out on much. Meter is important in this game, as many of the universal tools in the game require meter, and having at least one bar gives you access to a variety of offensive and defensive options. There are a few different metered options in this game, and let’s go through them quickly.
B-Steal
(B+C while neutral)
is a mechanic that allows you to build meter quickly by gathering all the B-Stones on screen. It is a fairly slow move, and the best time to do it is after knocking the opponent down, although you will most likely sacrifice okizeme in return for more meter gain.
B-Counter
(forward B+C while blocking)
is a 1 meter option that allows you to escape the opponent’s pressure as a standard guard cancel option. Doing so will spend one meter and knock the opponent away.
B-Escape
(A+B+C and and up, forward, or backwards, while in hitstun)
is a 3 meter option that allows you to escape an opponent’s combo by immediately performing an airtech. Doing so will grant you the chance to punish the opponent depending on what button they pressed, but there is always the risk of getting punished yourself.
B-Burst
(A+B+C and neutral while in hitstun)
is a standard burst mechanic that exists in many other anime fighters, costing 3 meter. This is very useful as a get off me tool, although it will cost you all of your meter. It is a lot less risky than B-Escape, but offers no reward other than freeing yourself from your opponent.
Big Bang Mode
(A+B+C while neutral)
is another 3 meter option which, when activated, will convert your meter into a countdown. During this time, certain characters get character specific buffs, and access to unlimited supers until the timer runs out, as well as a powerful super called a Big Bang Break, which deals massive damage but ends Big Bang Mode instantly.
That’s all for the system mechanics, now let’s do a brief breakdown of each character.
ROUGA:
Rouga is a strong rushdown character with shoto-esque tools. His B-Dash mechanic uses a unique stamina meter that refills over time. Using this he can create strong pressure, high damage combos, and ambiguous mix. Overall a very strong character with many tools to play in any range, and his B-Dash allows him fast paced freedom no other character has.
HEITA:
While Heita seems like a typical shoto at first glance, he’s a bit more complex than that. His main tool is a command run that has a hit of super armor, and allows him to cancel into DP, a forward punch, a backstep, or a throw, all of which retain the super armor. This gives him a very strong strike throw mix while pressuring. He also possesses the highest damage output of any character in the game, with a meterless corner loop doing around 3/4s of most characters' health. While he can struggle a bit in neutral, and his defense is just okay by this game’s standards, once he gains the advantage he can keep the opponent locked down until it’s time for him to cash out with his massive damage. In addition, his Big Bang Mode is an install that only enhances his tools in addition to making him much faster, and arguably the best character in the game.
SENNA:
Senna is a neutral based rushdown character. Her main strengths lie in her incredible normals, some of the best in the game, and a wide array of specials for almost every situation. Her unique healing mechanic forces the opponent to play her game or else allow her to drag out the match to her benefit. Once the opponent approaches, she can use her incredible normals to lock them down and enforce a strong strike throw mix. Her damage however, tends a bit below average, and most of her combos are very character specific, while being easy. So while she is easy to pick up, be prepared to learn more combo routes than average once you get to a higher level.
BURAI:
Burai is a very unique character that almost plays more like a Street Fighter boxer archetype than your typical airdasher archetype. He uses a unique stamina meter that drains when he uses certain specials, command normals, and his dodges. He also has a unique parry mechanic similar to Third Strike, which can be incredibly dangerous in the hands of a skilled player. His goal is to get in close and stay in close, using his various defensive mechanics to avoid getting pushed out of his effective range. While being arguably the hardest character in the game to play well, he has some of the highest damage in the game, making him a force to be reckoned with at any level.
DAIGO:
Daigo is a brawler archetype with a unique stock mechanic. Certain moves give him stocks, while others take them away, making it important to manage his stocks and route his combos well. His damage output can be ludicrous under the right situations, and his up close pressure is very good at locking down the opponent. He also has a suite of incredible normals, which go a long way to make up for his lack of a traditional run, instead possessing a short step dash. If you can handle some light meter management with his stocks, he is a very strong and satisfying pick.
KUNAGI:
Kunagi is a well-rounded air focused character with an answer for almost every situation. While she has lower than average health and lower damage than a lot of the cast, she makes up for it in very strong buttons and high mobility, allowing her to get easy access to mix that a lot of the cast doesn’t have, as well as strong fast normals that will make your opponent fear neutral. Her air mobility is better than most of the cast, and with an invulnerable fast fall special, she has the ability to control both the air and ground, playing the most like a Melty Blood character out of the cast, and also making her terrifying to play against.
KINAKO:
Kinako is your standard setplay character, with a myriad of traps and setups to keep the opponent locked down and blocking. Keeping track of her souls, which determine how many of her setups you can throw out at a given time, is paramount to her gameplan. Her strong hitgrab is very plus on block, and landing it in a combo will allow her to restore souls to herself. Once she has meter, she gains access to a dangerous command grab, and her mix becomes much more potent. In the right hands, she can apply pressure like no one else, but it is all at the cost of the absolute lowest damage in the cast outside of Hanny.
AGITO:
Agito is the closest thing to a traditional zoner in this game, using his one button multidirectional knife projectile to keep the opponent locked down full screen. Whether the opponent blocks or dodges a knife, it will stick into the ground. Once he has up to 30 knives on the ground, he can use his super to cash out for big damage extenders to any of his combos. In addition to those tools, he has a couple of traps he can set up to prevent the opponent from being able to approach. While his basic meterless damage is rather weak compared to most of the cast, once he gets meter his damage potential increases tenfold, and his ability to combo off of his throw makes it terrifying for the opponent to do anything at any range.
NAKANISHI:
The Nakanishi sisters are a shoto character disguised as a puppet character, with Kyuudou being controlled with the special button, and Kendou having strong offensive tools. Kyuudou has access to a strong projectile that can keep the opponent locked down, and the ability to use Kyuudou’s skills while blocking can be terrifying if the player uses the puppet correctly. Even without Kyuudou though, Kendou has a wide variety of moves at her disposal to keep the pressure up. Once a player gets good at controlling the two, they are a terrifying unrelenting assault, keeping the opponent from taking any action towards stopping them. While Nakanishi’s combos are highly dependent on very good spacing of Kyuudou, doing so correctly allows for a fairly high damage output.
MIYAZATO:
Miyazato is a neutral based character with a unique assist system. Her assists allow her to get combos not otherwise possible, as well as set up terrifying pressure utilizing the uninterruptible nature of the assists. While managing her assists can take some work, she has a strong neutral presence that rivals Kunagi and Senna, and her suite of tools can keep the opponent out or in, depending on how you want to play her. She has very strong loop combos that can be extended with super up to four times depending on your luck with B-Stones. She also has a strong defensive presence, as her assists can force the opponent to block or get hit, and therefore end their pressure.
HANNY:
Hanny is a stance character characterized by his very short stature. As such, he is essentially always crouching, which can mess with the opponent’s usual options and combos, and give him more time to run his gameplan. With an offensive sword stance, and a setplay and long range wand stance, he has many varying tools to fight the opponent at any range he likes. His stances can take a while to get good with, but with options like one button fireballs, he can be hard to pin down and fight. Unfortunately, he outputs the lowest damage in the game, as well as being tied for the lowest health since he has no guts stat, making his health the base 10000.
MANBOU:
This fish packs some serious power. It has many strong normals as well as only a few, but strong, specials, that allow it to effectively run a midscreen zoning gameplay. A Manbou player’s main goal is to build the meter necessary to enter Big Bang Mode, as Manbou’s BBM is undoubtedly the strongest in the game, allowing it to deal TOD level damage with little effort, essentially acting as a win condition. Manbou is however, tied with Hanny for the lowest health in the game, so playing keepaway while building meter is extremely important to assure you don’t get blown up before getting the chance to activate BBM.
SANZOU:
A big body character focused on defensive play. He has the high health pool you would expect from a big body as well as the movement, and he has access to a suite of strong defensive options, including a meterless guard cancel, and he also possesses a command run similar to Heita’s, and an unblockable knockdown at long range. Unfortunately, his combos require him to be point blank to start, and most of his strong tools are when he’s on the back foot, making him hard to be consistent with. While he is generally considered the worst character in the game, there are at least some merits to him.
REN:
One of the most versatile characters in the cast, he has access to a plethora of options to keep the opponent in or out depending on the situation. Once he begins pressure, he has many powerful tools to keep the opponent from escaping, and once he has meter, he gains access to a strong command grab that requires timing a button, but does massive damage. His meterless damage output is up there with the best of them too, and his long buttons make him terrifying to deal with at any range. He also has incredibly strong okizeme options that force the opponent to hold some decent mix on wakeup. All around, he is a strong character that can be adapted to many different playstyles.
MECHA HEITA:
Mecha plays a hit and run gameplan. While his neutral is relatively weak, if he manages to open up the opponent, he can do a good amount of damage. He has a lot of specials that work very well in suppressing an opponent and keeping them from fighting back, and his Big Bang Mode increases his speed to an insane degree, letting him punish nearly any whiffed button with massive damage. Just, try not to use his projectile that is -42 on block (I’m not kidding).
DEVIL DAIGO:
While not being particularly strong, Devil’s infinite airdash, access to braking, and potent mixup potential leave him as a pretty solid threat, despite lacking many strong neutral tools, and having nearly no knockdowns.
KOJIROU:
This is an alternate version of Senna, who relies less on her diverse set of specials and healing factor, and more on setplay and mix. He retains Senna’s strong normals, allowing him to still effectively control neutral. In return for losing all of Senna’s specials, he gains a Yousanzen type overhead aerial DP, allowing him to enforce a strong meterless mix. His main new feature is the ghost of Kojirou possessing her body, which allows for a variety of terrifying setplay, as well as a metered plus on block reversal that leads to a combo, and with the right practice, he can convert off of moves he normally wouldn’t be able to. While not nearly as well rounded as his counterpart Senna, his mix and setplay are top class, and make him a top tier character capable of turning around any situation.
I hope this guide was helpful in introducing you to what makes this game so special. It took a lot of work from the community to get to this point, and if you’re interested in the game, come join us! This guide is only scratching the surface of the game itself, and if you want a more detailed look, the community and I have worked hard on a Mizuumi wiki. There’s still work to be done on this game! As we build the community we hope to get rollback netcode up and running (we’re shockingly close). This game is maybe my favorite fighting game ever, and a starter guide can only do so much to break down the game feel, so please go try it out for yourself. If you already have, do it again, try a new character, learn a new setup or combo. Have fun!