Ubuntu update breaks Parallels tools, and removes command line access & general Linux distro advice

Anyone else finding that updates for Ubuntu not only break Parallel Tools, but also appear to stop command line access? Unfortunately using the Ubuntu unity desktop is no longer possible as the screen is completely broken as soon as I log in, so command line access is the only way forward.

I somewhat familiar with Unix, but my previous experience of running it under Parallels is what led me to remove the guest OS, as each update always required me to reinstall Parallels Tools. Almost without fail aUnity was always broken with each update which was frustrating to say the least. To cut a long story short, I've attempted to install Ubuntu again (as it seems to have the best support under parallels, as much as I would prefer to go down the Mint, Fedora or SUSE path), however as soon as updates have been installed, it looks as though I am no longer able to fix it and access the terminal.

The usual Control-Alt-F2 from boot login screen to access the command line also appears gone, which is ironic considering the fix that Parallels themselves publish: http://kb.parallels.com/en/121300

Any recommendations out there on how to fix this? Also what are other users feels about other Linux distributions? I'm particularly keen to know others experience with Mageia, Mint, SUSE and Fedora. Most of my prior experience of Linux has been RHEL/Fedora, but I do like the package management in Debian based distress.