Virtua Fighter 4: SEGA Lovin' and Beyond

After originally having SEGA’s latest game in the Virtua Fighter series, Virtua Fighter 4 on pre-order at Best Buy, and then not having the rest of the money to get it... I decided to scrounge up some quarters, nickels, and dimes to get it out of the pre-order(strangely they held it for me, such nice people). So when I got home and opened the case, put the disc in, and was amazed at all that had changed since I had last played one of the Virtua Fighter games(which was one of the Arcades at the Pizza Hut I use to go to regularly, I probably used about 300 dollars in quarters on that machine...back in the good ole’ days{they’ve replaced it along with the other machine with some gay Arcade game that’s easy as heck to beat}).

Originally being planned to release on SEGA’s very own console, the Dreamcast...when that plan was scratched because of the Dreamcast’s deceasement(I don’t think that’s a word, but I just made it one), SEGA’s plans to become a third-party developer(for those who don’t know, a third party developer is its own company who can develop for multiple systems if they want, while first-party developers are the actual game companies{Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, of course to their own respective console}, and second parties are in-house developers that branch off of the first-party developers{such as RARE is a developer that branches off of Nintendo}) was followed shortly with the announcement of one of SEGA’s best game series, Virtua Fighter 4, was coming to Sony’s console, the PS2, as the console of choice.

Whoa, sorry about that huge run-on sentence up there, it will never happen again; promise. Well anyway, I’m sure a lot of Dreamcast owners may have been a little POed at SEGA for this announcement, however for those who already had a PS2, or planned to get one, were probably happy either way that they’d get their game. But then again, some were probably happy because with the PS2’s power, they could make the game four times better than they could with the Dreamcast’s limited power(compared to the PS2).

Characters
There are about eight or nine characters as the initial line-up, and as you beat the Arcade mode, you’ll earn secret characters(the hard way too, you actually have to fight and beat them for them to join the cast). I’m not real familiar with the Virtua Fighter characters, but I’m sure most or even all of the fighters from the previous VF are back(plus a few new additions of course).

So a few of you may be wondering what my favorite character was huh? Well, even if you weren’t, I’m going to tell you that after experimenting with all of the characters(in the initial line-up that is), Pai(the chick with long Pony tails and speaks some kind of weird language) is my favorite one. Every player has his/her own speed of kicks/punches, and Pai is actually one of the fastest hitters out of the bunch(which is really nice cause’ she can pull of combos in a split second like there’s no tomorrow). The ninja would have to be my second favorite, just because he reminded me of Scorpion from the Mortal Kombat series.

Also, each player has their own kind of fighting style such as karate, pro wrestling, and some other Japanese/Korean language that I couldn’t be able to pronounce for the life of me. And then there’s the drunk guy, who’s fighting style is drinking a bud and waking up the next morning not knowing who he kicked the crap out of(no really, but he’s a really cool fighter nonetheless).

Dude! That hurt!
First of all, there’s the Arcade mode where you pick a fighter(either from the line-up or you can pick a character you’ve trained by using the “Select” button{more on the fighter training later}), and fight your way through eight or nine different stages, fighting the characters from the select screen. Once you beat the last stage, you’ll be confronted by a character that’s probably a secret character and is unlocked after you defeat them. However I’ve beaten them like three times and there’s still no character unlocked on the select screen(what gives?).

Besides Arcade mode, you’ve got Versus mode, which is where you can play your good buddy or your daddy in a fight till’ the bloody end(well not too bloody{actually there’s no blood, it’s just solid fighting with the typical life bar at the top}). Virtua Fighter 4 is a good and challenging game to play and the fun and challenges double or even triple with the amount of friends you have playing.

Ok and now there’s the A.I. system, where you can choose a character to coach from a ZERO level experience, to an area of expertise. In the A.I. system, you’ll fight your character through sparring, and everything you do(attack wise) that the character hasn’t learned yet, it will learn it. You can teach them to move, dodge, block, and whatever comments you think are cool.

Then there’s a mode called Kumite, where you can either go through it yourself fighting various characters in various stages...or you can choose your A.I. character and see how well you’ve trained your little student. Going undefeated through the whole thing is the toughest challenge in the game.

Kumite mode is what’s probably going to keep a lot of people who play VF4 very busy(of course the whole game is good, but what's the chance of training a full-blown champion in real life?).
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Graphics
The PS2 has power, and with talented developers like SEGA’s AM2 division who knows how to utilize that power, great games have been made and hopefully will continue to be made. SEGA did an awesome job with the character animations, which are smooth as a baby’s butt(I’ve never tried it, I just use the expression a lot). If you want to compare previous Virtua Fighter games to this fourth installment, then check out one of Electronic Gaming Monthly‘s most recent issues where they have a timeline with each game, and a screen shot for each one.

Anyway, the fighter's bodies are very realistic....and move in perfect smoothness like a real fighter would(although the bouncing bosoms aren’t present like in the Dead or Alive series). The face animations are clear and you can actually see their emotions through their face(just take a look at old Virtua Fighters, those game were FULL of jaggies), and there are currently(as far as I’m concerned) no jaggies on any of the characters.

Not only are the characters good looking, but the various fighting stages are very VERY nice. Ones such as the stage with the snow where you fight Lion in the first round of Arcade mode, the snow is so realistic that when someone falls in it or walks through it, the snow will actually flatten and fly up; just as it would in real-life snow(character indentions can be seen too). That stage isn’t the only good looking stage, because they’ve all got some nice looking environments to distract you while getting the snot beat out of you or while you’re beating the snot out of someone else.

The game runs at a smooth 60 frames per second, which means no slow down and everything runs at a constant frame rate(unlike some games a few of us have been subject to playing such as *cough*Arctic Thunder*cough*) and you’ll never have to throw the controller at the screen because of this. The fighting is fast and furious at times, and otherwise kind of slow and calm; however either way, a fighting games NEEDS to have a nice frame rate or else the game will be very un-enjoyable(at least that’s what happens with my experiences).

Control
Here we are. I’ve talked about characters and their fighting styles, different play modes, and graphics; however none of them are essential to make this game good. The Virtua Fighter fighting system is probably one of the most deepest systems I have ever played with. All you button mashers out there need not apply, you must have and use some sort of skill(the learning curve is very high, it’ll take a while to learn to fight efficiently without mashing buttons) in order to pull off some of the best combinations(which can’t be pulled off by a button masher, and some of the combinations get kind of advanced{however they’re awesome to see pulled off and the outcome will probably be you victorious}).

You’ve got the “Triangle”, “O”, and “X” buttons that are used for kicks, punches, or a combination of the two. Use a series of the buttons along with movements on the D-Pad to pull-off some ultra cool moves to leave your opponent in the dust(or snow, water, and whatever else you can think of). Along with the punches and kicks, you can do a grab move that will vary between characters. And once again, for an ultra-cool combo, use the grab followed by a series of low kicks and punches(or a series of low kicks and punches followed by the grab) to create an almost semi-impossible combination to dodge(ideas ore endless here folks if you haven’t noticed...be creative).

Aside from being an offensive junkie, you could also take a stab at being a defensive junkie. The “Square” button is used for blocking and stuff like that, however unlike some fighters where you can hold the block forever without getting hit...you have to actually time when a kick or punch is coming so you can block it, grab the foot and counter-attack the oncoming barrage, or you can use a series of “Square” button and D-Pad to roll out of the way or flip backwards or something along those lines.

Button mashers beware, if you think that mashing buttons is going to take you far in this game, think again; you’ll have your foot in your mouth faster than you can mash a button(or two, three; however many of you mash at the same time). Also don’t think I’m discriminating button mashers here, cause’ I use to be one myself; but it is fun when you have friends who button mash all the time, yet loses every time and they can’t understand how skill can overcome button mashing(lol).

Also, before I forget...there’s a thing called “Ring Out,” which is when one(or both) of the fighters gets knocked off the stage itself...the one still on stage automatically wins(kind of cheap but really a feature that makes you watch out for being hit off). If you keep getting beat by ring outs, then maybe it’s time you should learn the dodge maneuver.

Sound
“Oh ku keneshanakwa” Whatever that is, every character has his/her very own voice with each one saying some sort of line when the level begins or when you beat a stage. That quote up there was what my favorite character Pai sounds like she’s saying(anyone like to correct me please?). Some characters speak a englais, while others talk some hibbity jibbity eesmenaw(in other words, some sort of foreign language).

There’s some sort of rock, hard rock music that is played during the stages. There are no lyrics, it’s just instrumental and is some really good music to fight too( I usually listen to Stoopid A** by Grand Theft Audio{not to be confused with the PS2 game, Grand Theft AUTO 3} or Smooth Criminal by Alien Ant Farm to get me pumped for a big wrestling match{such as the final round in the semi-state tournament}), and I usually find myself tapping my feet on the stool in front of me or I start to move with the action on-screen(I’m sure a few of you dedicated gamers have done this before).

The voice acting’s good, the music is a nice rock/hard rock...and the sound effects are all well-done. When you hit someone, you’ll hear the blow, and especially when you give em’ a hard blow you’ll definitely know what’s happening. Then there’s the sounds that you’d hear if you were to smash someone into a wall, gate, bricks, or whatever else is surrounding the stage.

Overall
Virtua Fighter 4 is an excellent flagship title that the PS2 could acquire(even though SEGA could port it to Gamecube anytime they wanted), and is the best game in the fighting genre as of now(and hopefully it can get some good sales early because with fighters like Tekken 4, Mortal Kombat 5, and Soul Calibur 2 coming up; this fighting genre is going to be a heated battle of dominance.

~Happy Gaming