Retro games are a hot commodity. With the Xbox Live Arcade and Wii’s Virtual Console, it’s quickly becoming a prolific segment of the industry. Blogcritics is going to start looking at gaming’s generally under-appreciated past in a different way.
Teaming up with classic gaming database Digital Press, Blogcritics will be presenting some lost or under-appreciated classics in short reviews. Extras may include odd facts, the title’s impact on the industry, some personal retrospective, different ports the game may have received, and how well they hold up on today’s market. Our hope would be to introduce a new generation of gamers, or even those who recently purchased a game console for the first time to those games they missed and the legacy they left behind.
The Game
In terms of impact on the industry, Virtua Fighter stands alone in many regards. Helmed by Sega studio AM2 and led by legendary Yu Suzuki, Virtua Fighter astonished gamers with sharp 3-D graphics, amazing animation, and a keen eye for what makes the gaming industry so enjoyable. Its effects are still felt to this day in nearly every 3-D fighter you’ll play.
Released in an era where complex six button, 2-D fighting games were helping arcade owners recoup a portion of their struggling business, there was more to Virtua Fighter than its landmark graphics. Daring to avoid the norm and crafting the fighting engine around two attack buttons and another for blocking, Suzuki’s team brilliantly found depth in this minimal control scheme. Nearly all 3-D fighters since have borrowed this set up, and some even go so far as to copy specific combo movements.
It’s amazing to think that after 14 years, the series has remained this way. Little has been altered; truly proving how well this title came together. Technique became a matter of skill and timing, turning away from the Capcom standard of pressing the proper kick and punch button to continue a string of offensive blows. You learned Virtua Fighter on your own. All of the strategy guides in the world wouldn’t make you a better player. A more knowledgeable one, sure, but a true competitor? Not a chance.
Article comments
1 - RCM
"It's amazing to think that after 14 years, the series has remained this way. Little has been altered"
Ah, but you forget the "massive" overhaul Yu and co tried with VF3. An added button and elevated/different terrain gives this game a different feel when compared to the other titles. It's the best entry in the series and the best fighting game ever.
The original VF certainly hasn't aged well. The series holds strong from VF2 on. All of the surviving 3D brawlers are rooted in the 32-bit era. Those being the Virtua, Tekken, Soul, and DOA series.
Also, the US release of Saturn VF was "cleaned up" slightly when compared to the Japanese release. Also, while the Saturn version looks like it's flat shaded, in reality they "fake" some of the graphics with textures. I prefer the Saturn version, I could tolerate the glitches (mostly in replays) back in 95 and the soundtrack and effects were perfectly replicated from Model 1. The 32X version is nice, but I'll stick to Saturn.
Oh yeah, VF Remix was free to folks who registered their Saturn's for a limited time and came in a cardboard sleeve, as opposed to those clunky, fragile, plastic Sega CD cases.
Not a bad VF article for noobs to the series
2 - Ken Edwards
Gotta say, I am loving VF 5. It should be online, there is no excuse. The die hards would bitch but the general players would have a blast playing it online.
Losing the exclusive to the 360 is a big deal, a blow in the ever growing list of games that are going multi-platform.
Great article Matt. Now I need to get my VF 5 review done.