Virtua Fighter 4
Sega's AM2 does it again, and it took us 1000+ words to tell you this: you MUST own this game.
Published: April 6, 2002
Yu Suzuki is the Devil. Who else would craft a game so good at sucking away every waking moment of the day? I'm not alone in this vampiric malady, either. Just about everyone I talk to that's either played the game or happens to be currently playing it echoes this very same statement. And yet, we cannot stop playing. Such is the power of Virtua Fighter 4, a game that in every way surpasses previous efforts and tosses in some genuine innovations for the world of the console-based brawler.
With rare exceptions like Tekken 3's Tekken Force Mode and Soul Calibur's Adventure mode, there's been very, very little in the way of extras for home fighting games. Sure, the fighter itself should still be at the heart of the home version's focus, but there's only so many times you can play through the arcade mode before you begin itching to do something different. While VF4 doesn't really offer anything completely different, a la Tekken Force Mode, it does offer plenty of evilly addictive and competitive extras that will have you playing into the wee hours of the morn'.
It's hard to know where to start, really. So much of VF4 is at once new and old. For those searching for an easy explanation, though, we'll offer this: VF4 is basically VF2, but faster and much, much deeper. That's hardly an accurate description, but it'll suffice if you're looking for something less than a small novel on exactly what the game is. The team over at AM2 has absolutely outdone themselves with a game that's strikingly deep, gorgeous and an absolute blast to play. And really, as impressive as a game's technical or visual strong points are, it all boils down to whether or not the game is just plain FUN. And in case you haven't figured it out yet, VF4 is most certainly fun.
All this fun is actually well channeled into a couple different types of gameplay. You have your plain vanilla arcade mode to get your fix and help square off against the computer AI, you have your versus mode to go toe-to-toe with a friend or enemy, and then it all gets interesting. By creating files for either a custom player or a custom artificial intelligence-powered computer brawler, you can extend the life of the game almost indefinitely.
First up is Kumite (say it with me now, "koo-me-tay"), when you can put your fighter in round after endless round of fighting to build up their ranks. To rise in rank, all you have to do is beat an opponent ranked higher than you in a ranking match. Best them, and you go up a level. Higher ranks unlock goodies like old-school VF1 player models or accessories, of which there are literally hundreds. Wanna turn Lion into a motorcycle helmet-clad, pastel wearing Nancy boy? Or give him an oh-so-fancy chain from his earring to his nose ring? With the hundreds of different extras and custom colors, it's almost impossible to create the same character as another person - provided you fight enough to win the prizes. This of course is easier said than done once you've advanced far enough along, since ranking matches appear that can actually lower your rank should you lose.
If Kumite mode was all there was for extra modes, however, even that would eventually get boring. After all, you can only fight wave after endless wave of computer-controlled fighters before it gets a little stale. Luckily, AM2 has included the absolutely fascinating AI mode, where you literally sculpt the artificial intelligence of your computer-controlled fighter by sparring with them or having them scour videos while you highlight good and bad moves. By giving the AI direct input, encouraging or discouraging actions they take while sparring or watching videos, you can actually impact their growth. Once you've trained your AI, you can turn them loose in Kumite mode to see how your work has paid off. There's a lot of hand-holding initially, as you help your AI fighter learn what to do and avoid while fighting, but watching them learn to duck or block when a particular move is coming is in incredibly rewarding. It's this odd, almost Tamagotchi-like raising of your fighter that makes it so addictive and intriguing.
Graphically, VF4 is an odd little beast. On the one hand, the environments are not only marvelously designed, but they actually show some real creativity. You may be confined to a smallish ring, but the details that surround each of those rings, be they chain link fenced-in or an open sand pit, an enormous amount of detail has been poured into it. Much like in DOA3, sand and snow deform as your fighters brawl between them, and in many ways, the deformation actually looks better. A helicopter with retina-searing blue-white light rises up before every match on the city skyscraper level. A raging lightening storm slowly chips away at background objects in the coliseum level, tearing them apart with timed blasts. A flock of birds soars skyward moments before a martial arts tug-of-war ensues high atop a mountain village. All of these tiny details play out before and during matches, giving the battles a dynamic, varied feel. Time of day actually changes between rounds on some levels, throwing out rich hues of blues and oranges at the characters.
It's the way the characters absorb and display that lighting, however, that's a little wonky. The models themselves look absolutely amazing, with fully articulated moving fingers and lip-synched speech, but the way the light and shadow play off the models' features just feels a little too stark and sharp. All of the fighters look as if they oiled up before the match as well, sporting a glossy sheen that's a little too glossy to look right. This is most apparent on darker skinned fighters like newcomer Vanessa. It's a minor annoyance, however, especially when you see the fluidity and variety of movements in the combatants. Both they and the levels they inhabit boast plenty of textural detail, with small touches like falling leaves or particle snow. Again, it just shows how much detail really went into the game, and the only real way to appreciate them is to really spend some time playing it, which is needless to say a whole lot less expensive at home then pumping wheelbarrows full of quarters into an arcade machine.
It could be argued that the Virtua Fighter series doesn't exactly sport the most amazing soundtrack on the planet. Import store-clogging superfans may disagree, but even with the hundreds of hours I logged with the various incarnations of VF2, I'm still hard-pressed to remember a single background track. The music has never been bad, just... forgettable. There are a few exceptions with VF4, but largely I can't think of any really stand-out tracks.
The sound effects follow suit, neither standing out nor lacking in any way. All of the familiar, almost cartoony smacks and slaps reprise their roles, as well as the telltale whoosh of a sweep or roundhouse. This, probably above all else, helps tie the game to its origins, at once showing how far the game has come gameplay and graphics-wise, but keeping it still familiar and injecting a sense of nostalgia into something that's relatively new.
VF4 is most certainly a new game, sequeled in both execution and innovation. The Kumite and AI modes are ridiculously fun, and should you be one of the poor, unwitting souls that actually hooks up with a friend that's purchased a copy, you can kiss at least a couple weekends (and likely a few weekdays) goodbye. If you were at all a fan of the previous games, you'll find much of the gameplay has been tweaked and tightened in just the right places to keep the game familiar, but there have been genuine moves made to advance the series along. The PS2 does an admirable job of kicking out visuals that can compete with the Naomi 2-based arcade version, despite having some rather strong technical limitations. Is it arcade perfect? No, but the differences are merely cosmetic, and won't take away from the fact that no matter what the package, Virtua Fighter 4 is still Virtua Fighter, and it's still an undeniable blast.
With rare exceptions like Tekken 3's Tekken Force Mode and Soul Calibur's Adventure mode, there's been very, very little in the way of extras for home fighting games. Sure, the fighter itself should still be at the heart of the home version's focus, but there's only so many times you can play through the arcade mode before you begin itching to do something different. While VF4 doesn't really offer anything completely different, a la Tekken Force Mode, it does offer plenty of evilly addictive and competitive extras that will have you playing into the wee hours of the morn'.
It's hard to know where to start, really. So much of VF4 is at once new and old. For those searching for an easy explanation, though, we'll offer this: VF4 is basically VF2, but faster and much, much deeper. That's hardly an accurate description, but it'll suffice if you're looking for something less than a small novel on exactly what the game is. The team over at AM2 has absolutely outdone themselves with a game that's strikingly deep, gorgeous and an absolute blast to play. And really, as impressive as a game's technical or visual strong points are, it all boils down to whether or not the game is just plain FUN. And in case you haven't figured it out yet, VF4 is most certainly fun.
All this fun is actually well channeled into a couple different types of gameplay. You have your plain vanilla arcade mode to get your fix and help square off against the computer AI, you have your versus mode to go toe-to-toe with a friend or enemy, and then it all gets interesting. By creating files for either a custom player or a custom artificial intelligence-powered computer brawler, you can extend the life of the game almost indefinitely.
First up is Kumite (say it with me now, "koo-me-tay"), when you can put your fighter in round after endless round of fighting to build up their ranks. To rise in rank, all you have to do is beat an opponent ranked higher than you in a ranking match. Best them, and you go up a level. Higher ranks unlock goodies like old-school VF1 player models or accessories, of which there are literally hundreds. Wanna turn Lion into a motorcycle helmet-clad, pastel wearing Nancy boy? Or give him an oh-so-fancy chain from his earring to his nose ring? With the hundreds of different extras and custom colors, it's almost impossible to create the same character as another person - provided you fight enough to win the prizes. This of course is easier said than done once you've advanced far enough along, since ranking matches appear that can actually lower your rank should you lose.
If Kumite mode was all there was for extra modes, however, even that would eventually get boring. After all, you can only fight wave after endless wave of computer-controlled fighters before it gets a little stale. Luckily, AM2 has included the absolutely fascinating AI mode, where you literally sculpt the artificial intelligence of your computer-controlled fighter by sparring with them or having them scour videos while you highlight good and bad moves. By giving the AI direct input, encouraging or discouraging actions they take while sparring or watching videos, you can actually impact their growth. Once you've trained your AI, you can turn them loose in Kumite mode to see how your work has paid off. There's a lot of hand-holding initially, as you help your AI fighter learn what to do and avoid while fighting, but watching them learn to duck or block when a particular move is coming is in incredibly rewarding. It's this odd, almost Tamagotchi-like raising of your fighter that makes it so addictive and intriguing.
Graphically, VF4 is an odd little beast. On the one hand, the environments are not only marvelously designed, but they actually show some real creativity. You may be confined to a smallish ring, but the details that surround each of those rings, be they chain link fenced-in or an open sand pit, an enormous amount of detail has been poured into it. Much like in DOA3, sand and snow deform as your fighters brawl between them, and in many ways, the deformation actually looks better. A helicopter with retina-searing blue-white light rises up before every match on the city skyscraper level. A raging lightening storm slowly chips away at background objects in the coliseum level, tearing them apart with timed blasts. A flock of birds soars skyward moments before a martial arts tug-of-war ensues high atop a mountain village. All of these tiny details play out before and during matches, giving the battles a dynamic, varied feel. Time of day actually changes between rounds on some levels, throwing out rich hues of blues and oranges at the characters.
It's the way the characters absorb and display that lighting, however, that's a little wonky. The models themselves look absolutely amazing, with fully articulated moving fingers and lip-synched speech, but the way the light and shadow play off the models' features just feels a little too stark and sharp. All of the fighters look as if they oiled up before the match as well, sporting a glossy sheen that's a little too glossy to look right. This is most apparent on darker skinned fighters like newcomer Vanessa. It's a minor annoyance, however, especially when you see the fluidity and variety of movements in the combatants. Both they and the levels they inhabit boast plenty of textural detail, with small touches like falling leaves or particle snow. Again, it just shows how much detail really went into the game, and the only real way to appreciate them is to really spend some time playing it, which is needless to say a whole lot less expensive at home then pumping wheelbarrows full of quarters into an arcade machine.
It could be argued that the Virtua Fighter series doesn't exactly sport the most amazing soundtrack on the planet. Import store-clogging superfans may disagree, but even with the hundreds of hours I logged with the various incarnations of VF2, I'm still hard-pressed to remember a single background track. The music has never been bad, just... forgettable. There are a few exceptions with VF4, but largely I can't think of any really stand-out tracks.
The sound effects follow suit, neither standing out nor lacking in any way. All of the familiar, almost cartoony smacks and slaps reprise their roles, as well as the telltale whoosh of a sweep or roundhouse. This, probably above all else, helps tie the game to its origins, at once showing how far the game has come gameplay and graphics-wise, but keeping it still familiar and injecting a sense of nostalgia into something that's relatively new.
VF4 is most certainly a new game, sequeled in both execution and innovation. The Kumite and AI modes are ridiculously fun, and should you be one of the poor, unwitting souls that actually hooks up with a friend that's purchased a copy, you can kiss at least a couple weekends (and likely a few weekdays) goodbye. If you were at all a fan of the previous games, you'll find much of the gameplay has been tweaked and tightened in just the right places to keep the game familiar, but there have been genuine moves made to advance the series along. The PS2 does an admirable job of kicking out visuals that can compete with the Naomi 2-based arcade version, despite having some rather strong technical limitations. Is it arcade perfect? No, but the differences are merely cosmetic, and won't take away from the fact that no matter what the package, Virtua Fighter 4 is still Virtua Fighter, and it's still an undeniable blast.
