Virtua Fighter has not had any respect
for quite some time. Although VF1 revolutionized 3-D
polygon fighting action, you mostly had to play it at
the arcade to truly get the proper experience. VF2 used
some of the similar concepts as the first one, but
really didn’t stand out. VF3 was actually decent...until
it was ported to the Dreamcast and called VF 3TB: What a
virtua mistake. But now, since Sega is able to
concentrate on game development, they redesigned VF to
release number 4 for the PS2. I am still playing it and
the game still has me screaming “Virtua Fighter More”!
One Story To Rule Them All
Ok, so the story of VF4 is standard fighting fare.
Kage-Maru won the 3rd World Fighting tournament and
fought a new model of Dural, defeated him, and obtained
they item he needed to save his mother. Unfortunately,
with this item, she turned into Dural completely and
J6--a mega-industry corporation that only wants control
over the world’s fate (oh, is that all?)--acquired her
once more. But Kage-Maru’s mother had lost some of her
abilities and J6 needed a new target. This new target
would be Sarah Bryant and the tournament is ready to
begin.
A tournament of fighting prowess? Sounds like every
other fighting game on this planet. But trust me when I
tell you that 10 minutes into VF4 and you’ll be thinking
to yourself “Story? I don’t need no stinking story.”
One Control Scheme To Bind Them All
A good thing Sega did was to remove the Evade button.
Now, evading is done by simply double tapping the
directional pad. You also have a control set that
beginners can adapt to and fighting aficionados can take
months to master just one character..
So between kick, punch, and guard and utilizing a
combination of the two, you can perform slick combos of
attacks and evasion techniques to overpower your
opponent. You can throw, attack downward, escape a
throw, recover (from a fall), execute rising attacks,
perform evasion attacks, reverse and deflect, and attach
against a wall.
Now usually when I see hand-to-hand fighting games, I
think of Tekken and all the clunky and heavy controls
associated with it. Moves need to be thought of in
advance and movement is just plain frustrating. But not
so with VF4. I was skeptical at first, but quickly
melded myself with the timing and execution of each
character and each move(s) specific to them. Dodging is
smooth and speedy, getting that 5 or 6 hit combo doesn’t
require reflexes of David Carradine, and the best part
is that juggling is definitely a nice, strategic part of
the game and if you can rely on your patience to get you
through a juggle, then you can turn the tide or dominate
a match.
My only complaint about the control has more to do with
a few of the moves. While evading is relatively easy, I
think that reversing and deflecting an attack is an
opportunity. Obviously, you have to know your opponent
and second-guess his moves, but I figure that instead of
attempting to use the directional pad (for high, middle
and low attacks) to reverse, have a single button for
this. The shoulder buttons would work well. I found that
even if I knew the move that was coming, I would
inadvertently have my thumb press the wrong directional
and my opponent would deal me the business end of his
fists. This would happen because some of the moves seem
like middle attacks, but turn out to be high attacks and
vice versa. I would think I had the right reversal, but
I seemed to want to get my bootay kicked.
A strong point about the control is that it is hard to
button-mash and win. I know a lot of you are thinking
that with only 3 buttons, it will be easy to win by
button-mashing and dodging. Those who partake in the
button-mashing will only be defeated quicker. I have
played many people who button-mashed and it’s the simple
3-button combination that throws them off. If you just
hit punch and kick, it’s easy to anticipate which move
is coming for whatever character, even if you only know
a few moves for the characters. If you know even the
basic ones, then you’ll have to problem dodging and
attacking.
5 Modes To Rule Them All
Arcade Mode recreates the battle progression from
the Arcade version. Complete 14 stages against computer
controlled characters. Just like any other arcade mode
in any other fighting game.
Training Mode. You can train your character and
improve skills. There are three further modes under
training. COMMAND TRAINING preps your fingers by
entering all the moves for the character you selected.
You can move on until you correctly enter the command.
Great to see exactly how the moves need to be entered.
FREE TRAINING allows you to modify different settings to
practice in an environment that you feel comfortable in.
TRIAL TRAINING lets you learn fighting strategies and
techniques by clearing different challenges. These could
range from performing combos, to successfully completing
5 reversals in a row. This training is perfect for VF
because you will need to be proficient in many
strategies and techniques.
A.I. System. Here is one of the fun modes of VF4
and of any fighting game in a long time. You select a
character, who is controlled by the computer. You job is
to train the fighter to learn moves, strategies, and
techniques. You do this by having it spar with other
characters and watching replays of either you or
pre-loaded games from the VF disc. While sparring and
watching, it is your responsibility to “tell” your
character which is a good move to use/learn and which is
a good technique. By pressing a button, you can tell
him/her that it’s okay or not okay to do that. The weird
part is you fighter may turn out to fight like you. I
have a fighter that only watch replays of me fighting
and after about 3 hours, she started using my moves and
in the same sequences against the same characters. It
was really strange...I thought I was fighting!
Kumite Mode
Kumite is the reason you will be playing this game for
hours and days and months. Kumite is the mode you will
be married to. In it’s purest form, Kumite is a
tournament mode where you fight and fight and fight and
fight. But it’s deeper than that. You are ranked, like
in martial arts, and you increase in rank the better you
are the more you win. You start at 10th Kyu and progress
to 1st Kyu. After that is 1st Dan and you can go to 10th
Dan. Further down the road are the actual titles: you
can earn Subjugator, conqueror, Dragon Lord and such.
Getting to 1st Kyu is relatively easy. Getting to 10th
Dan gets harder, since you will only improve a level if
you defeat other fighters who are on the same level. And
yes, since you can go up a level, you can also go down.
Of course, just don’t lose.
One your way to the highest title, you will obtain
special features like extra clothing, adornments, and
more stages to practice in. You can also get the
original character models from VF1...with all the blocky
glory that will have you wanting a VF1 arcade machine.
Maybe not that extreme, but they are fun to unlock.
Don’t worry, there is a goal. Once you get to the higher
ranks, you will be fighting some fighters for special
jewels. Once you get a certain number of jewels and
reach one of the highest ranks, you will fight Dural.
Let me just end it there because you will just fight
him. Be prepared to fight him over and over and over
again.
The best thing I liked about Kumite mode is that it’s
not that easy. Sure in the beginning you can fly through
10 levels and get to 1st Dan no problem. But the curve
shoots way up there and soon you’ll be wiping the ground
with your face numerous times. There are different
styles to each character even though they are used a
number of time (they are named different). Sometimes the
weaknesses are the same and sometimes they are not, but
they all have strengths. If you looking for a challenge
in a fighting game, then you need to look no further
than Kumite mode. This mode by itself is worth the $45 I
paid for the game.
VS This is your basic 2-player mode. I mentioned
it after Kumite because you can fight your character
against a friends and it will rise and fall in rank just
as if it was in Kumite mode. So if you want to humiliate
a friend that is bragging, humble him by lowering his
rank.
The PS2 Graphics Engine That Rules Them All
I left the graphics description and opinion until last
because if the above doesn’t make you want to buy the
game, then you have no business playing video games. The
graphics are not the most superb in the world; they get
the job done. The background are lush and detailed--from
the leaves being kicked around to the snow being
trampled through--and provide a fine addition to the
overall look of the game. There are levels that are dark
and mysterious while other levels are happy and
colorful. Everything had substance and I really didn’t
see any bad collision detection from either the
characters or the object flying around the screen and
hitting the ground.
The major issue with the graphics were the character
models. It was evident in the backgrounds, but not as
much as the character models. Let me just say,
“Jagged-Lines”. I know it has to do with the hardware of
the PS2, but it’s getting a bit annoying these days.
There’s not too much else to say except Sega didn’t
really push too much of the graphics engine. Like I
said, it gets the job done. Besides, you have more to
worry about than picking out the details: You have a
Demon Lord Rank to obtain.
Many Stats To Rule Them All
One last note I’d like to make is the stat tracking.
Like a baseball season, you can find out everything on
how you’re fighting. From percentage of successful hits
to number of 3 hit combos to how many low attacks you
have blocked: if it can be measured and tracked, it will
listed in this file. There are over 60 stats that it
tracks, so if you hate number, then don’t load this up.
Sometimes, after reading my stats on my character, I
thought I was a spreadsheet for a while.
Soul Calibur has moved on in my world. Virtua Fighter 4
has moved in next door and I am coveting my neighbor
until I am sore. My eyes hurt, my fingers are cramped
weekly, and my butt is asleep 4 hours a day. But there
is motivation, young Reader-san, and it involves the
High Emperor. Even if you are a casual fighting game
player, you owe it to yourself for this in-depth
gameplay and hours and hours of reaching different
Ranks. So fight and be merry.
Now it is time that I become the High Emperor.
Wish me luck.
9.1
