Virtua Striker 2002 Preview
Sega's arcade franchise hits the GameCube.
Sega's Virtua Striker series has been a popular arcade franchise enjoyed by many fans, thanks to its beautiful graphics and enjoyable, simple gameplay mechanics, which put an emphasis on pulling off spectacular moves over simulation-style control. The latest GameCube version of Virtua Striker is no different, featuring exciting, contact-heavy action that nicely demonstrates the game's impressive animation routines and its lush, colorful visuals. We had a chance to put the recently released Japanese version of Virtua Striker 2002 through its paces and found quite a bit to hold our attention. Featuring an impressive array of options and modes to explore, including the standard exhibitions, a remarkably deep franchise mode, seeded tournaments, a wide array of editing options, and even an exciting sudden-death shootout competition, Virtua Striker 2002 looks to offer an engaging arcade experience.
There are 64 international teams to choose from, and they span six regions, ranging from Argentina and Japan all the way to Cameroon and Qatar. The official Japanese team has been included, along with each member's real-life likenesses, and the many different venues to play in include well-known stadiums from across the world. If the fictional players on the international teams aren't enough, a fairly deep create-a-player mode is also available, which lets you tailor several player details, including hair, outfit, player number, and skills. While the standard games play according to traditional soccer rules--referees adhere to offsides rules and will punish overly aggressive play with red and yellow cards--the feel of the gameplay is absolutely arcade in nature. Players slide-tackle with abandon and are rewarded for offensive play with high-scoring games. Despite the seemingly simplistic nature of Virtua Striker's gameplay, you'll have a variety of options to experiment with on the field, such as line changes, player changes, and aggression levels.
Virtua Striker 2002 is a great-looking game, with bright, nicely detailed graphics that make good use of the GameCube hardware. The player models are large and nicely varied, with good-looking clothing textures and finely detailed hair that flows as the players race across the field. As two teams stride on to the pitch, they carry their country's flag proudly between them. Players will pose for photographs before each match as well. The effect is completed by the reflection of camera flashes on their faces. The large number of stadiums to pick for your home field bring a particular atmosphere to games played in each one. The nicely done crowd, featuring a host of animation and dynamic sound that reflects the action on the field, brings them to life. The polish that has gone into re-creating these scenes and the game overall marks Virtua Striker 2002 as one of the best-looking games on the system yet.
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- Sega
- Amusement Vision
- Soccer Sim
- Release: May 20, 2002 »
- ESRB: Everyone
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