Virtua Fighter 4 Preview
Sega's premier fighting franchise kicks it up on the PlayStation 2.
Since its debut in arcades in 1993, the Virtua Fighter series has consistently driven arcade technology and the development of the 3D fighting genre. The series has introduced motion capture, reversals, multilevel arenas, and the use of polygons in fighting games over the course of its various incarnations. As other fighting genres have emerged, VF has remained a respected series that has emphasized technique over button mashing. Considering the series' bleeding-edge arcade roots, it's always been a challenge to bring the games to home systems, given the limitations of the consoles; however, the quality of home conversions has improved in the wake of the introduction of more powerful console hardware into the market. As a result, the upcoming home version of Virtua Fighter 4 for the PlayStation 2 is shaping up to be one of the finest VF conversions to date thanks to excellent graphics, tight gameplay, and extra modes not found in the arcade.
The game has 13 fighters entering the fourth World Grapple Tournament. Those who have followed the Virtua Fighter series will recognize 11 of the fighters: Kung Fu teacher Akira Yuki, action star Pai Chan, cook Lau Chan, wrestler Wolf Hawkfield, fisherman Jeffry McWild, ninja Kage Maru, student Sarah Bryant, Indy car racer Jacky Bryant, herbal doctor Shun Di, college student Lion Rafale, and college student Aoi Umenokouji, last seen in Virtua Fighter 3 and Virtua Fighter 3 Team Battle. In addition, two new faces now join the cast: security officer Vanessa Lewis and monk Lei Fei. The roster of fighters for VF4 marks a slight change in tradition for the series. Each new installment typically includes the entire cast from the previous VF game plus two new fighters. This gradual growth of the roster has stemmed from AM2's desire to maintain the game's play balance. However, fans of VF3's sumo, Takaarashi, will find that he is nowhere to be found in VF4.
Taka's omission and the addition of Vanessa and Lei Fei do little to affect the game's story, which is still barely there and remains one of the game's weaknesses. Unlike the Tekken series, Virtua Fighter has never placed much emphasis on its story. To discover the characters' various backgrounds and relationships, you have to read through their biographies in the game's manual and follow the various comic books and anime that have cropped up over the years. The closest the series has come to offering any bit of information on the characters' backgrounds in the actual game was the CG movie at the end of Virtua Fighter 3tb for the Dreamcast. As a result, many players have missed out on the history of the characters in the game. For example, Pai is Lau's daughter and isn't too fond of her father. Sarah is Jacky's sister, and she was kidnapped and brainwashed by the same mysterious organization responsible for creating the game's boss, Dural. Jacky enters the tournament in the hopes of rescuing her. The search for a loved one has also played a part in Kage's previous entries in the competition--his mother was kidnapped and transformed into Dural. After rescuing her at the end of the competition in VF2, he returned to fight in VF3 to face a new Dural in the hopes of discovering a cure for his mother's health problems from her time as Dural. Other relationships in the game are less complicated; for instance, Aoi enters the tournament to test her fighting skills alongside childhood friend Akira. The lack of contextual background info doesn't really ruin anything but it is missed. Hopefully AM2 will see fit to include a CG movie along the lines of VF3tb's to offer some background information.
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