VF4: EVO is one of the greatest fighting games ever made. Period.
User Rating: 9.6 | Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution PS2
Every so often, a game comes along that is so well made and addictive that you lose sleep, your social life, and any semblance of decent personal hygiene. This is one of those games. The graphics and animation are very good, the characters are distinct, and the gameplay is extremely deep. This game consists of 4 modes: Arcade, VS, Quest, and Practice. The Arcade and VS modes are exactly what you would expect out of a fighting game. In Quest mode, you play the role of a VF player battling from arcade to arcade, trying to claim the title of VF champion. Almost all the unlockables for the game can be found by completing some milestone in Quest mode. These unlockables come in the form of wallpapers, items with which to customize your character's appearance, and money to buy new items. As you progress from arcade to arcade the AI will get progressively harder. You'll also find new tournaments become available to you, such as Wrestler's Battle, where throws do higher damage, or Mirror Match, where all your opponents are the same as your character. The great part about Quest mode is that, no matter how much experience you have with fighters, anyone can have fun with it. The first arcade is enough to keep newbies busy, while the later arcades will give most experienced gamers a hard time. Practice mode is the best tutorial I have ever seen in any game of any genre. Included is a list of every move your character can execute. These are displayed on screen as you are attempting the move. You can also receive advice if you are having trouble pulling off a certain command. In terms of practicing against a moving character, part of Practice mode includes exercises such as landing counterattacks, and progresses to more advanced moves such as blocking, dodging, and executing multiple throw escapes all at the same time. Also included, unique for each character, is a part of the tutorial which teaches the different tactics and combos which are necessary in defeating the harder AI characters. Anyone who doesn't at least check out the basics of the tutorial will have no clue as to how deep this game is, and most likely suffer defeat at the hands of some of the easier AI characters. To add to this insanely deep gameplay, the sound effects of attacks connecting, bodies hitting the floor, and bones cracking are nicely exaggerated. Even little details like the swishing of cloth during a parry or a roll has been included. As for the music, this game doesn't take many chances. They lay on the guitar rock from the onset and never let up. This is not a complaint; imagine trying to beat someone up to folk music. Another nice feature of the sound, one missing from many video games, is that for the most part the language the characters speak makes sense. The anglophone characters, and the Italian one (go figure), are voiced in English, while the Asian characters are voiced in Japanese. Subtitles would have been nice, but their absence really doesn't detract from the overall game. As if all this wasn't enough, the game simply looks beautiful. Not only are some of these backgrounds simply great, but the character animations are excellent. Each character's style is so unique, and I'm pretty sure each of these styles is based on an actual martial art. This blew my mind; if you're a fan of kung fu movies, you'll recognize some moves from old Jackie Chan flicks, as well as Bruce Lee's infamous one inch punch. With all this, and at around $30 CDN, how could you say no to a game you'll be playing for years to come?
