The original Virtua Fighter is an absolute masterpiece of video game accomplishment, however it is not without its flaws
While the original arcade version was a masterpiece, its various ports to PC and home consoles lacked many of the refinements present in the arcade. While there are several of these ports, the one this review will focus on is the original Sega Saturn port released back in 1994 in Japan and 1995 in the US and Europe.
Gameplay- 8.5
The Sega Saturn port of Virtua Fighter is nearly a clone to its arcade brethren when it comes to gameplay and controls. Even when using the Saturn's controller, the fighting feels crisp, accurate and realistic; your attacks have a real sense of distance, motion and impact when battling your opponent in the 3D arena you occupy, increasing the level of immersion as you play against the computer or another player. This immersion is broken however by one ability that every player in the game possesses, jumping. While there are realistic jumps in Virtua Fighter, every player also has the ability to do a very high, 15-foot tall jump straight out of Superman or Dragonball Z. Besides breaking the realism and immersion, this super-jump also provides players with the ability to engage in unfair, bordering cheap tactics that hamper the quality of the gameplay to an extent. However, most of the gameplay is unfettered and truly enjoyable.
Another fault, possibly more problematic then the super-jumps, is the inconsistent level of difficulty in Virtua Fighter; instead of being incremental in difficulty (starts off relatively easy and getting harder and harder as you progress to the next fighter), Virtua Fighter seems to have more of a bell curve when it comes to difficulty. Even a novice will find the first two or three opponents a relative breeze, however at about the fourth opponent you face you will feel the difficulty amp up considerably. This high difficulty continues for about the next two or three opponents then goes down to more of a medium difficulty toward the end; it's a little disheartening when you realize that Pai, who is your fourth opponent, is arguably more difficult then Dural who is your final opponent.
This brings up one final criticism of Virtua Figher's gameplay, the opponent order when playing through one-player arcade mode. Every time you play Virtua Fighter, from here until the end of time, you will play the same opponents in the same order no matter what. While each of the nine opponent does possess their own unique fighting style, strategies, and move sets, you will always play through each of these characters in the same order every time, decreasing replay value of single player.
Regardless of this, Virtua Fighters core gameplay mechanics are incredible, implementing unique fighting styles and moves within each of the nine playable characters, all of which are taken from real martial arts schools. For its time, Virtua Fighter was about the closest you could get to being a master of a particular martial arts style without stepping foot into a dojo, and still remains a very immersive, realistic gameplay experience for the most part.
Graphics- 7.0
Probably the greatest area where Virtua Fighter suffered when being ported from the arcade to the Sega Saturn (as well as other platforms) was its graphics. The Saturns 32-bit hardware struggles to process the polygons and textures that the arcade's Sega Model 1 platform handled with ease. As a result, the 3D graphics in Saturn version of Virtua Fighter have a tendency to look choppy and overly blocky, especially faces of the characters. These graphical issues are very noticeable throughout the game, often distorting the players and ring, particularly during replay sequences after you've won a round or during the character's victory animations at the conclusion of each fight. Luckily, these graphical issues are not as bad when actually playing the game, but can come up from time to time. If these graphical issues are a real issue for you, as they were with many Saturn owners when Virtua Fighter was first released, there is always Virtua Fighter Remix, which is essentially the same game, however Sega revamped the graphics to resemble Virtua Fighter 2's substantially more refined graphics, virtually eliminating the flickering polygons and very blocky 3D textures of the original Saturn debut of Virtua Fighter.
Another graphical element worth mentioning are the backgrounds, which are one of the only non-3D elements of the game. While they are 2D, they are well implemented in order to compliment the each stage and character you are fighting. Each background resembles an artfully painted background of sunsets, forests, deserts, starey skies and several other locals that create a very unique and memorable experience with every new stage and opponent.
Sound- 9.0
While not to the quality of the Arcade version, the sound quality within the Sega Saturn port of Virtua Fighter is absolutely the best feature of the game. Whether it's the sound of your kick or punch impacting with your opponent or the games stellar soundtrack, Virtua Fighter's sound meshes perfectly with its visuals and gameplay to create and unforgettable gaming experience. Even the iconic menu select chime will resonate with you while playing Virtua Fighter, and add to your enjoyment! Perhaps the only area in the game that suffers in terms of sound quality are the character's voices which are seldom heard outside a few select moves and during each of their victory animations at the end of each fight; while varied, their voices sound slightly muffled and can be difficult to understand or take seriously. However, Virtua Fighter's sounds are among the best for any game released at the time, and still hold up to this day as an incredible auditory experience.
Overall- 8.0
While not without its flaws, Virtua Fighter's various elements come together nearly flawlessly, providing you the gamer with an unforgettable, memorable experience. The immersion of controlling any of the character's plethora of realistic martial arts moves while battling another equally dynamic fighter within a 3D environment, while simultaneously being saturated with an amazing soundtrack and sound effects will keep you coming back for more over and over again. While the visual presentation of the character models and 3D arenas can interfere with one's enjoyment of this game on occasion, these graphical issues are forgivable when enjoying nearly everything else that this game does right. If you own a Saturn and if you are a fan of 3D fighting games, you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy of Virtua Fighter, as it is one of the most iconic fighting games ever to be released, and a truly great game even to this day.