Virtua Fighter

"Fight 1!"

Virtua Fighter has been called the most technical 3D fighting game by fighting game gurus/addicts. I'm inclined to agree due to it's only devoted hardcore fanbase, much like Street Fighter and King of Fighters. The first VF is considered to be a technical achievement and it's genius creator, Yu Suzuki has gotten an award for it. While it was an awe inspiring masterpiece in the Arcade, it's translation to consoles didn't go as well. VF for the Saturn was considered terrible as it had bad graphics and gameplay compared to VF in the Arcade. Later on Sega released Virtua Fighter Remix which was supposed to fix all those problems, I guess it did for the most part, I've never played Remix.

VF for the 32X on the other hand, was considered to be the best version for gameplay despite the poor graphics. I'll agree since I've played VF1 for Saturn, haven't played Remix so I can't say how it stands against it.

Presentation

Pretty cut and dry. The game's options are pretty nice, enabling you to adjust normal fighting game things such has health amount and time limit and also giving you the ability to adjust some unique aspects of VF like Stage Size, Display, and the Camera Angle. All of these options are nice and offers a pretty customizable interface for such an early game. During a fight you've got the rest of your standard fighting game stuff. The presentation in this game is pretty darn good. If you have this I recommend putting your Display on Squeeze.

Score : 8.4 – Great

Gameplay

The game initially plays pretty differently from other fighters at the time it came out, I mean it was the first 3D fighting game. You only have three buttons to worry about, Guard, Punch and Kick. That's it, sounds simple right? Well it is to an extent it is but there are also special moves, you can't have a fighting game without special moves. You also have throws and you do those by pressing Guard and Punch simultaneously. The special moves and throws look pretty nice but sometimes I feel the game reacts too slowly.

You also have four modes of play, standard Arcade mode, VS, Ranking mode where you can have yourself ranked how good you are by the games standards, and Tournament mode. Initially you have eight characters to choose from, not a very impressive number but you'll have to make due. Really the highlights are Tournament and VS mode, obviously because of the two player.

Score : 6.8 – Decent

Graphics

The graphics aren't spectacular or anything. The VF cast comes off as blockier than ever and their facial expressions are more often than not hilarious. The stages are pretty plain and dull as well with no liveliness coming off of them and no personality either; I guess we couldn't really have everything back then though.

Score : 5.1 – Banal

Sound

The music tracks are surprisingly pretty good but really offer no connection with a fighter or a stage unlike in other fighting games. Something that people may not realize that is all that important in a fighting game is missing and it's something that VF has never really been able to nail after VF2. The voices come off pretty decently but nothing amazing, also all the quirky VF hits and thuds are here too.

Score : 6.5 – Decent

Replay

The first VF compared to the others doesn't play nearly as smoothly as each newer installment, unlike other fighting games. You could play Tournament or VS with a friend or two but if they're into VF as well, I can't see why they would want to play VF1 over any of the others. Only reason I see for someone playing this again is a nostalgia trip.

Score : 5.0 – Banal

Overview

I guess you could say VF1 is one of the best 32X games available. It's nice for awhile to see how everything started in a relative sense but it loses it's charm and longevity after awhile.

Score : 6.4 – Decent

Modified to 6/10 for Gamefaqs.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 07/24/06