Virtua Fighter 2

"VF2 in 16-Bit, good but not great"

It's really hard to market an arcade favorite fighting franchise when all of its audience hadn't mature yet. That's just what had happen to Sega's Virtua Fighter series that made its innovative 3D polygonal existence for the 32-Bit Sega Saturn. Despite the debut game being sluggish and awkward from its arcade counterpart, Sega introduced a sequel to make up for the disappointing VF prequel in the vein of Virtua Fighter 2 for the Sega Saturn immediately after its arcade edition. Unlike the first VF, Virtua Fighter 2 was indeed a step up from the prequel in every ways and plays very true to the arcade experience at home; however, the problem with the sequel though is not because of its gameplay or outstanding fighting mechanics but its audience. Almost every one of Sega's loyal gaming audience are still lock within the Sega Genesis era playing such titles as Vectorman 2, Sonic and Knuckles, Super Street Fighter II, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 that it's really difficult for Sega to sell multiple units of the game despite not many gamers had made the jump to the Saturn and because of the fact that the PlayStation's Tekken series is also competing in the same market. In able to promote the VF2 phenomenon to success, Sega had got to get those Genesis gamers to grab a copy of VF2 whether if it's to persuade them to go out and buy a Saturn for the game or make a port of the game for them on the Sega Genesis. Guess what, Sega did both, one actually works, the other well not quite. Anyways, as history serves here's Virtua Fighter 2 for the Sega Genesis.

Graphics:

Like many loyal Sega owners had already figure out, 3D graphics are impossible to perfect on the Genesis, even polygonal wouldn't work so how did Sega attempt to port a polygonal fighting game to the Sega Genesis, simple they downscale it to 2D. Remember Virtua Fighter Animation for the Sega Game Gear and Master system, think of all you saw on this game as a better version, more like a sequel to that and you'll be impress. However, if you keep comparing these graphics to those of the Saturn, you would be really disappointed. There are no special animation at all during a bout though a few special effects like the lighting storm effect in Sarah stage are acceptable, side-stepping and evade animations are non-existences, heck the camera rotation and motion capture looks all too clunky as a 2D game. I had to say as compare to Saturn's version it just looks awful, but as compare to VF Animation this is as good as it gets from the Genesis.

Music/Sound:

The music here are inspiring but also annoying at times. Of course all of the music are ported directly from the Saturn (though a bit tone-down) but since the Genesis wasn't very known for CD-quality music and since it's cartridge based, it's best to turn the volume on the low for this game. Though if you honestly don't care about the disturbing tunes or low audio quality, then a few rounds of ready and ring outs won't hurt you.

Control/Gameplay:

Whether you use a three buttons or a six-buttons controller for playing this game, it won't make a difference as you only had the use of three buttons anyways, one for punch, one for kick and one for guard. The reason Sega made this into a three buttons game is because most Genesis owners are still used to playing with the three buttons control pad so it'll work either way. Just like VF2 on the Saturn, you choose a fighter, then work your way up through eight battles until you get to the final boss, then beat the boss to see the concluding ending. It's not quite of spectacular but it does help built on replayability, strangely enough even though this game is called VF2, all the eight available characters in this game are from the first game including the boss, that means if you are looking forward to playing as the drunken master Shun Di or the French school boy Lion Rafale, you'll have to go with the Saturn version for that. What's quite disappointing is that, not only are the roster lacking but the game plays even worst than the first VF on Saturn. There's absolutely no side-stepping since it's a 2D game, some moves won't link and combos are hard to execute even with the three buttons setup. What's worst is that the arena you are fighting in are very flat and small, ring outs are almost a guaranteed and your character jumps so slow as if they're on the moon or something, it just makes the game feels uninspired and less fun. Even VF Animation plays better than this, heck if the character could jump faster in that game, why can't they be fast here as well, didn't the Genesis console had a little Hedgehog mascot that defined speed? I know the gameplay for this game doesn't need to be a step up from the 32-Bit edition but when it plays like a terrible version of VF Animation, then it's a straight failure.

Replayability:

There's nothing worth replayable here, you could play single player or multiplayer and that is about it. Though there are eight characters in the game it doesn't really make a difference since the game features no specific character endings and there's really only one boss to fight and unlock so it's not like you are missing out on something if you haven't play this. A Story Mode like the one introduced in VF Animation or a Team Battle Mode would've made this edition worth a bit more but since it doesn't had any it's just a small package carrying a big name to market. Though it's worth checking out if you are a VF fans or love the Sega Genesis but as far as replayability goes, this game just doesn't offer enough.

Is it worth buying?

If you are a Saturn owner, no, if you haven't got a Saturn yet, then maybe, but if you are a VF fan, yes. Unlike Virtua Fighter 2 on the Saturn, VF2 on the Genesis wasn't quite as successful and it wasn't really that bad of a game, all it needs is a bit more features, but as Sega had try to persuade their audience, at least making this mediocre port for the Sega Genesis could persuade them to get the more superior version unless if they prefer to stay at the arcade. Since this game isn't so terribly bad and it isn't so superbly good, I'll give it a 4, it really deserved a 3 but I gave it a 4 for trying to get this to as many of their audience as possible and hey at least it serve more as a sequel to VF Animation than it is to the Saturn and arcade port.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 12/18/08, Updated 01/26/09

Game Release: Virtua Fighter 2 (US, 1997)