Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution

"Who needs Link when you have Kage?"

Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution

Gameplay: 10/10
Graphics: 10/10
Sound: 9.5/10
Ingenuity: 9.5/10
Replay Value: 10/10

In today's world of 3D fighters, you have your Soul Calibur, your Tekken, your Mortal Kombat, and then you have your Virtua Fighter. VF has always been the premiere 3D fighting game (it was the first 3D fighting game too), and as this title proves, it always will be. Many gamers have overlooked this series in recent years for other titles such as Soul Calibur 2 or Tekken 4. Sadly, these gamers have missed out on a true masterpiece. Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution is without a doubt the best 3D fighting game ever made.

As with most homeports of arcade games, there is your basic arcade mode to be found. This is pretty similar to any other fighting game. You pick your fighter, and you battle your way through all of the opponents until every last one has been defeated, and you win the game. The real place where VF4: Evo shines are all the other modes that are included. Besides the standard Arcade mode, there are VS, Quest, and Training modes to be found. The VS mode is standard fare for most fighting games. You battle against a friend who's sitting next to you, and get bragging rights once you beat him. The training mode is absolutely wonderful. For beginning players, there is nothing more helpful that this. Once you're inside the training mode, there are many other modes that you can select. If you just want to learn the basic moves, the game puts you in a room with an opponent, and explains what to do (“to do a standard punch, press the X button”), and then shows you how to do it. Then, it's your turn! Once you complete the task, the game gives you the option to move onto the next move, or repeat it if you think you need more practice. The game also has advanced training modes where the game will teach you all the crazy combos and techniques, and defensive training so you can learn to block and do reversals correctly.

The Quest mode is where you'll spend almost all of your time with this game. When you start, you pick any of the fifteen characters, and enter your name. The object of Quest mode is to battle your way through real life Sega arcades in Japan to become the best Virtua Fighter 4: Evo player in the entire country! You start off at a map of Tokyo, and only one arcade is selectable at first. At each arcade, you must complete certain tasks before you can enter that arcade's tournament. These tasks range from defeating a certain number of opponents, to not blocking while you fight for three matches. When you're battling in each arcade, the first thing you'll notice is your ranking (1st kyu, 2nd dan, etc). To move up in the ranks, you must defeat an opponent in a Ranking Match, which will appear every so often. Each arcade gets progressively harder and harder, as you can imagine. In addition to Ranking Matches, Prize Fights also randomly appear. When you defeat an opponent in one of these fights, you get a nice prize. It could be money, wallpaper (for the menu screen background), or a piece of equipment for your fighter. Customization is a huge part of this game. Winning tournaments and completing certain tasks wins you money. When you save up enough, you can go to the shop and buy new gear for your fighter. There are over 1500 pieces of equipment in all, and while they don't have any real effect on the fighting, some of them look damn cool. The tournaments are a pretty easy concept to understand. They are usually made up of 32 fighters going one on one in matches until only one is left. Once you lose, you're out of the tournament. When you complete an arcade's tournament, a new arcade is unlocked for you to move on to.

The actual fighting is very deep, and lots of strategy is involved. Long gone are the days where any idiot can pick up a controller and mash buttons until they win. You'll be spending lots of fights and nights in training mode learning all the combos for your character and ironing out winning strategies. The computer opponents are modeled after real life Virtua Fighter experts, so it is definitely not easy. You must know when to block, when to duck, when to jump, when to attack, and how to recover successfully if you want to win any matches. Linking your moves together and performing throws when you need to makes the game even more involving. Each character has hundreds of unique moves and combos for you to learn. To master every character in the game would take hundreds of hours. Never before has there been so much depth to a game! This may sound intimidating to a beginning player, but the learning curve is very nice. The game will start you out easy and gradually get harder, and thanks to the training mode, learning all the moves isn't impossible.

Graphics are nothing short of breath taking! This game really shows off what the Playstation 2 can do. Soul Calibur 2 has nothing on it in this department! It's easily one of the best-looking games for any of the current game systems. Each character moves smoothly and has thousands of frames of animation. The backgrounds in each fighting arena bring the game to life. Lighting will strike, birds will fly, and the wind will blow just like it does in real life. The detail put into this game is simply amazing. Each character looks great and is fully customizable. I can't think of a single thing wrong with Virtua Fighter 4's graphics. Many people say the PS2 is weaker than the Gamecube or Xbox, but this game shows that it can hold it's own against the two for the time being.

The sound is exactly the way it should be for a fighting game. It gives you something to listen to in the background, but it isn't overwhelming and it doesn't distract you from pulling off the big combos and winning the fight. It compliments the gameplay nicely. Each character has a little bit of voice acting, and makes a satisfying cry of pain whenever they get slammed into the ground. The sound effects have also been done very well. All the punches and kicks sound real, and don't have that fake feel to them when they hit an opponent.

There is so much replay value packed into that one little disc! This game seriously has more gameplay in it than most RPGs have these days. Not only do you get everything that I've mentioned above, but you also receive the very first Virtua Fighter! You don't have to unlock it or anything. It's right there in the menu. All you have to do is select it, and you can play through the original game's arcade mode right in the comfort of your living room. Playing through just the Quest mode with one character could take you up to 20 hours if you want to unlock everything for them. Multiply that by fifteen, and you have one hell of a long game to beat.

This is the greatest 3D fighting game ever made. Nothing even comes close to this. The balance, the combat, the extras, and the quest mode make this a steal for $20! Yes, that's right. A new copy only costs $20. It was a PS2 Greatest Hits title ever since it came out, so even if you own the first VF4, you need to pick up this game. There is no excuse for any PS2 owner to not have this game. It's one of the best games this generation, and the pinnacle of 3D fighting. There is no way you could be disappointed with this game.

Final Score (Not an average): 98%

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 08/02/04