Fighters Megamix

"Thank you AM2."

OVERVIEW

Saturn had its fair share of awesome 3D fighters: Virtua Fighter 2, Fighting Vipers, Last Bronx, Dead or Alive, etc. Fighters Megamix was icing on the cake. Hailed as the Sega fighter of all fighters when it came out, it was special, but I had reasons to prefer VF 2.

VISUALS

Where did AM2 go wrong? The biggest turn-offs are the horrible collision detection and blotchy polygons. The Saturn port of VF 2 just looked leagues better: 60 fps, high resolution, way sharper characters. Sure it lacked a bit of the lighting effects, but come on! This game was released two years later! There's some annoying slowdown in certain levels.

The collision detection in FM is really wacky. I suppose it's a understandable, since there are some oddly shaped hidden characters (Daytona car, giant bird, piece of meat, Virtua Fighter kids, etc.), there are problems even with the standard VF and FV characters. The game just feels so loose compared to VF 2. In VF 2, attacks feels stiff, and less bouncy; in FM, sweeping a guy will result in the opponent just shifting back with a thump, even though your foot clearly plows through the opponent; in VF 2, an opponent falls hard on the ground. Or your jumping ground attack; half of the time, you just miss (even though it appears as if you've connected), or you just slightly hit the opponent and he/she bounces off a little; in VF 2 you basically crush the opponent, which is a much cooler effect and more precise. And throws... Nothing is more frustrating than grabbing through an opponent and just ''missing'', while the computer manages to grab you for a slam in mid-air or something.

GAMEPLAY

The main thing that kept me playing FM was the large improvement in the controls and special moves for the VF characters since they incorporate VF 3 commands. VF 3 basically made all movesets far more rational: all throw moves were simplified to block+punch inputs. Akira's counters are also just direction+punch+kick now, instead of the block, then direction+punch command.

It's good that AM2 added a few essential moves, like being able to do a pouncing attack of some sort while running (unlike VF 2, where you'd just stop and do a normal punch), being able to do throws from different positions (grabbing an opponent by the side and doing those kicks down to the face is really cool), being able to roll forward after falling, being able to side-step (would've helped a lot in VF 2 to escape ring-outs), etc.

I was really surprised by the huge additions to VF characters' movelists. There are a lot of nifty new moves, especially for Jacky, like the roundhouse axe kick (back+B+K) and the cool kick combo (down/back+P+K,K,K,K,K). Oh, and the stance change (!!) which is done by pressing down, down. Wolf plays more like a wrestler now, because he can get into a hold/grapple with an opponent, and from there you can do different slams.

All the VF characters have a lot more combos also. In VF 2, more than often, down+kick or something would result in just one low kick; in FM, almost every character has atleast a two-hit combo for every attack position. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the addition of more combos doesn't work well for everyone. Shun, for example, is better without double spinning roundhouse kicks (a single knockdown hit works better in my opinion).

And the concept of combos is really overplayed by the Fighting Viper characters. Sheesh, they just whip out six to ten hits in a row, mostly unblockable until about four hits take effect, and it's really annoying. This is probably the only reason there's any challenge in FM; the Fighting Vipers are too strong for the Virtua Fighters!

One thing that really stinks is the really small amount of damage Virtua Fighter combos give off in FM. In VF 2, a simple two-hit kick combo by Jacky takes about half of the holy energy bar. Okay, that's a bit unfair... But in FM, a normal three-punch or two-punch-kick combo takes away 1/10 of the opponent's energy; I kid you not. It is simply ridiculous. And the position of where you hit the enemy doesn't alter the amount of energy taken away like in VF 2 either. Blasphemy!! It drives me nuts! And to bring more shame to it, the Fighting Vipers attacks are about twice as powerful (as well as twice as long, resulting in four times the damage)! I liked the weird energy levels in VF 2. Two attacks could win a match; here, with Virtua Fighters, you have to keep beating the hell out of the enemy, unnecessarily, until you finally win... While Fighting Vipers abuse you with chains of powerful roundhouses.

And to go back to my earlier statement, of the collision detection problems and weird feel of this game... Once again, VF2 just feels a lot more solid (figuratively, as in your attacks ''dig'' deeper into the opponent), and realistic. FM feels like you're fighting with robots, who just bounce away with a clump when hit. It really is a shame that VF 2 just has the outdated move list, because otherwise, it is a far better quality game.

RANDOM NOTES

:: So AM2 scrapped the ring-outs, and just left you with an infinite ground to fight on. Sort of lame... But the cages from FV levels are excellent. Probably the only good thing to come from the FV side. Too bad you can't bust your opponent through the cage in Virtua Fighter mode though.

:: The soundtrack is nice, because AM2 games always have good soundtracks. There are a few classic tunes in here, such as the Rent-A-Hero, Daytona, etc. themes, but, for what I don't like is how the the music cuts after every round (besides for Rent-A-Hero's: strange). That's very stupid, because I like listening to the entire track instead of hearing the first 20 seconds over and over again.

:: There is a very helpful training mode, one that is very similar to the one in All Japan Pro Wrestling Featuring Virtua. Definitely a great and easy way to get acquainted with the moves.

:: There's plenty of hidden characters, but they're cheap, reworked VF/FV characters covered by new skin. It was fun unlocking Rent-A-Hero, Hornet, Janet, Siba, etc. just to see them in the game, but using them isn't too grand.

:: Still, there's more to unlock, like hyper mode, which allows you to do infinite combos (tap punch forever, for example). Kind of a fun twist on the gameplay.

:: I now understand VF 2's need for taking up half of my Saturn's memory: learning mode made a difference. The AI in FM sucks.

CONCLUSION

An upgrade to Virtua Fighter 2 with all the move additions shown in Fighters Megamix and VF 3 (definitely Jacky's stance change, coolest thing ever), the Fighting Vipers cages, much better computer AI and VF 2-caliber graphics for a change, would have ruled. I really wanted to play VF 3 on my Saturn when it came out at the arcades. This is the kind of game I would've preferred on Dreamcast, with nice graphics and better presentation. But oh well, can't complain, it was still a nice release.

OVERALL -- 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/15/01, Updated 08/20/03