Review
Release Date: 08.12.2003
Platform:
PlayStation 2Developer:
SEGA AM2Publisher:
Sega of America, Inc.Reviewed by
Andrew McClure on 8.31.2003
| Review Rating: 10/10 | User Rating: 8.59/10 |
I’ve had a love affair with fighting games ever since I first played
Street Fighter II at the local Golfland Arcade (where my Blanka was summarily beaten to a bloody pulp by my neighbor’s Chun Li). While the games of Capcom and SNK have long held a place in my heart I’ve always been a bit negative towards 3D fighters. Most seemed to be more interested in memorization of button combos than actual tactics. Then along came
Soul Calibur. Suddenly the world of 3D fighters was open to me as I finally understood the depth and a loving complexity of Namco’s masterpiece. I needed more. Unfortunately,
Tekken 4 didn’t do much for me. So I was left grasping for gaming goodness and I happened upon
Virtua Fighter 4; all was right with the world. Needless to say I had high expectations for
Evolution and SEGA-AM2 delivered on all accounts:
Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution is quite simply the best 3D fighting game I’ve ever played.
The
Virtua Fighter series, despite being the first of the 3D fighters, has long sat in the shadow of Tekken. Slowly but surely the
Virtua Fighter series gathered a cult following. Released only on the less popular SEGA systems and having a roster of realistic fighters, (rather than space pirate ninjas or kung-fu bears) it didn’t exactly catch your attention right away. However, buried there was a fighting system as deep as the pacific and soon the masses would take notice.
2002 saw the release of
Virtua Fighter 4 for the PS2. Suddenly the ugly stepchild of 3D fighters was thrust into the lime light. Great reviews and positive word of mouth brought the game into best seller territory.
Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution is just that, an evolution. Everything that was bad about
Virtua Fighter 4 is fixed and everything that was great is made better.
The first things you’ll notice are the improved graphics and the new characters. Though the graphics in the original were fantastic with plenty of amazing effects they suffered from an intense case of “the jaggies” making all the characters look serrated and ugly. But in
EVO the characters and backgrounds all look smooth as silk. The two new characters are a great addition to the cast, bringing a bit of Tekken’s outlandish character designs into the usually realistic world of
Virtua Fighter. Brad Burns is an Italian kick-boxing playboy; he’s a quick, combo crazy, stylish character who’ll appeal to new players or fans of Vanessa from
Virtua Fighter 4. Goh, on the other hand, is an evil, scarred, Judo assassin, working for
Virtua Fighter’s mysterious “Organization.” He mainly relies on hard striking attacks and quick powerful throws; a hard character to learn but a Goh master is to be feared.
EVO takes its predecessor’s most addictive and influential mode, the Kumite mode, and expands upon it ten-fold with its own highly addictive Quest Mode. In Quest Mode you pick out a character and go on a journey through Tokyo’s arcades taking on better and more dangerous players whose A.I. is modeled after the best players in Japan. As you move on you start gaining ranks and winning items by fighting in tournaments or completing special Quest Orders (evade five striking attacks, win 15 matches in a row, etc.). After spending some time in Quest Mode I wish that every other fighting game would have something similar. Suddenly a single player mode becomes almost as much fun as playing at an arcade (only losing out for the lack of smack talking that person to person combat allows).
There are a few problems with the game but they’re very easy to forgive. The game is very deep, so much so that it rather seems daunting at first. But don’t stress, spend some time in the fantastic Training Mode and you’ll get the hang of it. Vanessa has changed a great deal from her old self: losing a lot of her kickboxing moves to Brad Burns. In exchange for the lost moves she has gained more Vale Tudo skills and if you don’t like the “new” Vanessa just use Brad. Probably the most grievous error is the new file saving system. Essentially all information, this includes your custom characters from Quest Mode, is stored in a single data file; which means that you’re only allowed two special versions of each character and you can’t take your custom characters over to another save file. In the face of such a great game it is a small problem but it’s a nagging one none the less. If you can look past these few details. (and I strongly suggest you do) you’ll find an absolutely jaw dropping fighting game for the insanely low price of twenty dollars. If you love fighting games, even if you only have a passing interest in them, you should buy this game now.
