Pros: Awesome quest mode, gorgeous graphics, deep gameplay but easy for beginners
Cons: Some minor graphical and sound issues
The Bottom Line: "Karate come from China, sixteenth century, called te, 'hand.' Hundred year later, Miyagi ancestor bring to Okinawa, call *kara*-te, 'empty hand.'"
Mister Miyagi, The Karate Kid
When you're the original, the first in a field, it's tough to watch others surpass you and beat you at your own game. This must be how Sega's AM2 division has felt for quite a while, with Virtua Fighter being the first 3D fighter but watching rivals like Tekken steal their thunder.
It's not surprising that, though Virtua Fighter and its sequels have been steady arcade hits, they haven't been well received on consoles. Home versions of the first two games in the series were only available for the dead on arrival Saturn and a release of Virtua Fighter 3 on the Dreamcast was impressive visually but in no other way. Apparently the fourth time's a charm, because Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution is as close to gaming perfection as they come.
VF4E retains the simple control scheme of the series (three buttons: punch, kick, and block) as well as the amazing depth of the fighting system and improves upon earlier versions with a steadier and more manageable learning curve. Beginners will find it easy to get started, and experts will find amazing detail at the higher levels of play.
More exceptional than the basic fighting system is the quest mode which pits you as a gamer in Japan, accepting challenges and battling through various arcades to prove yourself. It's an interesting twist that the single player quest mode simulates arcade play, and it really works. As matches and tournaments are won, you gain money which can be used to customize your fighter with accessories or costumes or unlock other secrets.
As you progress, you move up through the ranks with each of the fifteen different characters. You start as a 10th kyu and progress up to 1st kyu, then to 1st dan and on up. All of your opponents also have a rank, so you can gauge how well you should be doing, and since this is a simulation of arcade play every one of the over 100 opponents has an individual personality. Even if you're fighting against the same character, they may use different moves and strategies.
In addition to tournament requirements, you also have a choice of short-term goals which can be chosen from among several at each arcade. These are things like "knock your opponent out of the ring", "throw your opponent 10 times", or defeat a certain character five times. Meeting these goals awards bonuses, and some matches are additionally fought for a bonus prize, keeping things fresh while you're trying to, say, get 30 wins in a row to enter a tournament. At the "Event Center" there are also open challenges with different parameters, like the seesaw challenge where damage to the opponent recharges health.
While quest mode is the core of the game, there are also arcade, vs, and training modes. The training mode is very well designed, showing the inputs necessary to perform a selected move, the inputs the player is making, and with options to demonstrate moves and position the training dummy or fight against it.
As the otherwise disappointing Virtua Fighter 3tb did on the Dreamcast, VF4E on the Playstation 2 looks stunning. The stages are varied and well detailed, with some having breakable walls or floors. The snow-covered ring is particularly amazing, as the fighters leave footprints and clear away the snow as they move around. The characters are not only perfectly detailed but fluidly animated. The only complaints about the graphics are some of the splash screens which have an unpleasant shake while things are loading.
Sounds are very well done too, from strikes and falls to, surprisingly for Sega, the voices. The only place where the sound fails is where some classic and highly annoying 'Sega Music' creeps in every now and then.
Perhaps the best aspect of VF4E is the quest mode and how well it draws the player in and keeps them playing. This is not your typical fighting game that will only keep a single player interested for an hour or two tops, but will instead keep you coming back for more. The Greatest Hits price of $20 is just icing on the cake. The only players who won't like this game are those who have a genetic aversion to "block-button fighters" or anti-Sega fanboys. The rest of us can enjoy pure, unadulterated gaming goodness.
A final extra bonus tacked on is the Virtua Fighter 10th Anniversary Edition, which is basically a remake of the original game on new hardware. It plays amazingly faithfully, with the now-classic graphic style, but improved with better framerates. It's a nice bone thrown to fans of the series.
In the world of 3D fighters, there are really only two choices right now. If you want a game with weapons, you get Soul Calibur 2. If you want an empty-handed fighting game, you get Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution. There is no competition, especially not with the lackluster Tekken 4. Perhaps Tekken 5 will dethrone Virtua Fighter yet again (and perhaps not), but until then there are few better ways to spend $20.
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