Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution
GameRatio Review
PS2

Just when you thought VF4 couldn’t get any better…

In March of 2002, SEGA amazed us with the Playstation 2 release of Virtua Fighter 4. Building on the existing engine, SEGA now presents Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution.  Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution is everything Virtua Fighter 4, plus a whole lot more.

When I first started playing Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution, I expected an unchanged graphic engine. I was wrong. All of the characters have been touched up. Vanessa no longer looks like a plastic Barbie Doll, but rather nicely rendered. Originally, the faces seemed bland and somewhat poor (amazing for a year ago, but compared to now). SEGA (AM2) has taken the time to breath new life into the skin textures and facial features. Though I can’t say much has changed with the Aliasing issues, but the Playstation 2 has had Aliasing problems since the beginning. A nice touch was that all of the backgrounds have been not only touched up, but SEGA used different lighting effects to enhance the scenery. SEGA even added a new training facility that resembles a white, sterile Medical Lab from some Sci-Fi movie.

Some of the most underappreciated enhancements to Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution are in the audio files. SEGA added grunt, groans, and screams for specific strikes. When a character gets the wind knocked out of them, the appropriate grown is heard. A good number of new prefight taunts have been added. Out side of these additions, not much else was changed in the audio department.

Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution is a game that will not soon loose its replay value. There is just too much to do. Starting with Arcade mode, which has added missions. Missions are objectives that you must complete during the match in order to obtain either an item or fight money (I’ll explain items and fight money in a moment). Arcade mode can be tackled in one of two fashions. You can either fight the characters in the standard order that SEGA put them in, or you can fight through Arcade in a random order. Personally, I find random order to be easier because SEGA placed Akira as the last opponent, which makes him nearly impossible to defeat (since Akira can counter most moves in the game).

SEGA removed Kumite mode, but don’t cry yet. In place of Kumite, you now have the Quest mode option. Quest mode offers the endless battle and ranking options of the original Kumite mode, but Quest mode also includes a city to which you can compete in “Arcades” against other fighters. The nice part of the cityscape is that each Arcade features a certain rank of players. If you’re looking for a light game, try staying in one of the lower level Arcades, but if you’re looking for a challenge, then keep moving on. SEGA has also added an “Events Arcade”. This arcade features special challenges. In the Events Arcade, you’ll compete against the top fighters. Each challenge has its own rules and special properties. These events include matches like the Seesaw. In Seesaw, every time you issue damage to your opponent, you gain as much energy as your attack took from them.

Quest Mode wouldn’t be compete without a quest, so each Arcade has a list of quests. The quests are basically similar to the Missions, except some of them can be completed over multiple matches, rather than scrambling to do something like throwing your opponent 10 times during the match. You can choose which quest you want to tackle and the order in which you complete them. After completing a quest, you are awarded fight money.

In Quest Mode, you can use Fight money to purchase items. Items are just special customizations you can put on your character. Items include tattoos, Sunglasses, wigs, and even small animals that sit on your character’s shoulder. While fighting, the game will randomly give you an item match. You must fight against your opponent for possession of the item at stake. Sometimes it’s an item out right, and other times you’re rewarded with fight money. Fight money allows you to purchase items from the Quest Mode shop. The items are the same as the ones you can randomly earn, but there are additional things that are purchased to be unlocked. There are movies that you can buy of fights and other miscellaneous junk that SEGA requires you to use Fight Money to unlock.

To complete the options, SEGA hide a 10th Anniversary Edition of Virtua Fighter in the options menu. This 10th Anniversary Edition is simply the original Virtua Fighter, but using a slightly dumbed down version of the Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution engine. In the Anniversary Edition, simply hitting up performs a jump, and sidestepping was completely removed. SEGA allows you to choose whether you want to compete against only the Virtua Fighter 1 cast or the complete Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution roster. All of the fighters keep the majority of their moves from Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution.

I’m not about to complain about the fighting engine. SEGA left the engine exactly the same as in Virtua Fighter 4, but in Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution, they added new moves to every character. There is a slight learning curve for the classic characters as a result of the new moves. The game play has been sped up allowing for faster combat. They’ve even remapped the walls in some of the arenas to include separations in the fence to allow for ring outs. All together, the noticeable changes are very welcome.

I recall saying that if there was a game better than Virtua Fighter 4 that it would be called Virtua Fighter 5. AM2 has proven me wrong. Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution does seem more like a sequel than an expansion, but AM2 has decided to only label it as an upgrade (since they set their standards very high for sequels). If you don’t own Virtua Fighter 4, get Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution. If you own Virtua Fighter 4, get Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution anyway. Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution is just too good of a game to pass up.