IGN and Gamespot PS2 VF4 Hands-On Impressions w/ Pics.

Gamespot: From yesterday, Jan 10th: http://gamespot.com/gamespot/stories/previews/0,10869,2838059,00.html

Sega finally unveiled the first playable version of Virtua Fighter 4 for the PlayStation 2. We were able to check out the game and came away impressed with what we saw. While not final, the build of the game we saw showcased slick visuals that were nearly arcade-perfect. Best of all, and most importantly for a fighting game, the PS2 version of the game featured rock-solid gameplay.

For those who haven\'t found it in their local arcade, Virtua Fighter 4 is the latest installment in Sega\'s flagship fighting series. Since its arcade debut in 1993, the Virtua Fighter series has driven the development of arcade technology and the evolution of the 3D fighting genre. Given the ambitious technology used for the arcade games, home conversions of the series have had to find creative solutions for re-creating the games at home.

Not surprisingly, one of the biggest challenges in bringing Virtua Fighter 4 to the PS2 lies in re-creating the game\'s graphics. The arcade version of Virtua Fighter 4 was developed on Sega\'s Naomi 2 arcade board and features beautifully detailed, polygon intensive graphics and a hefty dose of lighting. The texture work--not something the PS2 has been known for to date--is varied and has a great deal of fine detail. In addition, the game features a great deal of geometry on display in the island stage\'s deformable sand, the castle stage\'s snow, and the temple stage\'s breakable floor tiles. Despite the PlayStation 2\'s considerable graphical prowess, there was concern as to whether or not it was up to the task of replicating the arcade game\'s visuals.

While the past year has seen the phrase "the power of the PlayStation 2" thrown around quite a bit, Virtua Fighter 4 on PS2 actually makes a compelling case for the console\'s muscle, even in its early state. Despite the fact that the game has only been in development for a short time, developer AM2 has managed to coax impressive performance out of the PS2 hardware for its first project. The game already comes incredibly close to the arcade version\'s graphics, and it definitely makes the most of the PS2 hardware.

We did a double take when we first saw the game running. At first glance, it bears an uncanny resemblance to its arcade counterpart. In fact, even after we started noticing the little details that gave away the fact it was running on a PS2, the game looked very impressive. Before we begin to wax poetic on the game\'s graphics, we should point out the spots we\'ve seen so far that keep the graphics from being 100-percent arcade-perfect. There are some aliasing issues, resulting in jagginess, shimmer, and moiré weirdness in places. There\'s nothing on the level of the Japanese versions of Tekken Tag or DOA at the PS2\'s launch, but it\'s noticeable if you\'re looking for it. The lighting in the game has been reworked to accommodate the PS2 hardware and isn\'t quite as dramatic as it is in the arcade version. The aforementioned sand and snow have both been scaled back and don\'t deform as much as they do in the arcade. Finally, some of the background elements off in the distance have been swapped out with 2D bitmaps.

While you\'ll have to scrutinize the game to find the graphical quirks we\'ve mentioned, the game\'s strengths are far more apparent. The game manages to retain the high level of detail that the arcade version boasts. The stages and characters are modeled with an extremely generous amount of polygons and feature some of the cleanest, most detailed textures seen on the PS2. The game\'s 13 fighters--11 returning characters from Virtua Fighter 3 and two new characters--are all beautifully rendered, featuring moving hair, animated clothing, eye tracking, and lip synching. The cast is showcased via dramatic camera angles during certain throws in the gameplay and close-ups during their poses after you\'ve won a match.

The stages in the game are also highly detailed, offering incredibly detailed vistas that are shown in the game\'s dynamic fly-through of a stage before a fight begins. In the actual fighting ring, you\'ll find a basic square area to duke it out in. In some cases, you\'ll find deformable objects such as the breakable floor tiles in new character Lei Fei\'s temple stage, the sand in Jeffrey\'s island stage, or the snow in Lion\'s castle stage. On top of that, you\'ll find that many stages use a variety of lighting effects that add to the atmosphere of the area you\'ll fight in. The bright sunlight that causes lens flare while fighting on the temple stage is contrasted by the diffuse lighting that filters down to the ocean-floor aquarium stage. What looks to be a new stage in the versus mode has you fighting in a ring filled with calf-high water, and it sported some well-done water effects. Finally, a bit of intentional fog has been inserted in places to add a bit more visual variety. In spite of the processor-intensive graphics, Virtua Fighter 4 manages to keep all the action going onscreen at a smooth 60 frames per second.

As nice as the graphics are, the gameplay surpasses them in terms of quality thanks to very tight control and a deep gameplay system. While we\'re unsure exactly which version of Virtua Fighter 4 the PS2 game is based on at the moment--since the arcade game first debuted earlier this year in Japan it\'s already received an update and there\'s rumors of a third--we expect that it\'s likely to be the latest one, version B, given how some of the characters are balanced. In terms of control, Virtua Fighter 4 handles like a dream once you accustom yourself to the game\'s timing and button configuration. The timing in the early build we played seemed to be off by a hair, which required us to adjust our play style in order to be effective. The fact that it was so easy to adjust to gives us hope that the final version of the game will feel just right. As far as the button layout goes, the default setup in which you block with the square button, punch with triangle, and kick with circle took a bit of getting used to, depending on the button presses for your player\'s moves. Fortunately, you\'ll be able to map the buttons any way you like on the PS2 controller in the options menu. Moving your character in the ring with the D-pad and circling your opponent in 3D by double-tapping and then holding up or down were easier to pick up. With a bit of practice, the game will be old hat to fighting vets.

You\'ll find five gameplay modes to test your skills in: arcade, versus, kumite, AI system, and training. The arcade, versus, and kumite modes are on tap to offer some hefty challenges, and the training and AI system modes are on hand to allow you to brush up on your fighting skills and customize your character. While specific details are a bit thin at the moment, it looks as though the game will also employ a variation on the magnetic card system incorporated into the Japanese arcade versions of Virtua Fighter 4. The cards are inserted into a slot in the arcade unit and let you save your character and ranking. The system allows the two players to see how skilled they both are by displaying their win-loss records. However, the biggest appeal of the magnetic card system, besides bragging rights, is that by winning fights in succession, you are able to unlock new items for use in the game. You can customize your character\'s appearance with a wide variety of items ranging from blue rabbits to clothing accessories. A plainly attired fighter taking on an opponent decked out like a Mardi Gras float would just be asking for trouble. While we couldn\'t get details out of Sega as to exactly how the card system will be implemented in the PS2 version of the game, we suspect that the game will use a PS2 memory card as a substitute for the cards used in Japanese arcades and allow players to open secrets in the game. We\'re fairly certain the feature will be included in some fashion, as the special items are definitely in the game--we played a few matches against Lion in the kumite mode, and he was wearing a glossy motorcycle helmet, which is one of his unlockable items.

So far, Virtua Fighter 4 for the PS2 is coming along incredibly well. Even though the early build we played had a few quirks, the game already looks and plays extremely well. With the game expected to release in the latter end of this quarter in the US, AM2 should have ample time to polish and tune the game. Barring some massive calamity, the game looks to be the finest home conversion of a Virtua Fighter game yet. Look for a more in-depth preview of the game in the coming weeks.

By Ricardo Torres, GameSpot VG [POSTED: 01/10/02]

To Be Continued...

IGN: From today, Jan 11th.

After all this time, it\'s still quite amazing to see what AM2 can do with the once spectacular Virtua Fighter series. I mean it\'s one thing to create one of the world\'s best fighting systems, replete with memorable graphics and a roster of now classic characters -- always backed up with incredible technology -- but it\'s another thing to create a fighting game that re-emerges time and time again with freshness and likeability that\'s this irresistible. Street Fighter and Tekken fans, of course, will disagree, but Virtua Fighter is a game of subtleties and style, and is far more appreciated in Japan than in the US.
But regardless of what fighting faction you belong to, Virtua Fighter 4 is quite a game to see. While I have not spend nearly enough time playing Virtua Fighter 4 on PlayStation 2 to know its every intimate detail, I am not only impressed with its look and feel, but because of this game, I\'m excited about fighting games in general again. And let me tell you, that\'s a feat in itself. I thought I was going to have to wait until Soul Calibur 2 to feel this way.

In development by AM2, led by Yu Suzuki, who\'s taking a more directorial overview position on the project, while a dedicated team gets to grips with the hands-on elements of Virtua Fighter 4, Sega\'s fighting game is both visually impressive and, after playing the nearly eight year old series (Virtua Fighter made its debut in 1993), it feels familiar and surprisingly new.

Those familiar with the series will instantly notice that on the surface, the game feels very close to past Virtua Fighters. The default timer is set at 30 seconds, it still has ring-outs, the jumping and aerial combat is still a wee bit floaty (although it\'s much better than before), and you can pick up your old favorites and instantly pull off great moves classic three-four move simplicity.

But beneath the familiar veneer, however, is a more complex combo system, and a game with more offensive weapons, defensive moves, and a whole new layer of individualistic flair and veracity. It\'s not like the game was ever flawed in the first place, but Virtua Fighter 4 returns to its earlier roots. Not even the most enthusiastic fans of the series appear sorry to see Virtua Fighter 3tb replaced with Virtua Fighter 4, a game that is more reminiscent of Virtua Fighter 2 in several ways.

For instance, the game is deeper in defense than before. Characters demonstrate a greater capacity for counters and defensive moves, with new moves and animations to complement them. And with fewer sloped areas, and a return to more basic, square levels, the ability to create wall combos appears much more prominent in some arenas. However you decide to peel this onion, the game promises depth and longevity, which I have simply not begun to uncover at this point. With regard to the single player game, it appears loaded with rewards, too. Virtua Fighter 4 offers them in spades, packed with a handful of extra costumes per character, tons of accessories, including modifiable ones (sunglasses, hairstyles, etc.), and items that enable characters to get super powerful moves that can be unlocked upon achieving certain goals. Also, several of them can instantly change their stances in mid-game for different fighting styles.

But honestly, the first thing that\'s most noticeable about Virtua Fighter 4 is its slick graphic appeal. The game bears an extraordinarily resemblance to its arcade brethren, which runs on Sega\'s Naomi 2 coin-op board in the arcades. What the PS2 version does so well, despite critics\' complaints about textures, is to deliver excellent looking textures. Everything from the backgrounds to the characters themselves are amazingly detailed, from body parts, such as naturally flowing hair, human-looking character faces, and realistic musculature, to highly refined backgrounds and environments, such as wrinkled clothes, good-looking moving water, powdery falling and fallen snow, great particle effects (sand, electricity, fire), and excellent realtime lighting techniques.

Some of the new levels are quite entrancing looking, especially the snow-draped castle rooftop. It shows off a foot or so of snow underfoot which, as characters starting moving around in it, instantly creates paths that look uncannily realistic. In what appears to be a virtual tech demo, players also find themselves battling in an arena about one foot in water. And levels such as Jeffry\'s Island, which has always looked good, have returned as well.

Perhaps even more exciting about the visuals are the character animations. These characters flow with the ease of nearly real creatures. The smooth-moving fighters are incredible quick, moving at a nearly constant 60 frames per second, and each and every move in their fighting vocabularies appears perfectly interpolated from one to the next to create fluid movements, natural-looking combinations, and some of the most gorgeous throwdowns we\'ve seen in a while. If you\'re not impressed with the graphics (and you\'d have to be pretty lame to dispute these visuals), you will be moved by the animations.

The characters don\'t seem as large in scale, in fact, they appear a wee bit smaller than in VF3TB. And while we\'re on the same subject of characters, 11 members from the former VF rosters grace this game, with the addition of two new ones: Lei Fei, a quick, hard-hitting Shaolin Monk, and Vanessa Lewis, a burly straight-forward fighter. The only non-returning character is the giant sumo wrestler Taka-Arashi.

Granted, the PS2 two version isn\'t done, Sega says it\'s 80% complete, and so graphically, there is still some work to do. Whether these visual obstacles are fixed in the final version or not, we\'re not sure, but there are some instantly noticeable quirks. The most noticeable visual problems come in the form of flickering, shimmering backgrounds, and some relatively noticeable jaggies. The arcade game itself demonstrated some of these same dilemmas, but not to the extent that this version does. But before we all jump on the bandwagon and start ripping on the PS2 (some folks just can\'t help themselves), the gorgeous graphics, wide palette of textures, and exquisite effects, in addition to the sleek character designs (for instance, Sara looks far foxier in this version than in VFtb), certainly overcome any flaws the game presents.

Even with a few noticeable graphic disparities, the game offers off a surprisingly slick and polished feel at this completion stage (80% complete). I\'m still counting the abundance of subtle touches and extras. I mean, things as little as the interface are quick, intuitive and innovative, and like so many things that are hard to explain about games, Virtua Fighter just feels right.

As usual, we\'ll have lots of extra updates and more impressions of Virtua Fighter in the upcoming weeks. But mark my words, Virtua Fighter 4 should deliver a knockout punch when it hits stands this March, and it shouldn\'t be missed.

-- Douglass C. Perry

Gamespot Images: http://gamespot.com/gamespot/stories/screenindex/0,10866,2838410-1,00.html

It\'s somewhat disappointing that the PS2 couldn\'t handel VF4 perfectly.  It\'s still going to kick ass!!  Is the game still exclusive to PS2, if it\'s not I bet I know of a system up to the task of a better than arcade port...

no flaming please:D

note to self;
add VF4 to the game list tht i HAVE to have

Originally posted by Ginko
It\'s somewhat disappointing that the PS2 couldn\'t handel VF4 perfectly.  It\'s still going to kick ass!!  Is the game still exclusive to PS2, if it\'s not I bet I know of a system up to the task of a better than arcade port...

no flaming please:D

Well think of it this way.  If the PS2 could handle Naomi II graphics perfectly, what\'s the point of spending a few thousand dollars on the arcade unit when you could get a system just as powerful for only $300?

I think they did pretty good.  Sure, it\'s not perfect -- but IMO it sounds like it will be, and looks, brilliant.

Originally posted by IronFist

Well think of it this way.  If the PS2 could handle Naomi II graphics perfectly, what\'s the point of spending a few thousand dollars on the arcade unit when you could get a system just as powerful for only $300?

I think they did pretty good.  Sure, it\'s not perfect -- but IMO it sounds like it will be, and looks, brilliant.

Like I said...It\'s still going to kick ass!;)

Oh, and yes, it\'s PS2 exclusive. :P

Ah yes, the DOA3 gameplay destroyer. This game is worthy of the Best fighting game ever, just by reading the impressions. This game is going to rock the house. Bring on that deep gameplay that puts the DOA\'s crap gameplay to shame.  NOTHING can stack up to this game IMO. This is one to keep an eye on.

Originally posted by Terry Bogard
Ah yes, the DOA3 gameplay destroyer. This game is worthy of the Best fighting game ever, just by reading the impressions. This game is going to rock the house. Bring on that deep gameplay that puts the DOA\'s crap gameplay to shame.  NOTHING can stack up to this game IMO. This is one to keep an eye on.

Ah yes, the DoA3 gameplay destroyer...clever:rolleyes:

Originally posted by Ginko
It\'s somewhat disappointing that the PS2 couldn\'t handel VF4 perfectly.  It\'s still going to kick ass!!  Is the game still exclusive to PS2, if it\'s not I bet I know of a system up to the task of a better than arcade port...

no flaming please:D

Well its actually common sense that it wouldn\'t the Arcvade board has a ton more ram. Its actually quite remarkable that the game look this ncredible when you think about it

Originally posted by ddaryl



Well its actually common sense that it wouldn\'t the Arcvade board has a ton more ram. Its actually quite remarkable that the game look this ncredible when you think about it

There have been better console versions of arcade games.  Tekken 2 and Soul Calibur come to mind...

But then again, I have yet to see a system replicate the arcade version of the VF series perfectly.  Neither Saturn or DC could do it...

Originally posted by Ginko


Ah yes, the DoA3 gameplay destroyer...clever:rolleyes:

Man,  

Are you implying that DOA3 has good gameplay or something? Because last time i checked, it SUCKS ASS.  Yeah, I\'ve played the damn game. Its nothing but DOA2 with prettier graphics IMO.  But eh to each his own.  Everyone has a different taste in fighters.

Originally posted by Terry Bogard


Man,  

Are you implying that DOA3 has good gameplay or something? Because last time i checked, it SUCKS ASS.  Yeah, I\'ve played the damn game. Its nothing but DOA2 with prettier graphics IMO.  But eh to each his own.  Everyone has a different taste in fighters.

I happen to enjoy DoA3.  THe gameplay is slightly better, it\'s no longer a throwing match and the gameplay is silky smooth.  Of course IMO...

Originally posted by Ginko


There have been better console versions of arcade games.  Tekken 2 and Soul Calibur come to mind...

But then again, I have yet to see a system replicate the arcade version of the VF series perfectly.  Neither Saturn or DC could do it...

The Arcade 246 board is a PS2 board with alot more ram. how is the dev supposed to completely recreate and Arcade version on the same hardware with more ram to the PS2 with less ram

it wwould never be possible

other Arcade to console ports would were probably made from Arcade to superior console hardware I\'m assuming

Originally posted by Ginko


There have been better console versions of arcade games.  Tekken 2 and Soul Calibur come to mind...

But then again, I have yet to see a system replicate the arcade version of the VF series perfectly.  Neither Saturn or DC could do it...

Soul Calibur was designed on a system (11?) arcade board which is basically a souped up PlayStation.  Of coarse a Dreamcast based off a much more powerful Naomi board will be able to outpreform it.  Same with Tekken Tag for PS2.  Tekken 2 I believe was not arcade perfect.  If I remember right, the arcade still pushed more polys in the characters.  

VF3tb for the Dreamcast was about as close of a VF port as you are going to get.  Only minor flaws like clothing flowing in the wind and some backgrounds (*cough*Also arcades already flawed gameplay*cough*) hold it back from perfect.  

Now if you are talking better being added modes and stuff then saying Virtua Fighter and that line would be quite stupid