Discover Top Posts Tagged with #virtua

#trndytrndy #Virtua #edm #hyperpop #pop #utopian virtual #digicore #instrumental #midi #pc #utopian scholastic #vaporwave #Bandcamp #new age #chillout

Chao in Virtua Striker 2002!

#sonic #chao #chao garden #SEGA #virtua striker #virtua striker 2002 #virtua #Roaxes #video post

Jazen and virtua from Jack blank and the imaginenation by Matt myklush

(I did drew them before but it was so bad I had to go back and fix it. This is technically a redraw lol.)

#jack blank #Jack blank adventures #jack blank and the imaginenation #Jazen knight #Virtua #council woman virtua #redraw #fanart #book art #book fanart #artists on tumblr #artists on instagram #Matt myklush #female artists #woman artist #small artist

Virtua Fighter (1994, SEGA Saturn)

So I said I'd be reviewing Saturn stuff I play.

Straight up, I'm a fan of this series. I'll try to be impartial as I can through this review but, heads up, I love it. Spoilers, I guess?

VF1 was not my first VF. Back in the 1990's my Saturn was bundled with Sega Rally, Panzer Dragoon Zwei, and Virtua Fighter 2. What an absolutely legendary trio of introduction games, there's no wonder I fell in love with the console immediately; and indeed, looking back I'd still say they're three of the system's finest. Play them. Now.

So, anyway, spoiled rotten by the amazing Vee Eff Two always made the first game seem quite basic to me. Threadbare, even. Except, those visuals. I couldn't get my head around them; in a good way, I assure you! Contrary to everything I'd heard at the time about VF1's graphics being "bad" and the texture-mapped VF Remix being released as an 'apology' for it, I thought those flat-shaded polygons were stylish as all hell. And I was here for it. And I'm still here for it.

Aside from how stylish the aesthetic is, it's got some problems and they're much-publicised. Polygons in the fighters can flicker between light levels or on/off entirely, and certain camera angles (usually during replays, or the intro) cut off parts of the arena that aren't even too far away, that's a hell of a myopic draw distance. And I'm not sure whether this is a side effect of me playing the game on Saroo or not (because I don't remember it from back in the day) but I've been witnessing certain HUD elements flicker when the action gets hectic. Bit messy.

But the thing is, the game really shines I think. Although the basic punches and kicks of every fighter are identical, they've got real character and strengths/weaknesses and all eight of them are real fun to play (even if I get the most mileage out of my main, Sarah, who I play most in every VF game). It's real fun to just slap these boxy fighter around, y'know?

But also, the game's strong in other areas. Not its meagre content, something also oft-discussed due to being constrained to arcade, versus, and a ranking mode; but the sound. Oh lawdy, that sound. Where do I start?

Music's catchy as all hell, even with the occasionally-grating reliance on that 'get go!' sample (oh, hi there end credits theme), but aside from one or two tunes that do this, there are some BOPS. Jeffry's theme, looking squarely at you. Hell, Sarah and Dural have some bangers too -- probably why both of them made it unchanged into the later Fighters Megamix.

But the sound effects, oh my, the sound effects. I'm more about how well sounds communicate the game's action over how 'nice' they might sound; but VF delivers in both areas to my ears. Firstly, there are different 'hit' sounds for different kinds of impacts (with a very clear 'reverb' to that thumping 'counter hit' sound, something Saturn VF2 didn't do right if I remember correctly) and it's never unclear what the audio is telling me. But also, they sound great. Hitting sounds crunchy and has impact, I dare say this is a really iconic bunch of effects here. If I were to levy a single criticism in this area, it's that vocal sounds are few and far between; but the sequels addressed this. It's good!

And that, to me, is the crux of how I feel with VF in modern times. I don't disagree with my older self that it's somewhat basic compared to later games, but as a streamlined VF experience; or even possibly an introduction to the series' staples and tenets; it's good. Not as great as the series would later go, but still incredibly fun.

I was about to end the review there, but there's one talking point I forgot to mention. Everyone seems to forget to mention it; which is why it's important for me to, even awkwardly-inserted into the tail-end of a ramble such as this. And that is, how well VF moves.

I'm not even kidding, it beat contemporaries like Tekken and ToShinDen to the punch and yet none of its rivals had animation anywhere near as damn good as VF's. Some movements are a joy to watch onscreen (such as that backflip with seemingly no other use than CPU Kage stalling for a time over victory) and absolutely cement that aesthetic in my mind as being "better than people in the '90s knew". Of course, I gather from YouTube comments here and there that I'm not alone in preferring this game's look to the later Remix and that assures me that I'm not quite as weird in that as my schoolfriends of the waybackwhen insisted. It looks good. It sounds good. It moves good. It plays good. It's good. 4/5

#sega #saturn #sega saturn #virtua fighter #vf #virtua #fighter #game reviews