Virtua Fighter 2

[Melf]

It came out of the blue and gave gamers a quick reminder of what the Genesis was still capable of. Virtua Fighter 2 was truly something no one expect to see on a 16-bit console, but one question remained: how did it measure up? Sega-16 gave it some playtime and has the answers, so read our impressions (http://www.sega-16.com/forum/../Review-%20Virtua%20Fighter%202.htm) for what is surely the most unexpected Genesis port ever.

[MegaDrive20XX]

I need to hunt down this game again, that was a solid port! Great review btw :)

[Obviously]

I have the opportunity to buy it but I'm not a fan of this game.

[Genesis Knight]

It's interesting. The gameplay mechanics of Virtua Fighter actually work pretty well in a 2D setting, and I wish more 2D fighters had cloned it instead of SF's 6-button setup.

[Joe Redifer]

I'm going to have to insist that 32X Virtua Fighter 1 has better sound than Genesis Virtua Fighter 2.

[CRV]

I'm going to have to insist that 32X Virtua Fighter 1 has better sound than Genesis Virtua Fighter 2.

Maybe, but I thought Gen VF2 was handled well. I even ripped the music for Project 2612.

[j_factor]

I didn't like how it was called Virtua Fighter "2" but didn't have Shun and Lion. It ain't no 2 without them!

Other than that, it was pretty good.

[David J.]

I thought it was pretty good, but I am holding out for a copy with a manual.

[Joe Redifer]

The Genesis version sounded decent, but poor by contrast tot he 32X version. Here is an MP3 of Jeffrey's "I WIN!!" spoken first by the 32X Virtua Fighter and then by the Genesis Virtua Fighter 2.

I Win! (http://pixelcraze.film-tech.net/crap/VF_Voice.mp3)
90KB

[CRV]

The Genesis version sounded decent, but poor by contrast tot he 32X version. Here is an MP3 of Jeffrey's "I WIN!!" spoken first by the 32X Virtua Fighter and then by the Genesis Virtua Fighter 2.

Keep in mind that 32X Virtua Fighter uses the 32X's PWM sampler, while VF2 is just using the stock Genesis sound hardware.

[Joe Redifer]

I know that. But saying that VF2 on the Genesis sounds better than VF1 on the 32X is a bit of a stretch. I've heard many Genesis games that sound better than VF2 in voice and especially music quality. Space Harrier 2, for example, has better voice quality, and it was the first game ever programmed for the Mega Drive.

[108 Stars]

I just learned about this port early this year when I found it on ebay for 15,-€(PAL Version). Sega didn´t bother making it public the game even existed in Germany; I never saw a single review or even an anouncement of it, nor did I notice the stores in town selling it (and Frankfurt is not a backwater village). They were already working to kill the Saturn at that time and left the Genesis to die on it´s own...
So I bought it.
I played it.
I was confused.
What the heck did Sega use those 32 MBit for?
Only 8 Fighters, no intros or outros, few sound tracks, sound quality is not worth mentioning, character sprites are pretty small, backgrounds lack details, few options and only the very basic game modes.
Don´t get me wrong, Sega managed to get that VF feeling over to the Genny, but even Street Fighter 2 SCE from 1993 had lots more to offer visually and in the way of replay-value!
I know, they just converted the graphics down to Genny-Bitmaps, but without camera-zooms and stuff the stages looked just awfully boring. The characters do look pretty much the same as in the Saturn game, but since this is bitmap-stuff they should have been newly drawn to look good on the Genesis, not just authentic like barely textured polygons.
With those 32 MBits I would have expected that Sega gives their most successfull machine one last bomb of a game, maybe with pre-rendered graphics like Big N´s Killer Instinct, Yuzo Koshiro sounds, and so on...
Kind of a goodbye-gift to the fans!
But they ended up producing not a bad adaption, but a medicore one.
We all know what the hardware was capable of, if not pre-rendered graphics it could handle super-smooth (and larger) bitmap-sprites, a wide variety of modes and all 10 fighters.
I guess that half of those 32 MBit memory is empty, only built in cuz it sounds so cool.
VF 2 has earned it´s place in my collection, but only because it is so bizarre and it could have been so much more...

[ary incorparated]

Yup its not the greatest game but i dont find a worse one i would give it a 7.Stil i agree that its boring but the graphics look nice but this port could have been much better,if you look at this game for the first time it reminds me of a hombrewn game then dont know why.Graphically its a great game sound is okay lots of sounds are missing including stages,this port could have deserved a 8 only if it was worked out better maybe some extra stuff and not just a rehash of its origenal and pu everythign together to make a Vf game on genesis.