Virtua Fighter 4
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| Virtua Fighter 4 | |
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| Developer(s) | Sega-AM2 |
| Publisher(s) | Sega |
| Designer(s) | Yu Suzuki |
| Release date(s) | Arcade Playstation 2 |
| Genre(s) | Versus fighting |
| Mode(s) | Up to 2 players simultaneously |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, PlayStation 2 |
| Input | 8-way joystick & 3 buttons, gamepad |
| Arcade cabinet | Upright |
| Arcade system(s) | Sega NAOMI 2 |
| Arcade display | Horizontally oriented |
Virtua Fighter 4 is a fighting game in the Virtua Fighter video game series by Sega.
Contents |
[edit] Game Changes
[edit] Gameplay changes
Virtua Fighter 4 became much more streamlined and user friendly than its predecessors, while expanding on old ideas and adding new techniques. The evasion system was revamped from Virtua Fighter 3, the evade button was removed, and evades were split into two types, successful and unsuccessful. If you do not evade a move with the proper timing, your character performs an unsuccessful evade, leaving them vulnerable. The evade + throw escape option select, which was an advanced technique discovered in Virtua Fighter 3, was expanded upon. Virtua Fighter 4 allowed the player to escape as many throws as they could, and lengthened the window for performing a successful throw escape during an [unsuccessful] evade. A new move type called a Sabaki was added, which is an attack that also doubles as a reversal versus one or more move types.
The two new characters, Vanessa Lewis and Lei-Fei, had moves that employed these properties significantly more than the returning cast, and were quite experimental for Virtua Fighter characters. Vanessa Lewis is an American Vale Tudo/Muay Thai kickboxer with two completely separate moves sets that can be switched between on the fly, and Lei-Fei, an evil monk, employs many stances that flow into one another.
[edit] Roster changes
Taka-Arashi, one of the new characters added to Virtua Fighter 3 was scrapped, apparently due to the developers not being able to make him work properly with the Virtua Fighter 4 system mechanics.
[edit] Fighting arena changes
The fighting arenas reverted back to the old Virtua Fighter style of flat and square, as opposed to Virtua Fighter 3's wild and undulating stage designs. The reason behind this was to make the game less random, and more balanced and competitive in nature. Walls, however, were kept and expanded upon with a wall stagger/juggle system and several wall types including high + unbreakable, low + breakable, and low + unbreakable + open corners.
[edit] Game features
[edit] Customization
A unique feature in Evolution was the ability to play in a tournament quest mode, where the concept was that, you, the player, were competing by travelling to various arcades, as opposed to roleplaying as the player's fighter chosen. This mode was very popular due to the ability to buy cosmetic items to customise a character, as well as the ability to name a character. Many players of fighting games have unique styles, and now their version of the character can be truly unique, with the combination of various items allowing for vastly differing appearances. In addition, Sega took the top tournament players from the arcade version, and captured their style of play for the AI of a player's opponents for this mode. For example, playing against one Wolf character would be very different from playing another, because the actual player that characters AI was programmed to mimic had a unique play style.
[edit] Training mode
An important part of this game, or any fighting game for that matter, is its Training Mode. Virtua Fighter 4 introduced the most comprehensive training mode ever developed for a fighting game. Adding an encyclopedia of fighting game terms, complete character command list walkthroughs, tips on all of the games mechanics, recommended character combos, why those combos are recommended character combos, options incase the combo fails during combat, detailed command input timings, slow motion for frame counting and timing, listed combos that are most effective against certain character types, and other useful training tips. VF4's training mode cosists of three sections;
- Command Training- A complete run through each move, one-by-one. The command for the move is displayed and the player executes the command--moving to the next one. VF4 allows the option to skip the current command, view the move (computer controlled), enable advice-- hints as to what the player is doing wrong if they can't do the move, and even the ability to LOCK the move, so that the player can continuously practice the command.
- Free Training
- Trial Mode
[edit] Updates
[edit] Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution
Evolution was an updated version of Virtua Fighter 4; some may even go as far as to say it was a whole new game. The game introduced two new characters and adjusted every other character as well. The two new characters were the Judoka-assassin. Goh Hinogami and the Muay Thai boxer Brad Burns. With the addition of Brad Burns, Vanessa Lewis's alternate Muay Thai Stance was removed and appropriately changed. She became solely a Vale Tudo brawler nixing the possiblity of having duplicate characters (something Virtua Fighter is commended for avoiding). All of the Backgrounds were adjusted. For example one stage in Virtua Fighter 4 previously took place during midday, in Evolution takes place midnight. A brand new mode Quest Mode was added, expanding on Virtua Fighter 4's Kumite mode.
- Improved Graphics--less jaggies.
- An item store.
- Increased number of items.
- Improved ranking system.
- Special gameplay modes.(i.e. Hyper Fighter)
- An opponent tracking log--kept track of which opponents were fought in Quest Mode.
- Emblem collecting-- placed special incentive to defeat certain opponents or to avoid being defeated by certain opponents.
- Currency system was established.
In the US, Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution for Playstation 2 also included as a bonus Virtua Fighter 10th Anniversary.
[edit] Influence of Virtua Fighter 4 on Tekken 5
With the addition of Quest mode in VF4 Evolution, Namco decided to add a similar feature to its newest installment of Tekken--Tekken 5. Namco integrated currency and item collecting into Tekken's Arcade mode.
[edit] Final Tuned
Final Tuned is the final update of Virtua Fighter 4. This version of the game was released only into Japanese arcades, and it made some gameplay fixes and added new stages. Also, new customization items were added.
[edit] External links
- Official Website
- TV editorial piece from PREVIEW 2001 about the visual differences between VF4 and Tekken 4
- Short music video of Virtua Fighter 4 (arcade version) cut to an Oasis track
- Virtua Fighter 4 at The Killer List of Video Games
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