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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Every Inch Soul Calibur's Equal, March 26, 2002
A bold statement, but true in every sense of the word. The Year of the Fighter has started off with a big bang with the home release of Sega's Virtua Fighter 4. With a new Mortal Kombat game on the horizon, not to mention Tekken 4 and Soul Calibur 2, fighting fans have a lot to look forward to in 2002. However, the race may already be over - VF4's competitors have a gigantic mountain to climb.Graphically, VF4 is a masterpiece. You won't see any multi-tiered environments a la DOA or flashy effects like Soul Calibur. The Virtua Fighter series has always been grounded in reality, and the newest incarnation is the most realistic fighter yet. The characters are modelled with compelling accuracy and astounding, lifelike animation (no fireball casting here) - clothing wraps around limbs, flaps in the wind, and flows with breathtaking movement. The arenas are spectacular creations: Pai fights in an underwater aquarium with sea life swimming outside its glass walls, and Jacky battles on the roof of a skyscraper with several circling helicopters creating some amazing lighting effects. You might find sand or snow underfoot, or be knee-deep in water. You'll be in a cage surrounded by a shouting crowd. You'll see leaves softly falling, or birds overhead. These are perfect places in which to battle. Most of the arenas contain incredible animation, and although they don't really affect the gameplay, they make the fights that much more involving. Walls can be broken in some places, and ring-outs happen, but not as often as in Soul Calibur. The dreaded PS2 "jaggies" are present, but they're only noticeable if you're looking for them. The combination of realistic fighter animation and beautiful environments make VF4 the current best-looking home fighter. As amazing as it looks, however, the gameplay of VF4 is what vaults it into Soul Calibur territory. The controls consist of three buttons: punch, kick, and guard; and the d-pad. That's it. The PS2 controller allows you to map button combinations to a single key (i.e. P+K+G = R2) if you so desire, which can make pulling off more complicated moves easier for beginners. Each character has literally hundreds of individual moves at his or her disposal; throws, reversals, rising attacks, combos, etc. There are only 13 fighters, but they are all perfectly balanced, and each is very different from the other. Lei-Fei is a Chinese monk who features several stances; Kage is a ninja who sports airborne throws; Lion uses Mantis Fist style; Wolf is a pro wrestler. Button mashing won't get you far against a VF master or the higher difficulty CPU settings. You're required to explore your fighter's capabilities, using strategy for victory. It may seem overwhelming at first, but the game's perfect control makes maneuvering your fighter second nature after a few matches. The Virtua Fighter system is deceptively simple, and as you get used to the timing of a side-step followed by a vicious counterattack, a perfect reversal of an incoming combo, and throwing, you'll discover how much attention Sega paid to it. Unlike past VF games, beginners can get the jist pretty quickly, but the artistry of the fighting engine becomes more apparent over time, and rewards the patient. VF4 features several modes. Arcade mode pits you against all 13 fighters with progressing AI difficulty, and Vs. is for multiplayer. Pretty standard stuff, although there's nothing quite like a human vs. human VF match. Its replayability is infinite, and it works best when the two combatants are of relatively equal skill levels, making fights a match of wits as much a match of reflexes. One new addition is Kumite Mode, a tournament of sorts. Pick a character, and fight an unending stream of CPU opponents, progressing in rank along the way. The better you do, the harder the enemies. Perform well, and you unlock customizable items like sunglasses, jewelry, and headgear. It's like a souped-up Survival Mode, and is highly addicting. You can eventually take each fighter through the entire Kumite Mode - a daunting task that will take many, many hours to complete. The higher difficulty levels are brutal, and require mastery of your character. Training Mode is a fantastic creation. It's split into three sections, one of which allows you to practice combos to get your timing down. The second lets you practice against a CPU dummy, which can be set at several difficulty levels. You can even program the dummy to perform a specific combo to practice countering or evasive tactics. The third section contains different challenges that teach you the basics of the VF universe. This mode is highly recommended for beginners, as it teaches the skills necessary for success. It also gives you a glimpse at how deep and refined the VF engine is, like peeling back a layer to find many more underneath. AI Mode allows you to train a "blank slate" fighter yourself, and set it lose against your friends or even in Kumite Mode. It's a novel idea, but isn't quite as compelling as the other modes. Still fun to play around with, though. Virtua Fighter is a more involved, strategic game than, say, the Marvel vs. Capcom series. It relies on technique rather than flash, in both gameplay and visuals. It's been made more accessible for newcomers (after all, this is the first time a VF game has appeared on a non-Sega console), but still retains the complexity of previous installments. VF4 is a labor of love. In comparison to Soul Calibur, the extras and flashiness of SC are balanced out by VF's incredible fighting system and Kumite Mode. Some may argue that DOA3 is prettier, but Tecmo's series doesn't come close to the sim aspects of Virtua Fighter. Sega has drawn first blood in Year of the Fighter, and it currently sits beside Soul Calibur as the best fighting game available.
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