Vimm's Lair: Genesis Reviews - Virtua Fighter 2

Genesis
Virtua Fighter 2

Graphics:
Sound:
Gameplay:
Overall:
9.07
8.67
8.80
8.53
Votes: 15
Reviews: 1


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Reviewer: Seth Koopa Date: Dec 7, 2005
Hmm... Because I’m well familiar with the PC incarnation of this title, I decided to give its Megadrive brother a go. And after several matches, I can only remain with one conclusion. This is a bad game stripped of all the feel of its 3-D equivalent.

Graphics: 6
A nice try at something new. The 2-D setting in place of the 3-D one sounds fitting for the Megadrive. But the sprites are terrible. And the movements are really lacking as well. Nice 3-D effect when you jump on a fallen opponent, though. But this is the Megadrive biting off more than it can chew. Jeffry’s done comparatively good justice in the ring, though (I like his new versus outfit).

Sound: 4
You can recognise the tunes from the PC and arcade versions. But this is just an earsore. The attempt at character voices is well appreciated, but it sounds rather bad. I would have been okay with the use of text in place of voice. The effects are, on the whole, the worst I have ever heard in a Megadrive game. Because of a few inventive ways certain tunes are put for this version, the sound crawls up a point.

Gameplay: 5
Technically speaking, the movement sprites are terribly few, and this makes the game feel very clumsy and awkward. Many of the moves from the original version are cut down for this incarnation, and because of the 2-D setting, it feels much more frustrating and claustrophobic. The lack of moves you are used to pulling off on the PC or in the arcade lets you down.

It’s also disappointing that there are only four stages, all of which just are darker or have changed skies in another match (sometimes a bit nice potential for an effect). And Lion and Shun are also gone, so this may just as well be Virtua fighter 1.

Those victory taunts at the end of each match would have been better left out, however. Either that or be faithful to the characters in them. Jeffry would never say stuff like “Back to the gym, wimp!”. It’s not in his character. But it tends to happen with videogames that when they’re transferred to another system, another team is in charge, without the people who had such feel for the characters.

To put it brief, there's none of the feel. This just feels like a bashing game instead of the intricate, deep fighting game that I know. In the end, it’s hard to stomach such a smooth game as “Virtua fighter 2” in such an un-smooth body.

Overall: 4
"Virtua fighter 2 Genesis" is a brave attempt at importing a 3-D bit to a 16-bit machine, make no mistake. But it falls flat on its face on the first step. The magic is lost. Another reviewer called this game 'a mere shadow of itself', and I fully agree. I don't agree, however, that that shadow is enough. It's nowhere near enough.

Choose the 3-D version over this one any day. Strictly for the curious.