another excuse to talk about VF4EVO!
today, 13 years ago, Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution arrived on the Playstation 2. In all that time between then and now, it has yet to be unseated as the best arcade to console port.
Why, oneida? what is with you and this game?
VF4EVO is the update to VF4, like SSFIV was to SFIV. it added 2 new characters (Brad and Goh) and system mechanics such as the ability to recover from certain attacks in a combo that would, in previous versions, guarantee pursuit attacks.
When it came time to bring the game to the Playstation 2, many more significant improvements over the previous version were undergone. Firstly, VF4EVO simply performs better on PS2 than VF4 vanilla did. The load times are shorter and the models look nicer. This is most obvious when comparing Dural in each version:
VF4 vanilla (PS2)
VF4EVO (PS2)
(the glowing eyes happen if you reach Dural within a certain time frame, ignore them...)
----------------profiles-------------------
Now before I break down everything that's good about this game I want to start with something that contextualizes all of it. VF4EVO on PS2 has a profile system similar to the player card system in the arcade. As you play the game, whether you're playing versus mode with a friend, arcade mode, quest mode, and even the game's tutorials, you can earn money used to customize your character. by the way, it's not just costumes - you can unlock hidden win poses too.
But yeah, you can buy the VF1 version of your character and play as them. Even if they weren't in VF1. Because why not?
It's hard to put this into words but VF4EVO's profile mode really brings everything about the game together in such a satisfying way. Yes, the tutorial mode is amazing. Quest mode is addictive and immensely rewarding. But it's because you can take all you've accomplished in the game along with you on your memory card to your bud's house or to EVO, it's because of that it doesn't ever feel like you're just twiddling your thumbs. It feels like you're progressing. It's really nice!
----------------tutorial------------------
This is a huge bullet point for a lot of people about this game and I'm going to try and fully explain why VF4EVO's tutorial is so well regarded.
One thing I hear about learning Street Fighter is that it's easy because of the abundance of information. Strategies, combos, matchup information --- this stuff can be tracked down with little difficulty because a billion people play Street Fighter so you can huck a rock at EventHubs and land on useful information.
But rewind thirteen years and imagine that you didn't have to go to EventHubs or the SRK forums to find out how to correctly play your game. Imagine it was just part of the game.
That's the case with VF4EVO. Firstly, the systems tutorial is expansive and covers everything you need to play the game correctly, including everything from the game's option selects to general strategy of how to use frame advantage. It really hammers this stuff in, too - you don't just have to do this evade dash cancel correctly. You have to do it three times! If you mess up, the game will tell you what you're doing wrong. Additionally, for every exercise in the game, there's a demonstration of what you're supposed to do, usually including a command display so you can actually see the button inputs, too. Beyond the general systems tutorial there's character-specific tutorials which teach you some moves to use and how to react when they're blocked and how to capitalize on the situation when they land. At the end of this there are optimized combos for various situations that you can practice. Honestly I find these very relaxing and will often just kill time in combo trials if I don't feel like doing anything else in the game.
There's also challenges in the tutorial, little specific missions where you have to win a round with a ringout or break a stagger and block the followup attack 3 times, stuff like that. These just reinforce the information that the general tutorials provide, and they're nice but I usually forget about them.
Lastly I want to mention one of the best modes in the Tutorial.
For every character in the game, you can practice reacting to punishable moves. In VF, some moves are punishable with attacks, that's guaranteed damage. Others are punishable only with throws, which can always be escaped. Others are neither throw nor attack punishable, but do yield frame advantage so sticking out a mid is a good idea. This mode in the tutorial will take any character you want and randomly attack with moves which fit into these 3 categories, and you must correctly respond to each one like 10 times in a row. If it's strike punishable, block then P,K. If it's throw punishable, block then throw. If it's neither, block then elbow.
I cannot express how helpful this is in learning how to handle fighting a character you're not too familiar with.
----------------quest mode------------------
OK, thanks for sticking with me because I know this is a lot of reading. Onto Quest Mode.
Quest mode is outstanding. As you probably know, Quest mode attempts to simulate what it's like to climb the ladder playing VF competitively in Japan. It uses a kyu/dan ranking system which has appeared in other games as well. In this mode, you travel to different arcades and start playing AI opponents which (eventually) are modeled after real players, using tendencies like favoring certain throws and moves and doing max damage combos. The mode is called 'Quest mode' because for each arcade you can accept and complete quests (Win a match against Vanessa, Do a 4 hit combo, etc) which reinforce good play and give you more money to buy stupid clothing with.
Actually, about that, I want to mention that the shop isn't strictly cosmetic stuff. There's some very cool videos you can buy which show off feats, like this one-handed SPOD!
Neat!
Anyway, you complete quests and mow down your opponents to qualify for tournaments, winning tournaments opens up new arcades and the process repeats with more difficult opponents. The mode is incredibly addictive and I hope that if you haven't played this game at all you'll at least give Quest mode a try. Unlike modes like Arcade, QM really tries to give you an authentic experience, and as someone who really likes going to tournaments I have to say this is the closest any game has gotten to giving me "tourney jitters"! As a side note there are some goofy side tournaments which change the game's properties which are good for a laugh.
----------------the rest of it------------------
I don't want to sell any of these features short, as they're all rad as hell, but this post has become a wall of text so I'm going to try and wrap this up.
Tournament replays
This game has tournament replays on the disc! Japanese exhibition matches from some of the world's top players like Oshu and Chibita complete with frame-by-frame progression and a command display that shows what each player is doing. VF4 had these too, but there was no command display and not every character was represented very well. Not the case here! These replays are rad and I really wish more games would try to do this.
Training mode
VF4EVO's training mode does some really cool stuff: 3 options for command display and the option to play at half-speed to practice option selects come to mind immediately. Since the game has multiple throw-escape, you can also randomize which throws the CPU use to practice that. The game will tell you what throws you escaped vs what throw the CPU attempted. Pretty cool.
Virtua Fighter Anniversary
This was released as a separate game in Europe and Japan but comes on the VF4EVO disc for the NA release. Basically it's VF1 with VF4EVO movelists and characters with every character "demade" to look like VF1.
That price tag...
VF4EVO is cheap as dirt today and it was cheap as dirt in 2003, too. The game launched under the "Greatest Hits" branding so it was $20 day one. I really want to dwell on this for a moment because the question of valuing fighting games has become a hot topic in the wake of Street Fighter V getting blown up for offering comparably nothing for $60. I understand that for some people, having the system alone is worth $60 and probably even more. But imagine if we didn't let publishers think that was acceptable? Imagine if THIS ^^^ became the standard instead?
----------------conclusion------------------
These days VF4EVO can be found in most hole in the wall shops for like $3. It's so cheap that I literally buy the game everytime I find a copy and give them out for free to people who ask me for one. (don't have any now, but let me know if you're interested and I might check the usual spots soon.) I really hope that if you come across this game and don't have it in your collection, you'll consider picking it up. It's really an outstanding release that offers so much to do even if you're playing by yourself, which you probably will be since it's A. VF and B. old. Let's look back and appreciate everything AM2 did for this release and hope that moving forward we can expect similar labors of love for fans of fighting games.
today, 13 years ago, Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution arrived on the Playstation 2. In all that time between then and now, it has yet to be unseated as the best arcade to console port.
Why, oneida? what is with you and this game?
VF4EVO is the update to VF4, like SSFIV was to SFIV. it added 2 new characters (Brad and Goh) and system mechanics such as the ability to recover from certain attacks in a combo that would, in previous versions, guarantee pursuit attacks.
When it came time to bring the game to the Playstation 2, many more significant improvements over the previous version were undergone. Firstly, VF4EVO simply performs better on PS2 than VF4 vanilla did. The load times are shorter and the models look nicer. This is most obvious when comparing Dural in each version:
VF4 vanilla (PS2)
VF4EVO (PS2)
(the glowing eyes happen if you reach Dural within a certain time frame, ignore them...)
----------------profiles-------------------
Now before I break down everything that's good about this game I want to start with something that contextualizes all of it. VF4EVO on PS2 has a profile system similar to the player card system in the arcade. As you play the game, whether you're playing versus mode with a friend, arcade mode, quest mode, and even the game's tutorials, you can earn money used to customize your character. by the way, it's not just costumes - you can unlock hidden win poses too.
But yeah, you can buy the VF1 version of your character and play as them. Even if they weren't in VF1. Because why not?
It's hard to put this into words but VF4EVO's profile mode really brings everything about the game together in such a satisfying way. Yes, the tutorial mode is amazing. Quest mode is addictive and immensely rewarding. But it's because you can take all you've accomplished in the game along with you on your memory card to your bud's house or to EVO, it's because of that it doesn't ever feel like you're just twiddling your thumbs. It feels like you're progressing. It's really nice!
----------------tutorial------------------
This is a huge bullet point for a lot of people about this game and I'm going to try and fully explain why VF4EVO's tutorial is so well regarded.
One thing I hear about learning Street Fighter is that it's easy because of the abundance of information. Strategies, combos, matchup information --- this stuff can be tracked down with little difficulty because a billion people play Street Fighter so you can huck a rock at EventHubs and land on useful information.
But rewind thirteen years and imagine that you didn't have to go to EventHubs or the SRK forums to find out how to correctly play your game. Imagine it was just part of the game.
That's the case with VF4EVO. Firstly, the systems tutorial is expansive and covers everything you need to play the game correctly, including everything from the game's option selects to general strategy of how to use frame advantage. It really hammers this stuff in, too - you don't just have to do this evade dash cancel correctly. You have to do it three times! If you mess up, the game will tell you what you're doing wrong. Additionally, for every exercise in the game, there's a demonstration of what you're supposed to do, usually including a command display so you can actually see the button inputs, too. Beyond the general systems tutorial there's character-specific tutorials which teach you some moves to use and how to react when they're blocked and how to capitalize on the situation when they land. At the end of this there are optimized combos for various situations that you can practice. Honestly I find these very relaxing and will often just kill time in combo trials if I don't feel like doing anything else in the game.
There's also challenges in the tutorial, little specific missions where you have to win a round with a ringout or break a stagger and block the followup attack 3 times, stuff like that. These just reinforce the information that the general tutorials provide, and they're nice but I usually forget about them.
Lastly I want to mention one of the best modes in the Tutorial.
For every character in the game, you can practice reacting to punishable moves. In VF, some moves are punishable with attacks, that's guaranteed damage. Others are punishable only with throws, which can always be escaped. Others are neither throw nor attack punishable, but do yield frame advantage so sticking out a mid is a good idea. This mode in the tutorial will take any character you want and randomly attack with moves which fit into these 3 categories, and you must correctly respond to each one like 10 times in a row. If it's strike punishable, block then P,K. If it's throw punishable, block then throw. If it's neither, block then elbow.
I cannot express how helpful this is in learning how to handle fighting a character you're not too familiar with.
----------------quest mode------------------
OK, thanks for sticking with me because I know this is a lot of reading. Onto Quest Mode.
Quest mode is outstanding. As you probably know, Quest mode attempts to simulate what it's like to climb the ladder playing VF competitively in Japan. It uses a kyu/dan ranking system which has appeared in other games as well. In this mode, you travel to different arcades and start playing AI opponents which (eventually) are modeled after real players, using tendencies like favoring certain throws and moves and doing max damage combos. The mode is called 'Quest mode' because for each arcade you can accept and complete quests (Win a match against Vanessa, Do a 4 hit combo, etc) which reinforce good play and give you more money to buy stupid clothing with.
Actually, about that, I want to mention that the shop isn't strictly cosmetic stuff. There's some very cool videos you can buy which show off feats, like this one-handed SPOD!
Neat!
Anyway, you complete quests and mow down your opponents to qualify for tournaments, winning tournaments opens up new arcades and the process repeats with more difficult opponents. The mode is incredibly addictive and I hope that if you haven't played this game at all you'll at least give Quest mode a try. Unlike modes like Arcade, QM really tries to give you an authentic experience, and as someone who really likes going to tournaments I have to say this is the closest any game has gotten to giving me "tourney jitters"! As a side note there are some goofy side tournaments which change the game's properties which are good for a laugh.
----------------the rest of it------------------
I don't want to sell any of these features short, as they're all rad as hell, but this post has become a wall of text so I'm going to try and wrap this up.
Tournament replays
This game has tournament replays on the disc! Japanese exhibition matches from some of the world's top players like Oshu and Chibita complete with frame-by-frame progression and a command display that shows what each player is doing. VF4 had these too, but there was no command display and not every character was represented very well. Not the case here! These replays are rad and I really wish more games would try to do this.
Training mode
VF4EVO's training mode does some really cool stuff: 3 options for command display and the option to play at half-speed to practice option selects come to mind immediately. Since the game has multiple throw-escape, you can also randomize which throws the CPU use to practice that. The game will tell you what throws you escaped vs what throw the CPU attempted. Pretty cool.
Virtua Fighter Anniversary
This was released as a separate game in Europe and Japan but comes on the VF4EVO disc for the NA release. Basically it's VF1 with VF4EVO movelists and characters with every character "demade" to look like VF1.
That price tag...
VF4EVO is cheap as dirt today and it was cheap as dirt in 2003, too. The game launched under the "Greatest Hits" branding so it was $20 day one. I really want to dwell on this for a moment because the question of valuing fighting games has become a hot topic in the wake of Street Fighter V getting blown up for offering comparably nothing for $60. I understand that for some people, having the system alone is worth $60 and probably even more. But imagine if we didn't let publishers think that was acceptable? Imagine if THIS ^^^ became the standard instead?
----------------conclusion------------------
These days VF4EVO can be found in most hole in the wall shops for like $3. It's so cheap that I literally buy the game everytime I find a copy and give them out for free to people who ask me for one. (don't have any now, but let me know if you're interested and I might check the usual spots soon.) I really hope that if you come across this game and don't have it in your collection, you'll consider picking it up. It's really an outstanding release that offers so much to do even if you're playing by yourself, which you probably will be since it's A. VF and B. old. Let's look back and appreciate everything AM2 did for this release and hope that moving forward we can expect similar labors of love for fans of fighting games.
