The Virtua Fighter reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Virtua Fighter

Virtua Fighter is a beat 'em up video game developed by the Sega studio AM2, headed by Yu Suzuki. It was first an arcade game, but has now been ported to some home video game consoles. It was the first in a series of similar games.

Table of contents

1 Overview 2 Sequels 3 Video Game Console Versions 4 Basic (VF1) Characters 5 Added in VF2 6 Added in VF3 7 Added in VF4 8 Added in VF4 Evo 9 External link

Overview

The Virtua label indicates the on screen action takes place in 3D, the first game of this genre to do so. The images were created using wireframes and flat-shaded polygons. Beyond 3D it retained the staple of multiple characters, each with their own distinctive 'moves.'

Sequels

Virtua Fighter was released in 1993 as an arcade game using hardware jointly developed by Lockheed Martin and Sega. New versions of the game accompained each new iteration of the base hardware (Model 1, Model 2 and Model 3). "Virtua Fighter 2" was released in 1994 and "Virtua Fighter 3" in 1996 with "Virtua Fighter 3tb" in 1997 adding tournament battles featuring more than two characters (not simultaneously). "Virtua Fighter 4" was released on the NAOMI hardware in 2001. The game is consistently popular in its home arcade market.

In true Sega fashion, their "Virtua" prefix was used on a variety of other products such as Virtua Racing and Virtua Tennis, for some unknown reason the missing 'l' was used for "Virtual On", a game which placed the player in an oversized robot battling foe.

Video Game Console Versions

The transition of Virtua Fighter to the home console was initially difficult due to the comparative weakness of early Sega consoles, but VF1 featured on the 32X, the Megadrive, and the Megadrive's American counterpart, the Genesis. The game was first ported to the Sega Saturn in 1995, but suffered due to poor graphics and jerky game-play—there was even a free upgrade ("Virtua Fighter Remix") to deal with the problems. Sega released Virtua Fighter 2 on the Saturn for Christmas 1995 and a super-deformed version called "Virtua Fighter Kids." Also released for the Saturn and related to Virtua Fighter were "Fighter's Megamix" (1996) and the curious "Virtua Fighter Portrait Series" (1996). The only port of "Virtua Fighter 3" was for the Dreamcast by Genki with "Virtua Fighter 3tb" in 1998. Following Sega's retreat from the hardware market in mid-2001, "Virtua Fighter 4" was ported by Sega to the Sony PlayStation 2 in 2002. This was followed by "Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution", a refinement that added two new characters as well as a host of game balancing tweaks, in 2003. Virtua Fighter 5 has been announced, but little is known about it as of yet.

The Dreamcast game Shenmue, also developed by AM2/Yu Suzuki, was called "Virtua Fighter RPG" in the early stages of development and features a Virtua Fighter-like fighting system and in-game Virtua Fighter memorabilia.

Basic (VF1) Characters

• Akira Yuki, a 25-year-old kung fu teacher from Japan
• Pai Chan, an 18-year-old martial arts movie star from Hong Kong
• Lau Chan, Pai's father, a 53-year-old cook from China
• Wolf Hawkfield, a 27-year-old professional wrestler from Canada
• Jeffry McWild, a 36-year-old Rastafarian fisherman from Australia
• Kagemaru ("Kage") Hagakure, a 22-year-old ninja from Japan
• Sarah Bryant, a 20-year-old college student from San Francisco, CA
• Jacky Bryant, Sarah's older brother, a 23-year-old race car driver also from San Francisco.
• Dural, an android-like creature. Dural is the game's "boss" character. She is also, somewhat inexplicably, Kage's mother. Plot and characterization is not the focus of the series!

Added in VF2

• Shun Di, an 82-year-old herbal doctor from China
• Lion Rafale, a 15-year-old rocker from France

Added in VF3

• Aoi Umenokouji, a 17-year-old princess from Japan
• Taka-Arashi, a 35 year old sumo wrestler from Japan

Added in VF4

• Lei-Fei, a 21-year-old monk from China
• Vanessa Lewis, a 26-year-old security officer from Atlanta, GA
• Note that Taka-Arashi was removed, the only character in the series to ever be "retired".

Added in VF4 Evo

• Brad Burns, a 26-year-old kick boxer from Italy
• Goh Hinogami, age unknown, an assassin from Japan

External link

• The Killer List of Video Games entry on Virtua Fighter

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