Virtua Fighter 2

Virtua Fighter 2

Publisher: Sega

Developer: Sega AM2

System(s): Sega Model 2A CRX, Sega Saturn, Windows PC

ROM Size: 47.25 MB,^[1] 617 MB

Genre: Fighting

Number of Players: 1-2

Release	Date	RRP	Code
JP	1994-11	¥?	?
US	199x	$?	?
JP	1995-12-01	¥6,800	GS-9079
JP (Satakore)	1997-04-25	¥2,800	GS-9146
US	1996	$?	81014
EU	1996-01-26	£49.99	MK81014-50
BR	199x	$?	193066
KR	1995	₩?	GS-9507J MK-81014-08

JP	1997-09-05	¥8,800 (9,240)	HCJ-0127
JP (Special Pack)	1997-09-05	¥8,800 (9,240)	HCJ-0135
US	1997-09-30	$?	?
US (Expert Software)	199x	$?	?
EU	1997	£? €?	?
EU (Xplosiv)	199x	£? €?	EI-1305
KR	199x	₩?	?

JP	2012-11-28	400pts ¥?	?
US	2012-11-28	400pts $?	?
EU	2012-11-28	400pts £? €?	?
AU	2012-11-28	?pts $?	?

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For the 2D Sega Mega Drive version, see Virtua Fighter 2 (Mega Drive).

Virtua Fighter 2 (バーチャファイター２) is a fighting game developed by Sega AM2 and published by Sega as is the direct sequel to Virtua Fighter. It is, as the name suggests, the second game in the Virtua Fighter series, and was originally released for Sega Model 2A CRX arcade hardware in 1994.

Virtua Fighter 2 was known for its breakthrough graphics and animation, rendering 3D characters and backgrounds with filtered texture mapping and introducing motion capture animation technology to the game industry.

It was followed by a sequel, Virtua Fighter 3, in 1996.

Gameplay

Virtua Fighter 2 follows largely the same rules as its predecessor - it is a 3D versus fighting game with three buttons, ring-outs and potentially complex movesets. Virtua Fighter 2 builds on this however by featuring faster-paced gameplay and momentum-based damage (i.e. charging at an enemy deals more damage than attacking while standing still). It also features more moves, including the ability for some characters to sidestep attacks.

Characters

Main article: Virtua Fighter Characters

Virtua Fighter 2 features all the characters of the previous game, plus two (or three) more:

[[File:\|150px]]	Shun Di
[[File:\|150px]]
[[File:\|150px]]	Lion Rafale
[[File:\|150px]]
[[File:\|150px]]	"Alphabet character"
[[File:\|150px]]	In the arcade version of Virtua Fighter 2, players indirectly do battle with a character made up of letters while inputting their initials in the high score screen. In the home versions of the game, it is possible to play as this fighter. The "alphabet character", who has no official name, merely borrows movesets from other fighters. The letters making up the character change as time progresses.

History

Development

Virtua Fighter 2 was developed alongside the Sega Model 2 arcade system board, which itself debuted in 1993. In order to produce the game's filtered, texture-mapped characters and backgrounds, Yu Suzuki turned to Lockheed Martin, formerly General Electric Aerial & Space, which charged $2 million to use the texture mapping chip of their flight simulation equipment that cost $32 million overall. Despite some reluctance on Sega's part, Suzuki managed to convince them to buy the chip for $2 million, and he then worked with his AM2 team to convert it for video game use. Using the Lockheed Martin technology, his AM2 team eventually managed to create a graphics chip that could be mass-produced for $50 each. As a result, he was able to use texture mapping for the Virtua Fighter 2 characters. [2] In order to produce better animations for the characters, Suzuki also utilized motion capture animation technology,^[3] which had previously been limited to the healthcare industry and never used before by the video game industry.^[4]

Release

Virtua Fighter 2, much like its predecessor, was very successful for Sega (particualrly in Japan), demonstrating cutting-edge graphics which made good use of Sega's Model 2 arcade platform. This hardware was able to run the game at 60 frames per second at a high resolution without slowdown, and was able to compete against the likes of Namco's Tekken and other Virtua Fighter arcade derivatives which were beginning to emerge by this point.

Upon release, the Virtua Fighter 2 video game arcade cabinet cost £6000 for arcade operators^{[Mean Machines Sega, issue 39, p. 58-61]} (equivalent to £10,412 or $16,475 in 2014). For players, the arcade game cost £1 per play^{[Ultimate Future Games, issue 3, p. 38-9]} (equivalent to £1.74 or $2.74 in 2014).

The June 1996 issue of Computer and Video Games stated Virtua Fighter 2 "is still the most visually amazing arcade game around" along with Virtua Fighter 3.^[5]

Sales

The Saturn version of Virtua Fighter 2 sold 1.7 million copies in Japan.^[6] In addition, it sold at least more than 500,000 copies in the United States,^[7] adding up to at least more than 2.2 million units sold in Japan and the United States.

Awards

In Japan, the arcade version won several Gamest Awards, including Game of the Year, Best Fighting Game, and Best Graphics. It was also nominated for the awards of Best Director, for which it came 6th place, and Best VGM, for which it came 3rd place.^{[Gamest, The Best Game 2: Gamest Mook Vol. 112, pp. 6-26]}

For the Saturn version, in Japan, among Famitsu's panel of four reviewers, one gave it 9 out of 10, while the other three each gave it a full 10 out of 10, adding up to a near-perfect overall score of 39 out of 40. This made it one of the magazine's three highest-rated games up until 1995, along with The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Ridge Racer Revolution. [8]

It has been listed among the best games of all time by various publications. Next Generation ranked it the 6th best game of all time in 1996,^[9] and the 8th best game in 1999.^{[Next Generation, issue 50, February 1999]} Electronic Gaming Monthly ranked it the 79th best game of all time in 1997,^[10] the 59th best in 2001,^[11] and 37th in 2006.^[12] IGN ranked it the 68th best game of all time in 2003,^[13] Famitsu ranked it the 47th best in 2006,^[14] and Stuff ranked it 89th in 2008.^{["100 Greatest Games", Stuff, October 2008, p. 116-26]} Virtua Fighter 2 was also ranked as the 19th best arcade game of the 1990s by Complex in 2013.^[15]

Legacy

Virtua Fighter 2 was brought to the Sega Saturn in 1996 with extra modes and a CD soundtrack, at the expense of graphical fidelity and polygon counts. The Saturn version is widely considered to be one of the better looking games for the system, despite having to sacrifice the 3D backgrounds of its arcade counterpart. This version was the basis for a Microsoft Windows port in 1997.

The Saturn port allows for the arena size to be adjusted down or all the way up to 82 metres, being the only game in the series, other than Virtua Fighter Remix, that has such options. The energy meter is also adjustable (to the point where it has no meaning), leading to what some have called "sumo match" modes, where players can only win by knocking their opponent out of the ring.

Virtua Fighter 2 was re-released as Virta Fighter 2+1 (2.1) in Japan. This version features re-tweaked gameplay, slightly enhanced graphics and the ability to play as a newly-designed Dural. This version was also released as Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 16: Virtua Fighter 2 (with other tweaks) for the PlayStation 2. It is also possible to switch to the 2+1 gameplay mechanics in the Saturn and PC versions, but none of the other features are updated.

Virtua Fighter 2 is the point of reference for Virtua Fighter Kids, Virtua Fighter Animation and Fighters Megamix. It was followed by Virtua Fighter 3 in 1996. The game has also been released on Xbox Live Arcade.

Production Credits

Arcade Version

Main programmer: Toru Ikebuchi
Main designer: Kazuhiro Izaki

Programmers

Motion choreographer: Shin Kimura
Variety: Tetsuya Kaku
Enemy: Daichi Katagiri
Object: Kazuhiko Yamada
Character Effects: Takeshi Suzuki
Co-processor: Eisuke Miura
AI & Rank mode: Kota Matsumoto
Motion set: Shinji Ohshima
Stage Effects: Takashi Fujimura
Scroll: Goho Ogura

Designers

Motion designers: Toshiya Inoue, Takayuki Ota, Naotake Nishimura, Yasuo Kawagoshi, Kaoru Nagahama
Character designers: Tomohiro Ishii, Kaori Yamamoto
Stage designers: Toshihiro Nagoshi, Yasuko Suzuki, Takafumi Kagaya, Makoto Osaki
Texture designers: Kenji Okada, Takashi Isono, Kazunori O, Jeffry Buchanan, Yukinobu Arikawa
Scroll designer: Hideaki Kato
Motion capture: Susumu Takatsuka

Planning support: Manabu Tsukamoto, Hiroshi Masui
Sound designers: Takayuki Nakamura, Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, Akiko Hashimoto, Kazuhiko Kouchi
Publicist: Fumio Kurokawa
Special Thanks: Attractive Action Club, Action Data Stunt Team, 81 Produce, Kazunari Uchida
Producer & Director: Yu Suzuki

Arcade Version (2.1)

Main programmer: Toru Ikebuchi
Main designer: Kazuhiro Izaki

Programmers

Motion choreographer: Shin Kimura
Variety: Tetsuya Kaku
Enemy: Daichi Katagiri
Object: Kazuhiko Yamada
Character Effects: Takeshi Suzuki
Co-processor: Eisuke Miura
AI & Rank mode: Kota Matsumoto
Motion set: Shinji Ohshima
Stage Effects: Takashi Fujimura
Scroll: Goho Ogura

Designers

Motion designers: Toshiya Inoue, Takayuki Ota, Naotake Nishimura, Yasuo Kawagoshi, Kaoru Nagahama
Character designers: Tomohiro Ishii, Kaori Yamamoto
Stage designers: Toshihiro Nagoshi, Yasuko Suzuki, Takafumi Kagaya, Makoto Osaki
Texture designers: Kenji Okada, Takashi Isono, Kazunori O, Jeffry Buchanan, Yukinobu Arikawa
Scroll designer: Hideaki Kato
Motion capture: Susumu Takatsuka

Planning support: Manabu Tsukamoto, Hiroshi Masui
Sound designers: Takayuki Nakamura, Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, Youichi Ueda, Akiko Hashimoto, Kazuhiko Kouchi
Publicist: Fumio Kurokawa
Special Thanks: Attractive Action Club, Action Data Stunt Team, 81 Produce, Kazunari Uchida
Producer & Director: Yu Suzuki

Saturn Version

Director: Keiji Okayasu

Programmers

System Program: Tetsuya Sugimoto
Collision Program: Hideya Shibazaki
Motion Program: Hiroaki Shoji
Enemy Program: Takayuki Yamaguchi
Movie Program: Kazuo Ohtani
Command Program: Shinji Ohshima
Texture Program: Takeshi Matsuda
Scroll Program: Hiroki Okajima

Graphic Designer

Movie Design: Yoshinao Asako
Background Design: Youji Kato
Character Design: Kaori Yamamoto, Kaoru Nagahama
Scroll Design: Ryoya Yui

Sound Staff

Producer: Takayuki Nakamura
Music Arranger & Director: Takenobu Mitsuyoshi
Sound Design: Kazuhiko Kouchi
Music Programmer: Teruo Nakano (Silly Walk)
Recording Director: Tatsutoshi Narita (SEGA Digital Studio)
Recording Engineer: Naoyuki Machida (SEGA Digital Studio)
Recording Manager: Fumitaka Shibata (SEGA Digital Studio)

Publicity: Koji Umeda, Nobutaka Arii
Special Thanks: Matsuhide Mizoguchi, Yutaka Nishino, Shigenobu Iga, Hiroshi Kawaguchi, Arcade VF2 Team, SGL Team, 81 Produce Co.
Producer: Yu Suzuki

PC Version

Main Programmer: Koue Tsukuda
Programmers: Masato Hagishita, Yasuhiro Suzuki, Hajime Sawada, Yoshihiko Toyoshima, Takashi Atsu, Toshinori Suzuki, Kazuhisa Hasuoka, Tomonobu Takahashi
Graphic Designers: Hisato Fukumoto, Tomoharu Tanaka, Katsufumi Yoshimori, Yumi Morikawa
Sound Desginer: Takenobu Mitsuyoshi

PC Division (Marketing)

Group General Manager: Shinji Fujiwara
Managers: Tchie Tokoro, Yasuo Koike
Staffs: Ryousuke Kaji, Junko Yasui, Yoshirou Tateyama, Satomi Kawasaki, Takeshi Tsugane, Yasuhide Nagasawa, Shinya Itoh, Shozo Hirano
Manual & Package Producer: Taiji Okamoto, Yoshihiro Sakuta
Manual Editor: Mitsuaki Chouno
Manual & Package Designer: Toshiki Yamaguchi, Hisashi Nishimura
Help Editor: Tadashi Ihoroi, Takako Higuchi
Publicity: Hiroyuki Otaka, Toshirou Nakayama

Director: Tadashi Ihoroi
Assistant Producer: Shun Arai
Producer: Toshinori Asai
Supervisor: Yu Suzuki
Special Thanks to: AM R&D Dpt # 2, Virtua Fighter 2 Arcade Team, Virtua Fighter 2 Saturn Team, ASCII, Cooperation (Tech Win)

Sega PC Check Team: Takahiko Kobayashi, Youichirou Inoue, Kazuyuki Hagihara, Tomohisa Nakayasu

Super Players: Motoki Shinohara, Takayuki Haneda, Toyohiko Yoshimine

Presented by: Sega Enterprises, Ltd.

Screenshots

Model 2 Version

Character Select
Opening
Lau Stage
Sarah Stage
Pai Stage
Loading

Promotional Material

Saturn JP flyer
Saturn DE print advert