Virtua Fighter 4

From Sega Retro

n/a

  • NAOMI 2
  • PlayStation 2

VirtuaFighter4 title.png

VirtuaFighter4 PS2 JP SSTitle.png

Virtua Fighter 4
System(s): Sega NAOMI 2, Sega NAOMI 2 GD-ROM, PlayStation 2
Publisher: Sega
Developer:
Supporting companies:
Distributor:
Sony PlayStation 2
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (Europe)
Genre: Fighting

















Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code
Arcade (NAOMI 2)
JP
¥? ?
Arcade (NAOMI 2)
US
$? 840-0080C
Arcade (NAOMI 2)
UK
£? ?
Arcade (NAOMI 2 GD-ROM)
JP
¥? GDS-0012C



















Sony PlayStation 2
JP
¥6,800 (7,140)6,800 (7,140)[3] SLPM-62130
Sony PlayStation 2
US
SLUS-20323
ESRB: Teen
Sony PlayStation 2
US
(Greatest Hits)
SLUS-20323GH
ESRB: Teen
Sony PlayStation 2
EU
(Promo)
SCES-50759
Sony PlayStation 2
EU
SCES-50759
ELSPA: 15+ OK
Sony PlayStation 2
DE
SCES-50759
USK: 12
Sony PlayStation 2
ES
SCES-50759
aDeSe: 13+
Sony PlayStation 2
FR
SCES-50759
SELL: 12+
Sony PlayStation 2
UK
£39.9939.99[5] SCES-50759
ELSPA: 15+ OK
Sony PlayStation 2
FI
SCES-50759
VET: 15+
Sony PlayStation 2
IT
SCES-50759
ELSPA: 15+ OK
Sony PlayStation 2
AU
SCES-50759-ANZ
OFLC: M15

Virtua Fighter 4 (バーチャファイター4) is a fighting game developed by Sega-AM2 and released for Sega NAOMI 2 arcade hardware in 2001. It is the fouth major entry in the Virtua Fighter series and a direct sequel to Virtua Fighter 3. The game was originally announced under the working title of Virtua Fighter X, before appearing with its final name at AOU Show 2001.

The game changed the Japanese arcade landscape due to use of internet and physical cards to save progress, which was the VF.NET (later ALL.Net) system.

It was succeeded by Virtua Fighter 5 in 2005.

Gameplay

Characters

Virtua Fighter 4 is the only game in the history of the Virtua Fighter series to remove a character from the core lineup of playable characters. Taka Arashi, who debuted in Virtua Fighter 3 and would return in Virtua Fighter 5 R, was not included due to technical difficulties.

Notavailable.svg Akira Yuki
Notavailable.svg Pai Chan
Notavailable.svg Lau Chan
Notavailable.svg Wolf Hawkfield
Notavailable.svg Jeffry Mcwild
Notavailable.svg Kagemaru
Notavailable.svg Sarah Bryant
Notavailable.svg Jacky Bryant
Notavailable.svg Dural
Notavailable.svg Shun Di
Notavailable.svg Lion Rafale
Notavailable.svg Aoi Umenokoji
Notavailable.svg Lei-Fei
Notavailable.svg Vanessa Lewis

History

Development

The NAOMI 2 arcade version of Virtua Fighter 4 uses up to 20,000 polygons for each character, while each background uses over 50,000 polygons, with up to 16 hardware light sources per polygon, at 60 frames per second. This was the highest character polygon count and lights per polygon for a video game up until 2001, giving it the most detailed character graphics and lighting effects of its time (such as dynamic search lights).[6] In comparison, the same year, Dead or Alive 3 on the Xbox used 10,000 to 15,000 polygons for the characters. Virtua Fighter 4's character polygon count was unsurpassed until Virtua Fighter 5 in 2005.[7] In terms of textures, the game uses 128 MB of texture data for the characters.[8]

The PlayStation 2 version of Virtua Fighter 4, due to hardware limitations, reduced the polygon count down to 7,000 polygons for the characters and had much fewer light sources. The texture details were also reduced for the PlayStation 2 version.[9]

Legacy

Like its predecessors, Virtua Fighter 4 saw several minor upgrades during the course of its lifespan, titled "Ver. B" and "Ver. C" respectively. It was ported to the PlayStation 2 in 2002 with slight graphical downgrades and online modes removed in exchange for more single player options.

Two major upgrades exist for the game, Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution and Virtua Fighter 4 Final Tuned.

Production credits

NAOMI 2 version

Virtua Fighter 4 Staff
Programmer
CG Designer
Planner
  • Planning & Arrangement: Tomonori Shiino
Motion
Sound
VF.NET
Source:
In-game credits[10]

PlayStation 2 version

Staff
Programmers
Designers
Planners
Help Team
Original Game ©Sega ©Sega-AM2/Sega,2001,2002
Source:
In-game credits (JP)
VirtuaFighter4 PS2 JP SSCredits.pdf
[11]

Digital manuals

Magazine articles

Main article: Virtua Fighter 4/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Notavailable.svg
FI TV advert[12]
Notavailable.svg

VirtuaFighter4 NAOMI2 US Flyer.pdf

PDF
NAOMI 2 US flyer
VirtuaFighter4 NAOMI2 US Flyer.pdf
VirtuaFighter4 PS2 AU PrintAdvert.jpg
PlayStation 2 AU print advert
VirtuaFighter4 PS2 AU PrintAdvert.jpg
Logo-pdf.svg
Print advert in (HU) #48: "Március 2002" (2002-xx-xx)
Logo-pdf.svg
Logo-pdf.svg
PlayStation 2 print advert in (US) #163: "April 2002" (2002-0x-xx)
also published in:
  • (US) #5: "May 2002" (2002-xx-xx)[13]
Logo-pdf.svg
Logo-pdf.svg
PlayStation 2 print advert in (US) #164: "May 2002" (2002-0x-xx)
Logo-pdf.svg

Artwork

Physical scans

NAOMI 2 version

NAOMI 2, US
Virtua Fighter 4 NAOMI2 US Cart Back.jpgVirtuaFighter4 NAOMI2 Cart.jpg
Cart
NAOMI 2, JP
NAOMI 2
GD-ROM,
JP
Virtua Fighter 4 NAOMI2 JP Marquee.jpg
"Top" instructions
Virtua Fighter 4 NAOMI2 JP Bezel1.jpg
"Long" instructions
Virtua Fighter 4 NAOMI2 JP Bezel1.jpg
"Long" instructions (2)
Virtua Fighter 4 Naomi2 GD-ROM Disc.jpg
Disc

PlayStation 2 version

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
98 May 2002, p78
100 TechTV (2002/04/05)
Sony PlayStation 2
99
Based on
2 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
(HU)
90
[14]
(PT)
87
[15]
(YU)
85
[16]
(PL)
95
[17]
(FR) PAL
95
[18]
(UK) PAL
80
[5]
(UK) NTSC-J
70
[19]
(US) NTSC-U
98
[20]
(JP) NTSC-J
93
[21]
(US) NTSC-U
100
[22]
(UK)
80
[23]
(US) NTSC-U
100
[24]
(AU) PAL
94
[25]
(DE) PAL
91
[26]
(US) NTSC-U
100
[27]
(UK) PAL
80
[28]
(DE) PAL
90
[29]
Play (PL)
96
[30]
(US) NTSC-U
80
[31]
(DE) PAL
91
[32]
(US) NTSC-U
90
[33]
(PL) NTSC-J
93
[34]
(NL)
89
[35]
(ES)
95
[36]
Sony PlayStation 2
90
Based on
24 reviews

Virtua Fighter 4

PlayStation 2, US
VirtuaFighter4 PS2 US Box.jpg
Cover
PlayStation 2, US (Greatest Hits)
VirtuaFighter4 PS2 US Box GreatestHits.jpg
Cover
VirtuaFighter4 PS2 US Disc GreatestHits.jpg
Disc
PlayStation 2, US
(Hollywood Video)
VirtuaFighter4 PS2 US Box HollywoodVideo.jpg
Cover
PlayStation 2, JP
VirtuaFighter4 PS2 JP Box.jpg
Cover
VirtuaFighter4 PS2 JP Disc.jpg
Disc
PlayStation 2, AU
VirtuaFighter4 PS2 AU Box.jpg
Cover
PlayStation 2, EU
VirtuaFighter4 PS2 EU Box.jpg
Cover
PlayStation 2, EU (Promo)

VirtuaFighter4 PS2 EU promo disc.jpg
Disc
PlayStation 2, UK
VirtuaFighter4 PS2 UK cover.jpg
Cover
PlayStation 2, FR
VirtuaFighter4 PS2 FR Box.jpg
Cover
PlayStation 2, DE
VirtuaFighter4 PS2 DE Box.jpg
Cover
PlayStation 2, ES
VirtuaFighter4 PS2 ES Box.jpg
Cover
PlayStation 2, IT
VirtuaFighter4 PS2 IT Box.jpg
Cover
PlayStation 2, SE/DK/FI/NO
VirtuaFighter4 PS2 SE-DK-FI-NO Box.jpg
Cover

Technical information

Virtua Fighter 4 was the first video game to use normal mapping, an advanced form of bump mapping.

The character models in the original Sega NAOMI 2 arcade version had about 20,000 polygons per character. This was the highest character polygon count in any video game at the time,[37] surpassing the character polygon counts of 2001 Dreamcast game Sports Jam (up to 18,357 polygons)[38][39] and higher than the character polygon counts of any Xbox games (up to 15,000 polygons in Dead or Alive 3 and Dead or Alive Ultimate). The polygon counts in the PlayStation 2 version of Virtua Fighter 4 were reduced to about 7,000 polygons per character.[40]

ROM dump status

System Hash Size Build Date Source Comments
Sony PlayStation 2
 ?
CRC32 ddcf01e0
MD5 0c91d4105d3969c345bdede385344bf8
SHA-1 56925d84541e709b5a354ea701756752b92be342
691,470,336 CD-ROM (EU) SCES-50759 (V1.00)
Sony PlayStation 2
CRC32 af293820
MD5 6042fc56240778af6f96891d473cbafb
SHA-1 c085481cf6c0b33b1369e8c66af4b0b0d6341654
567,332,976 CD-ROM (JP) SLPM-62130 (V2.00)
Sony PlayStation 2
 ?
CRC32 3ddf5508
MD5 961c46ace3bfc96e4e88ea1e93e35e81
SHA-1 4b867387c089e586d6fe3f4d4d9ea47743870f25
569,800,224 CD-ROM (US) SLUS-20323 (V1.02)
Sony PlayStation 2
 ?
CRC32
MD5
SHA-1
2002-01-04 CD-R Page
Sony PlayStation 2
 ?
CRC32
MD5
SHA-1
2002-02-01 CD-R Page

External links

References

  1. http://www.sega-am2.co.jp/vf4/index.html (Wayback Machine: 2001-12-11 23:51)
  2. http://flyers.arcade-museum.com/?page=thumbs&db=videodb&id=4482
  3. 3.0 3.1 http://www.jp.playstation.com/software/title/slpm62130.html (Wayback Machine: 2007-05-15 07:53)
  4. Computer & Video Games, "May 2002" (UK; 2002-04-xx), page 54
  5. 5.0 5.1 Computer & Video Games, "May 2002" (UK; 2002-04-xx), page 80
  6. http://game.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/20061025/3dvf5.htm
  7. https://forum.beyond3d.com/threads/yes-but-how-many-polygons-an-artist-blog-entry-with-interesting-numbers.39321/
  8. Next Generation, "August 2001" (US; 2001-07-17), page 51
  9. Next Generation, "August 2001" (US; 2001-07-17), page 54
  10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mdh-Ue1we9k
  11. File:VirtuaFighter4_PS2_JP_SSCredits.pdf
  12. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5xPTSq2UQI&ab_channel=KanavaZeroZero
  13. Play, "May 2002" (US; 2002-xx-xx), page 13
  14. 576 Konzol, "Március 2002" (HU; 2002-xx-xx), page 18
  15. BGamer, "Maio 2002" (PT; 2002-0x-xx), page 103
  16. Bonus, "3/2002" (YU; 2002-03-25), page 28
  17. Click!Konsole, "Sierpień 2002" (PL; 2002-xx-xx), page 8
  18. Consoles +, "Mai 2002" (FR; 2002-0x-xx), page 74
  19. Edge, "March 2002" (UK; 2002-02-27), page 90
  20. Electronic Gaming Monthly, "May 2002" (US; 2002-04-02), page 110
  21. Famitsu, "2002-02-08" (JP; 2002-01-25), page 1
  22. GamePro, "May 2002" (US; 2002-0x-xx), page 90
  23. (UK) (+0:00)
  24. GMR, "February 2003" (US; 2003-xx-xx), page 93
  25. Hyper, "June 2002" (AU; 2002-05-08), page 50
  26. MAN!AC, "06/2002" (DE; 2002-05-02), page 40
  27. Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine, "April 2002" (US; 2002-03-12), page 92
  28. PlayStation 2 Official Magazine - UK, "April 2002" (UK; 2002-03-22), page 82
  29. Players, "6/2002" (DE; 2002-04-24), page 54
  30. Play, "Czerwiec 2002" (PL; 2002-xx-xx), page 24
  31. Play, "March 2002" (US; 2002-xx-xx), page 46
  32. PlayZone, "06/2002" (DE; 2002-04-30), page 66
  33. PSM, "Vol. 6, No. 4: April 2002" (US; 2002-0x-xx), page 24
  34. PSX Extreme, "03/2002" (PL; 2002-0x-xx), page 40
  35. Power Unlimited, "Jaargang 10, Nummer 5, Mei 2002" (NL; 2002-04-26), page 52
  36. Super Juegos, "Mayo 2002" (ES; 2002-0x-xx), page 14
  37. 3Dゲームファンのための「バーチャファイター5」グラフィックス講座
  38. Character model with shadow
  39. Character model
  40. "Yes, but how many polygons?" An artist blog entry with interesting numbers


Virtua Fighter 4

VirtuaFighter4 title.png

Main page | Comparisons | Development | Magazine articles | Video coverage | Reception


Books: (2001) | (2001) | (2001) | (2002) | (2002) | (2002) | (2002) | (2002)
Music: (2002)
Sony PlayStation 2
Prototypes: 2001-01-04 | 02-01



Virtua Fighter series
Virtua Fighter (Remix | PC) (1993-1995) | Virtua Fighter 2 (Mega Drive | Sega Ages 2500 Series) (1994-1996) | Virtua Fighter 3 (3tb | 3tb Online) (1996-1997) | Virtua Fighter 4 (Evolution | Final Tuned) (2001-2004) | Virtua Fighter 5 (R | Final Showdown | Ultimate Showdown) (2006-2021)
Spin-offs
Virtua Fighter Kids (1996) | Virtua Fighter Animation (1997) | Virtua Fighter 10th Anniversary (2003) | Virtua Quest (2004)
Cross-overs
Fighters Megamix (Game.com) | Dead or Alive 5 (5+ | Ultimate | Last Round) (2012-2015)
Portrait series
Virtua Fighter CG Portrait Series: (1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | The Final) (1995-1996) | GG Portrait: Yuuki Akira (1996) | GG Portrait: Pai Chan (1996)
Others
Virtua Fighter (LCD) (1995) | Electronic Virtua Fighter (199x) | Virtua Fighter (R-Zone) (199x) | Virtua Fighter 3 Win-PC-Collection (1996) | Virtua Fighter (2007) | CR Virtua Fighter (2008) | Virtua Fighter Mobile (2008) | Pachinko CR Virtua Fighter Revolution (2012) | Virtua Fighter Cool Champ (2012) | Virtua Fighter Fever Combo (2014) | Virtua Fighter Pachislot (2014) | Virtua Fighter Battle Genesis (2019)
Unlicensed
Virtua Fighter 2 vs. Tekken 2 (199x)
Demo discs
Java Tea Original Virtua Fighter Kids (1996)
Albums
Music
(1994) | (1994) | (1994) | (1995) | (1995) | (1996) | (1996) | (1996) | (1996) | (1996) | (1996) | (1997) | (1997) | (1997) | (2002) | (2002) | (2004) | (2011) | (2012) | (2012) | (2015) | (2021) | (2023) | (2023)
Books
Book
(1994) | (1994) | (1994) | (1994) | (1995) | (1995) | (1995) | (1995) | (1995) | (1995) | (1995) | (1995) | (1995) | (1995) | (1996) | (1996) | (1996) | (1996) | (1996) | (1996) | (1996) | (1996) | (1996) | (1996) | (1996) | (1996) | (1996) | (1996) | (1996) | (1996) | (1996) | (1996) | (1996) | (1997) | (1997) | (1997) | (1997) | (1997) | (1998) | (1998) | (1998) | (2001) | (2002) | (2002) | (2002) | (2002) | (2002) | (2003) | (2003) | (2003) | (2004) | (2004) | (2004) | (2004) | (2006) | (2006) | (2007) | (2007) | (2010) | (2018)
TV and Film
Virtua Fighter CGMV (1994) | CGMV Virtua Fighter 2 (1995) | Virtua Fighter 2 (1995) | Virtua Fighter 2 Eternal Battle (1995) | Virtua Fighter (1995) | Virtua Fighter Special Training Pack (1995) | Virtua Fighter 2 Wheel of Fortune (1995) | Virtua Fighter 2 Wheel of Fortune The Best Bout (1996) | Sega Official Video Library Vol. 2: Virtua Fighter Kids (199x) | Virtua Fighter 3 (Columbia video series) (1996) | CGMV Special Virtua Fighter 3: Shippuu no Shou "System" (1996) | CGMV Special Virtua Fighter 3: Geki no Shou "Battle" (1996)