Virtua Striker

From Sega Retro

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VirtuaStriker title.png

Virtua Striker
System(s): Sega Model 2B CRX, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Publisher: Sega
Developer:
Genre: Sports

















Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code
Arcade (Model 2)
JP
¥? ?
Arcade (Model 2)
US
$? ?
Arcade (Model 2)
UK
£? ?























Sony PlayStation 3
JP
¥762 (800)762 (800)[2] NPJB-00320
CERO: A
Xbox 360
JP
800MSP800[3]
CERO: A
Xbox 360
JP
(Otameshiban)
FREEfree
CERO: A

Virtua Striker (バーチャストライカー) is an arcade football game developed by Sega AM2. Like Virtua Racing, Virtua Fighter, Virtua Cop and later Virtua Tennis, it is part of the Virtua series, and the first in the set of Virtua Striker games. Virtua Striker was released in 1995 for Sega Model 2B CRX hardware and is widely considered to be the first 3D football game ever to be released.

Unlike other games which contain the Virtua name, Virtua Striker was not ported to home consoles when it was new. It would not be made officially available to home users until nearly twenty years later, when an enhanced version was released for the Japanese PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade in early 2013.

Gameplay

Teams

Denmark Denmark
England England
France France
Spain Spain
Italy Italy
Nigeria Nigeria
Sweden Sweden
Germany Germany
Netherlands Netherlands
Bulgaria Bulgaria
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia
South Korea Korea
Japan Japan
United States of America U.S.A.
Mexico Mexico
Colombia Colombia
Brazil Brazil
Argentina Argentina
Sega.svg F-C Sega

History

Development

Virtua Striker was effectively conceived by Yu Suzuki, who knew that longtime collaborator Satoshi Mifune was a fan of football[5][6]. Suzuki believed Sega had a chance to secure the video game football market and make a profit in Europe, where the genre usually had success[6]. Mifune was against the idea, viewing football as just a hobby of his, instead developing racing games such as GP Rider and F1 Exhaust Note throughout his career[6]. However, by early 1994[7], he felt that vehicle-based games were oversaturating the market, so took up Suzuki's offer to pivot genres[7][6]. It ended up as a stressful development for him which faced cancellation several times, and Mifune threatened to never make a football game again if it flopped[6].

Of the 12-person development team under his direction, 4 of the developers had previously worked with Satoshi Mifune on F1 Super Lap. The game was created in a branch office at Sega AM2, separate from the team developing Daytona USA[6]. One Daytona USA developer, graphic designer Hiroyuki Nakagomi, joined the Virtua Striker team fairly early on as the only other pre-established football fan[6].

Development began on the Model 1 board, which proved challenging with rendering 22 players on the screen at the same time[6]. After doing extensive sales research, Mifune was able to increase the projected sales twofold, honing in on the game's 2-player competitive appeal[6]. The technical difficulties were then alleviated by switching to the more powerful Model 2 board, but the sales department still expected the game would underperform and AM2 would be better off cancelling it[6]. Mifune, who had been planning to begin location testing 2 months when he received the information, persisted and was able to get Yu Suzuki to ask the whole team if they wanted to continue until the location test or drop it then and there[6]. The team decided to keep making the game and managed to score a location test at Ikebukuro GiGO, which proved successful enough to continue development[7][6].

The game was rumoured to exist for some time[8] before being officially announced at AOU Show 1995[9].

Location testing

Location tests
Venue Start date End date Comments
Ikebukuro GiGO[6]

The location testing took place over 9 days[10].

Achievements

Main article: Virtua Striker/Achievements.

Production credits

Main article: Virtua Striker/Production credits.

Magazine articles

Main article: Virtua Striker/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

VirtuaStriker Model2 US Flyer1.jpg
Model2 US Flyer Page1
VirtuaStriker Model2 US Flyer1.jpg
VirtuaStriker Model2 US Flyer2.jpg
Model2 US Flyer Page2
VirtuaStriker Model2 US Flyer2.jpg
VirtuaStriker Model2 JP Flyer1.jpg
Model2 JP Flyer Page1
VirtuaStriker Model2 JP Flyer1.jpg
VirtuaStriker Model2 JP Flyer2.jpg
Model2 JP Flyer Page2
VirtuaStriker Model2 JP Flyer2.jpg

Photo gallery

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
87 №11, p85
Arcade (Model 2)
87
Based on
1 review
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
Computer & Video Games (UK)
94
[11]
Next Generation (US)
75
[12]
Arcade (Model 2)
85
Based on
2 reviews

Virtua Striker


External links

References


Virtua Striker

VirtuaStriker title.png

Main page | Comparisons | Achievements | Credits | Development | Magazine articles | Reception


Music: Virtua Striker & Virtua Striker 2 (1997)

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Virtua Striker series
Virtua Striker (1994) | Virtua Striker 2 (Version '98 | '99 | 2000 | 2000.1) (1997-2000) | Virtua Striker 3 (Ver. 2002) (2001-2002) | Virtua Striker 4 (Ver. 2006) (2005-2006)
Virtua Striker related media
Music
Virtua Striker & Virtua Striker 2 (1997)
Book
Virtua Striker 2 Version '98 Official Guide (1998) | Virtua Striker 2 Ver. 2000.1 Kanzen Kouryaku Guide (2000) | Virtua Striker 3 Ver. 2002 Road to International Cup Kyuukyoku Guide (2002)