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When the 3D polygonal technology craze was just breaking into the video game industry,
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legendary game producer Yu Suzuki wanted to capitalize upon it. One of the beneficiaries
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of such a technology were fighting games, and the ever ambitious Suzuki, who had already
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created Champion Boxing, turned his attention to the genre again. The result: Sega's own
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fighting game series, Virtua Fighter, which became so popular it is now an exhibit at
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the Smithsonian. Also important, I guess, is that it spawned a sequel, Virtua Fighter
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2, which may have had more success on the Saturn, but nonetheless made its way onto
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the Genesis in 1997. Although more low-fi than its arcade and Saturn predecessor due
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to graphical limitations, the Genesis version of Virtua Fighter 2 is still as complete a
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fighting game as any, with colorful characters and a ring out fighting arena that is reminiscent
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of sumo dohyos. In fact, if you turn off the energy bar so that both players have unlimited
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energy, you could create your own sumo matches. Although this is a 2D fighter in the harshest
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light, Virtua Fighter 2 is still a hefty challenge and looks better than almost any other Genesis
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game. I also admire each character's fighting style, especially Jacky Bryant's versatile
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Jeet Kune Do technique. Along with Jacky comes all the other fighters from the co-op, which
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all stand in your way of the mysterious Dural. Master your fighter's unique abilites for
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great justice and a clever post-battle taunt. Virtua Fighter 2 for the Genesis looks so
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good for its class that such graphics could be mistaken for a Playstation or lower grade
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PS2 2D fighter. The detail and style of each stage's backgrounds, such as the azure sky
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and white sand of Pai's stage, serve as a gorgeous backdrop. The game's visuals are
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testament to the hard work of Yu Suzuki's team that has worked so tirelessly on games
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for both the arcade and the console. It has been remade for such contemporary platforms
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like the iOS, Virtual Console, Playstation 2, and shown here as part of the Sega Genesis
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Classic Collection now available on Steam.
