Virtua Fighter 2 (Japanese: バーチャファイター2, Hepburn: Bācha Faitā Tsū) is a 1994 fighting game created and released by Sega for arcade machines. It is the second game in the Virtua Fighter series and follows the first game, Virtua Fighter (1993). The game was developed by Sega’s AM2 team, led by Yu Suzuki. It was designed using the Sega Model 2 hardware, which improved the game’s graphics compared to earlier systems. After its release in arcades, the game was later released for the Sega Saturn in November 1995, with versions for other platforms following later.
Virtua Fighter 2 was highly praised for its gameplay and advanced graphics. It was among the first video games to use 3D characters with texture mapping and motion capture animation technology. The game became very popular in arcades, with over 40,000 arcade units sold worldwide, making it one of Sega’s top-selling arcade games. The Sega Saturn version was also well-received, especially in Japan, and sold more than 2 million copies. The game was followed by Virtua Fighter 3 in 1996.
Gameplay
Virtua Fighter 2 is a 3D fighting game where one player battles another. Players choose a character and use that character to defeat opponents. A player can win by knocking the opponent out or by pushing them off the square "ring" where the fight happens. Each match has multiple rounds, usually three rounds in a best-of-three format. The game uses a joystick to move the character and three buttons (guard, punch, and kick) to perform attacks.
The size of the arena can be changed to a small platform or a large area measuring 82 meters (269 feet). This feature is only available in Virtua Fighter 2 and Virtua Fighter Remix. The game also allows the energy meter to be set to "infinite," giving players an advantage when practicing or fighting computer opponents. Smaller arenas and infinite health can create mock sumo matches, where winning is achieved by pushing the opponent out of the ring.
Each character has a fighting style inspired by real-world martial arts, such as wrestling or eastern styles. Characters have many unique moves, but some share moves with others. For example, Lau Chan and Pai Chan both use similar forms of Kung Fu. All characters can perform a basic throw by pressing the guard and punch buttons at the same time. The game has expanded the number of attacks available, including counter-attacks and moves to block throws, which require quick reactions from the player.
All nine characters from the original Virtua Fighter return in Virtua Fighter 2. The game adds two new characters: Shun Di, a master of drunken fist martial arts from China, and Lion Rafale, a French character who is the son of a wealthy businessman and uses praying mantis style Kung Fu. Both Shun and Lion can perform "axis strikes," moving around opponents' attacks to highlight the game's 3D features.
Plot
Virtua Fighter 2 does not include a story in the game. There is no introduction based on a story, no character endings that explain a plot, and very little text to describe what happens. However, the game includes a story in its supporting materials, such as the manual for the Sega Saturn version.
The game revolves around a fighting tournament where the best fighters in the world compete for fame and glory. The tournament is organized by an evil group called the "J6" syndicate. This group plans to use information collected during the tournament to improve their fighting cyborg named "Dural," who is the game's boss. Dural uses moves that are copied from other characters in the game.
Development
The game took Sega AM2 one year to create. Yu Suzuki was the main developer for the game. For Virtua Fighter 2, he wanted to add texture mapping to the characters, which were not textured in the original version. However, the Sega Model 1 arcade system did not support texture mapping hardware, so the Sega Model 2 system was created for the game. To display the game's texture-mapped characters, Sega spent $2 million (equivalent to $4.5 million today) to buy a texture-mapping graphics processor from Lockheed Martin, a company that makes military flight simulations. Suzuki persuaded Sega to purchase the chip, and his team later modified it into a more affordable version for the Model 2 hardware.
The game used advanced motion capture animation, similar to technology used in healthcare and military fields, and could track head movements using magnetic motion capture. Improvements over the original game included a 60 frames per second (FPS) framerate, new fighting arenas, two new characters, 500 new moves, and 1,200 motion patterns (compared to 700 in the original).
In a 1995 interview, Suzuki said Virtua Fighter 2 was his favorite game he had ever made. He was especially happy with how the polygonal graphics made the characters' movements look more realistic and the addition of counterattacks. The developers planned to create four new characters, but only two—Lion and Shun—were included in the final version.
At the start of 1995, Sega AM2 split its Sega Saturn division into three groups, each responsible for porting a different arcade game to the Saturn: Virtua Fighter 2, Virtua Cop, and Daytona USA. Because progress on the Daytona USA port was slower than expected, many members of the Virtua Fighter 2 team were reassigned to help. In March, AM2 Research completed the Sega Graphics Library, a Saturn operating system that allowed the team to create a nearly arcade-perfect version of Virtua Fighter 2 for the Saturn.
After finishing the Daytona USA port in April, the team took a short break before focusing on Virtua Fighter 2. In June, AM2 showed the first public demonstration of Saturn Virtua Fighter 2 at the Tokyo Toy Show. To prove the port's accuracy, they displayed non-playable demos of characters Lion, Shun, Pai, and Lau moving on the Saturn hardware at 60 FPS, the same speed as the arcade version.
Despite these efforts, AM2 faced challenges in creating an accurate Saturn port. Because Virtua Fighter 2 had so many moves, the team spent months developing compression techniques to fit all the data into the console's memory. To maintain 60 FPS, the Saturn version used fewer polygons than the arcade version. To make this difference less noticeable, the team used texture mapping for the characters, taking advantage of the Saturn's ability to map 16 colors to each polygon. In contrast, the Model 2 arcade hardware could only map one color per polygon. The arcade version's polygon background objects were replaced with parallax scrolling playfields that could scale selectively. The AM2 team also used data from Virtua Fighter Remix as a reference for some elements. During development, Keiji Okayasu discussed the team's struggles with achieving 60 FPS:
By the end of September, hit detection was enabled, and the fully playable conversion was shown at the JAMMA show. Based on audience feedback, the team spent the next two months making final adjustments, testing the game, and adding Saturn-specific features. Development of the port was completed in November 1995.
Release
The original arcade game was first released in Japan in November 1994. It was later released in Europe in December 1994 and in North America in January 1995.
Virtua Fighter 2.1 is an updated version of the game. It includes adjusted gameplay, slightly better graphics, and the ability to play as a redesigned character named Dural. This version was not released outside Japan, but players can use the 2.1 gameplay features in the Saturn and PC versions of the game. A cheat code also allows players to use Dural in these versions. This version was also included in the Sega Ages 2500 series.
The Saturn version of the game was planned to be released in Europe in December 1995, just in time for the Christmas shopping season. However, it was not released until the end of January the following year. A 2D version of the game was released for the Mega Drive/Genesis in 1996. In 2004, Virtua Fighter 2 was released for the PlayStation 2 as part of Sega's Ages 2500 series in Japan. The Mega Drive/Genesis version was re-released on the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable in 2006 as part of the Sega Genesis Collection. It was also released on the Virtual Console for the Wii on March 20, 2007 (Japan) and April 16, 2007 (North America), on December 15, 2022, on the Nintendo Classics service, and for iOS on January 20, 2011. A digital version of the arcade game was released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in November 2012.
In Japan, a special "CG Portrait Series" of discs for the Saturn was released. Each of the eleven discs (one for each playable character) includes slideshows of high-quality computer-generated images showing the character doing non-fighting activities, such as playing pool or eating ice cream. Each disc also includes a Japanese pop song and a karaoke mode.
Reception
In Japan, Game Machine listed Virtua Fighter 2 as the most successful arcade game in December 1994. It became Japan's highest-grossing arcade game in 1995 and 1996. In the United States, the game also earned high sales when it was released and became one of the top ten best-selling arcade video games in the country in 1995. By 1996, more than 40,000 arcade machines were sold worldwide. Virtua Fighter and Virtua Fighter 2 became Sega's best-selling arcade games of all time, outperforming Out Run (1986).
Virtua Fighter 2 received strong praise when it was released. It used the Sega Model 2 arcade hardware to run the game at 60 frames per second with high resolution and no slowdown. The original Virtua Fighter ran at 30 frames per second. A magazine called Computer and Video Games gave the game a positive review, saying the graphics were "the best ever seen in a playable arcade game," the animations felt realistic, and the moves were easier to use. The magazine later called it "the greatest arcade game ever made" in December 1995.
Sega reported that 1.5 million units of the Sega Saturn version of Virtua Fighter 2 were pre-ordered in Japan, nearly equal to the total number of Sega Saturns sold in Japan at that time. When it was released in Japan, 700,000 copies were sold in two days. It was the third best-selling home video game of 1995 in Japan, behind Dragon Quest VI and Chrono Trigger. Virtua Fighter 2 became the top-selling game for the Sega Saturn worldwide and remains the highest-selling Sega Saturn game in Japan with 1.7 million copies sold. In the United States, the game was sold with some Sega Saturn consoles alongside Daytona USA and Virtua Cop, which helped increase the console's sales. By December 1996, more than 500,000 bundled copies were sold in the U.S., bringing total sales in Japan and the U.S. to over 2.2 million units.
The Sega Saturn version of the game was also highly praised. Next Generation gave it a perfect 5/5 stars, calling it "the best fighting game ever" and saying it "accurately represented ten different fighting styles." Another magazine, Sega Saturn Magazine, gave it a 98% score, praising its smooth frame rate, realistic character reactions, and many move options. Game Revolution gave it an A, saying it looked better than other 3D fighting games on next-generation systems. GamePro called it "the game to own if you have a Saturn," praising its authentic fighting styles, new game modes, and easy controls.
Some reviewers felt the Sega Saturn version was not as perfect as the arcade version, but they still praised its many game modes and options. One reviewer said it was the best fighting game on the Sega Saturn. Another magazine, Maximum, compared the game to its arcade version, saying it looked great and had many unique features for the Sega Saturn. They gave it their "Maximum Game of the Month" award.
Over time, the Sega Saturn version continued to receive praise. GamesRadar ranked it the third-best Sega Saturn game, saying it was closely linked to the Sega Saturn brand. 1UP described it as having "crisp, fast visuals" and "deep game mechanics." IGN ranked it the second-best Sega Saturn game, saying it was better than other 32-bit fighting games.
Virtua Fighter 2 won many awards, including Game of the Year, Best Fighting Game, Best Graphics, and Most Popular Game. It also won Game of the Year from Game Players magazine and Best Saturn Game of 1995 from GamePro. It was nominated for Most Innovative New Technology by the AMOA Awards.
In 1996, GamesMaster ranked the Sega Saturn version second on their list of "The GamesMaster Saturn Top 10" and listed it 13th in their "Top 100 Games of All Time." It was also named one of the best games of all time by several other magazines, including Next Generation, IGN, Famitsu, Stuff, and Electronic Gaming Monthly. In 2013, Virtua Fighter 2 was ranked the 19th best arcade game of the 1990s by Complex.
GameSpot praised the game's realism, depth, and opponent AI. They called it "the best fighting game on the PC" and said the PC version was as good as the Sega Saturn version. The PlayStation 2 version of the game was criticized for not being as true to the original arcade version.