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