Virtua Fighter 2: Perfect on PS2

Latest Sega-Ages 2500 series game announced, Model 2 glory in tact, first screens and box art inside.

Sega has announced that the sixteenth title in the popular but somewhat hit-and-miss Sega Ages 2500 'retro' series will be none other than Virtua Fighter 2, a landmark fighting game that many fans agree was the series' highlight.

Although totally surpassed by Virtua Fighter 4 and its various spin-offs such as Evolution and Final Tuned, Virtia Fighter 2 was the first 3D fighting game to introduce fully 3D environments (back when Tekken was a strictly 2D scrolling background and "infinite floor" affair), as well as the deep, involving gameplay the series is renown for.

However, the Sega Saturn conversion of 1995, while perfectly delivering the gameplay experience from the arcade, failed to provide the graphical excellence of the Model 2 arcade original, something fanboys were never quite able to live down.

The good news is that the Sega Ages version for PlayStation 2 - some ten years after the release of the original arcade machine - is now FINALLY pretty much perfect - with flat-shading, true 3D backgrounds and - praise the lord - Shun's legendary bridge, the most obvious cut from the 32-BIT console port.

As with the Saturn conversion, the PS2 edition will offer both VF2 and the tweaked VF2.1 upgrade, which among other things offered the ability to dash in closer to your opponent ready to unleash throws and close-range attacks, speeding up the overall pace of fights.

The game will hit Japanese shelves for the equivalent of around $20 on October 14. The release of all Sega Ages titles is still up in the air in the west, despite having looked like a fairly likely proposition last year when an announcement was made by Sega and Conspiracy Games.

We will of course bring you media on this as soon as we get our hands on it, as we did with Virtua Racing and others in the series. Stay 'Tuned'.

Adam Doree
Director, Kikizo.com