Virtua Fighter 2! The "REAL" Start to Sega's Arcade Fighting Game Franchise!

[@rars0n]

VF2 remains my favorite VF game, but the original absolutely *blew me away* when I first saw it in arcades. We had primitive 3D driving games like Hard Drivin' before, but never had I seen such fluid, real-time 3D characters.

[@jihadjoe]

Right on! VF2 was the game that got me serious about fighting games in general. The movement was just so good compared to anything before, and the gameplay was incredibly deep.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

The original had the most wow factor

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Early to learn, deep and complex once you get into it

[@ghostito]

This was my first Virtua Fighter thanks to the Sega PC line (a lifesaver for us without a Saturn back then) and played it to death so it has a special place in my heart, but to me my favourite in the series would be Virtua Fighter 4, the first time I played it on the arcades I was blown away, not only because of the graphics but more because of the characters movement, at last they moved more like people, you could actually walk around the stage, and that was a big change for me. Virtua Fighter 5 is obviously more polished, but the jump was not as great as the one in VF4.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Sega did release a solid amount of PC ports back in the day which was awesome

[@Charlie-Cat.]

GREAT FRICKIN GAME VGE!!!! My favorite Virtual Fighter titles from the series. Virtua Fighter 2 is just so amazing and I remember playing this with my brother on the massive arcade cabinet version sitting down on the bench playing this with our tokens for hours on end. My favorite stage was Shun Di with the traveling down the river being mesmerized with the beauty of what rural China has to offer. Next was Leon's stage with the entrance to the Great Wall of China with that awesome music he had during the time. Thank you for sharing this with us VGE. It made my day for sure. 8^) Anthony..

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Its a classic that still holds up and looks good to this day

[@srvuk]

Not a great fan of fighters but this is one of the exceptions. There is something about the graphical style that is attractive on the eye and inspires play.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Model 2 aged super well

[@T1BillionX]

This game was so influential for me and played it a ton on Saturn and the arcade. The jump in graphics and mechanics is so large. I love it so much. VF1 still has "it was first" feeling though.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

OG VF had the most wow factor

[@mr.horseshoe2301]

VF is my favorite fighting game franchise. Been waiting for VF6 for a very, very, long time….

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

We all have. Damn it Sega hurry up!

[@METR0lD]

One of the only 3D fighting games I ever played extensively! The other being Soul Calibur on Dreamcast. I've always been more of a 2D fighter person, but VF (and VF2 especially) was always an exception!

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I played an insane amount of Soul Calibur on Dreamcast then when Xbox came out a ton of DOA

[@GAZZ707]

4 final tuned and 5r

[@SNKev411]

I can’t wait until an FPGA device can run these model two games

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Me too. Me toooo

[@moethephoque9355]

Best game ever at least for me ahead of his time and for a long time , the music is just gorgeous and the gameplay is so precise i own every version of it

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It was a classic the day it came out and it’s aged so well

[@SipodshowTv]

got to love the commitment to calling it Virtual fighter every time.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s too hard not to. Plus it’s my accent

[@AnthonyRiddle]

My favorite VF game is the 10th Anniversary that came out on the PS2. It's a bare bones VF4 with VF1 graphics. That would be a cool video too

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Maybe I’ll do that one day

[@gunsmithx]

V2 was a big jump but my nostalgia is always for vf1 playing it while waiting for mom to pick me up in the summer good times

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Our pool in summer never had arcade cabinets. I missed out

[@SiincereARC]

When I saw 4 on a PS2 back in 2002 it blew my high school mind. But I def respect the first 3 greatly.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

3 is my fav of the “older” games and 5 is my fav of the modern. Hope to say that about a potential 6 one day

[@simon41978]

VF5 Final Showdown is my favourite. Just a great engine, graphics, animation... Sega at their best.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Now they should just take that engine and use it to make a VF game with the number 6 in the title!

[@simon41978]

@@VideoGameEsoterica I'm back into Sega again. I've been enjoying the Capcom Dreamcast games. So many great games on one console in such a brief period of time. Unprecedented even now, imo. SNES is amazing but had a full lifespan.

[@mackieken]

VF 5 is probably my favourite gameplay wise but in terms of music. That Takenobu Mitsuyoshi/Takayuki Nakamura score from the first three games smokes anything from 4 and 5. Especially 2&3 (they are tied for my favorite vf soundtracks)

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I play the most VF 5 for sure these days

[@TheKayliedGamerChannel-YouTube]

Virtua Fighter Remix I liked lots on the Saturn - it played superbly 💪.

[@Riz2336]

Definitely a big step up in graphics from the first game

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Model 1/2/3 were all huge leaps and that’s when the huge leap era kind of ended imo

[@groove66]

Has anyone else noticed that Akira's theme (ride the tiger) sounds like "Eye of the Tiger"?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I’ll have to go back and listen

[@nbdante]

My favorite fighting game series! I would say 5 is the best but my favorite is the original VF4, the graphics at the time where mind blowing (still has the best looking Sarah and Akira! But I find myself returning to 3tb the most, mainly because it feels so different than any other games of the series, because of the uneven fighting arena (I wish it makes a return in VF6). In my head The series is divided to 3 generation, (1-2), (3) and (4-5)

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

VF4 holds up super well graphically. ESP the NAOMI 2 version

[@dandoyle]

VF2, because having the model2 trifecta of VF2, VCOP, and Daytona in the arcade absolutely blowing away everything else for gameplay and graphics was a hell of a time for the arcade. I own both VF1&2 model hardware, neither has perfect emulation and both are a fluid experience with better hit detection on real hardware. Closing fun fact: VF character models actually have more polys than VF2

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

90s Sega was best Sega. at the height of their game

[@SikSlayer]

VF2 had the best music for sure.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Def some classic tracks

[@zatokeo5935]

VF2 for sega saturn is my favorite version and then VF5FS.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I mean the fun part is we’ve never had a BAD VF

[@TheKayliedGamerChannel-YouTube]

Totally! and a great Sega Saturn and PS2 port by Sega AM2/CS Teams.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

The port was super impressive

[@laurenalexander4438]

2 and 3 are my favorites. 4 and 5 are okay, but I actually think I like 1 and Remix more. I really like the floaty jumps from the first two. I like the side step button in 3. I wish they'd make a new one. It's been FOREVER since 5 came out. We're up to Tekken 8. Where's my Virtua Fighter 6?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

The floaty jumps always throw me. Pun intended lol

[@rednight2476]

I really love VF2

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s hard not to love it

[@LukeOranje]

Do all these games natively run in 480i? Curious how close the Saturn was in resolution…

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

The Saturn could output four resolutions including 640x480 and 704x228 at the top end.

[@LukeOranje]

@@VideoGameEsoterica Do all Model 2 games display in 480i on the actual arcade board?

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s progressive on Model 2 at medium res

[@ViegasSilva]

3:01 not even a year apart actually (11 months)

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Close enough lol

[@ViegasSilva]

@@VideoGameEsoterica Daytona USA was even location tested in Japan before VF1 came out

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Would have been fun to have been there during the tests. Stuff that never really happened in the US

[@hababacon]

VF2 still looks good, I play every once in awhile on my XB1X or XSX. Now I hope, or been hoping for awhile they bring arcade perfect version of VF4 home, or part of some kind of collection. I have the PS2 version on emulation, and it looks decent in 4K, but the textures are no where near the arcade.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Yeah you want that NAOMI 2 goodness

[@hababacon]

@VideoGameEsoterica Yep, I just loved how Naomi 2 displayed it's textures with some decent shading effects. I'm not sure what Sega were doing during this time period. Xbox or XB360 could have done every Naomi 2 game justice.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

NAOMI 2 was the undisputed winner of the Xbox / GameCube / PS2 generation. It just wasn’t a console lol

[@alistairblaire6001]

I still genuinely don’t know why people say Tekken is easier than VF. In VF you only have one punch and one kick button, and in Tekken you have to quickly look at which hand your opponent used to throw you in order to break the throw. Then Tekken has this really difficult reversal mechanic where you can reversal a reversal but you have to do it in a fraction of a second and you have to really pay attention to which limbs come out.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Just how diff people feel about it. There is a lot of depth in those few buttons on VF

[@DehnusNorder]

Man, I keep forgetting how SHARP the Saturn looked once SEGA went high resolution for their fighters. But yeah, the Model 2 was a powerhouse at the time.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Yes visually it looks nice at the higher res as far as sharpness is concerned

[@DehnusNorder]

@@VideoGameEsoterica I"m always amazed by it when I see the later fighting games, just how much they could pull out of the system. TO bad they weren't able to get things like the bridge in.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Yes some cuts had to be made in some spots

[@deadave6127]

It could be emulation lag messing up your timing. I used to be horrible with neo geo until the mister core. Just thoughts*

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

I need an OG Model 2 board for it

[@WWammyy]

It was a great game when it comes to gameplay and graphics of course. However I feel its direct competitor Tekken was a better over-all game due it feeling more rewarding @ charachter endings which I really felt was missing from The Virtua Fighter series and generally Sega fighting games. That said the endings for the Tekken games have been seen by everyone a million times now I still find myself coming back to Virtua Fighter. I really like Virtua Fighter 3 it's much better than Virtua Fighter 2 however it came out on the Dreamcast where Soul Calibur + Dead or Alive 2 were more flashy so VF3 got left behind and no re-releases. We need a Virtua Fighter collection release on modern platforms

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Tekken was flashier and faster and a ton of fun but I never go back and play old Tekken games like I do VF

[@mouthbreatherinc5597]

Photorealistic graphics

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Back then they really were

[@cellphonesmartphone7496]

Virtua figther kids

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Another classic

[@tenshin2002]

Why are you saying virtual fighter? You spelled it correctly, but keep saying virtual. There is no L in Virtua Fighter. Nice vid though, love this game :). My favorite is VF3 though.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

It’s my New England accent. Vermont specifically. I can’t NOT put a L in but I lack the ability to say the letter T at the end of words

[@sb6482]

you playing on ps3/xbox? if emulating on a pc the lag will probably why you cant progress

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

Just some days you don’t have it

[@SP95]

I would rather say this was the end of Sega's arcade fighting game. Dead or Alive took the Virtua Fighter franchise where it should have gone. Virtua Fighter 2 is indeed much better than Tekken 2 but Virtua Fighter 3 has been obliterated by Tekken 3. By the time Virtua Fighter 4 managed to fix all the issues of its predecessor while also catching up with the Tekken Serie it was too late.

[@VideoGameEsoterica]

What? Now I just can’t agree with that (flips table) lol