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If you're reading this site, you should know by now that we regard Sega's Virtua Fighter series very highly indeed. So we hope it makes sense that we're pretty excited about exclusively showing you a new and unique version of Virtua Fighter - not VF5 - but an impressive (and very distinctive) special edition, that celebrates the series' 10th Anniversary. Intrigued? Check this out...
The origin of this game is unknown - obviously it came from AM2 and we know that they even showcased it at the recent GameJam event in Japan for a special VF tournament. But after that, nobody's seen or heard anything about the spin-off - until now...
In what appears to be leaked AM2 code, this game is a mix of Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution and the original Virtua Fighter 1. The name of this game is Virtua Fighter 10th Anniversary, but it's not to be mistaken for VF4 Evo, the release of which also supposedly marked the series' anniversary.
The complete character roster from VF4 Evo is in the game, including Lei Fei, Vanessa, Brad and Goh. Dural can also be easily selected from the word go. The characters have all the moves from VF4 Evo, right up to date. BUT - all the characters are drawn as distinctive VF1-style flat-polygon models, with no texture detail at all - and they fight on the original background stages from VF1 with the original VF1 music!
The coolest part is that the entire thing uses VF1's gameplay system, which really shook things up for our assembled team of five VF fanatics. No more can you utilise the techniques that have made the VF series progressively more natural and fine-tuned - you have to battle within the constraints of the original fighting system! Which means no more tech-rolls (quickly getting up after knocked down), no more dodging, and totally old-school play dynamics - throwing distances, jumping abilities, and the overall pace of the game restored to original VF proportions!
However, you can still counter attack, something only introduced in VF2 - and things such as quick pounces (punching or kicking a downed opponent, only widely introduced in VF2) are also still fully in-tact, a la VF4 Evo. You also get the more active camera we've come to expect since it was improved dramatically in VF3.
The game has its own title screen, rolling demonstration sequences and even the old "SEGA" 16-BIT style title logo, and an adapted VF4 Evo menu system. If the screenshot evidence doesn't convince you, then check out some of our video downloads below to be convinced beyond doubt that this is for real! (We make no apologies for going completely over the top with 30 minutes of video in total).
This mix of old and new is an awesome compilation for Virtua Fighter fans, a great way to see how much the series has progressed, and a trip down memory lane with all the old VF1 elements right back in the frame.
It's a shame, therefore, that we know absolutely nothing about any kind of release status of this project, which is clearly quite a lot more than just a demo or an Evo rip. Obviously it's not the next in the series, but it's very entertaining and definitely a collectors' item - or at least it would be, if we knew anything about its circulation.
With no sign of the disc being bundled with the 'Greatest Hits' US release of VF4 Evo on August 12, and definitely no inclusion in the European or Japanese versions on shelves now, we're blown if we know what's going on with this game - however we will endeavour to find out, and let you know shortly - we have, in fact, heard whispers of some kind of limited edition release in Europe, but nothing more just yet...
