Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution

Overview

Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution is a 3D fighting game developed by Sega-AM2 and released by Sega for arcades (using their Dreamcast-based NAOMI 2 hardware) on August 2002.

The first major updated revision of the 2001 game Virtua Fighter 4, Evolution features two new playable fighters (Muay Thai boxer Brad Burns and Judoka assassin Goh Hinogami), updated and re-balanced movelists for each fighter, updated stages (with new types of walled stages), a new soundtrack, and new character customization options. It later received an arcade update, in the form of Virtua Fighter 4: Final Tuned.

It later received a home conversion for the PlayStation 2 in Japan on March 13, 2003, in Europe on June 30, 2003, and in North America on August 13, 2003. While it no longer includes an A.I. learning functionality of the original game's PS2 version, it revamps the "Kumite" mode into a fully-fledged campaign (known as "Quest" mode), where players rank up in numerous arcades in a fictional city, earn currency to purchase costume pieces, and attempt to win tournaments. This port was later digitally re-released for the PlayStation 3 via PlayStation Network exclusively in Europe on February 22, 2012. A special version of this port, known as Virtua Fighter 10th Anniversary, was included in the North American version of the game (and was released separately in Japan).

Characters

New Additions

• Brad Burns - A champion kickboxer from Italy, who fights with muay thai.

• Goh Hinogami - A sadistic assassin from Japan, who fights with judo.

Returning Characters

• Akira Yuki - A kung fu teacher from Japan, specializing in the striking martial art of Hakkyoku-ken ("Eight Extremities Fist", or bājíquán).

• Pai Chan - An action film star from Hong Kong, who fights with the agile martial art of Ensei-ken ("Lost Track Fist", or mízōngquán).

• Lau Chan - A famous chef from China and Pai's father, who fights with his own unique martial art of Koen-ken ("Tiger-Swallow Fist", or hǔyànquán).

• Wolf Hawkfield - A Native American professional wrestler from Canada, who fights in the tournament with wrestling techniques.

• Jeffry McWild - An indigenous fisherman from Australia, who fights with heavyweight pancratium.

• Kage-Maru - A traditional ninja from Japan, who fights with an agile form jujutsu (known as Hagakure-ryu jujutsu).

• Sarah Bryant - A college student from the United States. Unlike the original Virtua Fighter 4 (where she fought with Jeet Kune Do), her fighting style is a new combination of multiple martial arts styles.

• Jacky Bryant - An indy car driver from the United States and Sarah's older brother, who fights with Jeet Kune Do.

• Shun Di - An elderly herbal doctor from China, who fights with the martial art of Sui-ken ("Drunken Fist", or zuìquán).

• Lion Rafale - A wealthy college student from France, who fights with the martial art of Tourou-ken ("Praying Mantis Fist", or tánglángquán).

• Aoi Umenokoji - A college student from Japan, who fights with the martial art of Aiki-jujutsu.

• Lei-Fei - A Shaolin monk from China, who fights with Shaolin kung fu.

• Vanessa Lewis - A security guard with an unknown origin, who fights with the martial art of vale tudo. Unlike the original Virtual Fighter 4, she can no longer switch to muay thai at-will.

• Dural - A mysterious metallic gynoid and the game's bonus boss using techniques from all other fighters. Only playable as an unlockable in the PS2 version.

Virtua Fighter 10th Anniversary

To celebrate the series' 10th anniversary, Sega developed a special version of the game's PS2 version to make it resemble the original 1993 Virtua Fighter. It was included as a bonus add-on in the North American PS2 version, while in Japan it was sold as a separate release disc (as Virtua Fighter 10th Anniversary).

The Japanese version of the game was originally sold on November 28, 2003 and included a supplemental book (Virtua Fighter 10th Anniversary: Memory of Decade) and interview DVD. It was later re-released on February 8, 2007 as a pre-order bonus for the PlayStation 3 version of Virtua Fighter 5.

Gameplay Differences

The gameplay is nearly identical to that from Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution, with some differences:

• Each character uses a low-polygonal model, with those from the original Virtua Fighter nearly identical to their original appearance.

• All stages are identical to their original Virtua Fighter counterparts, and thus the game only uses one stage layout (with no walls). All music, as well as the in-game display, are also from the original Virtua Fighter.

• Only Arcade and Vs. modes are included. For Arcade, it includes two arcade progression routes, one based on the original Virtua Fighter route (Jacky, Jeffry, Sarah, Kage, Pai, Wolf, Lau, Akira) and one using all remaining characters in order of their first appearance (Akira, Lion, Shun, Aoi, Lei-Fei, Vanessa, Brad, Goh). The latter route uses the same stage and soundtrack progression as the former.

• The in-game credits list all games in their release order.