What is your favorite Virtua Fighter series?

I’m excited to see people get excited about Virtua Fighter again. I’ve loved these games since the start. I remember when VF debuted in arcades. I saw it launch on the SEGA Saturn. 2, too! The Dreamcast got Virtua Fighter 3tb, an expanded idea that added “Team Battles” to the home port of the arcade game, Virtua Fighter 3. When the PlayStation 2 got Virtua Fighter 4, it was a BIG deal! People need to remember that Sony’s monster machine put SEGA out of the console business altogether. So much has happened in the history of the Virtua Fighter series, but one thing has remained constant, and that is the fact that Virtua Fighter has no equal. It is simply the best 3D fighting series ever. It always has been, and it always will be.

Now, I never liked Virtua Fighter 3/3tb. To me, it just never felt right. It never looked pretty, and it felt like a step down from Virtua Fighter 2. I commend SEGA for trying something different with the uneven fighting rings, but VF was always at its best when it kept things simple and focused on the fighting and realism. Virtua Fighter 3tb has always been the weakest of the series to my mind. However, with Virtua Fighter 4 and 4 Evolution, I became obsessed while I was in the Army. I played the hell out of both on my PS2. They were games that helped me keep my sanity, especially when pulling 24 hour fire watch and guard duty. After getting out of the armed forces, and as VF 5 found its way onto PS3 and Xbox 360, I dove right in.

So, here we are in January 2025. Today, I ordered physical copies of. Virtua Fighter(s) 2 and 5 Ultimate Showdown ver. 2.0 for Xbox One/Series X and PS4/PS5. Two old-school games for an old-school player.

I’m not limited to Virtua Fighter. I love all fighting games. Big on Street Fighter, Fatal Fury, Samurai Shodown, King of Fighters, Tekken, Soul Calibur, and, of course Dead or Alive!

Dead or Alive is very special to me. There is a deep connection between DoA and Virtua Fighter. Most people don’t realize that the first DoA was built using the same engine that built Virtua Fighter 2; the SEGA Model 2 board. SEGA’s Naomi board, the hardware for the Dreamcast, went on to give us Virtua Fighter 3/3tb and Dead or Alive 2. This is why the control scheme for both VF and DoA are so similar.

The connection between Tecmo and SEGA goes further back. Shinobi and Ninja Gaiden are related. Both were ninja game series that started in arcades in the 80s and came home to the NES, Master System and Genesis. I don’t count Ninja Gaiden Trilogy for the SNES. Ryu Hayabusa is a main star in the DoA games to this day. The connection grew deeper with DoA 5 when we saw Jacky, Sarah, Akira, and Pai appeared in the series.

Virtua Fighter’s influence undeniable. It is to 3D fighting games what Street Fighter is to 2D fighting games. Virtua Fighter 6 is on the horizon today. Younger fighting game fans are waking up to what I, and a select few, have known for years. Virtua Fighter is amazing!

I love that I have been around to see the series from its inception. I turn 47 in April. My friends that I grew up with have moved on with their lives and hobbies, but I have stayed the course and kept my love of gaming every bit as alive today as it was back when I was a kid. I made the right choice as I grew up and I am the lucky one.

To all of you who have been part of this forum and site for a long time, thank you. I sincerely appreciate you having me and allowing me to join.

Thank you for having me.

 

Welcome to the forums.

I and a lot of the other VF players here are also in our 40s, I feel like we have been for 20 years almost though so maybe the dementia is kicking in.

 

Is there a way for me to do this? Please forgive me for putting it in the wrong place. I’m just new and getting my feet wet at this point. Of course I want to be compliant and I want to come across as agreeable.

 

Thanks!

 

For this poll, I have to admit I had a hard time picking between Virtua Fighter(s) 2, 4, and 5. Virtua Fighter 1 is ground breaking and amazing, but it isn’t the one I’d be tempted to go back to if someone told me I could only play one of them.

Virtua Fighter 2 refined everything in Virtua Fighter to a pristine level of gaming. The mechanics of the game were simply amazing. It is still breathtaking to look at all these years later. This game is tempting to pick because of the impact it made on me, as a teenager. Back then, I had never seen anything like it. For nostalgia purposes, it is one of my top fighters.

Virtua Fighter 4 blew me away. I could not believe how refined the gameplay was. The Training Mode was the most robust of any other fighter I had played, up to that point. However, things really shifted in gear when Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution came to PS2. Quest Mode was incredible! Having the ability to expand my character and play against the computer endlessly while still feeling progress was a brilliant move. This seemed like an essential inclusion with all future games in the series. This is why I have to give my vote to Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution.

Virtua Fighter 5 took everything VF4 gave us and added HD graphics and Online gameplay. Of course, I’m talking about the Xbox 360 version of the game. I had VF5 on both systems, but only focused on the 360 version once I got a taste of Online fighting. Quest Mode was included and allowed for me to customize my character(s), and carry that character over into Online Mode. It was fantastic! What disappointed me is that when Virtua Fighter 5 upgraded on PS4 and Xbox One with Final Showdown, Quest Mode was abandoned. How could SEGA do this?! It was such a let down. I had spent dozens and dozens of hours in Quest Mode, and now it was gone! Along with Quest Mode, VF5 gave us the best Training Mode, even besting Virtua Fighter 4. But because of the loss of Quest Mode, I have actually hung on to the 360 version and I play it whenever I feel like a Single Player experience. The omission of Quest Mode in the VF5 updates keeps it from taking the top slot.

All things considered, I think the most complete package is Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution. Along with Quest Mode, we also have Classic Mode, which allows us to play all of the characters of VF4, but using the original Virtua Fighter’s graphics and fighting engine. Quest Mode is here to enjoy and the game just beats all others in the series. If it could be played Online, it’d be my top VF game. Virtua Fighter 5 Online just barely beats it out simply because of the Online capabilities. It’s too bad that Final Showdown and Ultimate Showdown don’t offer Quest Mode. That would make it the ultimate Virtua Fighter experience.

What are your reasons for picking your favorite on this poll? Please share with us your answer.

 

I agree that VF4Evo was the pinnacle of the series as a whole due to Quest mode - the reward system, the costume customizing, the unique tourneys/locations/players, the awesome music, etc, just made it much more enjoyable to play overall. Crossing my fingers that we something of a quest mode with REV0, if not on release, then as an update. I think VF6 will have it well covered with RGG at the helm.

 

Man, I hope you’re right! I wish they’d give it back to us in Virtua Fighter 5. Quest Mode was great in the 360/PS3 version. I wonder why they took it away.

Dear SEGA,

PLEASE include Quest Mode in Virtua Fighter 6 and all future updates to Virtua Fighter 5, PLEASE??!!!?!!? We are NOT too proud to beg! THAT’S how badly we miss it!!!