Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution

The Good
AM2 took everything that made VF4 a must-have fighting game and improved on it. The common criticisms of VF - hard to learn, boring characters, and small fanbase - are addressed with a vengeance; the most popular fighter in Japanese arcades gets the treatment it deserves in the US home version. Two new characters, Brad the kickboxer and Goh the judo assassin, are just as deep and fairly balanced as the rest of the cast, in keeping with VF's reputation as a difficult but rewarding fighter. The graphics are nearly arcade-perfect, certainly on par with Tekken 4 or Soul Calibur 2. The wildly popular Kumite (now "Quest") and Training modes are back and better than ever, with more customizable items, more fiendishly difficult special challenges ("perform an evade-triple throw escape 5 times" pops up about 2/3 of the way through the game), even more detailed, character-specific and user-friendly training modes, and even a "combo search" tool that lets you find the best combo for virtually any situation. Even the AI is much harder and more natural-seeming: high-level Quest opponents are named after famous Japanese players, and use some of their tactics (drunken boxer Shun Di will actually start drinking repeatedly after he wins a round). Replays from top players are still included on the DVD, load times are faster, and the secret "10th Anniversary Mode" is, shall we say, a blast from the past.

The Bad
AI Training mode has been removed, which makes sense considering it was unsupported in the original VF4 release anyway. The voices, while now in perfect English/Japanese (depending on character), are still whiny and annoying. The music is all new for this release, but just as bland and forgettable. Brad and Goh don't have their own stages, something common in other fighters but annoying in a game with such a small roster. The only big complaint is that characters are now saved in the system file, meaning you can't take your custom character and play on a friend's machine.

The Bottom Line
If you played VF4, this game is worth it as an expansion pack to clear up all the little problems with the original and give you another couple weeks of fun working through the new Quest mode. If you're at all interested in fighting games but didn't buy VF4, now that it's half the price and twice the friendliness to new players, there's no excuse.