Virtua Fighter 4

The Good
Make no mistake - Virtua Fighter 4 is currently THE hardcore fighting game for the PS2 (at least, until Soul Calibur 2 is released). There is much to like about this game, both big and small. First, the big:

VF4 is a technical fighter, plain and simple. There are few exotic D-pad inputs required, as in Street Fighter. Rather, VF4, in keeping with its other 3D fighter brethren, requires you to master memorizing directional moves and long button combination strings. As the fourth incarnation of this series, one would expect that the gameplay would have reached a certain level of refinement, and VF4 comes through on this account. Even though only three buttons are used (punch, kick and guard), Sega has crammed a tremendous amount of stuff into them. Each character has a dizzying repertoire of moves to unleash in battle - you just have to be good enough to pull them all off. Furthermore, character design is uniformly strong. There are no painfully stupid or goofy characters here.

Then, of course, there are all the wonderful modes available. When you tire of arcade and versus, step into kumite, which provides a steady stream of characters to beat up on. As you fight, your on-screen persona will steadily gain ranks and unlock items which can be fitted onto his / her body. Like that snazzy pair of shades that last character was wearing? If you play in kumite long enough, you'll get them.

Next, the small stuff. One of the most irritating aspects of fighting games, at least for me, is that EVERY CHARACTER, REGARDLESS OF NATIONALITY, SPEAKS ONLY JAPANESE. In VF4, this is thankfully not the case. Sarah and Jacky Bryant, for example, speak English, while obviously Asian characters speak other languages accordingly. A small thing to be sure, but it demonstrates Sega's attention to details, which can make a huge difference in the overall quality of any game.

The Bad
Despite my glowing comments above, I like VF4 much less than Soul Calibur. For one, VF4's depth is also its worst flaw - only players capable of dedicating themselves to total mastery of a character will really be able to enjoy everything that VF4 has to offer. There are simply too many esoteric button strings in VF4 for the average or above-average gamer to utilize effectively. As such, I found myself consistently using a small number of moves to beat up on weaker computer opponents. However, as I rose up the ranks in kumite, I quickly found enemies who laughed at my pitiful attempts at combat. I simply do not have the time to overcome this learning curve, and I suspect many gamers will find themselves in the same boat.

Then there's the issue of character balancing... I'm not sure if this was due to my lack of skill, but I found defeating certain characters, regardless of their skill, an exercise in frustration. This was nowhere more apparent than when I stepped into the ring against Akira. I found defeating Akira to be unfairly difficult, as his reversals and guard-crushes easily trounced me time and again regardless of what character I was using. I never found balancing to be an issue in Soul Calibur after years of playing, but it quickly became an issue in VF4 after only hours of play time. That's bad.

The menu system is a bit of a pain. Accessing vs. and arcade modes is simple, but any other modes require you to create game files for separate characters. I understand the game design at work here, but it makes for a lengthy process to go from menu to menu. I haven't found menus to be this unfriendly since Eternal Champions on the Genesis.

Finally, the game is a mixed bag graphically. While the arenas are gorgeous, some of the characters are inexcusably chunky. The fighters in Soul Calibur just look better, and we're talking about an old game running on inferior hardware!

The Bottom Line
A hardcore 3D fighter that only the dedicated should embrace. All others should approach with caution.