My local arcade had VF1 and VF2 side by side and i would just stare in awe at the attract modes for both games when i had no more quarters. The jump in graphics was such a huge leap it was incredible. When it came home to the Saturn along with Virtua Cop and Sega Rally it made me change my tune with the Saturn. These games completely captured the feel of the arcade at home and proved what it was capable of, great memories!!
VF3 was also hugely impressive. The addition of gouraud shading on the characters, much higher poly counts, transparencies, and those 3D fighting arenas when uneven floors looked outstanding. It even had some rudimentary cloth physics in there. When VF4 arrived the era of Sega breaking ground with VF games sadly ended, as VF4 just felt so unimpressive by comparison. The characters had a few more polys in them, but the 3D arenas were gone and on a technical level it wasn't doing anything new. The trailer for VF6 shows some promise, hopefully Sega will return to doing something new with the series and pushing graphical boundaries again.
I thought VF4 looked great. At first I didn't like it because it was way more detailed and realistic. Eventually it grew on me and I thought the lighting in that game was ahead of its time. The arenas went back to flat stages because apparently pro players did not like the inconsistent stages that affected their strategy. VF5 actually improved on that and had flat areas with different sizes and walls
I agree, VF2 and VF3 were far more groundbreaking than VF4, which I personally saw as a step back after what was to me a perfect fighting game (VF3). It also makes me laugh when people talk of Tekken 3 being ahead of its time. In actual fact it was graphically no better than VF2, and lightyears behind VF3.
Used to play VF2 in a pub during my college days. Down a half liter of beer, drop in a few quarters and end up progressing further than when sober. Good times!
The Model 2 game really was an arcade wonder, much like Daytona USA, and still looks gorgeous today. But the Saturn port is absolutely excellent (especially compared to the rather lackluster port of the original game). It's so crisp and smooth, and while the scrolling 2D backgrounds exhibit some weirdness with the floor/camera rotation, it still looks great. This game really cracked the code for Saturn ports and showed that the system could do an admirable job of bringing those arcade games home. I think the only port better than this was probably Sega Rally Championship.
@@dreamsthatgotogether7553 For sure, there were other ports as good or better than VF2 and Sega Rally, but those two really set the standard for Saturn ports at a critical time in the system's life.
Sega had such a prowess with 3D graphics. I don't know how they established that 'look' but it's pure eye candy that will never 'age badly'. There's soul in those graphics.
To this day I find it absolutely astounding what they managed to get out of the Saturn with VF2. Still play it everyday even now - emulation but still incredible to me.
Seeing this in the arcade so soon after vf1 was really incredible. The model2 was a bit uncommon in my childhood town. But everyone wanted to play those big beefy model2 games. The Saturn version was a jaw dropping port at the time too. Definitely wouldn't be able to keep up with the arcade but still a show piece for the Saturn.
What a great sequel, too. Up there with Streets of Rage 2 and other big ones. I first played it on my Saturn and was lucky enough to have a friend living with me for about 6 months. It was heaven always having someone around to play Virtua Fighter 2 and Virtual On.
I was told that the reason why the sound was compressed at a lower quality was to make room for the large move set. Apparently the team was working on a better 2D version of Shuns stage but bc of rushing for the holiday they just left it as the lump beside the river lolll great video for a super impressive port
The Saturn port was awesome! It was the very first time, that i experienced a high-res (480i), 60 FPS, 3D game on my childhood Sony Trinitron. It was FIRE!
They should have named the series Gravity Fighter because every time the characters jump in the game, they're defeating gravity and perhaps some other laws of physics. Good to see the direct comparison. Both versions were impressive in their own ways when new. The Saturn version is a very good example of smart planning, ensuring the key elements are there and then making everyone else, like the backgrounds, good enough. I played VF2 first in arcades because I remember seeing the bridge before playing the Saturn version, but I don't think I played the arcade version more than a few weeks before the Saturn. I tended to only find Virtua Fighter cabinets at big arcades and movie theaters, so I didn't see them as often as other popular games of the time. Virtua Fighter 2 was one of my most played Saturn games, unsurprisingly.
Even now jumping in 3D fighters is always weird, Tekken and Soul Calibur still have those moon jumps to this day. I mean, even most 2D fighters are made with polygons now, and those jumps are still good like the pixel art ones, no idea why nobody has fixed the jump in their own 3D games (DOA did it best, but still miles away from being 2D fighter good.)
Still my favorite Virtua Fighter game. My brother and I would go down to the arcade with our parent’s camcorder and record Virtua Fighter 2. We’d come home, put his CRT next to mine and play the VHS on his while playing the Saturn version on mine so we could compare the differences. Was disappointed with VF1 on Saturn but the VF Remix us early adopters got for free, gave me hope that VF2 could be good and oh boy, Sega didn’t disappoint. It far exceeded my expectations. Thanks for making this video. 👍🏻
@@VideoGameEsotericaVF4 Final Tuned is 100% the best feeling to play and best looking from an art style point of view for me but VF2 gets the nostalgia points that keep me in denial. 🤣
VF2 is such a technical achievement on Saturn. So beautifully sharp and fluid on a CRT. Save for a few camera angles I would never have noticed the faux 3D backgrounds.
Played it first in the arcades back in the day, completely blew my mind! Never seen anything like it at the time and was addicted to the game. Also the reason i got a Saturn over the Playstation because i wanted to play this at home. When i got the Saturn version i played it non stop for weeks!!
I've only played the Saturn version but yeah the arcade board definitely has the edge over the home port, but the home port is impressive for it's time
Sega model two look phenomenal. They still hold up to this day. I don’t know why Sega does not capitalize on making a Sega model 2 collection. Virtua fighter two is amazing.
@@SNKev411 Because at time there was still a lore in VF series. Chicago is one of my favorites too. But if you pick Jacky, Chicago it will be Stage 2, if you pick Sarah, Chicago it will be Stage 8.
I will never forget seeing the VF2 arcade cabinet when it was brand new. Graphically nothing came close to it for a long time. But Sega are the kings of 3D arcade for a reason.
I love Virtua Fighter 2 VGE. It's my favorite in the series and still love how well made and detailed it is that still holds its ground to this very day. 8^)
100% yes, you can even pick 2-player Vs mode from the main menu once you unlock it in game (by playing it) and it's in more than one of them. No idea off the top of my head which ones though, just buy them all they're awesome games.
With bigger resolutions in emulator for example VF2 arcade is one of the prettiest games ever made, VF3 is fine but theres something about the simplicity of 2.
The issue I see with a lot of Saturn games is where developers had trouble lining up the VDP2 infinite planes with VDP1 objects. VDP2 planes often kind of crawl around at a different rate and it just kind of looks bizarre.
Can i play this in Mame now with out issues with the sound before it was the music higher than the sounds effeckts ? how i play this in best Emulator with one ?
I almost lost an eye playing this at home due to what I think was an 18 game win streak. My friend slammed the controller shattering it and one the buttons flew out.
The simplest way to tell how much superior Model 2 was, is that Model 2 characters have fingers, while Saturn characters have lumps. I didn't know that until a couple of years ago, as I've never seen the arcade version before, and I only played the Saturn version.
Porting VF2 to Saturn in 1995, I really do not understand how SEGA did not capitalize on that, it took PSX until 1998 with Tekken 3 to have something that could compete vs VF2. When people say that Saturn was not designed for 3D I always point them that Saturn got in 1995 Sega Rally, Panzer Dragoon and VF2 that dunked on everything the competition was doing at the time.
Saturn's design evolved during its development. It ended up being designed for both 2D and 3D. In some cases like VF2 or Panzer Dragoon Zwei the skillful use of Saturn's 2D and 3D hardware in tandem produced results that the PS1 likely couldn't have matched. Still, Hideki Sato apparently later regretted not making it a pure 3D machine, according to a fairly recent translated interview. VF for some reason has never been as popular in the West as in Japan. In Japan VF2's launch sales were over 1M, whereas in North America they were 200K. PS1 had very impressive early 3D games as well, such as Ridge Racer, Wipeout, Doom and Ace Combat.
@@VideoGameEsoterica Yeah, it was going to be a souped up version of the SEGA CD, 2D focused with hardware scaling but with very limited ploygons, but when they saw what was coming with playstation they made the 32X and added another chip in the Ssturn to give it double the processing power to try and force 3D onto it. That's what made it so difficult to code for, and most third party developers only used one of the chips to make their own 3D games, but stuff like VF2, Panzer Dragoon, fighting vipers, Daytona CCE etc showed what it could do properly using both of them.
Also I have yet to play Virtua Fighter games. I was on Battle Arean Toshinden/Tekken back in the day. My friend had the Saturn but all we would play was the King of Fighter games.
Did model 2 use squares or triangles to build their models? Also, weren't their 'hardware partners' like some war-mongering arms manufacturer or something rather than 3DFX or someone from PC gaming?
@@VideoGameEsoterica I don't know if you have "Mr Kiplings" cakes in America, but they're the biggest selling packaged cakes in the UK, and they're owned by Smith & Wesson. BUSINESS diversity is weird sometimes.
I read that the Saturn version is Gouraud shaded whereas the Model 2 version is not. Is this true? If so, it would explain why the Saturn characters still look nice despite the lower poly count
Clearly the Genesis version is the most impressive. I only played the arcade version when it got released on XBL. Never saw it locally, so Saturn version was my only option till the Genesis version came out.
They had this arcade machine at my local pizza place, and I LOVED it. A couple weeks later they swapped it out for Tekken 2, and I just didn't like it as much (I still prefer VF over Tekken to this day, and I'm looking forward to VF6). I wanted a way to play it at home, but I could never get my hands on a Saturn. So I've always had to settle for the 2D demake on the Genesis (which given the limitations of the Genesis is good for what it is, and *way* better than no VF2 at all, but obviously not quite the same). I now also have VF3 for Dreamcast, but that's a very different game. And, I downloaded the old PC ports of VF Remix and VF 2, but can't get VF 2 to run. I guess getting a Model-2 emulator would be ideal, but I don't have much luck with emulators. So a full 3D VF2 like I played at the pizza shop has the distinction of somehow always being out of my reach, and I always have to settle for it's sequels, it's prequel, and a 16-bit approximation. Because of that, this game has a legendary status for me.
A good port for its time, but the 2D backgrounds were so janky. Last Bronx took the same approach but the team’s extra experience developing for the hardware resulted in a much more cohesive look. I’ve always wondered how much closer they could have got Saturn VF2 to the arcade version if it had come out later in the console’s life.
@@waterheart95 Soul Edge is 30fps and Tekken 3 has simplified graphics compared to VF2 and has a lot of dithering Both games have lower resolution than Saturn's VF2
@Fellipe2k5 Both games are pushing higher effects and lightening than VF2 on the saturn. A higher resolution is nice but does come at a tradeoff to visuals, which AM2 knew about. Stuff like at DOA and Bloody Roar 2 run at 512x480 with good effects and lightening. Stuff like Ehrgeiz is pushing a high resolution with good effects, frame rate, and 3d visuals. Not as high as VF2 but on a crt it's not the noticable especially over non rgb connections. PS1 dithering isn't really noticable on an average crt. VF2 is great looking fighting game but not impossible on the ps1. The only downgrade would be resolution due to the ps1 not supporting resolutions past 640x480.
My local arcade had VF1 and VF2 side by side and i would just stare in awe at the attract modes for both games when i had no more quarters. The jump in graphics was such a huge leap it was incredible. When it came home to the Saturn along with Virtua Cop and Sega Rally it made me change my tune with the Saturn. These games completely captured the feel of the arcade at home and proved what it was capable of, great memories!!
They just basically screamed “this is the future” when you saw them on arcade floors.
VF3 was also hugely impressive. The addition of gouraud shading on the characters, much higher poly counts, transparencies, and those 3D fighting arenas when uneven floors looked outstanding. It even had some rudimentary cloth physics in there. When VF4 arrived the era of Sega breaking ground with VF games sadly ended, as VF4 just felt so unimpressive by comparison. The characters had a few more polys in them, but the 3D arenas were gone and on a technical level it wasn't doing anything new.
The trailer for VF6 shows some promise, hopefully Sega will return to doing something new with the series and pushing graphical boundaries again.
Every VF game has been a graphical showcase in its own right. Can’t wait to see what VF 6 brings
I thought VF4 looked great. At first I didn't like it because it was way more detailed and realistic. Eventually it grew on me and I thought the lighting in that game was ahead of its time. The arenas went back to flat stages because apparently pro players did not like the inconsistent stages that affected their strategy. VF5 actually improved on that and had flat areas with different sizes and walls
I get that top tier players want consistency. Makes sense
I agree, VF2 and VF3 were far more groundbreaking than VF4, which I personally saw as a step back after what was to me a perfect fighting game (VF3). It also makes me laugh when people talk of Tekken 3 being ahead of its time. In actual fact it was graphically no better than VF2, and lightyears behind VF3.
Used to play VF2 in a pub during my college days. Down a half liter of beer, drop in a few quarters and end up progressing further than when sober. Good times!
Half liter? Those are rookie numbers. Call me when you are on your seventh round! Haha
The Model 2 game really was an arcade wonder, much like Daytona USA, and still looks gorgeous today. But the Saturn port is absolutely excellent (especially compared to the rather lackluster port of the original game). It's so crisp and smooth, and while the scrolling 2D backgrounds exhibit some weirdness with the floor/camera rotation, it still looks great. This game really cracked the code for Saturn ports and showed that the system could do an admirable job of bringing those arcade games home. I think the only port better than this was probably Sega Rally Championship.
Model 2 has aged super well as has Model 3. That classic Sega art style just keeps giving
Last Bronx on Saturn looks even better than this or SEGA Rally. Too bad the game itself isn’t as great but it’s still excellent.
Maybe that’ll appear in this series one day 😉
@@dreamsthatgotogether7553 For sure, there were other ports as good or better than VF2 and Sega Rally, but those two really set the standard for Saturn ports at a critical time in the system's life.
Simply the best 3D fighting game of all time...
Def a classic of the genre
100% 1990’s Sega was the video game company for the ages. ❤❤❤
30 years later and we’re still playing the games and talking about them
Nope that goes to Tekken
@ Tekken is good too, let’s not fight! Because we will win!!!!!🏆
Sega had such a prowess with 3D graphics. I don't know how they established that 'look' but it's pure eye candy that will never 'age badly'. There's soul in those graphics.
In part I think it’s just because they “invented” it. Not 3D but its use in arcades effectively at the start
To this day I find it absolutely astounding what they managed to get out of the Saturn with VF2. Still play it everyday even now - emulation but still incredible to me.
It just showed that with skilled developers Saturn had a ton to offer
Seeing this in the arcade so soon after vf1 was really incredible. The model2 was a bit uncommon in my childhood town. But everyone wanted to play those big beefy model2 games. The Saturn version was a jaw dropping port at the time too. Definitely wouldn't be able to keep up with the arcade but still a show piece for the Saturn.
It was just such a huge jump in such a short amount of time back then
What a great sequel, too. Up there with Streets of Rage 2 and other big ones.
I first played it on my Saturn and was lucky enough to have a friend living with me for about 6 months. It was heaven always having someone around to play Virtua Fighter 2 and Virtual On.
It def took the original formula and just make it better in every regard
I was told that the reason why the sound was compressed at a lower quality was to make room for the large move set. Apparently the team was working on a better 2D version of Shuns stage but bc of rushing for the holiday they just left it as the lump beside the river lolll great video for a super impressive port
Interesting. I’ll have to look that up. Never heard it
The Saturn port was awesome! It was the very first time, that i experienced a high-res (480i), 60 FPS, 3D game on my childhood Sony Trinitron. It was FIRE!
And on a trinitron no less! The king of the consumer CRT
They should have named the series Gravity Fighter because every time the characters jump in the game, they're defeating gravity and perhaps some other laws of physics. Good to see the direct comparison. Both versions were impressive in their own ways when new. The Saturn version is a very good example of smart planning, ensuring the key elements are there and then making everyone else, like the backgrounds, good enough. I played VF2 first in arcades because I remember seeing the bridge before playing the Saturn version, but I don't think I played the arcade version more than a few weeks before the Saturn. I tended to only find Virtua Fighter cabinets at big arcades and movie theaters, so I didn't see them as often as other popular games of the time. Virtua Fighter 2 was one of my most played Saturn games, unsurprisingly.
Even now jumping in 3D fighters is always weird, Tekken and Soul Calibur still have those moon jumps to this day. I mean, even most 2D fighters are made with polygons now, and those jumps are still good like the pixel art ones, no idea why nobody has fixed the jump in their own 3D games (DOA did it best, but still miles away from being 2D fighter good.)
Still my favorite Virtua Fighter game. My brother and I would go down to the arcade with our parent’s camcorder and record Virtua Fighter 2. We’d come home, put his CRT next to mine and play the VHS on his while playing the Saturn version on mine so we could compare the differences. Was disappointed with VF1 on Saturn but the VF Remix us early adopters got for free, gave me hope that VF2 could be good and oh boy, Sega didn’t disappoint. It far exceeded my expectations. Thanks for making this video. 👍🏻
VF4 Final Tuned is still my fav but they are all great in their own right. Glad you enjoyed the vid!
@@VideoGameEsotericaVF4 Final Tuned is 100% the best feeling to play and best looking from an art style point of view for me but VF2 gets the nostalgia points that keep me in denial. 🤣
Haha nostalgia is a powerful thing
VF2 is such a technical achievement on Saturn. So beautifully sharp and fluid on a CRT. Save for a few camera angles I would never have noticed the faux 3D backgrounds.
It def proved that Saturn couldn’t 3D well that’s for sure
Played it first in the arcades back in the day, completely blew my mind! Never seen anything like it at the time and was addicted to the game. Also the reason i got a Saturn over the Playstation because i wanted to play this at home. When i got the Saturn version i played it non stop for weeks!!
This is why I love 90s arcade games more than any other decade. We just got to see the future happening in front of us
This game made me proud to own a Saturn.
It proved Saturn was as good as PS1 when developed for correctly
An incredible port of an incredible game
The Saturn port really shows off what the hardware could do compared to PS1
You my friend are amazing at making your videos. I hope one day you can do a collaboration with other gaming folks?
You never know :) but nobody asks me haha
I've only played the Saturn version but yeah the arcade board definitely has the edge over the home port, but the home port is impressive for it's time
One of the most impressive home ports of the era IMO
Sega model two look phenomenal. They still hold up to this day. I don’t know why Sega does not capitalize on making a Sega model 2 collection. Virtua fighter two is amazing.
One question which stage music is your favorite?
My favorite is Chicago when Jackie and Sarah fight (damn voice to chat it doesn’t work too well)
Near impossible to pic a fav. It’s all good
@@SNKev411 Because at time there was still a lore in VF series. Chicago is one of my favorites too.
But if you pick Jacky, Chicago it will be Stage 2, if you pick Sarah, Chicago it will be Stage 8.
Model 2 has such a distinct look - I still think the modern virtual fighter games are better than the contemporaries
And it’s aged so well due to the distinct style. Still holds up
I will never forget seeing the VF2 arcade cabinet when it was brand new. Graphically nothing came close to it for a long time. But Sega are the kings of 3D arcade for a reason.
Model 2 was just a massive jump in 3D compared to everything else when it released
I love Virtua Fighter 2 VGE. It's my favorite in the series and still love how well made and detailed it is that still holds its ground to this very day. 8^)
You know a game is good when 30 years later we are still excited to play it
Is there any Arcade VF2 in a Yakuza/ spinoff serie?
Not that I remember but they’ve had so many by this point
100% yes, you can even pick 2-player Vs mode from the main menu once you unlock it in game (by playing it) and it's in more than one of them. No idea off the top of my head which ones though, just buy them all they're awesome games.
loving the port authority
So glad! Lots more coming
I love that the Saturn version has a watch mode. I often watch the CPU battle each other on my actual Saturn and on my mobile emulators.
It is fun to see how Sega intends it to be played
With bigger resolutions in emulator for example VF2 arcade is one of the prettiest games ever made, VF3 is fine but theres something about the simplicity of 2.
Yes 2 is just a simple game to pick up and play but it def has depth too
The issue I see with a lot of Saturn games is where developers had trouble lining up the VDP2 infinite planes with VDP1 objects. VDP2 planes often kind of crawl around at a different rate and it just kind of looks bizarre.
Yes it seems to have a diff rate of movement which can sometimes not match the foreground elements
The arcade version absolutely is better, but man that Saturn port was incredible still.
Really showed the power of Saturn
awesome! in your opinion what is the best way to connect a Saturn to the Retrotink and get the best possible image? Component? Scart? VGA ?
RGB is the best IMO
Can i play this in Mame now with out issues with the sound before it was the music higher than the sounds effeckts ? how i play this in best Emulator with one ?
Model 2 emulator is still the best
Model 2 is by far my favorite 3D arcade hardware
Love what it did for arcades
Hyper Neo Geo for me but I admit it’s just a guilty pleasure
I almost lost an eye playing this at home due to what I think was an 18 game win streak. My friend slammed the controller shattering it and one the buttons flew out.
Haha damn. Should have let him win one!
@@VideoGameEsoterica Haha....never...
The simplest way to tell how much superior Model 2 was, is that Model 2 characters have fingers, while Saturn characters have lumps.
I didn't know that until a couple of years ago, as I've never seen the arcade version before, and I only played the Saturn version.
Yes it had enough polys to model the individual fingers vs a mitt nub
Porting VF2 to Saturn in 1995, I really do not understand how SEGA did not capitalize on that, it took PSX until 1998 with Tekken 3 to have something that could compete vs VF2.
When people say that Saturn was not designed for 3D I always point them that Saturn got in 1995 Sega Rally, Panzer Dragoon and VF2 that dunked on everything the competition was doing at the time.
Sega never felt sure footed on Saturn. I don’t know why
Saturn's design evolved during its development. It ended up being designed for both 2D and 3D. In some cases like VF2 or Panzer Dragoon Zwei the skillful use of Saturn's 2D and 3D hardware in tandem produced results that the PS1 likely couldn't have matched. Still, Hideki Sato apparently later regretted not making it a pure 3D machine, according to a fairly recent translated interview. VF for some reason has never been as popular in the West as in Japan. In Japan VF2's launch sales were over 1M, whereas in North America they were 200K. PS1 had very impressive early 3D games as well, such as Ridge Racer, Wipeout, Doom and Ace Combat.
Everyone forgets that back then nobody was 100% sure when the 3D era would begin so it’s not super surprising Sega had trouble with Saturn
@@VideoGameEsoterica Yeah, it was going to be a souped up version of the SEGA CD, 2D focused with hardware scaling but with very limited ploygons, but when they saw what was coming with playstation they made the 32X and added another chip in the Ssturn to give it double the processing power to try and force 3D onto it.
That's what made it so difficult to code for, and most third party developers only used one of the chips to make their own 3D games, but stuff like VF2, Panzer Dragoon, fighting vipers, Daytona CCE etc showed what it could do properly using both of them.
Also I have yet to play Virtua Fighter games. I was on Battle Arean Toshinden/Tekken back in the day. My friend had the Saturn but all we would play was the King of Fighter games.
Better make 2025 the year to catch up!
I played VF2 on PC.
I wonder how close to the arcade can modern Saturn enthusiasts make it.
I bet you could get more out of it but never to the Model 2 standard. I’d rather see someone port it to Dreamcast
Playing this was cery late on the PS3
But I have buy the Saturn in 2015 and its still greate play Virtua Fighter 2
Def still great
Has the model 2 board been FPGA-ed??? 🎉🎉🎉
Not yet. Hopefully one day in the future
Did model 2 use squares or triangles to build their models?
Also, weren't their 'hardware partners' like some war-mongering arms manufacturer or something rather than 3DFX or someone from PC gaming?
Haha Lockheed Martin
@@VideoGameEsoterica I don't know if you have "Mr Kiplings" cakes in America, but they're the biggest selling packaged cakes in the UK, and they're owned by Smith & Wesson.
BUSINESS diversity is weird sometimes.
Haha never heard of them or that fact but that’s hilarious
One thing you didn’t mention is that the arcade version uses lighting effects throughout, but the Saturn version uses no lighting effects whatsoever.
Guess it just wasn’t what I focused on when I made it
Saturn -version had insane resolution, i think PAL -version of VF2 was even 702 x 512i.
Yes it’s one of the prettiest high res games on Saturn
i probably played more on saturn. i remember it in the arcade and was blown away but was no good at it.
I def played more on Saturn once it came home
I read that the Saturn version is Gouraud shaded whereas the Model 2 version is not. Is this true? If so, it would explain why the Saturn characters still look nice despite the lower poly count
I’ve read that too and it seems to be accurate
Clearly the Genesis version is the most impressive. I only played the arcade version when it got released on XBL. Never saw it locally, so Saturn version was my only option till the Genesis version came out.
Haha I mean from a “it’s the same game” then technically it is impressive
@VideoGameEsoterica Mostly impressive in the sense that it's the only version of vf that Sega sold for years.
They had this arcade machine at my local pizza place, and I LOVED it. A couple weeks later they swapped it out for Tekken 2, and I just didn't like it as much (I still prefer VF over Tekken to this day, and I'm looking forward to VF6).
I wanted a way to play it at home, but I could never get my hands on a Saturn. So I've always had to settle for the 2D demake on the Genesis (which given the limitations of the Genesis is good for what it is, and *way* better than no VF2 at all, but obviously not quite the same).
I now also have VF3 for Dreamcast, but that's a very different game. And, I downloaded the old PC ports of VF Remix and VF 2, but can't get VF 2 to run. I guess getting a Model-2 emulator would be ideal, but I don't have much luck with emulators. So a full 3D VF2 like I played at the pizza shop has the distinction of somehow always being out of my reach, and I always have to settle for it's sequels, it's prequel, and a 16-bit approximation.
Because of that, this game has a legendary status for me.
I too prefer VF. Tekken is a ton of fun but it just never hit the same way for me
A good port for its time, but the 2D backgrounds were so janky. Last Bronx took the same approach but the team’s extra experience developing for the hardware resulted in a much more cohesive look.
I’ve always wondered how much closer they could have got Saturn VF2 to the arcade version if it had come out later in the console’s life.
There had to be cuts made somewhere and it was always taking the 3D backgrounds and turning them 2D. But yes there some perspective weirdness going on
PS1 wouldn't be able to replicate VF2, the downgrade would be massive
It would be fun to see someone try though
It could do it fine, VF2 is not the most complex 3d game renderingwise. If it has games like Soul Edge and Tekken 3, there are no issues.
@@waterheart95 Soul Edge is 30fps and Tekken 3 has simplified graphics compared to VF2 and has a lot of dithering
Both games have lower resolution than Saturn's VF2
@@Fellipe2k5 PAL -version of (PSone) Tekken 3 is on lower resolution than NTSC, for some reason.
@Fellipe2k5 Both games are pushing higher effects and lightening than VF2 on the saturn. A higher resolution is nice but does come at a tradeoff to visuals, which AM2 knew about.
Stuff like at DOA and Bloody Roar 2 run at 512x480 with good effects and lightening.
Stuff like Ehrgeiz is pushing a high resolution with good effects, frame rate, and 3d visuals.
Not as high as VF2 but on a crt it's not the noticable especially over non rgb connections. PS1 dithering isn't really noticable on an average crt.
VF2 is great looking fighting game but not impossible on the ps1. The only downgrade would be resolution due to the ps1 not supporting resolutions past 640x480.
I've commented about it before, but the platform and the backgrounds on the Saturn version not being in sync has always bothered me. Shame AM2, shame!
It’s a bit of a visual disconnect but considering it’s Saturn I forgive it
@VideoGameEsoterica I was always a Fighting Vipers guy anyway...
Model 2 looks so much better. I just play the PS3 port since is the only arcade perfect conversion.
The good thing is Model 2 emulation is very easy these days too
These are both inferior to the Genesis port. Seriously though, that genesis port is underrated.
Haha it’s def impressive for what it is
Saturn is pretty close to the arcade!
Probably the most impressive Model 2 to Saturn port IMO
That's not even real hardware you're using, just emulation running at half the framerate of the Saturn port.
Well I don’t own every Sega arcade board ever made no matter how hard I try
Do we know why the internal teams never capitalized on this engine and tools to make Fighting Vipers / Fighters Megamix and others?