Fighting games (Part 1)

Re-published in reverse order so part 1 appears above part 2

Way back in 1992 a little game called "Street Fighter II" was released on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Like pretty much the rest of the planet, I enjoyed playing that game and could find competition pretty easily. In fact I enjoyed the game so much I didn't even mind getting my ass handed to me over and over and over again. I was basically a Fierce Punch/Roundhouse Kick/Special move whore, and to anyone who has a basic understanding of how the game actually works, I didn't put up much of a fight.

Fast forward a decade and a couple years and along came a game called "Soulcalibur II". Now I had played plenty of fighting games between SF2 and SC2. I was blown away by the 3D revolution and had played Virtua Fighter 2 to hell and back, but it was really Soulcalibur II that got me interested in fighting games again.



In fact, SC2 was the first fighter that really got me curious as to how the actual fighting system within the game works. SC2 made me realize that character movelists alone gives you an insignificant morsel of the information you need to truly become proficient at a game. SC2 is the game that made me start using the internet as a tool towards improvement by discussing strategy on forums and whatnot. SC2 is the game that turned me from a guy who plays fighting games into a REAL fighting gamer. Considering this, it's kinda ironic that SC2 probably has the worst fighting game engine in the history of 3D fighters. That's right folks. 3D fighters in which you couldn't sidestep at all got it better than SC2.

Now I had been aware of the step-guard fiasco for several months before I stopped playing (for the non-gamers who happen to be still reading, step-guard is one of the many, MANY bugs in SC2 that basically makes it possible for you to block while sidestepping, benefiting from the advantages of both, and suffering almost no drawbacks at all). When you ignore step-guard, SC2 is actually a pretty deep and moderately balanced game. Unfortunately, step-guard breaks the game in half and eventually, in a context where everyone abuses step-guard, it discourages innovation. That is a cardinal sin in MY book, but I ignored the problem because I was fortunate enough to have competition that didn't know what step-guard was, so I could continue to play this watered down, more fun version of SC2 in which the "features" were never an issue.

All of that changed the day I bought Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution. After several years, I finally got the chance to take my "educated gamer" mindset back to the VF series that got me into 3D fighters to begin with, and what I found was a masterpiece.



VF4:Evo showed me what a 3D fighter is SUPPOSED to be like. After months of pretending to play a game at its highest level and thinking "I sure hope these guys don't find out about this bug, or that bug", I could finally sink my teeth into a system that actually gets BETTER the more you learn about it. The change was so extreme and sudden that it gave me a genuine disdain for SC2 and for Namco as well. If they didn't know about step-guard before the game was released, they need to fire and replace their entire testing staff, and to knowingly release a game with such a blatant, game-breaking bug in it shows so much disrespect for Namco's fans that it almost turns my stomach. I remind you that step-guard is only ONE of SC2's problems.

VF4:Evo is not without problems of its own, however. The character design is much more down to earth when compared to the Tekken series, for example (you won't find any comparisons between VF4:Evo and SC2 here. That's like comparing Virtua Tennis 2 with Pong, so I will use SC2's older sister instead). Also the oki/wakeup game is quite different in VF4:Evo. Moves that look like they should hit grounded will simply whiff over a grounded opponent, making it less intuitive.

Speaking of intuitiveness reminds me of another problem. VF4:Evo has a RIDICULOUSLY steep learning curve. Actually, that's more of a would-be problem, because it also comes with a ridiculously complete training mode that teaches you how to play the game. You'll learn techniques that you won't need for a long, long time in that training mode, and I've felt like throwing my controller at the television more than once.

However, I would still say that, all in all, VF4:Evo is easily the best overall 3D fighting game on the market today. The wakeup game is quite enjoyable and deep once you get used to the tech-rolling guessing game. And Shun, the drunken boxer, is extravagant enough for every other character in the roster. Where VF4:Evo REALLY shines as a wonderfully orchestrated project is in its gameplay. Thing is, it's also the most masher-UNfriendly game I've seen so far, so the first time you play it, unless you've seen other people play, and know your character's movelist, you won't get much further than punch-punch-punch, kick-kick, and throws.

In Part 2, Rock Joe takes his educated gamer, VF4:Evo-spoiled mentality back into the 2D realm...