Virtua Fighter in HD

Virtua Fighter needs no introductions and would be a prime candidate for a full-on remastered collection for modern systems, but until SEGA delivers we can always improvise and try to make it ourselves. For the second entry in the "REMASTERED" click-bait titled series I picked every numbered entry in the VF series and tried to make it look as good as possible, meeting the modern standards of Full HD resolution (1920x1080) and widescreen 16:9 picture format.

You can watch the results above and read more about the particular setup and challenges for each game below:

VIRTUA FIGHTER 1

There wasn't much choice in regards of version or emulator for VF1. The original arcade version ran on the Model 1 board, which can only be emulated at native resolutions in MAME, so that was a no go. The only other option was the Saturn version and the only recommended emulator for HD resolutions was YabaSanshiro (or one of its many forks).

For the widescreen hack I relied on the community effort from the folks over at the Assembler Games forum, something I've covered before in this article.

Virtua Fighter 5 Has a Saturn!

Okay, so I posted the same thing over at the Dreamcast Junkyard. But I'd be silly not to share this at the Saturn 'Yard as well. Commence copy/paste with minor copy changes!

Looks like cheetah print bandannas won't be the coolest accessories to be found in the latest and last version of 'Virtua Fighter 5'. Players of the upcoming game will have the opportunity to buy a Dreamcast, Saturn and Mega Drive to wear on the characters backs. For added awesomeness, the consoles prices match what they were when the consoles launched in Japan. Of course, you'll be buying them with in-game currency rather than yen.

In celebration of this event, I'd like to present three two other SEGA games that featured characters wearing Dreamcast Saturn consoles.

The Cast of Virtual-On

Segata Sanshiro (obviously)

Segata, forgive me for posting such a low resolution image of you...

SEGATA FORGIVES ALL!

  Praise be to Segata!

[Source: SEGAbits]

DOA4

OK It's got it's roots firmly planted in Saturn soil, and I have to say (controversially) I'm loving it more than VF5...

It's just such a great arcade type game! I haven't even registered the tit bounce factor yet... (Surely proof of the game's fighting potential...) I'm loving it right now!!!!

Here's a couple of vids!

Virtua Fighter 5

This is just a quick post to enthuse about my most recent gaming accquisition. Getting Virtua Fighter 5, (I got it for £4 by trading in a lot of Dreamcast duplicates from my collection) means I now have every incarnation of the franchise, which in itself is something I'm rather excited about. VF1, VF2, VF Remix, VF Kids, VF3Tb, VF4, VF4 Evolution and now VF5 - eight games spanning four consoles and every one with it's roots planted firmly in rich, Saturn soil.

I suppose that would be my first point. From the ridiculously blocky and angular characters of VF1, to the photo realistic graphically gorgeous polished characters of VF5, the game is essentially the same... Moves, fighting styles, outfits etc. are quintessentially untouched from console to console.

Obviously the range of characters, the environments and other features have changed over the years, but on turning the game on, and selecting the game mode one is afforded the familiar 'ping' from VF1. It's a reverberation of the Saturn in the 21st century and a comforting one at that...

But then when the game kicks in, and you see the stunning next gen graphics, you know that the 360/PS3 incarnation is a different beast. It's literally breath taking! For me, even the PS2's VF4 was so next gen, that I was blown away... But seeing VF5 made me jump.

Playing VF4 in arcade mode I was able to beat the opposition on first play, up to Dural. Playing VF5 I was stomped unceremoniously. It would seem that the stakes in gameplay have been raised. This was confirmed by my first experience of playing VF online...

I've had two matches, and got fucked up royally (3-0) twice! I play all out attack (as Kage, always as Kage!) and apparently the way forward in VF5 is defense. Defense and then a stunning array of attack... Well that was how I got my arse kicked anyway! I'm going to enjoy playing and getting to know this title. It's as stunning a Saturn rebirth as Sega Rally Revo... (don't even whisper Nebacha! LOL!)

I'll update you more on this one as I become more familiar with it. Initial impressions? 10/10!

Happy days! :)

Another Saturn Car!

(click piccy for biggy)

Thanks to the creative folks in the Forza 2 Motorsport scene, there's another Sega Saturn car! Now this car is kinda special, though, because this time it's a real Saturn car. On top of that you'll find lovely nights and Virtua Fighter artworks on the sides and a great excerpt of the white 3D pad on the back. What I love the most, is the bonnet / front lit / hood. Call it what you like. I am now actually convinced that a car design like that would also work in real life. I can't wait to try something like that out on my very own car... which I still have to buy... and make a driver's license for... Oh well.

Inspiration For Shun Di (VF2)

In a recently somewhat overlooked post, I expressed my disappointment with not finding the character Shun in Virtua Fighter Remix. Of course I didn't! As I came to (re)discover, Shun wasn't a playable charater till VF2, and VF Remix was a direct remake of the first incarnation, VF1.

Having done a little research on Shun's character, it seems he was a tribute to the character "Su Hai" played by martial artist Yuen Siu Tien. The videos below show perfectly the fighting style of Shun, (as demonstrated by a very young Jackie Chan) and also the "The Drunken Master" himself, in a most excellent comedic fight scene, which so brilliantly exemplifies my favourite genre of films.

So something of a tenuous Saturn Link, but I'm more than prepared to make it. Enjoy!

Plus, as a supplement, I'll throw in two clips of the legendary TV show "GamesMaster" featuring jovial Scottish host, Dominik Diamond. (I met him once when he opened a Virgin Gamestore in Stockport. As part of the opening me and Mrs.K (dressed as a frog and giant teddy bear were employed to hand out fliers...) We ended up getting pimmeled and poked by annoying white trash scallywags, but that's another story... Mr. Diamond now has a weekly page in the Daily Star newspaper. The oddly shaped headed guy with the monacle, (Gamesmaster) is actually respected astronomer Patrick Moore who has presented (and continues to present) the same TV show "The Sky At Night" for over 50 years on the BBC.

GamesMaster magazine is still sold in newsagents all over the UK.

GamesMaster VF2 Special Part 1

GamesMaster VF2 Special Part2

Saturn Splurge!

I've got Sega Rally Revo sitting there under my TV. A graphically lucious, 360 compatable, current gen, rallytastic treat. So what did I just do for the last hour and a half? That's right, I sat and played the original on my Saturn, trying to shave seconds off my time so I can beat the World Championship. I then played about twenty minutes worth of Sega Rally 2 on the Dreamcast, to see how it compared to the original... Quite frankly it didn't.

Still a great driving game, the Dreamcast version feels too heavy, clunky if you will. Having held the Saturn controller for so long, the Dreamcast controller felt too weighty and strangely so did the car it was controlling. But I digress...

My evening started off trying out my recently accquired Saturn demo disc"Sega Flash Vol. 3" given away free with Issue 15 of Sega Saturn Magazine (January 1997). As well as video of Fighting Vipers, NiGHTS, Virtua Cop 2, Dark Saviour, Bug Too and Mr. Bones, this lovely disc also contains playable demos of Virtual On (can't say I was that impressed), Tomb Raider (Yay!) Sega Worldwide Soccer '97 (only one half of a match though!) and Daytona USA CCE (driving the Hornet around Dinosaur Canyon), which inevitably lead me to think... "Hmm! driving... Saturn... SEGA RALLY!" and that was that... With the familiar ignition sound, I was off... But I digress once more...

I've been a bit naughty friends... I've had a bit of a 'splurge' spending-wise on coveted Saturn items... let me share with you the recent Saturn goodies I've secured from eBay over the last week... I'm currently waiting for them to arrive...

The first thing was... Virtua Fighter Remix. Apart from Virtua Fighter 5, I now own every incarnation of the franchise. This re-release or 'update' of the original had higher-polygon models, and believe it or not, a copy was sent free to every registered Saturn owner in the US!



*Harumph!* another smack in the eye for European gamers... But a copy is now winging it's way towards Krishna Towers so I can't complain...

And talking of Virtua Fighter, one of the purchases I'm most excited about is... (wait for it...)


"Virtua Fighter THE COMIC!" Issue No.1, produced by Marvel. Now I love comics, particularly Marvel Comics and this one's about Virtua Fighter characters! I never even knew it existed till I stumbled across it... Happy days! And at only £3 including postage, it represents the biggest bargain of the splurge!


OK, next. Pandemonium... Sound familiar? This is a game I loved on the PSX, but I never knew had a Saturn release. A medieval jester-themed platformer, this psychedelic bounce-fest is a real blast, with gorgeously garish graphics, weird monsters, freeze and fire rays, slides and trampolenes and mushrooms... Lots of mushrooms! Great stuff!

A paradoxically 'hot property' on the SJY at the moment, I just couldn't resist buying Winter Heat, the Alpine themed brother of the wonderful Athlete Kings. With all of the lovely video recently posted, plus all of the reccomendations for my Saturn colleagues it was a must buy!


But perhaps the one I'm looking forward to getting the most is Burning Rangers! The wonderful review by J, plus his demands for it's Wii remake, have left me salivating for the game. But, not one to do things by half, I'm not just getting the game, but also a rare Japanese demo of this hallowed title! Now this little bundle set me back nearly £30! So I guess you know how much I want it!

I'll let you know how it all works out!

Virtua Fighter 4

The Saturn would have always been my choice over the Playstation, and there was one in my home for two years before I eventually buckled under pressure from my boys and bought one for them. One of the reasons for my Saturn love was the most excellent Virtua Fighter series, which played out four releases on the Saturn. Virtua Fighter, VF2, Virtua Fighter Remix and VF Kids. (Plus the VF characters also played a major role in the wonderful Fighter's Megamix...)

The game was quality all the way with great characters like Shun and Kage, who had great background stories and a fabulously oriental feel. I love Kung Fu movies (even the really old badly dubed/speeded up fight scene ones!) and having the chance to control a fighter was a dream come true!

Everything about Virtua Fighter works: Moves, music, speech samples, backgorund settings, victory cries and so on. However great the gameplay is though, even the most die-hard Saturn fan would have to admit that the graphics haven't stood the test of time. The characters look square and blocky, angular and pixellated.

When I eventually graduated to the Dreamcast, I was really anticipating VF3tb (originally slated for the Saturn- look here), but having played Soul Calibur and Dead or Alive, VF3tb didn't really do it for me. I can't really explain why, but the graphics and gameplay just didn't cut it after playing SC and DOA, and VF3tb became the least played fighter of my Dreamcast collection. However, the ever wonderful Shenmue series employed the fighting engine from Virtua Fighter and the central character Ryo Hazuki was based on VF's Akira. (You could also collect capsule toys -very pleasurable in itself... of VF and VF Kids as you embarked on Ryo's quest.)

Fast forward to 2007 and I happened upon a rather battered copy of VF4 for the PS2. At first I was gutted because the disc wouldn't load and there was no mannual in the box. But thanks to the wonder of the Internet, I'd soon downloaded the mannual and thanks to a blob of toothpaste, I'd soon managed to get the disc working.

Don't know about the toothpaste trick? If you've got a disc that won't load, simply smear your disc in toothpaste and rub outwards from the centre of the disc in straightlines with your finger. Wash it off in lukewarm water and dry with a paper towel. I'm not guaranteeing it'll work but it did for me...

Onto the game. The beauty of VF4 is that it is basically the same great game as the Saturn original, but with sumptuous graphics and a couple of new characters to compliment the originals. First off there is the mysterious Shaolin Monk, Lei Fei and then the amply chested Vanessa Lewis. (Why do women in fighting games have big breasts? Not that I'm complaining... *Ahem!*)

The backgrounds and arenas are simply stunning, the characters look great and the fighting is fantastic. I always play as Kage, as I love his ninja look and trademark upside down pile driving headbutt! But the game is fiendishly dificult to progress in however... As the saying goes, "Easy to play, dificult to master!"

Dedication and repeated gameplay is needed to make headway into the game but for the £7 your likely to pay for it you couldn't get a better fighter. But now I'm a little stuck, as VF5 is out for the XBox 360 & PS3, and I don't own one of those suckers. And to make matters worse, the prospect of online battles on the 360 is making me drool for one. That AND Sega Rally Revo.

You see I'm a Sega fan through and through and it hurts me to know franchises I've loved will be progressing on systems I don't own. So here's the plan... I'm going to try and persuade the boys to get a 360 as their collective Christmas present! Cunning plan huh? I'll update you in December as to whether it comes off!

Wanna know more about Virtua Fighter? Then have a look at these links...

Virtua Fighter in Wikipedia

Virtua Fighter 3tb IGN

Virtua Fighter 4 Official Website

Virtua Fighter 5 Official Website

Nintendo Saturn?

Well, I don't know... First of all the Saturn remains all forlorn and forgotten, dissed and dismissed, seen as an 'also ran' and said to be a Sega failure. Then NiGHTS gets it's second incarnation on the Wii and all of a sudden, everybody and their Aunt is raving about it!

Two current Nintendo magazines are running enthusiastic articles (one a full SIX page spread) about Saturn games. First of all, N Gamer Magazine are extolling the virtues of the anticipated Wii Nights. They're running it as a front cover story. Within the article, they make the following point...


"Nights for Wii will change the console forever because... (reason three) Its a Sega game. NiGHTS: Journey Of Dreams was originally intended for A.N. Other console (presumably XBOX360) until the wonders of the Wii tempted (NiGHTS creator) Takashi Iizuka Nintendo-wards.







This and Mario & Sonic At The Olympics, are signs that the Nintendo-Sega relationship is tighter than ever: suggesting that the Wii may find itself the new home for other great franchises such as OutRun, Panzer Dragon, Samba De Amigo, After Burner and - dare we say it Shenmue?"

Interesting prospect, huh? What's even better is that the original versions of successful Saturn/Wii crossover franchises will perhaps become sought after items... Consoles themselves will perhaps become more sought after... A Saturn renaissance is upon us!

Official Nintendo Magazine also runs a two page retrospective on NiGHTs which tells me something I was quite unaware of, despite owning two copies of the game.
In the article "A Day In The Life: Like having a baby without the mess..." they reveal the following:




"Believe it or not, one of the most interesting parts of NiGHTS has nothing to do with the main game. Labelled 'A Life' by the game's developer, it allows you to wander around the landscape of any level, and discover striped eggs that, if touched by either Elliot or Claris, will hatch into winged creatures known as 'Nightopians' or (Pians), who then go about their business.

Of course this doesn't in itself sound very exciting until you realise how much of an influence this can have on your growing Pian population.

For instance, keeping them happy by hitting high scores on the levels and removing any enemies not only results in some serious breeding ( so more Piams to look after), but also makes them sing, wave and even make the levels music sound more joyful. Conversely, making them sad, by killing them (either yourself or by letting nearby Nightmaren run riot) produces a more sombre tone.

However, the most creative part of 'A Life' lies in creating your own special breed of creatures known as 'Mepians' - the result of an unholy alliance between Marens and Pians. Stun a Maren, hurl it into a Pian and then hatch the resulting egg. As Mepians take on a selection of elements from both parents, and with Mepians able to breed with one another, the combinations are endless (and useful if you want to create a Royal Mepian, which, despite being nigh on impossible, is the ultimate accolade).

After NiGHTS, Sonic Team went on to develop the 'A-Life' concept through the Chao Garden sections of the first two Sonic Adventure games. Just remember where the concept came from eh?"

Interesting suff, huh? They also run a great piece about the Saturn analogue pad (featured in Calebs first article), but I'll leave plagiarising that for another post...


Finally, again in N Gamer magazine, the Saturn get's it's props from an article in 'Virtual Console News'...


"Elsewhere Sega legend Makoto Osaki- he of the Shenmue and OutRun2- hasn't ruled bringing more of the Virtua Fighter series to Virtual Console, after Virtua Fighter 2 was ladled onto VC this month. "The major point is that there needs to be loads of demand from the players"he says. "If there's a place of business in it, there would be no reason to hesitate to develop remakes, but I believe this matter should be determined after more elaborate research." He's up for bringing back the bulbous-headed Virtua Fighter Kids too, "if the market demands it". Bring on the big heads!"

Thus the second incarnation of NiGHTs for the Wii has generated a total og eight and a half pages of Saturn related articles in current gaming magazines, a situation that would have been unthinkable a couple of monthe ago... Could the Saturn be following in the foot steps of the great Undead Console?