virtua fighter 2 is a pretty undisputed classic, it's been ported and re-released on almost everything in some form and it's widely loved, and i agree with this, the game is super solid, great looks, very impressive technical aspects for the time, a fantastic cast and some amazing aesthetics and music. the game could glide along with me with just the vibes alone, it has that early 3D sega charm that you just love, daytona or fighting vipers style. blue skies, cheesy rock music and some of the best bad voice acting this side of agetech "i don't make a habit of fighting the elderly" it's got charm and soul, the characters are pretty striotypical compared to a lot of fighters but the game was so early that you could say it helped define those steriotypes, but even in that there's a lot of charm in them, akira's iconic voicelines and countering style set him apart from a lot of posterboys, sarah's cheesy quips set her apart from the likes of nina williams and then there's the drunkard shun who's in a league of his own, it is missing my personal VF main vanessa which does suck for me but that's hardly something i'd hold over the game. one character i do think is worth mentioning is dural, mainly because i think her design is really neat and especially in the sega saturn version, which is the best version for reasons ill get into, is very impressive and a standout.

now back to the vibes, they're perfect, the game has that sega-blue skies aesthetic down to a tee, jeffry's stage just has it in spades, my favourite by far, from the coconut trees that react to your hits to the little gazeebo on the hill, 10/10 stage, kage's stage too is great, a little forrest temple surrounded by trees, peaceful and nice and not to forget about my other favourite stage, shun's raft, this one i could just watch for hours, it's so pretty and it has the funniest ring outs, shoutout's to wolf's mountain too, very pretty and colourful. the music adds to this massively, shun's theme and sarah's theme being major standouts, it's all very memorable and some of sega's best at the time, though not quite on the level of the likes of daytona or gale racer, there's a little too much rock for me, but it's a banger ost all around, very listenable, the few more chill tracks have absolutely made it into my playlists.

gameplay wise the game is very simple for its time, very few moves, many of which are shared, no supers or meters beyond health, it reminds me a lot of street fighter 2 or bushido blade, simple but with a lot of death and much like bushido blade, a very quick time to kill. you can be taken out in 2 to 3 hits by characters like jackey or jeffrey it almost feels busted, especially in the arcade version where the AI can read your hits and it makes those characters feel very unbalanced, but you can generally beat the game with everyone, i tend to stick to sarah and jeffrey myself. in general i do not reccomend the arcade version, even the one inside of yakuza kiwami 2, it's just too difficult and i don't find it very fun, where i love the much easier sega saturn version, which even ads extra modes and a remixed OST. it has a lot of depth though and you can easily spend dozens of hours perfecting your characters, i know i did so i could beat the arcade mode with sarah.

the game had quite a few ports as i mentioned, there's the nearly perfect sega saturn port which i consider the definitive version, a ps2 sega AGEs version based on both versions with various options, as well as a PC version also based on the sega saturn version specifically, though later ports like the XBLA and yakuza versions are based on the arcade mode, and they're all brutal, though the ps360 version does have some very easy achievements. there was also a demake for the genisis which i'd love to try sometime, it seems very neat. the game had quite a legacy too, spawning sequels all of which improved on the formula i think, though 3 is considered to be a black sheep in the series, though it's saturn port was cancelled so it did not appear on the same system. it's super accessable these days and can even be played for free in various yakuza games, there's no reason not to at least give VF2 a try and see how you feel, i think you'll get some fun out of it.

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