Review by: Andy Dickerson

Graphics: 8.5/10

The graphics in this game are very good. The game seems to be at a mid-resolution and obviously isn't high-resolution like VF2; but it still looks good. The backgrounds in this game are awesome (except for Candy's and Raxel's)! You have got to see Siba's background...it is the best! The sun has a hazy look to it and the light sourcing is done very well. The light sourcing (for the backgrounds that have it) really improves the graphics in my mind, almost up to VF2's. The shading looks excellent as well. Now one area where this game definitely wins over VF2 is the floors for the levels. No pixelation to be found anywhere! The clipping isn't really a problem for the wall levels and they look great except for Candy's and Raxel's. However, there is some faults to the graphics. Namely, clipping occurs on characters during a replay; doesn't happen all the time but is noticeable. It doesn't bother me though and I'm sure it won't bother you. Finally the VF characters do look a little more blocky than in VF2 (namely Jacky), and Bark and Deku don't look too hot. Other than that the games graphics are great!

Music: 8/10

Most of the musical tracks in the game are good to great. But some of the Fighting Vipers ones I could just never get to like. I really like the VF1 tracks they included and wish they had more. I also wish they would have stuck with the regular VF2 tracks instead of the remixed ones. The most annoying thing about the music is the fact that it repeats after every round (except in Rentahero's level). I personally find this very annoying. Other than that the music is good.

Sound Effects: 6/10

This is the only area of the game in which I am seriously disappointed. All of the sound effects don't sound clear at all and some of the effects don't go with what happened. After VF2 and VF1 you would think that all of those bone-crunching hits and kicks would remain clear and intact. Oh well. The voices weren't improved which I find irritating (you would think AM2 would fix this by now).

Control: 10/10

Everything works great. The button setup is perfect from the start. With the training mode you shouldn't have much of a problem executing the moves. Great Job AM2!

Gameplay: 9.5/10

This is where the game really shines! The selection of characters (34, I believe) is great and most of them are good. The new escape move is a great feature and adds a new element to fighting. The different modes: 1player, Survival, V.S, Team Battle, and Training are all great to play. There is also a records mode and an obvious option mode. The only reason the game doesn't get a 10 is that there is some SLIGHT slowdown on Raxel's stage and also occurs occasionally on some other wall levels. Also, the fights are a little unbalanced in some cases but that's to be expected Finally, some of the characters are pointless (Bark, Deku, and the VF kids characters namely). Most of them however are great. Sure some of the hidden characters have a couple cheap moves, but they are still fun to use. I especially like Janet and Siba for the hidden characters. For the regular characters I like Lau the best, then Jacky, Jeffrey, Sanman, Candy, and Bahn. What else do you expect from AM2!

Other--- the intro to the game is good (not quite up to Namco's) and it is full-screen. However the animation is a little slow but it still looks nice. In the options mode after you beat a track (in 1player mode) extra options will appear. If you do some other things in the game you will get options like Hyper Mode (very fast). The ads for this game in the magazines have been poorly done. The drawings for the ads don't look detailed at all and the pictures aren't large enough that are at the bottom of the pages. I wish Sega would run a TV advertisement for this game so people would know about it and realize how cool this game really is.

Overall: 9.5/10 (Not an average)

Sure the game has faults but in my opinion it is the most fun fighting game for any system! I would recommend anyone to this wonderful game.