(Please note: the referrences in this review to JAMMA's review, pertain to the review found in Eidolon)
Okay, I was going to wait a bit longer before writing my review, but after seeing
JAMMA's review, I felt I should go ahead and give you mine. First of all, I agree
with most of his negative comments about the game, but I feel that they don't
detract from the game as much as he feels, and I also would like to note many
of the positive features that he failed to mention.
In the graphics department, there is a lot of pop-out, but most of this only
happens during replays or when the 'camera' is zooming in at the beginning
of the fight. There is very little of this pop out in the actual fighting during the
game. In general, the graphics are much better in VF Kids than in VF2. The
polygons' and backgrounds appear much crisper and cleaner than in VF2.
As for the FMV sequences, they are not anywhere close to the standards
set by Namco with Tekken2, but it is the cleanest and best looking FMV on
the Saturn to date.
The music is your basic Virtua Fighter stuff, which, is not really a strong
point in this series, but the quality is excellent. The voices which are basically
just sped up versions of the VF2 voices are now crystal clear, and no longer
mumbled like in VF2 for the Saturn, a major improvement.
If it were just the improvements in the sound and graphics, VF Kids would not be
worth getting, but Sega has added much more.
First and foremost, there are different endings for each and every character
including Dural (code: at select screen - d, u, r, a+l). The endings are
not only graphically impressive, but some are extremely hilarious. It may not be
enough to warrant a purchase, but it definitely warrants a rental, just so you can see
them. Please also note, that once you see the ending for that character, it is saved
in your memory, so you can view it any time that you want to in the future.
Another cool addition found in VF Kids is the ability to program your own moves,
special moves, and combos. You can program a move, or use one of the ten
pre-programmed moves, and assign it to one button. This will let you do any
move or combo with the press of one button. For example, the ever popular
Akira's SPOD (tip: p+k+g , back , down+p+k, down, forward+p) can be
programmed to be used with the press of one button. I know what some of you
are saying, 'real gamers don't use cheats', that maybe true, but it is definitely a
great option to have for the lesser skilled gameplayers.
Sega has also improved the computer AI in VF kids over VF2. Now you can no
longer just repeatedly press the punch button and beat Jeffrey. And in general, all
of the computer controlled fighters are tougher than before, at least in the later stages.
Which brings up another cool new option, which is the random order of your challengers.
With the default settings, the challengers appear in a random order, no more of the same
fighters in the same order as in VF2 (although, if you want you can set the options to have
it that way).
So do I recommed that you buy this game? Well that depends. If you have Virtua Fighter 2,
you need to decide for yourself if the options that I mentioned are worth the purchase. If you are
on a limited budget and can't afford every 3D fighter that comes out, I would recommend
that you just rent VF Kids and wait for Fighting Vipers or Last Bronx. If you don't have
VF2, buy VF Kids, its the best 3D fighter for any home console system right now.
Overall: 10/10