MAGAZINE: Electronic Gaming Monthly PUBLISHER: Ziff-Davis Media DATE: June 2002 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Afterthoughts: Virtua Fighter 4 Hailed by many fighting-game cognoscenti as the deepest 3D brawlers around, the Virtua Fighter series is now in its fourth installment, but it blazes a trail on a non-Sega console for the first time. To find out what makes this brawler tick, we sat down with the man who taught you how to punch in 3D. Read what he has to say about his latest masterpiece, as well as Shenmue II and a possible Fighting Vipers sequel. Yu Suzuki, would you please step into the ring? EGM: Now that you're finished with the Virtua Fighter 4 port for the Playstation 2, are you satisfied with the results? Suzuki: Before we started the conversion, we gave ourselves a set amount of time to reach our goals. I can say that we achieved everything we set out to do. EGM: Why did you take out Taka-Arashi? Surely there are Virtua Fighter 3 Team Battle players who miss their sumo-wrestler. Suzuki: Of all the characters, he would have had the hardest time being integrated to VF4. There's much more to implementing Taka than just putting collision detection on his skin. The reason for that is because when you hit his skin, you're not necessarily hitting "him," and to be honest, we didn't have enough time to make him work in VF4 That does not mean he won't be back. He could show up in the future. EGM: Why did you remove the undulating environments? Suzuki: We wanted to get back to making the game fun. We did a lot of research and surprisingly, most people said VF2 was their favorite in the series. So we decided to go back to flat arenas and a three- button layout. We think that this contributes to the most intense fighting, which is also why we added walls. I don't want people running away from this game. I want people to fight. EGM: Are you planning on working on a sequel to VF4? Suzuki: We have some things to finish before we start work on a sequel, but yes, I would like to work on a weapons fighter. EGM: Like Soul Calibur? You've mentioned before how that was the 3D fighter to beat. Suzuki: I can't give out too many details, but I can tell you that it might be in the Fighting Vipers universe. EGM: VF4 for PS2 looks pretty, but it ain't arcade-perfect. So how's that Xbox version coming along? [wink, wink] Suzuki: [looks over at Sega of Japan PR manager, mumbles something in his ear, laughs, turns to us] We can't say anything about that. EGM: Why did you remove the fourth dodge-button from Virtua Fighter Team Battle? Suzuki: We are considering bringing it back in the future. We wanted newcomers to the Virtua Fighter games to feel comfortable when they try it, and having fewer buttons was integral to that. That's not to say that having fewer buttons makes the game easier. If you think about it, having fewer buttons to control all the moves in Virtua Fighter is actually very complex. You have to know how to do the moves with fewer buttons, so in a way, it's very difficult. EGM: The increased low-punch priority has shifted the balance of the game. Can you explain why it's such a cheap and powerful move now? Suzuki: In the past, Virtua Fighter was more of a sim. In a sim, the low- punch, used from a squatting position, is a relatively weak move. To help the defensive options in VF4, we gave the move more power, moving the game away from a strictly simulation feel. The game was designed like a complex game of "rock, paper, scissors." If someone is low-punching, there are moves to negate the low-punch. EGM: Yeah, try telling that to Che "Cock Punch" Chou. How many items are unlockable in Kumite mode? We want Pai looking pretty. Suzuki: VF4 for PS2 has 400 items to unlock. But some of the items are different than the ones found in Japanese version of the game. EGM: Is Sarah still your favorite character? We saw you kicking someone's ass using Lei-Fei at last night's VF4 launch party. Suzuki: Yes, Sarah is still my favorite character to use if I'm playing against a skilled fighter. If I'm playing against someone who isn't so good at VF, I'll use Lei-Fei. EGM: How's Shenmue II for Xbox going? Suzuki: It's going very well! It's basically finished at this point. The storyline will remain largely the same, but the gameplay and events will recieve some tuning. It even looks better than the Dreamcast version! [Editor's note: DC Shenmue II was only released in Japan and Europe.] [SIDEBAR] YU SUZUKI: TEMPTATION OF A MONK "I always wanted to put a character who used Shaolin kung-fu into Virtua Fighter," said Suzuki, creator of Virtua Fighter. "I met a monk about 10 years ago who I became friends with. He was the inspiration for Lei-Fei, and I made him into a character who is both beautiful to watch and easy to use. With very little effort, you can perform more complicated-looking moves than if you used someone like, say, Shun Di."