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Virtua Fighter (series)
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==Legacy== ''Virtua Fighter'' is often considered to be the grandfather of 3D fighting games, with each iteration being noted for advancing the graphical and technical aspects of games in the genre. Even to this day, many 3D fighting game series such as ''[[Tekken]]'' and ''[[Dead or Alive (series)|Dead or Alive]]'' were influenced by ''Virtua Fighter ''. And while, sales-wise, the series has often fallen behind the other titles on [[Video game console|consoles]] (partly due to being released on underperforming consoles Sega Saturn and Dreamcast), the main games have always remained critically acclaimed titles. In particular, its fans note its more realistic, "tournament rules"-style gameplay (for instance, a loss can occur when a character is knocked out of bounds), which differentiated the first iteration from other fighting games at that time. It is also applauded for its depth, as each character has plenty of moves and strategies to learn, and that each character plays differently from the others. Additionally, the game is also known for its balance across all characters, such that a good user of one character can have a fair match against another good user of any other character. More generally, ''Virtua Fighter'' played a major role in popularizing [[3D computer graphics|polygonal 3D]] graphics. According to [[1UP.com|1UP]], the original ''Virtua Fighter'' was the first game to implement [[3D computer graphics|polygonal 3D]] human characters in a useful way, with [[Game physics|physics]]. For example, when "a character was hit in the head, they fell backwards as would realistically happen," and if "they were hit with a spin kick, they would spin away before hitting the ground," portrayed "in a realistic manner (where players could feel the impact when a character hit the ground and the character did not automatically bounce back up)."<ref name="1up_important">{{cite web|title=35. Virtua Fighter|work=The Essential 50: The Most Important Games Ever Made|publisher=[[1UP.com|1UP]]|url=http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3135123|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050122095554/http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3135123|archivedate=2005-01-22|accessdate=2014-12-26}}</ref> According to [[GameSpot]], ''Virtua Fighter'', as well as ''[[Virtua Racing]]'', popularized the trend of video games being rendered with 3D graphics, introducing it to a wider audience.<ref name="gamespot_vr">{{cite web|title=Virtua Racing β Arcade (1992)|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20100412225953/http://www.gamespot.com/gamespot/features/video/15influential/p13_01.html|work=15 Most Influential Games of All Time|publisher=[[GameSpot]]|accessdate=19 January 2014|year=2001}}</ref> ''[[Next Generation]]'' magazine, in 1995, referred to ''Virtua Fighter'' as "the most significant game of the 1990s" and stated it "is the biggest game in Japan since ''[[Super Mario World]]''."<ref name="hg101">http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/virtuafighter/virtuafighter.htm</ref> The developers continued to push technological boundaries with later games in the series. In {{vgy|1994}}, ''[[Virtua Fighter 2]]'' for the [[Sega Model 2]] featured characters and backgrounds [[Rendering (computer graphics)|rendered]] with [[Texture filtering|filtered]] [[texture mapping]], as well as animations produced using [[motion capture]] technology that had previously never been used by the [[video game industry]].<ref name="gamasutra.com"/> ''[[Virtua Fighter 3]]'', in [[1996 in video gaming|1996]], debuted the [[Sega Model 3|Model 3]] board, which featured graphical advances such as [[mipmap]]ping, [[Multisample anti-aliasing|multi-layer anti-aliasing]], [[trilinear filtering]] and [[specular highlight]]ing. At the time, ''[[Computer and Video Games]]'' magazine described it as "the most astounding display of [[Video game graphics|video game graphic]] muscle ever in the history of this industry" and compared its [[Real-time computer graphics|real-time graphics]] to [[Pre-rendering|pre-rendered]] [[Computer-generated imagery|CGI]] of that era.<ref name="cvg174"/> The developers of the game have also been considered rather meticulous, as shown by their removal of Taka-Arashi, the reason being that the hit detection was too difficult to calculate for the character in comparison to other characters.<ref>http://games.kikizo.com/features/sega_am2_vf5_videointerview.asp SEGA-AM2 Interview: Virtua Fighter 5</ref> The producers also held strong on their refusal to add an online mode to console versions of the games; because the gameplay relies so much on timing, any lag would ruin the experience, as expressed by ''VF5'' producer Noriyuki Shimoda in the February 2007 issue of ''[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]]'' when speaking of the PlayStation 3 port of ''VF5''. Eventually, with the Xbox 360 release of ''VF5'', Sega decided to add online capabilities via [[Xbox Live]]. The success of the Virtua Fighter series resulted in Guinness World Records awarding the series 7 world records in the Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008. These records include, "First Polygon Based Fighting Game", "First 3D Fighting Game", and "First Fighting Game for a 32-bit Console". According to [[Eurogamer]]: "One of Yu Suzuki's most enduring creations once christened every round of new arcade hardware, was a pioneer in 3D graphics and helped establish online fighting. All the while, beneath those achievements emerged a game of exceptional depth and nuance."<ref>Robinson, Martin, [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-06-13-virtua-fighter-5-final-showdown-review Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown Review], Eurogamer, 13 June 2012.</ref> [[1UP.com]] opined: "Due to its innovation, ''Virtua Fighter'' not only influenced competitors' games -- it basically created a genre. Technically, every 3D fighter that came after it owes ''Virtua Fighter'' for establishing that a 3D fighter could work. Even today, ''Tekken'' still takes inspiration from Sega's series."<ref>Leone, Matt, [http://www.1up.com/features/essential-50-virtua-fighter Essential 50: Virtua Fighter], 1UP.</ref> ''[[Game Informer]]'''s Andy McNamara stated: "It has always been my opinion that the ''Virtua Fighter'' series is the most intense and balanced of all the 3D fighters on the market. Its control scheme is intuitive, its pacing perfect, and its depth unmatched."<ref>McNamara, Andy, [http://www.gameinformer.com/cfs-filesystemfile.ashx/__key/CommunityServer-Components-PostAttachments/00-00-13-90-63/review_5F00_xml_5F00_display.html Virtua Fighter 5 PS3 Review], ''Game Informer.''</ref> [[IGN]] ranked ''Virtua Fighter'' as the 25th greatest game series of all time, explaining that "no other 3D fighter has equaled VF in terms of difficulty and depth."<ref>IGN Staff, [http://www.ign.com/articles/2006/12/05/the-top-25-videogame-franchises The Top 25 Videogame Franchises], IGN, December 4, 2006.</ref> Some of the [[Sony Computer Entertainment]] (SCE) staff involved in the creation of the original [[PlayStation (console)|PlayStation]] [[video game console]] credit ''Virtua Fighter'' as inspiration for the PlayStation's [[3D computer graphics|3D graphics]] hardware. According to SCE's former producer Ryoji Akagawa and chairman Shigeo Maruyama, the PlayStation was originally being considered as a [[2D computer graphics|2D]] focused hardware, and it wasn't until the success of ''Virtua Fighter'' in the arcades that they decided to design the PlayStation as a 3D focused hardware.<ref>{{cite web|last=Feit|first=Daniel|url=http://www.wired.com/2012/09/how-virtua-fighter-saved-playstations-bacon/|title=How ''Virtua Fighter'' Saved PlayStation's Bacon|publisher=''[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]''|date=2012-09-05|accessdate=2014-10-09|quote='''Ryoji Akagawa:''' If it wasn't for ''Virtua Fighter'', the PlayStation probably would have had a completely different hardware concept.}}</ref> [[Toby Gard]] also cited ''Virtua Fighter'' as an influence on the use of polygon characters, and the creation of [[Lara Croft]], in ''[[Tomb Raider]]''.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1410480.stm</ref> In the Sega music video game [[Project DIVA 2nd]], [[Vocaloid]] Megurine Luka can obtain a [[List of Virtua Fighter characters#Sarah Bryant|Sarah Bryant]] outfit for gameplay. Jacky Bryant and Akira Yuki appear in ''[[Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing]]'' as partners competing against other Sega characters in races. Akira Yuki, Sarah Bryant and Pai Chan appear as guest characters in [[Tecmo Koei|Tecmo Koei's]] ''[[Dead or Alive 5]]''.<ref>Richard Mitchell, [http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/05/virtua-fighters-akira-playable-in-dead-or-alive-5/ "Virtua Fighter's Akira playable in Dead or Alive 5"], [[Joystiq]], Mar 5th 2012. Retrieved June 8th, 2012.</ref><ref>David Hinkle, [http://www.joystiq.com/2012/06/05/dead-or-alive-5-enters-the-retail-arena-on-september-25/ "Dead or Alive 5 enters the retail arena on September 25"], [[Joystiq]], June 5th 2012. Retrieved June 9th, 2012.,</ref><ref>Stephany Nunneley, [http://www.vg247.com/2012/09/12/dead-or-alive-5-pai-chan-and-gen-fu-announced-via-famitsu/ "Dead or Alive 5 Pai Chan and Gen Fu Announced via Famitsu"] [[VG247]], Sept 12th, 2012. Retrieved Sept 17th, 2012.</ref> Followed by Jacky Bryant in ''[[Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate]]''. Akira Yuki, Pai Chan and Dural appear in the crossover RPG ''[[Project X Zone]]'', which features characters from [[Capcom]], [[Namco Bandai Games]], and Sega. In ''[[Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax]]'', Akira Yuki and Pai Chan appears as a guest boss where Akira is playable and Pai as assist.
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