A stunningly gorgeous, intricate fighting game experience. I’ve long been impressed with its smooth gameplay and animations, at least on every platform that’s not the Sega Genesis; it’s a game I can always count on to jump into for at least a few rounds. People clown on this game a bit, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t slightly suspect its inclusion in the Yakuza games to have warped this game’s legacy for some.

But as with all Yu Suzuki games, Virtua Fighter is somewhat unconventional, with a weird three button control scheme (with one of the buttons being block). The AI absolutely cheats past a certain point, like in every arcade game, but I think it’s way more doable than MK2 Arcade. The characters seem hella grounded when compared to basically any other fighting game franchise, and I think it adds to the classic Kung Fu movie vibe it has. I beat the game as the apparently bottom-tier drunken master Shun Di, so hey, maybe you can beat it too.

I might pump the brakes on these fighting game reviews, or I might play them until I get totally burnt out. We’ll see what the Conmental Health decides. 😎