Virtua Fighter Kids
Saturn * Sega

Review by Michael Vafeas
8.5

Is there anyone out there who can deny that Virtua Fighter 2 is one of the best fighting games ever made? I didn't think so. You may not particularly like to play Virtua Fighter 2, but you have to admit it's graphically beautiful, sonically pleasing, and furiously action-packed. With that in mind, Sega decided "Whaddya say we make all the fighters anime-style children and add a move or two? That way, we could technically have another Virtua Fighter game out by Christmas." Well, words turned into actions, and Virtua Fighter Kids is out on the shelves, and has to be one of the most unique and useless games out there today.

When I first saw pictures of this game in one of those mediocre mags that people like to pay lots of money for, I thought "Well isn't this cute? A bunch of children beating the crap out of each other...and look at those adorable expressions." The game looked, in all its childish cuteness, cool, or at least a tad interesting. I absolutely loved Virtua Fighter 2 and if the kids played like their moms and dads, we've got a winner on out hands, or so I thought.

Let's start with the graphics, shall we? Texture mapped polygons make up the fighters as well as the floors, and the backgrounds remain static pictures. The kids are mimics of their older versions with shortened limbs and disproportionally oversized heads. One of the most interesting features of the game (which was greatly expanded in Virtua Fighter 3) was the addition of changing facial expressions. I still laugh every time a second player enters the battle in the middle of a match with the computer, at which point both fighting kids turn and face the screen with their mouths wide open, as if they were saying "Who in the world is that?!?" The eyes squint, the mouths open and frown, and the eyebrows move as well. In all, just watching the faces for a while is interesting in itself.

The sound effects and music in this game are like that of Virtua Fighter 2, but in kiddie-style. The music is cutesy and the voices are sped up so that they sound like...well...kids. This sound editing works well now and then, but occasionally becomes tiresome, and then annoying. After about an hour or two of playing, the sound of baby Pai's voice makes me want to jam a sharp, pointy object into my ear, but to avoid the mess I just turn off the volume. The sounds seem to work, but they don't do much more than that.

The game play is similar to that of Virtua Fighter 2, but you can't rely on the reach of long arms and limbs anymore. It's too bad the huge heads weren't used more. Two modes of play and a bunch of options are bundled in this disc. In addition, Virtua Fighter Kids can be played in either Normal or Kids control. The difference: Normal is just like Virtua Fighter 2; Kids doesn't require the pushing of directional buttons during the combos. Since it plays like Virtua Fighter 2, Kids has superior playability, and strategy that puts most other games to shame.

I was confused, however, with how the kids were portrayed. They're more like miniature Virtua Fighter people than actual children, I mean, just look at them. For a 7-year-old, Sarah has one helluva chest, and Shun Di looks like a midget. Oh well, I guess they had to do something silly, as if the hilarious intro and ending cinemas weren't enough.

In all, it's hard to rate this game. It doesn't really differ too much from Virtua Fighter 2, but in a way it does. Nothing like this has even been heard of in a 3-D fighter. It plays well, sounds good, and makes you laugh. Sounds like a winner to me, but I recommend you rent it first because this game is definitely not for everyone.


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