Not that this reviewer is complaining. Far from it. Is there anything then to grizzle about with Sega's latest offering, Virtua Fighter 4? Perhaps...

To the uninitiated but eager fight fans out there, what's the big deal?

VF4 is Sega's first fighting offering for the PS2. The series started in the arcades back in 1993 and was an instant success worldwide. The move from sprites to polygons had tilted the gaming world on it's head - or at least given it depth. The fighting system was simple, punch, kick, block, yet contained dozens of moves for each fighter. Over the years several versions and sequels were made and enjoyed much success, but with the collapse of the Dreamcast, Sega needed to resettle the orphaned project within a new home. Enter the PS2.

Until now the PS2 has enjoyed a rather mixed bag of fighting games. Tekken Tag Tournament enjoyed some applause but equally weathered some criticism for being too much like it's older sibling Tekken3. Capcom's Street Fighter EX2 while pseudo 3D also suffered from poor programming resulting in some unwanted slow motion action. Dead or Alive 2 however revived a subdued market with it's Cleavage-Heavy females, and exciting gameplay. Other games slipped onto the scene, quietly coming & going with little fanfare. It became apparent that a pattern was forming, and it did not bode well for the PS2. None of these games were 'deep'. That is to say that they did not require a great expenditure of effort and time to master. Tekken Tag being the exception, but with it's ancestor being so similar it offered too little to be taken seriously again.

Sega it seemed had designed VF4 to step back from the Button Bashing masses and instead attract those that had long since mastered past fighting games. If that was their intention, then they succeeded entirely. Many gamers will happily sit down for an hour or two with a mate and simply stab randomly at the buttons, content in the wild, random and sometimes spectacular results. VF4's approach then will quickly disappoint such frenzied fingers as its combat system demands precise control and timing. Randomly pressing buttons will typically offer the odd punch, or kick, but will not produce the bonanza of entertainment so easily found in other games. VF4 does not reward such chaotic execution. It rewards SKILL. Therein is it's greatest strength and weakness.