Sega Announces New Virtua Fighter Game

Key Takeaways

Sega confirmed a new Virtua Fighter game to join the roster of classic franchises getting new entries.
Fans suspected Virtua Fighter revival after teasers; Shuji Utsumi expressed franchise was overdue for a revival.
Virtua Fighter series involves traditional fighting game mechanics with rounds, knockouts, ring outs, and a limited control scheme.

Sega is working on a new Virtua Fighter game, keeping the classic fighting game series alive more than 18 years after the re-release of its most recent main-series title. Following a big announcement last December including several other classic game franchises, Sega is now adding Virtua Fighter to the list of Sega IPs getting new entries in the near future.

The Virtua Fighter series dates back to its original 1993 arcade game, which was ported to Sega Saturn in 1994 and 32X in 1995. A revolutionary 3D fighter and one of the company’s best-selling arcade games of all-time, Virtua Fighter was lauded as ahead of its time in terms of gameplay and presentation. While there have been four main-series sequels since that time, with the last being released for arcades in 2006 and on PlayStation 3 in 2007, the total franchise encompasses 24 different titles including special editions and mobile game versions, with the most recent game being an arcade-exclusive release that was made available in 2023.

Sega Could Get the Lion’s Share of the Fighting Game Genre if Rumors Are True

Sega hasn’t been active in the realm of fighting games for quite some time, but the publisher’s rumored return to the genre could be a big deal.

At The Game Awards 2023, Sega revealed it was bringing back classic franchisesJet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi, Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, and Shinobi. Now Virtua Fighter will be joining the ranks of those classic Sega franchises that have new games on deck. In an interview with VGC, Sega global head of transmedia Justin Scarpone listed Virtua Fighter among several other previously mentioned classic game franchises that the company is currently working on drawing up new entries for. “So we have a suite of titles in development right now that fall into that legacy bucket, which we announced last year at The Game Awards; Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, Streets of Rage, Shinobi, and we have another Virtua Fighter being developed,” he said during the interview.

Sega Adds Virtua Fighter to its Revived Franchises List

While exciting for fans of the fighting game franchise, the news is not completely unexpected among the Sega faithful. Fans believed Sega was teasing a Virtua Fighter game in early October. At that time, Sega’s official Twitter page posted a short video of an older Virtua Fighter game under the word “SE6A,” leading fans to believe that word was alluding to a future Virtua Fighter 6. Despite Scarpone’s recent comments, there has been no official statement that the game in development will be a main-series title or about what form it will take.

That wasn’t the first time that Sega had addressed a Virtua Fighter revival’s possibility. While it wasn’t included in the showcase at The Game Awards 2023, some fans had been expecting a Virtua Fighter tease during the awards ceremony based on pre-show marketing from Sega that used the same stylized font as the Virtua Fighter games. Additionally, Sega of America CEO Shuji Utsumi had made comments that the franchise was past-due for a revival.

Virtua Fighter

Virtua Fighter[nb 1] is a series of fighting games created by Sega AM2 and designer Yu Suzuki. The original Virtua Fighter was released in December 1993[1] and has received four main sequels and several spin-offs.

Similar to most other fighting games, the default gameplay system of the Virtua Fighter series involves two combatants needing to win two of three rounds, with each round being 30 seconds long or more. Combatants utilize various attacks in an attempt to deplete the other fighter’s stamina gauge and deal a knockout (K.O.), winning a round. If a character is knocked out (or falls out) of the ring, their opponent wins the round in a Ring Out.

An extra round is necessary if a double knockout (both players knocking each other out at the same time) occurs in a previous round and the match is tied one round each. In this round, players fight on a small stage wherein one hit is enough to knock the other out and achieve victory.

The basic control scheme is simple, using only an 8-way control stick and three buttons (Punch, Kick, Guard). Through various timings, positions, and button combinations, players input normal and special moves for each character. This allows extensive lists of moves to exist for a given character within the limited control scheme.

Traditionally, in the single-player mode, the player runs a gauntlet of characters in the game (which may include one’s doppelgänger) all the way to the final boss.

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