What's so bad about Virtua Fighter on Saturn?

[Da_Shocker]

Fighters Megamix has been tossed in the obscure bin like everything else not named Sonic or some Genesis compilation.

[Barone]

People say the 32X was better because it was a more solid port. Everyone knew the graphics would need to be scaled back for the 32X, and they were. But they were good, and not a flickery mess like the Saturn port. The controls were solid, the sound was solid. It was simply a better port any way you look at it. The Saturn port was crap... you can tell not by comparing it to the 32X port, but by comparing it to the update they did a little later which shows how the first port SHOULD have been, but wasn't. The update is far superior to the 32X version... and so should have been the first version of the port.

This. And the unexpected widescreen support as a bonus.

The 32X version is considered good because it makes good use of the hardware. Its as good as it gets, supposedly. The Saturn version is considered crap because it barely uses the Saturn Hardware. Basically, it could be 10 times better, technically, and much closer to the arcade version. The same thing applies for Virtua Racing.

It's not that simple.
Virtua Fighter on the Saturn flickers as much as if the VDPs were having epileptic seizures. The 32X version simply doesn't have that problem.
Yes, the polygon count is higher on the Saturn version but IMO the flickering polygons are much noticeable and that's why it was so criticized at the time.
Also, I find the 32X version controls more responsive. Some moves are harder to pull off in the Saturn version.
The 32X version is clearly more polished in comparison.

Virtua Racing is a different story.
The Saturn version is a turd with very bad controls, awful handling, pathetic AI, graphical inconsistencies and very poor collision detection. It's nowhere near on par with the 32X version in terms of gameplay.
I've yet to find a racing games enthusiastic who advocates the Saturn version and a single gameplay video showing a proper racing line like you could do on the arcade or on the 32X or even on the MD.
Saturn's Virtua Racing is a travesty; its engine is completely off and fails to barely emulated what Virtua Racing was. And, no, it's bullshit when people say that the arcade racer wheel fixes it. Oh, and the engine noise is laughable. DEATH TO TIME WARNER INTERACTIVE!

[zetastrike]

Virtua Racing is a different story.
The Saturn version is a turd with very bad controls, awful handling, pathetic AI, graphical inconsistencies and very poor collision detection. It's nowhere near on par with the 32X version in terms of gameplay.
I've yet to find a racing games enthusiastic who advocates the Saturn version and a single gameplay video showing a proper racing line like you could do on the arcade or on the 32X or even on the MD.
Saturn's Virtua Racing is a travesty; its engine is completely off and fails to barely emulated what Virtua Racing was. And, no, it's bullshit when people say that the arcade racer wheel fixes it. Oh, and the engine noise is laughable. DEATH TO TIME WARNER INTERACTIVE!

I've owned and played VR on the MD, 32X, and Saturn and I have zero problems with the Saturn "version" (it's not a port). It was the last one I played and I did have a little bit of trouble getting through the three tracks the first time I played it, but I adapted quickly and now I can finish 1st with no problems. The additional tracks are cool and fun to drive through and the other cars are nice. The game looks nice, not as good as the arcade, but a higher poly count than the MD or 32X. Other than the lack of accuracy to the controls in the other versions, I don't see anything wrong with it as a game. It's just not really VR, but a different game that looks like it. I like it for what it is.

Checkered Flag on the Jaguar has horrible controls and plays like shit, VR on the Saturn is fine.

[A Black Falcon]

Virtua Racing is a different story.
The Saturn version is a turd with very bad controls, awful handling, pathetic AI, graphical inconsistencies and very poor collision detection. It's nowhere near on par with the 32X version in terms of gameplay.
I've yet to find a racing games enthusiastic who advocates the Saturn version and a single gameplay video showing a proper racing line like you could do on the arcade or on the 32X or even on the MD.
Saturn's Virtua Racing is a travesty; its engine is completely off and fails to barely emulated what Virtua Racing was. And, no, it's bullshit when people say that the arcade racer wheel fixes it. Oh, and the engine noise is laughable. DEATH TO TIME WARNER INTERACTIVE!

I know you hate it, but I very much disagree. Yes, Saturn V.R. is a great game! It's probably one of 1995's better racing games, too. There's a lot of competition there, and it isn't the best one of the year, but it's definitely quite good.

I've owned and played VR on the MD, 32X, and Saturn and I have zero problems with the Saturn "version" (it's not a port). It was the last one I played and I did have a little bit of trouble getting through the three tracks the first time I played it, but I adapted quickly and now I can finish 1st with no problems. The additional tracks are cool and fun to drive through and the other cars are nice. The game looks nice, not as good as the arcade, but a higher poly count than the MD or 32X. Other than the lack of accuracy to the controls in the other versions, I don't see anything wrong with it as a game. It's just not really VR, but a different game that looks like it. I like it for what it is.

Checkered Flag on the Jaguar has horrible controls and plays like shit, VR on the Saturn is fine.

Barone just can't get over that Saturn V.R. is more of a sequel than it is a port, and that it's more consoley in some ways. I don't mind those things at all.

[j_factor]

DEATH TO TIME WARNER INTERACTIVE!

That happened years ago...

[Dragonmaster Lou]

Part of the problem with VF on the Saturn was that it looked so bad compared to contemporaries on the PlayStation. VF1 looked primitive and flat compared to Tekken and Toshinden, even if it was superior when it came to gameplay (especially when compared to Toshinden).

This is mostly based on what I read/heard/etc. at the time, though. I never played VF1 on the Saturn, choosing instead to get a no-bundle Saturn when VF2 came out and went that way.

[j_factor]

But by the time Tekken and Toshinden came out, VF Remix was available. No reason to compare them to VF1. Though really, they shouldn't have bothered with VF1 Saturn in the West and gone straight to Remix instead.

[A Black Falcon]

VF1 was criticized right from when it first released, people didn't wait until Toshinden released to start criticizing VF1... and by the time Remix came out a few months later, peoples' disappointed first impressions of the Saturn were already set. Remix is basically just the first version with textures, though, so it's not too different. I'm sure it makes a few other visual enhancements, but it's the same basic game. And on that note, also, Virtua Fighter never was the most popular game in the West, using that as your initial pack-in here was probably a mistake... but yeah, so was releasing the original version. People wanted textures. They should have started with Remix, it'd have gone over a bit better.

[IrishNinja]

yeah, i remember that era too - never did understand the way Toshinden got gassed up. it's not a good fighter, and we'd already seen VF2 in arcades so it's not like simply being in 3D was unheard of.

[Moirai]

Tbh I've never noticed any control issues on VF1 Saturn. Then again I haven't played it on 32X in a while.

So is the 32X version good enough to warrant going through the trouble of getting a 32X up and running if you already have the more accessible Saturn version?

[Murphy245]

It was a rushed port like VF2 and VF3. And I always hated how Sega would rush out there games when Nintendo never would do that. The 32X port of VF is good for what that machine can do but now way in hell is it better than the Saturn port.

VF2 rushed??? i dont know what to say to this but i dont think you have played VF2 on the saturn.

[Barone]

I've owned and played VR on the MD, 32X, and Saturn and I have zero problems with the Saturn "version" (it's not a port). It was the last one I played and I did have a little bit of trouble getting through the three tracks the first time I played it, but I adapted quickly and now I can finish 1st with no problems.Checkered Flag on the Jaguar has horrible controls and plays like shit, VR on the Saturn is fine.

Barone just can't get over that Saturn V.R. is more of a sequel than it is a port, and that it's more consoley in some ways. I don't mind those things at all.

To say that it's not a port is just a very cheap excuse IMO.
Most of the people who bought the game when it was released was expecting a port of the arcade game and that's what the actual title suggests. The extra content was supposed to be a bonus, just like the extras in the 32X version.

Back in the days, it was advertised as the best version of Virtua Racing, which would be as close as possible to the arcade experience and all that bs. "The biggest and best Virtua Racing".
You can love it and find it the greatest racing game of all time, no problem.
But, it's a fact that the collision detection is off, the handling of the original cars are nowhere near to be like in the arcade/32X/MD versions, there are lots of clipping issues depending on the camera angle, the colors are off when compared to the arcade/32X versions, the AI is off, sound is a joke, etc...
It has pretty much all the same issues that the Time Warner's ports of Race Drivin' had (and it's probably using the same shitty engine).
The biggest advantage it has over Checkered Flag is the frame rate, the rest is not that better IMO.

The game completely failed to deliver what it was supposed to deliver. Oh but it delivered a lot of new tracks and "fun" cars? Great but it's not what Virtua Racing was about.
I'd have no problem with this game if it had been titled "M.G.R.: Mediocre Generic Racing" instead.

That happened years ago...

Good.

[Team Andromeda]

People say the 32X was better because it was a more solid port. Everyone knew the graphics would need to be scaled back for the 32X, and they were. But they were good, and not a flickery mess like the Saturn port. The controls were solid, the sound was solid. It was simply a better port any way you look at it. The Saturn port was crap... you can tell not by comparing it to the 32X port, but by comparing it to the update they did a little later which shows how the first port SHOULD have been, but wasn't. The update is far superior to the 32X version... and so should have been the first version of the port.

You're going OTT imo . For one thing in any Arcade port the 1st priority is for the game to play and move exactly like the Arcade game and VF on the Saturn did that: With every move and every frame perfectly captured in the Saturn version . The Saturn port was not crap at all and unlike the 32X version didn't have the luxury of shipping months after the host system 1st shipped or a super tight deadline Still the results are they for all to see anyone who thinks the 32X version looks better than the Saturn versions is speaking rubbish imo

At least Sega was kind enough to release VF Remix as an apology and give it away to early Saturn adopters for free

It wasn't given away free in Japan and it wasn't made as apology. It was made as an experiment of the new OS for the Saturn and getting ready for the VF II Port and also because SEGA wanted Virtual Fighter to come to ST-V to try and get extra sales on the cheaper Aracde Hardware, after seeing Tekken do so well on the System 12 board in local Arcades to that of Model 1

It was a rushed port like VF2 and VF3.

The Saturn port of VF II wasn't rushed out at all and again people go OTT over VF 3Tb on the Saturn . Its a near perfect port of the coin up and in a Japanese interview with Genki; Confirmed to be using 96% of the Arcade total polygons.

[j_factor]

Good.

But but... Taromaru

[Chilly Willy]

Still the results are they for all to see anyone who thinks the 32X version looks better than the Saturn versions is speaking the truth imo

FTFY

Did you even watch the videos? The 32X version has fewer polys for the characters, and uses a simple checkerboard for the floor, but it looks WAAAAAAAAAAAAAY better than the Saturn version! Just watch the damn videos!! The Saturn graphics are a horrid mess! More polys and a textured floor are worth nothing if they can't be displayed properly.

It wasn't given away free in Japan and it wasn't made as apology.

It most certainly was! Its shipping was accompanied by an apology from SOJ for the unspeakable garbage that was VF1.