VF4 versus Tekken 4

According to IGN:

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The Fight Is On! Tekken 4 vs. Virtua Fighter 4
IGN's editors take a critical look at Sega's and Namco's hardcore fighting gems.

September 20, 2002 - In the mercurial arena of evolving 3D fighters, the flagship title fight between Sega and Namco always has been a hard-fought, brutal fisticuffs affair switching from every new iteration of each series. The loyalists on either side never budge an inch, growing more certain with each new version of their series. Some people prefer newer fighters, such as Dead or Alive or even Soul Calibur, while others swear by Capcom's latest highly animated 2D marvel in the Street Fighter series. However you see it, the battle always exists for the top 3D brawler, and Tekken and Virtua Fighter rank at top of the heap.

The best-known arguments are just, though they're often muddled by over-zealous gamers. Tekken purists claim, and rightfully so, Namco's fighter is layers deep with combos, juggle possibilities, and a technical finesse only acquired by masters. Also, the American public has largely embraced Tekken both in the arcades and at home, due to clever additions in the home versions. Tekken has all that and more, but it's also mechanical, retains a rather stiff quality in character movement, and lacks subtlety in its defensive scheme. Poke, poke, poke.

Virtua Fighter on the other hand is quick to get to grips with, arcade-friendly, and retains a depth in fighting styles. It's a subtle game that requires deep study since each opponent fights with a completely unique style. It also retains an equal measure of defensive and offensive character moves, keeping it highly balanced. The Virtua Fighter series, however, has been largely ignored by the American public due to its subtlety, and has been criticized as too simple, and in various versions has been rightfully attacked as being too "floaty," delivering annoying small arenas, and in VF3tb, offering an awkward extra button (for side-stepping).

Perhaps the part that's been hardest on gamers in the last couple of years, with the exception of the excellent Soul Calibur and perhaps DOA3, is that fighting games haven't grown much. After the same-old-same-old Tekken Tag Tournament and the lackluster Virtua Fighter tb, there is a lot of pent up desire for good, hardcore fighting from both sides. Tekken 4 and Virtua Fighter 4 definitely satisfy that demand.

With the beautiful debut of Sega's iconic Virtua Fighter 4 arriving on PlayStation 2 this past February and the recent import release of Tekken 4 in Japan, the system-pushing fighters from the classic arcade makers is on again, big time. IGN's three-person staff, Jeremy Dunham, David F. Smith and Douglass C. Perry, has taken a look at each new fighter, and we've each picked our favorite of the two. Naturally, we're comparing the American version of VF4 and the Japanese version of Tekken 4, and there may indeed be a few changes from the Namco camp when the US version arrives, but we expect very few.

--Douglass C. Perry



Douglass C. Perry -- I love to take the underdog position, which would normally be Virtua Fighter in this case. In this particular case, Tekken, which has been the PlayStation fighter since the get-go, has always been an excellent game that's grown each and every year, and the import version proves the series has grown and evolved, albeit inchingly. The slick 3D movement, wall juggles, and new character moves make for refreshing gameplay for the series, and the graphics and sound have come along accordingly.

But Virtua Fighter 4 has returned to its roots (specifically, Virtua Fighter 2) for a more pure and distilled Virtua Fighter experience. All the right changes have been made: Arenas are larger, sometimes walled in, the gravity has been tweaked, and the single-player modes, namely Kumite, are incredibly deep and addicting.


David Smith -- This is one of those questions, like home rule for Ireland, that has grown so complex as to become unanswerable. Luckily, nobody has started shooting anyone over it. Yet. When Tekken 4 arrives in the United States, we will see what happens.

We can all have our little opinions, however, providing violence doesn't ensue, and mine favors Virtua Fighter 4, simply for how much it's done to become a worthwhile single-player game. Tekken has the usual stack of cool ending movies, and Tekken Force mode is still an amusing diversion, but it hits the usual wall once you've unlocked everything. VF4's Kumite mode stretches out its rewards over a much longer period of time, and the opponent AI puts any other effort in the genre to shame, with a huge difficulty curve and real variation to the CPU's various styles of play. Competitively, you pick 'em, but VF4 is a far better game to play alone.


Jeremy Dunham -- I've been a Tekken guy for the last couple of years. Easier to get into, faster, and definitely prettier than the Virtua Fighter series, the Mishima brand of fighting was always a better time for me.

This year however, I find myself in a much rougher spot. Tekken 4 is still a user-friendly, drop-dead gorgeous, feature-packed experience that should send every fighting fan on the planet into a frenzy. But there's just something about the Kumite mode in Virtua Fighter 4 that forces me to go back to it almost every day. Simulated arcade opponents and customizable characters give Sega's granddaddy slugger the slight edge. What could be cooler than whipping Jacky's ass turbo-style with Lion in poorly coordinated brown pants and an oversized cowboy hat?

The voting was simple, really: It came down to which we wanted to play more, which one brought us back more often, which has changed the most from its last iteration. It was certainly non-scientific, casual, and will certainly be revisited is Namco alters the North American version. But After having far too much fun playing these games repeatedly, each editor cast his vote, and the unanimous winner is Virtua Fighter 4.

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Conclusion: Since the editors aren't able to judge either game based purely on gameplay mechanics (they don't know enough), the "winner" is the game with the stronger first player experience. It looks like AM2's efforts paid off.

 

well i agree that the fight is definitely on ,but tekken is imo severely outclassed.
I recently bought the home version of t4 (uk pal) and i must say that im quite dissapointed in it,i did give the game a good chance(i played the shit out of it for hours on end) but i just expected a bit more. They have dumbed it down also i used to be an absoloute tekken fanboy i would'nt pay no attention to non tekken branded games until i bought vf4 just to pass the time for tekken4 and it blew my expectations away.

It's not all bad though the movelists are massive some are up to 3 times bigger than vf4 more moves than any one person could know.

But my verdict on this topic is that virtua fighter 4 easily kicks the shite out of tekken4.Tekken may have more moves but they are well too easy to access even for the mediocre button bashing scum of the universe,and in my experiences so far the only people who prefer t4 are button bashers,all my mates claim that virtua fighter is too hard to get to grips with.

and one last thing, i have just learned how to succesfully prform SPoD and its a lot more satisfying than nailing a ten string combo,virtua is simply a more rewarding to the player and infinitely more well balanced

 

What is obvious about editors and reviewers in many magazines is that they fail to see how big the game is (vf4) in japan and asia. I guess that doesn't factor in anything. I don't really think they know how big vf4 is in asia. Everything is always based on one player experience. Us hardcore vf4 players know it's mostly the two player experience.

 

Well i would consider myself as a hardcore vf fan (but not a professional one)and the game has a very good lifespan in 1 player there is potentially years of gameplay on offer but your right its easy to tire of kícking the crap of the computer but that does not stop me /versus/images/icons/grin.gif

 

And as far as i know vf is big in the states and asia but sega should really try to make it big in europe the vf scene here in the north of ireland vf does not even exist.Im the only irish vfer i know..period... /versus/images/icons/frown.gif

 

<cringe> lackluster VF3 TB??? How can a game that was played competitively for over 6 something years be lackluster???!

 

Since the editors aren't able to judge either game based purely on gameplay mechanics (they don't know enough)

One additional comment: very few people are actually qualified to make a valid comparison between both games, even the majority of posters on say, VFDC and Zaibatsu.

 

"Jeremy Dunham -- I've been a Tekken guy for the last couple of years. Easier to get into, faster, and definitely prettier than the Virtua Fighter series"

WTF?? prettier??? oh god....

 

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WTF?? prettier??? oh god....

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Well in that guy's defense he probably only ever seen Tekken on the PS/PS2. Namco has always done a pretty good job of "spiffying" things up for the console -- Tekken has always looked like crap in the arcades thogh. Personally, I feel that VF has always outclassed tekken in aesthetic.


cheers,
kbcat

 

I never understood why the typical reviewer always winds up saying that Tekken has a lot of depth, more so than VF. 10-hits don't constitute depth, nor do super-multi throws. Technical complexity, yes -- and in that respect I think Tekken has more. But depth, depth is having played the game for 2 or more years and you're still finding things new and interesting. VF has always had that for me -- especially VF3.

"too floaty" -- what kind of crap is that? It's the "floatiness" that I like about the VF series. I always felt I would have enjoyed Tekken or Soul Calibur more if they have Float systems more in line with VFs.


arrgh,
kbcat

 

There's another key bit the game reviewer obviously missed out on...

The loyalists on either side never budge an inch, growing more certain with each new version of their series.

I've been surprised by the number of people who have come onto the board and IRC and said "the game went straight to hell past TTT, 4 is garbage and I've given up on the series." - a number have openly said the lack of balance and obviously-broken stuff in TK4 has driven them to VF even though they've enjoyed tekken for years.

I suppose it's possible someone, somewhere on zaibatsu says "I gave up on the series after VF3TB, four is crap, I hate it"... but I doubt it. The game has progressed in sort of irregular way and I can't picture someone loving 2 and/or 3 and hating 4. Well, it's happened at least once, but beyond that...


Also, wouldn't it have been nice if they'd done a bit on vf.net even though this is a US mag. The items in PS2 are fine, but the whole ranking system and taunts from japanese vf.net is awesome.

 

interesting although i have to say the way they compared it was wrong, i mean comparing a fighting game through single player experience, IMO its like saying i prefer to play a fighting game by myself, and challenges from other people are unaccepted, well like you said Ice very few are qualified to compare both games, one things i fail to see is how they came to the conclusion that tekken is deeper, i mean in a sense both have depth, but since both games game mechanics are quite different their approach in in-game depth are different, so IMO i think the depth issue proves inconclusive at them time, the only thing i probably agree with them is how they liked kumite mode, kumite mode is by far one of the biggest change in fighting games as opposed to tekken's tekken bowl and beach ball which really has nothing to do with fighting, i guess what i'm trying to say that while i think VF should win the way they constucted their test is not enough to fully tackle both games differences. and also they're conclusion is based on one country alone, IMO as far as gaming comparisons are concerned other contries should be involved in their tallies and comparison.

 

Prettier? No way, Tekken4 world is to cartoony, I hate that, and facial motion is far more impressive.

I got all char. in one day while in VF4 I didan´t see all items in few mounts. VF always suprice me

As for deaph, I invited friend who never seriusly played tekken series while I was T2 and T3 veteran and he was doing fine while in VF4 he cant even touch me.

 

I wholeheartedly agree with Ice-9. These reviewers aren't that informed about both games to make a true comparison. Many of them seem like "casual" fans of the fighting genre. TTT was the last decent offering in the Tekken series IMO. This was due to the numerous hidden extras that came with the PS2 edition. However, once you've unlocked every hidden character, seen all the FMV endings, and played through Tekken force mode (once), what else is there? The replay value pales so much in comparison to VF4, it's astounding.

 

TTT and VF4 are a better comparison. Both games had incredible depth and you could take your game play to very high lvls. While VF is more balanced and a thinking mans game in my opinion, TTT is not too far behind(It has it moments). But Tekken 4 is a disgrace. Instead of making TTT better they took it, and made everything the could worse. THe game dosent even look all that hot. Tekken 4 isnt even in the same league as VF4.

BTW, something I just thought of, all you FLorida haters out there should note this, If it werent for Tekken 4 being a piece of shit, we would still be playing tekken lol JK

 

No one hates the FLCrew, maybe you just got the wrong impression. Hey, I personally feel the FLCrew are dopeness with dedication up the ass. And if you really believe that the main reason you're playing VF4 is because of T4 turn out to be a joke then you're fouling yourself. And also maybe being too conceded with your post is the reason why some people don't like your FLCrew. LOL

 

Hey Jedi, I don't hate the florida crew. lol. anyways, there's a vf4 vs. sc2 discussion in www.soulcalibur.com if anyone cares to join in. There are lots of misguided people on there. Join in if you guys are bored. If not, no sweat. Keep playing vf4. Later guys.

 

Or don't. There's one VF4 advocating tard stirring up a flame war. "I play VF4 which I prefer in every way, I've played SC2 for a week and I'm deeply dissapointed in my opinion."

Oh, sage discussion from the VF4 advocate indeed. /versus/images/icons/wink.gif

 

it was just a joke Kung-fu, Just a joke.
Plus there are still a handful of florida haters left but we dont sweat it. It was just a fun poke. Sorry if it sounded arrogant.

 

I have not played tekken 4 yet but I think it may be relevant information if I say that egm gave it a 7.0 a 6.5 and a 5.5....they gave vf4 nines I believe. This is of course the review crew's opinions but with 3 reviewers at least one of em must be on the right track at least right? Im too lazy to go off and say what their comments were excactly