I picked up Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution today, and just finished about a 4 hour session. In short: this game is a steal. It's being released under the Greatest Hits banner, which means that it's $20 at most places, and only $15 at Best Buy if you use the Gamers Gift card + $5 coupon. While I loved the gameplay of VF4, the jagged character images were painful to the eyes. This has been pretty much resolved with Evo. It looks fantastic. It truly holds it's own against other current fighters. As an extra, the game also features the original VF game, under the option Virtua Fighter 10th Anniversary. It's amazing how great this game still plays and feels. So for $15, you get nice high-res characters, the original VF, and a great fighter. It's a shame that this will probably have a quiet little release that will get hidden in the shadow of Soul Calibur II. -Dave
As great as I'm sure SC II will be, I'd be stunned if it's half the game VF4 is. The original VF4 graphics never bothered me, so what I consider the real advance in Evolution is the new Quest Mode. It keeps everything that was good about Kumite (rankings) and fixes what was wrong (endless matches with no goals other than avoiding demotion). Quest Mode is still endless matches, really, but moving through the various arcades and tournaments makes them seem meaningful. Also, it's easier to reach the rank one deserves since the opponents are limited to an appropriate range when earning the ranks in that range. SC II will be the game for parties, though, like the original. A novice wouldn't have much fun with an experienced VF4 player.
