Virtua Fighter (Arcade)

This page details pre-release information and/or media for Virtua Fighter (Arcade).

To do: The MacOS CD "Virtua Fighter The Beginning" has something else?, if so it would be nice to bring it to the page

VF1 Tech Demos#

These videos, titled "V.F.History" and "PROTOTYPE" were included in the Virtua Fighter History/VF4 disc distributed in the Shokai Genteiban version of Shenmue II in Japan. They showcase a series of tech demos Sega AM2 created during Virtua Fighter's development process, from their initial tests in animating humans through Virtua Racing up to animating full attack motions. It also shows a "polygon count test", where they evidently tested multiple polygon counts for their models to see how many they could use while still having the game run at a good frame rate.

Alpha Footage#

This video originates from a MacOS CD from 1996 titled "Virtua Fighter The Beginning". It shows alpha build footage of the game dated to the 10th of June 1993, about 4 months from its initial release in the US. An assortment of differences can be noted from the footage;

• The title screen is in an earlier state, featuring a different background resembling a blue sky and differently-colored logo with the slightly earlier name "Virtua Fighters". Said logo, however, features a zoom-in effect that isn't present in the final game.
• The "Push Start Button" text uses the Virtua Racing font.
• Debug information is present on the screen at the middle-right, presumably counting the number of polygons on screen.
• The announcer seems to be the same one as the final game, and the "Ready" and "Go" voice clips are certainly the same, but the other heard voice clips like the round number and K.O. call-outs are different.
• A single song plays throughout the fights seen in the video, featuring a composition not present in the final game.
• An assortment of characters are present who aren't in the final game at all. Of these characters, Lau and Kage can be seen who did make it to the final game. A character resembling Street Fighter's Guile is present, who may be an preliminary version of the unused character Jeff. Another character resembling the other unused character Majido is also seen that may be a preliminary version as well.
• Two stages are seen; a desert stage that may be an earlier version of Lau's stage, and a beach stage that may be an earlier version of Jacky's. Unlike their final equivalents, these stages have 3D-modelled backgrounds.
• All characters use the same animations, including Dural's idle pose and Akira's win pose, and presumably the same moveset.
• The defense animation is noticeably different.
• All the ground hit animations are static. Strangely, these versions of the animations were used for the game's home versions, including the Sega Saturn, 32X & PC ports of the game.
• The punch, kick and hit sounds are slightly different.
• Flying Kick has a tiger growling sound that isn't heard in the final game, it remains unused in the Sound Test under the name of "tigar".
• Gameplay balancing is not finalized at this point, with basic punches and kicks doing much more damage and follow-ups than the final game.
• The replay camera does not exist at this point, instead it does a smooth close-up to the winner of the round.
• The win theme here is the "Game Over" theme in the final game, albeit lacking the voice sample.

Design Documents#

Also included in "Virtua Fighter The Beginning" are some design documents for the game, describing some interesting details that were never included in this game nor future entries.

This page, though currently untranslated, seems to describe who were to be the antagonists of the game. It identifies the unused boss characters present in the final game as the Koskol Brothers, Score, Rekka and Aeon respectively, who are working for the Red Scorpion Organization.

This also untranslated page seems to describe the planned hierarchy for the game's boss characters. The aforementioned Koskol Brothers form the highest known ranks of the Red Scorpion Organization, though an unknown figure has jurisdiction over them. Dural is listed under one of the Koskol Brothers as being connected to them, presumably being intended as their creation. The game's other unused characters are listed below them, intended as sub-bosses in the final game and seemingly working for the Red Scorpion Organization as well. Sarah Bryant is listed under Jeff here, described as the person who kidnapped and brainwashed her.

With these boss characters being scrapped from the game, most of this material has not come up in future entries. In place of the Red Scorpion Organization, Judgement 6 is instead the overarching antagonist, being shown as responsible for Dural and Sarah's kidnapping in later games.

AMS Show '93 Build#

At the Amusement Machine Show 1993 between the 26th and 28th of August, a "20% complete" prototype build of Virtua Fighter, still under its earlier name of "Virtua Fighters" was shown alongside an early build of Star Wars Arcade. Due to the privacy of this showcase, such that it didn't allow photography, little footage or screenshots of this build exists, however some details have been shared through publications of the event;

• Two of the final game's roster were playable; Lau Chan (Known at this point as Lee) and the scrapped character Majido (Known at this point as Shiba).
• Other characters in the roster were apparently present and had earlier names at this point.
• Unique moves per character were not implemented yet, but the basic combos (Such as P,P,P,K) were present.

EGM Character Select Screen#

Issue 51 of EGM shows an early character select screen. Some characters have different names and Majido is present here.

Among the notable name differences are;

AOU Show '93 Build#

A prototype of the game, still referred to as "Virtua Fighters" by this point, was shown at the AOU Show 1993 that seems to match the one shown in the EGM magazine. The build used here is claimed to be "50% complete". Some clear visual differences can be identified from this build, including:

• A total time counter is shown upon winning a Vs. match.
• The replay camera does a unique rotation that isn't in the final game.
• The character select is different from the final game, matching one-to-one with the EGM magazine.
• No camera pan is done at the start of the match.
• The announcer seems to be the same as the final game but with different recordings.
• At this point, moves like Crescent, Sweep, Hop Hammer (and presumably Knee) were still universal, but with Hop Hammer & Jumping Straight being able to be used at higher heights.
• Jumping Straight animation is very different and quicker than the final.
• The music, though difficult to confirm through the recording, seems to have a composition unlike anything heard in the final game. In fact, it actually seems to be the same song from the alpha build. Although the first seconds of the footage seems to have a resemblance to Akira's theme.

Another reported feature this build had was a barcode scanning option. Influenced by Japan's fad around the time regarding barcode scanners, if one had any kind of product on their person with a barcode on it, they could scan it into the game and be rewarded with an in-game buff for the next match, with the strength of the buff depending on the product's brand. This was cut from the final game with no currently known remnant of it in the code.

Misc.#

Virtua Fighter's most recognizable character and protagonist, Akira Yuki, was seemingly not originally meant to be in the game. He was added to the game at the last-minute, taking over the roster spot that Majido had held throughout the game's development. This may have always been intended to be the case, however, as aside from Akira having a very large amount of unique moves for a last-minute addition, the aforementioned design documents suggest that Majido was intended to be a mid-boss in the arcade ladder.