It takes a bit of adjusting to - since it's hard to break the idea that you're not fighting in three dimensions within a Virtua Fighter game - but it actually feels quite good when you're in the heat of battle, especially for a Sega Genesis fighting game.
The movement options available to players are also fairly robust for a 2D fighter, with Virtua Fighter's high jumps still being a thing here, as well as the ability to crouch and advance, crouch and retreat, and more. Punch and guard initiate a grab, and hitting the kick button repeatedly gives you variations that allow you to perform different moves. Much like the Virtua Fighter we're used to, the Genesis version comes packed with a kick button, a punch, and a guard. Despite movement being limited to only the 2D plane, things feel surprisingly smooth. Gone are the side steps and rolls, and in their stead are back dashes and back rolls.
This version completely ditches the three dimensional battle system and turns Virtua Fighter into a traditional 2D fighting game ala Street Fighter. On March 4, 1997, the 2D version of Virtua Fighter 2 saw its launch on the Genesis. But for those who couldn't afford Sega's more expensive hardware (the Saturn), a way to play Virtua Fighter would ultimately end up on the company's 16-bit console, the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive. In December 1995, the 3D title made its way to the Sega Saturn in North America, bringing the arcade hit to home consoles. Sega AM2, the team behind its development, took roughly 12 months to get it wrapped up, and due to the game's head developer, Yu Suzuki, wanting to add texture to the graphics, the Sega Model 2 arcade system had to be built just to handle the project. Gameplay is also inspired by the original version, with many button combinations remaining unchanged.The original Virtua Fighter 2 saw its arcade release back in 1994. The arenas are all drawn according to the to the 32-bit titles (and even feature a small parallax scrolling trick to provide a slight 3D illusion), so are the characters, and the also features a lot of the same sound effects and music. While the fully polygonal environment of the arcade/saturn version were scratched in favor of regular sprites and side-scrolling camera due to obvious technological constraints (plus manufacturing costs ruling out the SVP chip used in Virtua Racing) and featuring only the 8 original characters in the series, the rest was directly taken or inspired by it's bigger brother. Sharing the name with the second title in Sega's seminal 3D fighter series, this 16-bit version brings the game to the world of 2D fighters. Will Akira's new techniques be enough to beat Wolf? Can Lau defend his title against his daughter Pai? Will Jacky rescue his sister Sarah, who has been brainwashed to kill him? Will Jeffry make enough money to track down the Satan Shark? And Kage, will he uncover if the mysterious Judgement 6 cartel is behind the tournament? All is yet to be seen. One year after the first edition of the World Fighting Tournament, won by Lau Chan, invitations are sent once again, this time to the second edition of the Tournament.