Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. News

Sega revives Virtua Fighter 2, other classics for the holidays

Earnest Cavalli
By
Fighting Vipers screenshot
Image used with permission by copyright holder

If you spent any amount of time in an arcade in the early- to mid-90s, you’re likely well aware of Sega’s prominence in the field of giant, noisy video game machines. The company has been one of the biggest arcade game developers since the early years of the industry, and it remains one of the few companies still churning out arcade games to this day. Given how many arcade titles Sega has made over the years, it’s to be expected that some of them would be lost to the sands of time, but today we’re happy to report that Sega has officially revealed its plans to revive three of its classic arcade fighting titles for modern consoles.

According to a new entry on Sega’s official blog, Virtua Fighter 2, Sonic the Fighters and Fighting Vipers are all scheduled for release on Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network in mere days (November 27 for PlayStation users and November 28 for Xbox 360 devotees). All three titles will feature a $5 price tag, regardless of which platform you purchase them on, and while that paltry amount isn’t enough to warrant a fully-upgraded re-release of these games, each will feature “support for full online multiplayer and achievements/trophies” on top of the otherwise arcade-perfect ports of these classic games. Unfortunately, as you can see from that Fighting Vipers screenshot at top, while the resolution of each of these games was increased to match modern gaming machines, none of the now-archaic art assets were reworked, resulting in arcade-accurate, yet arguably unattractive letterboxing during gameplay. We sent Sega an email to ask if these games will offer any other viewing modes, but have yet to hear back.

Recommended Videos

So, you read through all of the above and have become substantially psyched for these releases before realizing that you’ve never heard of these games before. Alright, Virtua Fighter 2 is familiar, but what the heck are Sonic the Fighters and Fighting Vipers? Sega’s blog offers an official synopsis of each:

Sonic the Fighters

Related

Sonic the Fighters’s arrival in arcades in 1996 offered players a first-ever opportunity to take to the ring with characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog series, including Tails, Knuckles, and Amy Rose. Players had to battle their way through eight stages to collect chaos emeralds and once again thwart the evil plans of Dr. Robotnik and Metal Sonic!

Fighting Vipers

Fighting Vipers came to arcades and the SEGA Saturn the following year, in 1996, adding a new concept that was a fighting game first: destructible armor. Players could maximize their damage dealt by destroying an opponent’s protective gear, and could then finish the round by punching or kicking the other player right through the arena’s walls.

Those are pretty accurate descriptions, though most players view Virtua Fighter 2 as the real gem here. All three games actually play relatively similarly to one another owing to their similar gameplay engines, but Fighting Vipers lacks a necessary amount of polish and Sonic the Fighters was never really seen as anything more than a novelty fighter aimed at rabid fans of Sega’s most famous mascot. Completionists or those who refuse to admit that arcades are dead will want to nab all three titles, especially given that the entire lot can be had for a mere $15, but those of you who are new to the polygonal fighters created by Sega’s AM2 development wing should probably stick solely with Virtua Fighter 2.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Earnest Cavalli
Earnest Cavalli
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Earnest Cavalli has been writing about games, tech and digital culture since 2005 for outlets including Wired, Joystiq…
How to beat Mother Mind in Remnant 2
Three characters shoot at a boss in Remnant 2.

Remnant 2 comes with a pretty substantial number of bosses to take on across its various biomes, and some playthroughs will yield different encounters than others. So if you come across The Nameless Nest in Yaesha during your travels, you'll soon find yourself facing off against an optional boss named Mother Mind. This huge creature looks pretty scary, and if you're not sure how to handle the fight, it can put an end to the battle quite quickly by making you fall to your death. However, we'll share with you some tips for taking on Mother Mind and making the most of its big, ugly weak spot so you can drop this monster and get on with your business.
How to beat Mother Mind
Mother Mind is a mix between a standard DPS-driven boss battle and a mechanics-based encounter, meaning you'll need to dish out plenty of damage while also watching out for the enemy's special move that can send you spiraling down to an instant death. Because of this, be sure you're prepared to stay mobile and understand how to sprint and jump before entering the door to the creature, as you're going to be doing a lot of both.

The boss battle against Mother Mind takes place in a large, circular arena with a total of four stone platforms. You'll walk through the door facing the boss, and you can instantly begin firing at the cross-shaped weak spot on his face, getting in as much damage as possible right off the rip. If you have the Hot Shot weapon mod (or any mod that will grant additional damage per bullet), the beginning of this fight is a great time to pop it and move things along.

Read more
How to beat The Corrupter in Remnant 2
Remnant II Many Faces boss fight.

As you push through each of Remnant 2's biomes, you'll eventually come to a point where you'll have to face down one of its two possible final bosses. In the case of Yaesha, you're likely to run into The Corrupter, a hulking monstrosity that floats around the back of a battlefield and lets its guardian construct do most of the fighting for it. Whether you're tackling this tricky showdown alone or with some friends, it can be quite a doozy if you're not sure how to counter some of the mechanics coming your way. In this guide, we'll tell you how to strike down The Corrupter once and for all so you can head to your next destination.
How to beat The Corrupter
The Corrupter is located in The Great Bole in Yaesha, and you'll be facing the monster down in an arena that consists of three long stone walkways that are hovering in the sky. Falling from any of the walkways will result in instant death, so this fight is as much about careful footing as it is actually fighting.

The boss itself is floating around at the very far end of the arena, but it will spawn a guardian construct on one of the pathways that will follow you around. If you damage the guardian construct's head enough, it will eventually fall. This will cause The Corrupter to use some of its own health to heal the guardian construct. However, you can also just shoot at The Corrupter to deal direct damage to it. Depending on the method you use to kill The Corrupter, you can earn one of two rewards:

Read more
What to do with the Severed Hand in Remnant 2
A man trying to saw another man in half with a circular blade.

As you work your way through the multiple challenging and mysterious biomes in Remnant 2, you'll discover a wide variety of important items that will find their way into your inventory. Most of these are used to solve puzzles, open doors, or otherwise engage with the game world in some way. But if you've come across the Severed Hand and wondered why you haven't found a use for it yet, there's a good reason for that. We'll share what to do with the Severed Hand below.
What to do with the Severed Hand in Remnant 2
When you're trudging through The Great Sewer, you may come across the Severed Hand, which you can shoot down from a cage hanging high above you. But as you continue your journey through the dank underground section of Losomn, you'll find that this item seemingly has no use to you at all. This is because it's not actually a puzzle or key at all – it's just meant to be examined. By opening up your inventory and inspecting the Severed Hand, you'll be able to interact with the ring on its finger to receive one of two different rings. Which one you get is randomized on each playthrough, so you will obviously need to find the Severed Hand multiple times to get them both, which you can do by rerolling Losomn at the World Stone.

The two rings you can receive are:

Read more