The silence often surrounding Virtua Fighter can mislead the fighting game community (FGC) into thinking the franchise never had the same pull as other competitive juggernauts. Some might brush off the long-running series, while others like Arturo “nycfury” Sanchez and an undying playerbase keep the scene thriving. Even the developers continue to show their support.
Virtua Fighter competitive highlights: Evo 2012
With the release of the new Virtua Fighter 5 remaster, Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown, accompanied by a Sega documentary looking at the history of the entire franchise, I decided to take a look back at one of the game’s best global showings. And what better place to show off Virtua Fighter than on the global stage at Evolution 2012?
Evo 2012 was one of the most stacked tournaments in Virtua Fighter history. Familiar FGC faces like Ryan Hart, Fuudo, Jebailey, Itazan, Combofiend, Tokido, Gamerbee, and more were ready to P+K (Virtua Fighter speak for punch and kick) one another into submission. Those more well-known strictly from the VF sphere like Aopai, Chief Flash, and Shironuko showed up and out as well against nearly 200 entrants.
Round one: Ryan Hart vs. Zass
The action immediately started in pool one of the event with Fuudo and Ryan Hart racing to the winner’s finals of this first bracket. While Fuudo made his way through the bracket with relative ease, Ryan Hart ran into a bit of a roadblock in the form of Zass’s Wolf. After getting caught in enough stagger/throw pressures to make a Street Fighter V Zangief main jealous, Ryan took the match with endless ninja pressure and a few ring-outs after losing an early lead.
Ryan Hart vs. Fuudo
With the pool out of the way, one of the most anticipated matches of the event was next: Ryan Hart and his Kage facing off against Fuudo and Shun. Fuudo came back from a life deficit in the first round and continued his onslaught until he took the entire set without dropping a round. Luckily for Ryan Hart, the top two players from each bracket advanced to top 16 for a fresh double-elimination bracket.
In pool two all eyes were on Virtua Fighter 4’s 2004 Evo champion, Itazan, also known as Itabashi Zangief. Using Shun, he fought his way through the bracket without dropping a match and met the skilled Akira Yuki player, AyuFanB0y, in the finals. Ayu kept up with Itazan, but in the end Shun drank his way to the finish.
In the following pool another Shun, Kissa, took the finals over Gentlemanthief. After that Masang_Lion won his pool over R_Panda and no one can forget Kamaage knocking out Chief Flash with his Akira. Pool after pool, the top 16 looked more deadly by the second.
Don't drown in pools
Pool 6 was full of nothing but killers. Tokido, Gamerbee, Combofiend, and Renzo were thrown into this free-for-all. Tokido and Gamerbee went round-for-round early in the bracket. Tokido forced Gamerbee to switch to Akira before winning with a well-placed low punch. Gamerbee fought his way back up the losers bracket and faced off against Renzo, another formidable foe. After a hard-fought battle, Gamerbee earned his spot in top 16 alongside Tokido.
The final two pools were just as memorable. Aopai nabbed bracket 7 over LA_Akira and Shironuko dominated 8 over Dango. The top 16 players were set to meet in some of the most spectacular matchups yet. This round introduced best of 5 matches, but the high skill level made each just as fast as the prior best of 3 sets.
Shironuko vs. Ryan Hart sets the tone
Shironuko lost only one round to Ryan Hart, setting the tone for early matches. GentlemanThief utterly destroyed Tokido with two perfect rounds, and then more quick wins followed until Itazan played Fuudo.
Fifteen-minute melee
Suddenly fans weren’t watching 6-minute matches. Fuudo and Itazan fought back and forth in a 15-minute melee. Throughout the match both players strove to nonstop pressure. Itazan lost in the final round thanks to an input error and a jab to the face.
Grand finals: Fuudo vs. Shironuko
While the rest of the matches didn’t follow that exact same length, things did get a lot closer before culminating in the legendary match between Fuudo and Shironuko. Fuudo’s strong punishment game and stage control powered through Shiro’s quick responses and situational awareness. Fuudo ducked a mixup, threw his opponent, and swept the wakeup to become Evo 2012 champion.
The Virtua Fighter scene continues to thrive
Though no VF tournament is talked about like Evo 2012, Virtua Fighter’s competitive scene is still going strong thanks to an active online community scene and featured events like the global international coming in the 4th quarter of 2022. While the game never had as large a following as its peers, there will always be love for Virtua Fighter. With the new remaster currently free through Playstation Plus, now is the best time to jump into VF.