''Virtua Fighter Animation'', known in Japan as , is a 1996 fighting video game for the

Game Gear The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console released by Sega on October 6, 1990, in Japan, in April 1991 throughout North America and Europe, and during 1992 in Australia. The Game Gear primarily competed with Nintendo's Game Boy, ...

and

Master System The is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was originally a remodeled export version of the Sega Mark III, the third iteration of the SG-1000 series of consoles, which was released in Japan in 1985 and ...

. It is based on the ''Virtua Fighter'' anime series.

Gameplay

The main mode of gameplay is a story mode, which shows cut scenes between stages. Unusually for a Virtua Fighter game, this meant a restricted choice of characters, as each one is unlocked after being beaten in the story. Virtua Fighter Animation offers three viewing modes: Normal, Large, and Realtime. Realtime was an effort to recreate the zooming camera effects of the 3D Virtua Fighter games, by swapping between small and large sprites to represent distance.

Characters

Despite their appearances in the anime,

Jeffry McWild The following is a list of characters from the ''Virtua Fighter'' fighting game series released by Sega. Starting with ''Virtua Fighter'', this series has spanned five games (not including updates) and has been released on arcade systems as well as ...

, Shun Di and

Lion Rafale The following is a list of characters from the ''Virtua Fighter'' fighting game series released by Sega. Starting with ''Virtua Fighter'', this series has spanned five games (not including updates) and has been released on arcade systems as well ...

were not included in this game. *

Akira Yuki Akira Yuki is a fictional character in the ''Virtua Fighter'' fighting game franchise by Sega. As the series' main protagonist and mascot, Akira appears in every ''Virtua Fighter'' game as a playable character, and is usually shown on the games ...

* Pai Chan * Lau Chan *

Wolf Hawkfield The following is a list of characters from the ''Virtua Fighter'' fighting game series released by Sega. Starting with ''Virtua Fighter'', this series has spanned five games (not including updates) and has been released on arcade systems as well ...

* Kage-Maru * Sarah Bryant * Jacky Bryant * Dural

Version differences

In Japan, ''Virtua Fighter Mini'' was marketed as part of the rebranding of the Game Gear to "Kid's Gear". It has a multiplayer mode missing from other releases, as the game was included as part of a special bundle containing a Game Gear with Virtua Fighter artwork and a link cable. It also contains an extended introduction sequence based on the opening of the anime series. To make it more marketable outside Japan, some parts of the English script were changed from the Japanese version's by making it a little comedic instead of seriously faithful to the original Japanese version of the anime's script. The Sega Master System version of ''Virtua Fighter Animation'' was only released in Brazil, where it was produced officially by

Tec Toy Tec Toy S.A., trading as Tectoy since late 2007, is a Brazilian toy and electronics company headquartered in São Paulo. It is best known for producing, publishing, and distributing Sega consoles and video games in Brazil. The company was foun ...

. It is identical to the Sega Game Gear version, except it lacks the viewing modes of it, and uses the English script from the international releases. A

Sega Genesis The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Syst ...

version of ''Virtua Fighter Animation'' was also in development, and scheduled for release in 1997 in North America. However, it was cancelled due to marketing issues.

References

{{Virtua Fighter series 1996 video games Aspect Co. games Game Gear games Sega video games Master System games Video games based on anime and manga Virtua Fighter Video games developed in Japan