Past VF fighters.....

I have a question for all of the 'veterans' or better yet, moderators. Was vf as big as it is now as it was during the days of vf 1/2/3? I'm just a littel curious as I missed the 'boat' if you don't mind me saying so. I've played VF since 1, but wasn't into it hardcore, so I didn't know about its following. Were Chibita/Kyasao/Shinz or other 'high ranked' players into it as much as we see now?? It's just a thought......

 

In Japan, the game has always had a great following. VF2 especially. Kyasao was around for VF2 and was widely considered to be the best in Japan - I believe he won the VF2 Maximum Battle - and there were other great players like Kashiwa Jeff, Bun Bun Maru, Ike Sarah, etc. In North America, it was VF2 that was the peak for arcade competition and play. That's when the first big tournaments starting happening and there was a lot of discussion, etc on rec.games.video.arcade. There were some stellar players during VF2. Some still around, some gone.
Near the end of the VF2 hype, Akira Kid (aka Shinz) was doing some unreal combos and the Akira Kid combo tape still floats around.

VF3 was a success in Japan (Again, Kyasao was winner of Max Battle and Akira Kid won the international tournament) and not much of a success in NA. At the beginning there was a good carry over from VF2 to VF3 but it died out after a few tournaments. When VF3tb came out in the arcades, damn few arcades got it in NA. The Dreamcast took over and the remaining hardcore VF3tb players took to the DC version as their game of choice for gatherings ,etc.

VF4 is now out in arcades and there was (and is) still a decent arcade showing - but most have moved on to the PS2 version. Veterans from VF2 seemd to emerge as the game came out and the core group of players that were around for the VF2 peak are still playing to a certain extent today. Toronto had a great VF2 scene and so I am biased as to whom was around from that perspective as I am a Toronto player.

Some of the veteran players in NA that have stuck with it since the VF2 days are:
Mr. Bungle, Yupasawa, Mason, Jo Shun, BigCat, Hiro, Hyun, Lan, Kbcat, Clem, GodEater, Robertson, Johnson, No.4, Shota, myself - oh, and Myke (honourary Torontonian)...some still in NA, some abroad in Hong Kong, Australia, etc.


VF3 brought Adam, CrewNYC, Jeff-Maru (aka ice9), Sumeragi, Nelson...and others...

And now look at VF4 - tons of new faces. /versus/images/icons/smile.gif Hopefully, many can attend gatherings or upcoming tournaments and spread. Lets also hope VF4E spreads into NA to keep the arcade experience alive and thriving.

cheers,