SUZUKI SENSEI SPEAKS

VIRTUA FIGHTER DIRECTOR YU SUZUKI REFLECTS ON A GROUNDBREAKING GAME

How different was the process of making a 3D fighting game compared to Virtua Racing?

“As opposed to cars, the human form has many joints which bogs down the processing, so high-speed algorithms were needed. And besides that, the body-to-body collision processing was also complicated, creating a mountain of problems that piled up.”

You took martial arts training during development, and had the AM2 team do the same. Why did you do this?

“This was back before motion capture, so all motion was created by hand by our motion designers. We ended up with a lot of unrealistic motion created by designers who had no experience in martial arts. So, with some basic punching and kicking practise, we were able to go into production with a team of people who grasped the mechanics involved in that kind of motion.”

How were character designs and fighting styles chosen for Virtua Fighter?

“I thought eight different character choices would be about right. For one, I just like the number eight. We did a lot of tinkering to differentiate the fighting styles and designs of the characters to bring about their individuality. The peculiarities of different fighting styles are quite distinct. Centring first on quan fa (Chinese boxing), we then added other styles like pro wrestling and capoeira.”

What made you decide to include Ring Out victories in Virtua Fighter?

“We trial tested several ways to decide victory, but when it came to trying out elements of Japanese sumo wrestling, I felt that it provided a nice sense of tension. Upset victories could be had at the ring boundary, and I thought it was unique that play quality could vary by adjusting the ring size.”