fun, fairly competent but otherwise unremarkable shooting game from the school of toaplan, not unlike seibu's other games in the raiden series. fast aimed bullets, a larger player hitbox (compared to what would be codified with dodonpachi and using the C Button Cheat in garegga) and delayed bombs are to be expected. by shooting game standards it is not too hard to come by in the sates united, as with other games from seibu in the style of raiden. notable to me for being an x86-based arcade game from well before the era of "just put jamma and/or JVS on a pc running windows". a definite "play a credit if you see it" recommendation, which also extends to any of the raiden games, as this is just one of those with a Spaceship visual exterior.

(you can change the autofire rate in the service menu by the way)

part of me wonders if sega mandating all sanwa parts (JLF lever and OBS buttons) in VF2 tournaments had something to do with familial ties or something. (us seimitsu enjoyers are still feeling the ramifications of this today)

it's the first fighting game that's actually good that i personally enjoy. (i respect SFII and AOF more than i like actually playing SFII and AOF) it plays like fighting and not like what one would see in a fantastical shonen manga. VF2 picks up the pace and framerate from the first (both in arcade and at home), and as a result it just feels slick and immediate, which is necessary in a game where 1-2 frames between inputs changes just enough of the move to make a difference. performing combos is less like inputting an arcane sequence of 20+ inputs on an 8way lever and 6 buttons and more like just getting more hits of varying strength in fast enough, like you know, fighting. decry the admittedly uninspired character designs (save for jacky) all you want, but the moment-to-moment tension and 100% mental capacity required by a round is unparalleled by anything, save for tekken 3 and 5. one of service games amusement machine research and development #2's finest moments, only matched by later installments of Virtua Fighter and Outrun 2[006/ Special Tours] . AM2 said Fuck The Kick Harness, and it was beautiful.