[Sega Dreamcast] Virtua Striker 2 ROM Download

Virtua Striker 2 ROM Screenshots

Virtua Striker 2 ROM Description

Virtua Striker 2 was initially released on the Sega Dreamcast. It is an arcade football game developed by Genki and Sega AM2.

Gameplay

Okay, what’s it like to play? Control-wise, being an arcade game, it’s pretty simple stuff with buttons for shooting, short or long passes, and slide tackles, and that’s pretty much it. You can’t change players manually; you can’t hold off opponents with your physicality, and you can’t do silly tricks – it’s old-school, no-nonsense arcade football at its finest.

Now, like most old-school football games, it does have its issues – the lack of control being the main one. Sometimes, it feels as if your players have a mind of their own, and this can be very annoying when you’re trying to close down an opponent. It’s also really challenging to do any substantial build-up play, and games end up being these chaotic end-to-end matches where you try and get a shot off as soon as possible.

This is Virtua Striker 2’s weakness and strength – each match feels like you’re in the last two minutes of a cup final. Chaos is unfolding before your eyes, and you’re just desperately trying to find a moment of calm to pick out the right ball and smash it into the net.

It’s pure chaos most of the time, and anyone who enjoys end-to-end football, as opposed to the ticky-tacky nonsense we see nowadays, will find this a pure joy and just completely bonkers.

One thing I did notice when playing it again after all these years was that most of the opposing teams played exactly the same way – like everyone had the same style, there was no real difference apart from their scoring consistency. So, you know, it’s a bit similar in that respect.

Modes

Okay, what game modes do we have? Well, you’ve got the classic two-minute arcade knockout mode, which is great fun—international cups, leagues, tournaments, rankings, and versus games too. You can also save replays, which I think is an excellent option. It’s one of the first games that let you save replays, although they don’t have the commentary, which is disappointing.

So, in summary, it’s got its problems, but much like Sensible World of Soccer, which I reviewed a while back, once you get your head back into the style of the game, it’s pretty entertaining.

Visuals and Audio

Visually, it may look a bit dated, but the teams, the stadiums, the players – I’d say they’re decent enough with that old-school Sega arcade style. Menus – clean, clear, on the whole I’d say visually it’s aged pretty well.

In terms of sound, the leading commentator isn’t great, he’s more of an announcer rather than being play by play. Music – it’s fine, you know, arcade. The effects are also a bit weak, but it’s the goal-scoring effect again – the stuff of legends – I love it.

Verdict

Virtua Striker 2 brought back fond memories of the Dreamcast and the arcade era of football games. It is still as frustrating as it was back then, but paired with that frustration is an immeasurable amount of joy and ecstasy when you bang in a last-minute 30-yarder and wake up your neighbors with the insane goal commentary!

Maybe it doesn’t accurately capture the technical aspects of the beautiful game, but remember this was originally an arcade game, and what did you want in the arcades? You wanted heart-pounding excitement, and that is something Virtua Striker 2 does very well indeed.