VF4 Evo coming to PS2

Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution has been confirmed as one of Sega's first releases since its return to full publishing duties in Europe, with a summer release date pencilled in for the popular beat 'em up.

The 'remixed' VF4 features two new fighters; the kickboxing Italian Brad Burns, and Judo specialist Goh Hinogami, as well as various new modes and a huge list of improvements over the original.

Among the promised enhancements are jaggy-free visuals, 60Hz support, progressive scan support, faster loading, improved balance of all the characters, 'renewed' stages, RPG-style quests, a new training mode, extra movies/intros and an enhanced Kumite mode.

Perhaps the most intriguing change over the original is that CPU player data has been sourced from actual Japanese VF4 arcade gamers, which apparently results in the CPU fighters adopting the same fighting style and skill as the characters when played by their 'owners'. This is aimed at making up for the lack of VF.NET support. For real VF fetishists, AM2 has included replay data from many "famous" Virtua Fighter players.

Meanwhile, looking ahead, Sega Europe is currently in the process of ramping up to being a fully fledged publisher again, with a full release schedule being fleshed out from approximately June onwards. More info as we get it.