An early prototype version was location tested in Japan by August 1993, before the complete game was released worldwide in December 1993.

Each fight is a best-of-three match, and the player has three ways of winning: knocking out the opponent, forcing them out of the ring, or having more health left when time runs out.

[citation needed] Once in the Shōwa period, the defunct Japanese army intended to approach Puyi, the last Emperor of the Qing Dynasty in their effort to take advantages.

During World War II, the Japanese army research the mysteries of Hakkyoku-ken to create supersoldiers, developing the ultimate martial art.

[15][16] Before Virtua Fighter, Sega AM3simulated 3D using a creative method of sprite scaling on the 1993 arcade fighting game Dark Edge.

The team "were working away with craftsmanship equivalent to inscribing 100 words on a single grain of rice" to achieve fast 3D division operations, according to Suzuki.

While the music, stages and low-polygon visual style were retained from the first game, the character roster, animations, mechanics and movesets were taken from Evolution.

In Japan, the game was included as part of a box set with a book called Virtua Fighter 10th Anniversary: Memory of a Decade and a DVD.

[28] In North America, the game was included in the home version of Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution, and in Europe it was only available as a promotional item; it was not sold at retail.

[51] In the United Kingdom, it was the second top-grossing arcade game in London during early 1994 (below Ridge Racer),[60] and went on to be one of the most popular coin-ops of the year.

RePlay magazine called "the adaptation of 3-D polygon graphics to video fighting games" a "sensational development that could define and revitalize this already-hot category."

EGM made particular note of the advanced graphics, how the camera moves along different axes depending on the fighters' location, the use of multiple viewpoints in the instant replay, the high quality of the gameplay, and the smoothness and realism of the animation.

[32] In January 1994, Rik Skews of Computer and Video Games magazine, after playing for 1 hour, initially praised the "brilliant 64-bit" 3D graphics, animation and camera work but compared the gameplay unfavorably to Street Fighter II.

"[15] Next Generation said in 1995 that it epitomized Yu Suzuki's "skill of finding the perfect blend of state-of-the-art technology with solid gameplay" in "the cut-throat world" of arcades.

[5] The console port of Virtua Fighter, which was very close to the arcade game, sold at a nearly 1:1 ratio with the Saturn hardware during the Japanese launch.

Steve James praised the "superlative" moves, "amazingly crisp" sound samples, and "totally realistic" action; Mark Patterson, while criticizing the high UK import price of £70–80 ($107–122), concluded with "credit to Sega for producing an excellent machine, and even more to AM2 for its near-perfect conversion of this fantastic game.

[65] Their later review of the North American release was similarly laudatory, but remarked that Tekken and Battle Arena Toshinden for the soon-to-launch PlayStation were even better.

[66] Next Generation, which also reviewed the game prior to the Saturn's USA launch, disagreed, contending that "What Virtua Fighter lacks in [Battle Arena] Tohshinden's immediate graphical punch, it makes up for in grinding longevity."

They remarked that the innovations such as the 3D motion capture remained impressive, as well as the depth and variety of the character's gameplay application: "every fighter has almost limitless scope for coming up with all-new attacks."

It's arguably the first true 'next generation' console game, fusing the best aspects of combat gameplay with groundbreaking animation and gorgeous sound".

[31] Sega Saturn Magazine gave Virtua Fighter Remix five out of five stars, saying that it fixed the glitches and graphics of the original game while maintaining the already excellent gameplay.

[34] Maximum likewise praised the quality of the game and its low price tag, but felt it was not worth buying, with the release of the even better Saturn conversion of Virtua Fighter 2 less than a month away.

"[43] Scary Larry of GamePro gave the game a highly positive review for its graphical enhancements and retention of all the excellent gameplay of the original Saturn version.

Virtua Fighter's fluid animation and relatively realistic depiction of distinct fighting styles gave its combatants a lifelike presence considered impossible to replicate with sprites.

[84] Toby Gard also cited Virtua Fighter as an influence on the use of polygon characters—and the creation of Lara Croft—in Tomb Raider: "It became clear to me watching people play Virtua Fighter, which was kind of the first big 3D-character console game, that even though there were only two female characters in the lineup, in almost every game I saw being played, someone was picking one of the two females.