Virtua Fighter RPG is a precursor to Shenmue and was in development for 18 months before development was shifted to the Dreamcast. In order to get more sales, the IP was changed to make the game more original for newer audiences.

Gameplay was shown in Shenmue II showing the game's creator Yu Suzuki is a bit interested in it. Now today, with the advent of Steam and emulators it is possible to finally play an important piece of development history of a really important game.