Virtua Fighter 3tb

Time has not been kind to the Virtua Fighter franchise. Since the series launched back in the mid-90's, Sega's arcade rival, Namco, has come out with a bunch of terrific fighting games that have taken the world (and, importantly, North America) by storm. Virtua Fighter may have been the first polygonal motion captured fighting game on the block but since then the VF games have been severely trounced by the Tekken games and Namco's terrific "Soul" series of weapons-based fighters.

Now that Soul Calibur has come out for the Dreamcast, the less flashy, more realistic Virtua Fighter 3tb, no matter how solid a game it is, doesn't really stand a chance. Soul Calibur stole our hearts with one graceful sigh of a sword swipe. Next to that spectacular game, Virtua Fighter 3tb looks like your grandpa's fighter. The character animations are not as fluid, the environments are nowhere near as exciting and the presentation of the game (i.e. the cheesy guitar music) feels dated and overdone. Soul Calibur reeked of class and pedigree, Virtua Fighter 3tb smells of age.

That's not to say that VF3tb is a poor fighting game. The fighter sports a rock solid gameplay engine that has been continually refined by Yu Suzuki and his AM2 crew over the years. The beauty of the VF games is that they are extremely easy to sink into and offer up months and months of secret moves and strategies to discover, particularly in two-player contests. VF3tb is also an incredibly fast game. With the right attack combinations, matches can be over in seconds. It may look like a bare bones fighter these days (and in many ways it is) but that doesn't mean that VF3tb is bereft of the thrills and challenges that hardcore gamers demand from the very best fighting games.

Look for a bunch of different gameplay modes including a two-player Vs. mode that was desperately missed from the Japanese version of the game. Players can train against the computer, learn all kinds of cool combos and then dish out the hurt when their buds come over. The "tb" in Virtua Fighter 3tb stands for Team Battle and that's exactly what this GD-ROM delivers. Punch it up with a team comprised of three different VF characters. When one of your scrappers gets knocked out, your next fighter steps up. This continues until all three fighters on either side have been overcome. This is the kind of fighting game development that makes SNK proud.

The signature feature of VF3tb is the game's use of elevation in its fighting strategy. Position your fighter higher up on a slope than an opponent and watch as kicks to the head become infinitely more accessible. The backgrounds in the game, particularly the Great Wall of China, the snowy creek, the Hong Kong rooftop and the museum stairs all allow for lots of experimenting with height and placement advantages. The gameplay of VF3tb is fluid and for the most part obeys the laws of physics (no more standing jump flips and floating over characters' heads) but the action is hampered dramatically by the poor design of the Dreamcast controller. You'll definitely need to pick up Sega's Arcade Stick if you're a fighting game diehard. I found it awkward to return to the four-button configuration of Virtua Fighter. After immersion in Soul Calibur having to press buttons to block and evade attacks seemed unnecessary.

The character collection of VF3tb should be intimately familiar to anyone who's been in an arcade over the last five years. Cover boy Akira is joined by 11 rough and ready combatants. Ten of the fighters have journeyed from VF2, while the two new scrappers, the fan-toting, Aoi Umenokouji, and the Sumo-wrestler, Taka-Arashi, have made the transition to Dreamcast in fine style. The respective fighting styles and moves of each of the characters have been intelligently designed and implemented. Everything is as its should be. The lighter characters are fast and quick on their feet, while the bigger fighters take a while to hit you but damn it hurts when they do. New costuming and an assortment of brand new moves have been applied to each of the returning favorites. My character choice remains the sneaky, hyper-fast and youthful Lion Rafale, even if he looks like he stepped out of a 1996 issue of Tiger Beat.

Virtua Fighter 3tb for the Dreamcast is a near perfect port of Sega's celebrated arcade machine and it is the best Virtua Fighter game that's ever been brought home. The only problem is, the DC is already home to several more enjoyable scrappers this holiday season, so I can't recommend it as a must buy purchase for anyone except the hardcore fighting game fan. It's time for VF4, Sega.

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