Virtua Fighter 3: Team Battle

Genre: Fighting	Number of players: 1 or 2	Memory space:
Release date: 11/28/98	Publisher: Sega	Developer: AM2
Compatible peripherals: Standard Controller,	Arcade stick

An editor at DREAMCAST.IGN.COM has had the chance to play VF3: TB. Here are his first impressions (pics at the bottom of the screen).

"Yesterday, at Sega’s Gamer’s Day in San Francisco, I finally got to see Dreamcast, some demos of forthcoming games and – best of all – I got to play Virtua Fighter 3tb. And I love it!

After months of speculation and rumor about VF3tb, I can confirm that it’s a truly excellent conversion. The graphics are slightly different to the arcade game, due to the fact that the Model 3 technology displays polygons in a different way to Dreamcast, but they’re still incredibly good. The important thing, however, is that the game plays exactly the same as the arcade version.

Before I go on, let me talk first about the Dreamcast controller. It’s excellent. It’s quite small, but it’s ergonomic and sits very comfortably in one’s hands. The button layout and positioning of the d- and a-pads is excellent, and the overall feel of the controls is very good. The way the Visual Memory Unit (its US name – in Japan it’s called the Visual Memory System) slots into the controller is cool, but I think the best thing about the controller is the two analog levers on the underside of the unit. Not only are they perfect for driving games, but they’re very well designed and are much easier to use than the back buttons on other controllers.

Anyway, enough about the controller. What you really want to know about is VF3tb, right? Okay, let me tell you all about it, then. The version Sega showed had all the characters in there. I got to play Jeffery McWild, Sarah Bryant and Shun Di, and fought Lau Chan, Jacky Bryant and Akira Yuki. Each character is very nicely drawn and detailed. Hair and clothing flap realistically, and the animations are subtle and realistic – just like the coin-op.

The backgrounds are cool too. My favorite is the island level, where both combatants battle it out on a little piece of land jutting out of deep water. What’s really neat is that you can punch and kick your opponent to the shoreline, where the translucent water realistically laps the beach, and then smack him into the deep water, where he drowns. He he he. I like that. The subway level is also very nice, and has trains whizzing by in the background as the fighters kick the crap out of one another. The other level I saw was on a sloping rooftop, which was nicely rendered and detailed, and made for some cool play.

The actual gameplay itself is top-notch. The speed of the action, timing and combos are all arcade perfect, and the whole thing is very addictive. I could have happily sat there and played the game for hours: as it was, I played until the machine was switched off. I want it!

The only disappointment is that the game has no netplay option. This is a shame, but I hope that other fighting games support this feature.

Final verdict? VF3tb is the best fighting game yet seen on a home system, and is a superb flagship launch title. I can’t wait to get my own Dreamcast and a copy of the game.