Virtua Fighter 3tb
- January 01, 2000 00:00 AM PST
It's been awhile for faithful fans of the AM2 series. After eating up the Saturn's ports of Virtua Fighter 2 and Fighter's Megamix, we anxiously waited for the spectacular looking Virtua Fighter 3. And we waited. And waited.
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Golden Oldie
And during that wait, the martial arts classic was slowly being overshadowed by the faster and deeper Tekken 2 and Tekken 3, Soul Blade, Soul Calibur, and a number of Street Fighter games that sank and swam. Meanwhile, many forgot the complex and intelligent Virtua Fighter games, which featured counters, side-throws, rapid combos and effective defensive moves. And although Virtua Fighter 3tb did not cater to enormously long combo-stringing, it still appealed to fighters of a more gracious age. Virtua Fighter fans were intelligent fighters, not brawlers.
All that doesn't mean squat now, because Sega took so long bringing this game out, and it has a somewhat dated feel to it. Just when you thought you were back into the VF swing of things, you'll find yourself tapping extra buttons hoping for longer combo links. And the counters now seem ridiculously hard to do when faced with one-touch counters of newer, sleeker fighters.
Show Me Your Brawl
None of the age shows in the game's graphics, which are still some of the best around. Although not as dynamic or well-lit as Soul Calibur, they are graceful and elegant, much like the martial arts styles they represent. The characters are so fast that some moves seem unstoppable, and the backgrounds are some of the best ever for a fighting game.
And although all of the attendant grunts and groans of the original arcade version survived here, the brash attitude of other games seems sorely missed. No taunting, no hyper music, and no fight screams (remember Law's constant yelling in Tekken, or any Street Fighter taunt?) make the game seem sonically empty.
But the controls remain constant, a good thing for fans and novices. The simple three-button layout (kick, punch, and guard) are complimented by a sidestep button, and all the combos are rapid button taps. Some of the best throws (often copied, yet never improved, like Wolf's spinning throw) still look and feel good.
Still Some Fight Left
Virtua Fighter 3 was once considered the apex of fighting game style and graphics. Soul Calibur has since eclipsed it on the Dreamcast, but it's yet to be seen if any other competition exists on Sega's system. This punchy old fighter still has some solid hits left.
