Virtua Fighter 3tb No Fantasy Fighting here!

As I sit here and read through the opinions about Virtua Fighter 3TB I realized most people don’t understand the concept of this game. Simply the people comparing it to Soul Caliber prove my point.

I have to say this game once again proves the Dreamcast has some serious muscle behind it. The graphics are truly awesome in this game presenting for the first time on the Dreamcast expressive characters. I know facial expressions was a major feature when the arcade game was released but very few made mention of it when the game hit the consoles. Watching some of the characters do their moves (all based on different martial arts styles) is impressive to watch, as they seem so smooth. The scenery is now 3 dimensional and has some of the best looking backgrounds in a fighting game to date. Looks are a definite plus for this game!

My favorite part of this game is in the realism of each character. Each character’s moves are based on a different martial arts style or philosophy if you will. There are no fantasy moves in this game it’s a pure martial arts strategic fighting festival; you will never see a fireball or unrealistic kicks that involve super human ability. I think best of all if you like any kind of martial arts at all you can find a character that fits your liking; my favorites are Pai Chan (Jui Jitsu) and Aoi Umenokouji (Aikido and Judo). Some may say big deal but this is the reason the game sold well in Asia; just think about growing up in china and being able to choose a character with the fighting philosophy of Bruce Lee (Jeet Kun Do) or in the US in the 80’s and grabbing a character with Steven Segal’s style (Aikido). This game took major strides in bringing these things to life, as the 800+ moves (around 140 per character) no doubt took a lot of hard work.

When it comes to control, these types of games always have some complicated patterns to master. This game adds to that by actually allowing you to do all of these moves at any given time. There are no fatalities in this game but the moves that would be considered fatalities (usually around 20 of these per character), not because they’re bludgeoning moves though, are available at any time during the game. Another level of dimension is given to this game when you consider there are two types of control techniques where one style complements the defensive martial arts styles (Aikido, Jui Jitsu) and bases a lot of counter moves off of the block button and the other is a typical aggressive fighting technique. Overall controls flow smoothly and moves can be mastered with practice (you’ll have to buy a strategy guide if you want to know the rest of the moves as they’re not in the manual).

I guess in short if you’re an avid fan of martial arts and video games then you’ll more then likely love this game. If you really like the fantasy style fighting games and aren’t impressed with increased realism then you should definitely grab Soul Caliber or Mortal Kombat. Either way you should at least try this game as you might actually find it interesting. I have to say that I do love this game and followed it from the first blocky release and highly recommend this one.