"One of the best fighting games to date."

I was never a fan of the Virtua Fighter series. In fact, I thought that the original Virtua Fighter; although viewed by some to be a classic, was a slow and sloppy addition to the fighting game genre. When I saw Virtua Fighter 2, I was intrigued, but not impressed. Even though the controls had been improved slightly and it was a LEAP in graphic quality, it still didnÕt live up to my expectations of what a really good fighting game should be. Then came the big one-Virtua Fighter 3. There was so much hype surrounding this game when it was released in the arcades that I just had to see what it was like for myself. The first thing that pulled me in was the absolutely beautiful graphics. At the time, SegaÕs Model 3 processor was still fairly new, so I was BLOWN AWAY at how realistic everything looked. When I began to play, it was immediately obvious that many new moves had been added and that the characterÕs difficulty levels were toned down just a bit, so it was much more fun. To me, this game was a success. Sega had finally perfected the Virtua Fighter series. The sad part was that I only got to play this wonderful game ONCE. The incredibly stupid owner of my local arcade for some reason decided to remove it after a week, so I was very disappointed. It was that disappointment that made me even more anxious for the Dreamcast version of this game to come out. And finally, the wait is over.

Graphics 9/10: The question that people were asking before this was released was- ÒWill the Dreamcast be able to live up to the Model 3 graphics of this game?Ó In my opinion, the answer is yes. As far as the characters go, they are smoothly textured and have a high polygon count (pretty much identical to the arcade). In addition to that, they all have very life-like and fluid animation; giving each fighter loads of personality. The only graphical shortcoming I found in the game was probably in the backgrounds. You pretty much get a mixed bag in this area. The good part is that they have lots of great looking 3D elements in them such as mountains, buildings, temples, etc. (JackyÕs stage is especially impressive). But the bad part is that behind these beautiful 3D objects often lie grainy texture mapped scenery pieces (clouds, moon, sun, and various other things) that almost look like they were slapped together at the last minute. But all in all, this was a fairly successful arcade to Dreamcast translation of Model 3 graphics.

Sound 8/10: The sound in this game isnÕt really anything to babble on about. Every bone-crunching hit comes across very clearly, and all the voices are easily understandable. The music is an average mix of bassie techno and rock tunes that arenÕt very memorable, but never get annoying. Basically, the sound is good-but not great.

Control 8/10: The controls are a vast improvement over past Virtua Fighters. Gone are the inconsistent or impossible combos and throws of VF 1&2. This time around, the moves are much easier to execute. This could be attributed to the fact that the overall difficulty of most of the characters has been toned down. And although the majority of the fighterÕs moves can be quickly learned and accomplished, there are still some that are INCREDIBLY hard to get used to, such as AkiraÕs. I do as always, recommend that the game be played with the arcade stick, and NOT the standard DC controller, because it just makes everything so much easier and more enjoyable.

Gameplay 9/10: This is a fun game to play even if you are completely unexperienced in the world of fighting games. There are easier characters for people who just want to screw around (Jacky, Sarah, and ESPECIALLY Lion) but there are also more in-depth characters for more serious fighters (Taka, Shun, Akira). This game definitely has something for everyone.

Final Thoughts: Virtua Fighter 3 is an involving and visually stunning game that will keep you interested for a long, long time. It is a very worthy addition to the Dreamcast library and is a must have for any fighting fan.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 04/26/01