"The legendary fighting series continues on, but this game adds a couple of useless gameplay features that harm the game."

Virtua Fighter 3: tb was released in October 1999 for the Sega Dreamcast. VF3: tb was one of the most anticipated releases for Sega’s new console, and it had VF fans salivating with excitement. I’ve been a fan of the Virtua Fighter series since the first game was released in arcades in 1993. Virtua Fighter was the first fighting game to make use of the third dimension; with the game’s clever use of polygons, VF had invented the 3D fighting game. Virtua Fighter 2 provided a huge leap for the series, and the genre as a whole because it brought unparalleled graphics and gameplay improvements that had never been dreamed of, let alone accomplished. When the third game in the series was announced, fans of the VF series, like myself, wondered if this game would be able to provide as much of a leap forward for the series as VF 2 had done.

Well, the answer to this isn’t quite so simple, while the graphics in the game were leaps and bounds ahead of anything else, just like VF2 had been, however, the gameplay was altered to the point of the game losing some of its charm. An all-new Evade button was added that allowed you to sidestep attacks, unfortunately, this feature was, and is, useless in the heat of battle. Another gameplay change that had VF fans upset was the removal of the series’ trademark floaty jumps, in favor of realistic jumps. All was not lost, however, as VF3 did keep one series tradition alive; the tradition of adding two new characters. VF3 added Aoi and Taka Arashi to the fray bringing the game’s combined total of characters to 12. The inclusion of only two characters was met with apathy from most gamers, although I wondered why, seeing as how the series had always been about the gameplay, and intricacies of each character. Even though the character list had been limited, each character was memorable. That’s one of the few things that remained consistent in the series. VF3 saw two arcade releases, Virtua Fighter 3, the standard version of the game, which was released in 1996, and a minorly revamped version called Virtua Fighter 3: Team Battle (or ''tb'' for short) that added in a team battle mode and fixed some of the gameplay bugs of the standard version. VF3 was once considered for a Saturn release, but Sega realized the game couldn’t be done justice on the system, so they canceled development on the Saturn version, and gave the go-ahead for a Dreamcast release of the revamped arcade game, Virtua Fighter 3: tb. With that, your Virtua Fighter history lesson is over, onto the review.

The deep and fast-paced gameplay is another staple of the series. You literally have hundreds of moves at your disposal with any one of the game’s characters. Each character has his or her own unique fighting style that helps to distinguish the fighters. The speed of the characters factors into their effectiveness in battle. For example, some characters are extremely fast, which means they can strike quickly, however, their fast strikes come at the price of the power of the attack. On the other side of the coin, there are slower fighters whose attacks pack quite an enormous punch, but they can’t rattle off too many of them in succession as it will leave them open for attack. Then there are those characters who aren’t too fast, yet aren’t slow, their speed and the power of their attacks, for the most part, are middle-of-the-road. You’ll have to strike a perfect balance with each fighter if you hope to unleash everything the game has at its disposal.

Those who are new to the Virtua Fighter series will be in for a treat as the game’s engine is among the most solid in existence. Virtua Fighter veterans are used to the series’ rock-solid gameplay engine, and this game continues that legacy. The gameplay never slows up and you’ll have to be on your toes if you want to win a battle. You’ll be able to see for yourself how smooth the gameplay is in any one of the game’s array of modes. Aside from the obligatory arcade and versus modes (the versus mode was oddly missing from the Japanese release of the game), you can do battle in a team battle mode, of which this game is named. In this mode, you choose a team of fighters to combat another team of fighters; these two teams square off in one-on-one fights until only one fighter remains. This mode is extremely addictive and allows you to test a wide variety of characters in a shorter span of time than usual. There’s also an extremely thorough that allows you to learn the ropes of the game if you’re new to it, and for VF veterans, it will allow you to brush up on your skills, all the while learning some of the more subtle gameplay changes to the game. For example, the lack of the floaty jump will take some time for VF veterans to get used to, so test out the new jump in the practice mode just to get used to it. It would also be a good idea for all VF players, both new players, and veterans to the series, to get used to the new Evade button, which can add a whole new dimension to the game if you use it correctly. All in all, the gameplay is great. The series’ classic gameplay, remains, for the most part, unchanged. Well, with the exception of the removal of the series’ trademark floaty jumps (a feature that I really enjoyed as it helped to give this series a gameplay trait of its very own), and the addition of the Evade button, which I think was a pretty unnecessary move considering that, in the heat of battle, it’s all but useless. Previous additions to the VF gameplay always served a purpose, they either helped you out, or gave you a new way to attack your rivals, this feature does nothing as it can’t even be taken advantage of most of the time. These two problems are the only real blemishes on the gameplay.

The control in VF3: tb is, for the most part, amazing. The controls are responsive, and you have a ton of button configurations to suit your preferences. The controls never get in your way and they allow you to do what you want to do, when you want to do it. The controls are also very versatile. As I mentioned before, you have hundreds of moves at your disposal, and any one of them can be performed with ease, with the exception of the extremely complex moves which will require a bit of practice. As I mentioned earlier, the Evade button is pretty much useless because the game’s fast gameplay rarely gives you enough time to actually make use of the evade action. I commend Sega for trying something new, but, in this case, it just didn’t work.

The graphics in VF3 are simply stunning. The characters are among the most life-like as I’ve ever seen; they’re chock-full of little details that help to bring them to life. The only problem with them is the blockiness of the knees and shoulders of some of the game’s characters. The backgrounds in the game are simply awe-inspiring, they are full of vibrant colors and contain more movement than any I’ve ever seen. The level of activity in Jacky’s construction site level is simply amazing; lights shatter as you step on them, and sparks fly in the distance, it’s truly a sight to behold. The same can be said for the seemingly endless sand dunes that occupy Wolf’s desert level. The lighting effects in this level are amazing, the sun gleams off of the characters, and the shadows from the dunes obscure the characters in a bath of shadows. The animation of each of the game’s characters is excellent and continues the tradition of wonderful animation for the series. Each move in the game, no matter how minute, is packed with animation. This animation is used to place emphasis on the power of the move, and even on the personality of the characters.

The in-game music is forgettable, it’s far too tepid, and it doesn't live up to the high quality of the other games in the series (mainly the pulse-pounding music of VF2). The music does nothing to evoke any kind of emotion from the player, and it doesn’t emphasize anything in the game, or the level. This is something that the previous games in the series did quite well, and it comes as a surprise that this game doesn’t continue that trend. The sound effects are excellent though, almost all of them fit the on-screen action, and the ones that don’t, use their exaggerated effects in an effort to place emphasis on the damage done by the attack, for example, the ''whoosh'' sound effect that is used on some of the game's kicks.

VF3: tb’s addictive gameplay gives the game a virtually limitless replay value as their always something new to discover while playing the game. There’s also a swank little ending movie that gives you even more incentive to keep playing the game. VF3: tb’s team battle mode makes for the perfect party game, you and your friends can wage war for hours in this mode, it’s a great way to settle disputes and let out some anger.

I've always loved the VF series and this game is a worthy addition to the series. The game combines great graphics, good sound, perfect control, and classic gameplay to make an amazing, unforgettable game that deserves to be played by all fighting fans. However, despite all of the good in the game, the evade button and lack of the floaty jump, a series’ trademark, knocks the game down a few notches. They really take away some of the charm of the series.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/08/00, Updated 10/18/01