It wouldn’t be a stretch if I said Sega’s Virtual On was my favorite series. I adored the arcade original so much that I convinced my parents to drop me off at the movie theater arcade with absolutely no intention of seeing a movie. I loved the Saturn port enough to buy it twice; once for the original copy and another time for the NetLink enabled version (which, in turn, racked up impressive long distance fees). I imported the Dreamcast incarnation of Oratorio Tangram with my first ever paycheck, then nearly destroyed my three month old console trying to make it work. Half a year later I bought the US version along with a $200 Twin Stick controller on eBay. Lastly, the Japanese-only Playstation 2 Sega Ages remake of the original Virtual On was the only videogame I purchased during my two week stay in Japan last October.
Yeah, I’m one of those guys. If you think current-gen Nintendo diehards are pathetic, then you should have seen the legion of late 90’s Sega fanboys. We dismiss the later games in the Virtual On series just as easily as we turn a blind eye to the inherent faults and lack of balance in the mechanics of the first two, and we fail to acknowledge any claims of Armored Core’s then-alleged superiority. Sega’s AM2 and AM3 divisions could do no wrong; Virtua Fighter, Daytona USA, Crazy Taxi, Virtua Cop, and Fighting Vipers invigorated arcades (and typically brought a smile to my teenage face on their way to consoles), but I always considered Virtual On to be their masterstroke. I connected with it, it spoke to me and, like the nonsensical pledge of allegiance that many attach to Street Fighter II, I doubt any competitive fighting game will ever one-up my infinite appreciation of Virtual On.
So, needless to say, I needed to change my shorts last February when I learned that Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram (the second and objectively best game in the series) was on its way to Live Arcade. Even better, it was arriving in widescreen format, receiving a high def gloss, including the 5.66 version of the game (the console original was 5.45), and, most importantly, including support for online multiplayer functionality. Essentially, this rerelease was poised to give the dwindling Virtual On fan base everything we ever wanted, but could Sega deliver?
Short answer for the Virtual On elite: Yep.
Long answer for curious newcomers: Please keep reading.
Giant Robots Are Coming
Behind all the fast paced flash, Virtual On is a fairly simple aerna fighting game. Your Virtuaroids (as they’re called) have widely divergent attacks, but the buttons required to execute them are identical. Left weapon, center weapon, and right weapon are your base attacks, and can each be modified by combining them with one of two dash buttons, or the crouch button. All three weapons are bound to a rechargeable meter, and most, thankfully, have some sort of homing ability. Each combination of attacks can also be performed in the air (there’s a fairly powerful jump button) and the aforementioned dash buttons are good for a temporary boost of speed, be it mid flight or on the ground.
Normal weapons shift into melee attacks upon a reaching a certain proximity to your opponent. This leads to a predictable balance of skills. Do you pick Raiden, keep a distance, take cover, and unleash hell from a distance? Or do you select Fei Yen, and run circles around your opponent and pepper a miniscule amount of damage? I personally prefer Apharmd B, a melee specialist, but there’s something for every particular tase; Temjin is the beginner friendly and balanced Ken or Ryu, Bal and Specineff represent the weirdass strategy based gambles, Cypher is your crazy weapons aficionado, Grys Vok and Dordray are the damage absorbing authorities, and Angelan is the cheap character that everyone hates to face (but loves to defeat). 15 Virtuaroids round out the field, and, like any fighting game worth its quarters, mastering any of them requires a significant amount of patience and dedication. They all might appear similar from the onset, but any seasoned veteran could easily rattle off a dozen reasons why they prefer Apharmd B’s tonfas to Apharmd S’s Rambo Knife.
Unlike the 2.5D fighting games of mid 90’s lore, movement in Virtual On is completely in 3D space. Finding your way around with the specialized arcade Twin Stick controls was a cinch, but hiccups were bound to occur when the game was boiled down to a controller. The default controls work well enough on the 360 pad, but they come with same problems that occurred on the Saturn and Dreamcast controllers; you can’t turn fast enough and, at times, you’re going to completely lose sight of your opponent. Some concessions were made; jumping (which you can instantly cancel) always points you in your opponents direction, and a few weapon + fast combos always steer you the right way, but, in the end, it’s a minor fault for which there is no clear solution. There are two control options that attempt to replicate the twin stick setup with the duel analogues, but, without the buttons on the actual sticks, it feels disconnected and inaccurate. The faults with the controls aren’t an Achilles heel (and I doubt the game with gather enough popularity to convince Sega to forge a $200 controller again), but it’s worth mentioning.
More up to date than the Dreamcast incarnation, this version of Oratorio Tangram represents the pinnacle of the series revisions, M.S.B.S. version 5.66, which, with its previous updates included, adds three Virtuaroids (variants of Apharmd, Temjin, and Grys Vok) and fixes a few bugs. A new training mode, Virtuaroid color customization options, a spectator mode, some rather easy achievements, online leader boards, and a score attack mode compliment the standard run-the-gamut arcade mode, but Virtual On isn’t nearly as fleshed out as modern titles; there aren’t any minigames, accessory acquisition side quests, or new moves to be learned. But, really, it shouldn’t matter. Fluff is fine if you’re by yourself, but this representative from Sega’s majestic fighting game stable proudly broadcasts the natural longevity of the genre; it’s infinitely fun to beat the snot out of your friends. The split screen option from the Dreamcast incarnation is absent, but the game supports system link for applicable parties.
And, for the first time since the mid 90’s, it’s online. Virtual On is a considerably fast paced game, but it doesn’t require the frame counting or incredible timing that dooms the netcode of its more traditional peers. I played over not terribly great wireless connection and didn’t experience any latency issues. The functionality isn’t perfect; there’s no rematch option in ranked matches, you pretty much have to back out of the interface to switch characters, and I sometimes ran into the implausible “no matches found” message, but they’re minor caveats that are balanced by fun customization options, title based ranking, and the slick, lag free experience of finally being able to play Virtual On online. All Sega needed to do for me was make it actually work, and whether I’m battling someone from Japan or a few blocks away, the actual gameplay was as smooth as silk.
AM3 For Me
The aesthetic, with its bold colored polygons and simple geometry, feels a bit dated when set alongside modern software, but Virtual On has enough personality to carry it through the visual department. The sight of Angelan perched on top of the sanctuary, Temjin’s surf board attack, Cypher’s jet transformation, and Fei Yen’s idle bobbing lends a cheeky amount character to otherwise soulless machines, as do all the bizarre projectiles (heart beams!) that seem to spew forth. Some of the stages are reprised versions from the original and don’t look quite as hot as their newer peers, but functionality always reigns supreme over form. The background music is classic high energy stuff from Sega, which is good or bad depending on your tolerance for repetitive, fast paced techno. Personally I can hum it into infinity, but I know few share might share my peculiar tastes.
Actually my tastes aren’t exactly limited to the music. I am fully aware of the higher than usual lack of objectivity in this review, and I stand guilty as charged; I love this game, and I want to see it embraced by the Live community and thrive with popularity. I believe it does far more good than bad, but I will also be the first to admit that it’s not for everyone. Games, particularly fighting games, have moved on since Virtual On. Whatever magnetism was present in the 90’s (be it giant robots, a dedication to all things Sega, or an interest in the fruits of Japanese culture) doesn’t seem to be as visible today. Nostalgia blinds us from the faults of our favorite games and, no matter how I try to resist it, none of my current friends wanted anything to do with Virtual On. It was too much for them; they didn’t have the patience for the controls and they said, “it’s cool, but…” before returning to Street Fighter IV or Call of Duty. I’m not sure Virtual On will hold up with the FPS crazed youth of today; the attractive aesthetic (Gundam is still popular, and everyone loves Transformers) might collapse under the weight of the cumbersome interface and mechanics, and a solid and wonderfully engaging game might get buried by its limitations.
