Game:

Virtua Fighter 3 (1996)

Duration: 6:31

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Original Air Date: October 31st, 2009

An interesting game for sure, VF3tb isn't exactly the step up that I would've liked to see in the series (if only because VF2 was so amazing to begin with), but it's a cool game. I've had the Japanese version of this game for years oddly enough, but I just bought the U.S. game a few days ago for $7 because, well, I couldn't find it for years. The game is a slightly updated version of VF3. The character models are in some ways only marginally improved (and I prefer Sarah's older look) supposedly due to it being rushed to the Dreamcast and due to Genki porting the game to Dreamcast while AM2 was working on the game for Sega Saturn. The backdrops however have been given a whole new level of depth and play an important role now in how fights are fought, not to mention they're pretty neat.

Stages in this game possess hills and other factors that didn't really exist in the VF games prior to this, and ring outs have to be planned more since several levels have walls on certain sides, which adds a nice, realistic element to the game. The previous cast have a few new tricks up their sleeves and the new characters, Aoi Umenokouji and Taka-Arashi, are nice additions to the game.

This game is more punishing to newcomers than the previous games (as even normal difficulty presents a significant challenge), so it's convenient that the game sports a practice mode, though you're better off practicing against real computer opponents who side step and throw very often. The game doesn't have a whole lot of extras or major secrets (there are a lot of easter eggs though and minor extras), but if you're a fan of VF, that likely isn't a deterrent anyway. If anyone knows if there are any significant differences between this and the Japanese version, let me know.