Back when American arcades were beginning their slow decline, there were a few types of games I turned to. I mostly played racing, fighting, and light gun games.
These games did little to satisfy my competitive streak, however, so I turned to a fighting game featuring giant robots. Similar to Gundams or Gears (from Xenogears), these hulking monstrosities were a dream come true to players who’d imagined piloting one of these behemoths. Unlike Steel Battalion, these metal beasts were quite maneuverable, and could be controlled with a measly two joysticks (actually, they would be more accurately described as long metal bars flanking a captain’s chair).
One of these bars was responsible for moving your giant robot; the other would change the direction you were facing. This control set-up was actually quite similar to something you’d find in a modern First-Person Shooter.
To put it simply, Virtual-On’s dual stick controls provided for an amazing one vs. one brawler. With your robot, you’d glide across 3D arenas battling a single opponent.
In the arcade version (versions in Japan), you were equipped with a jet pack, and a variety of weapons that could be fired from your right, left, or center cannon. These metal behemoths were also equipped with close combat weapons that could be quite devastating, if given the chance to sneak in with lightning-fast reflexes. Not only could you cut your foes into mince meat, but you also had the ability to strafe, attack from the air, fire lasers from the ground, and lob bombs. Arenas were also packed with obstacles, so you could often dodge opponents’ attacks if you were quick enough.
The gameplay was fairly basic, but with two arcade units directly connected, Virtual-On was a blast. One of the reasons I probably have such fond memories of the game is that I was always able to decimate my opponents. I didn’t go to arcades all that often, but it seemed like each new challenger would always walk away in disgust.
Enough about the arcade experience. As you may have heard, Virtual-On was recently ported to XBLA, with updated HD visuals. This wasn’t the first time this robot battler was ported to a console–it actually found its way to the Sega Saturn several years ago, and then made its way to the Dreamcast. Each of these versions were accompanied by optional joysticks, so players got a more accurate arcade experience (graphics aside). So the main improvements gamers are getting with Virtual-On XBLA are the HD visuals and online experience. Both of these are a welcome addition. Many of us now have High Definition televisions, so it’s nice being able to play old games in 720p. Also, it’s sometimes difficult to find skilled opponents (or any willing opponents for that matter), so it’s nice to have the option to play with a global community.
Unfortunately, these two improvements don’t save this mediocre port. Virtual-On XBLA is like hopping without legs–it just doesn’t work very well. Why? Well, to be honest, the lack of dual sticks really hurts this port. I initially scoffed at early reviews thinking gamers were being too picky, but I also found it difficult to maneuver my robot, even after completing the single-player campaign (if you can even call it that). Moving with the left stick works fine, but rotating your robot with the right stick feels very unresponsive, and is especially difficult when you have to juggle several other buttons. Your weapons will often overheat, so you have to switch between attacking with left, right, and center weapons while pressing various face buttons that give you turbo boosts and allow you to jump and duck. You’ll get used to the set-up after awhile, but turning your robot still feels a bit unwieldy, even after a bit of practice.
The first thing I did after firing up Virtual-On was enter the training mode. It’s a fairly basic tutorial that gives you so-so explanations of the moves in the game. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really explain the game’s various combination attacks, and when you should use certain abilities. The only benefit I got out of training was being familiar with the controls before I started the single-player campaign.
Sadly, the single-player mode is simply a port of the arcade campaign. All you do is battle one robot after the next, until you’ve turned every former giant into a piece of scrap metal. The final boss is fairly difficult, because your robot isn’t all that maneuverable, but I was able to beat him with a little patience.
Who cares about the single-player campaign, right? The real meat of Virtual-On is with its multiplayer mode. Unfortunately, there is no splitscreen option here, so you’ll only be able to face real opponents on Xbox Live. Due to the game being released a few months ago at an outrageous fifteen dollar price tag, there are barely any players anymore (I heard there weren’t many to begin with). I’m grateful, that I was able to battle a few opponents, at least, but I came off disappointed.
Virtual-On was a lag free experience, but each of the three players that happened to be online were masters. My first opponent had 3500 wins and 400 losses, so I knew that I was in for a serious beating. Unfortunately, I had to play ranked, because no one played the unranked mode anymore. Surprisingly, I nearly beat my opponent in our first match, but I was disconnected before I could start my second (Note: this was due to my faulty Internet connection, not Virtual-On). Despite my disappointing loss, I trudged on, and managed to play a few other matches against the same three people without my Internet failing me. I sometimes came close to victory, but they typically manhandled me after my first win, so my smile didn’t last long.
Long story short, playing the same few veterans over and over again isn’t that fun; especially with Virtual-On’s faulty controls. The graphics and music may be decent, but those are Virtual-On’s only redeeming qualities. Even though there are no noticeable technical issues, I came off extremely disappointed with this port of one of my favorite late ’90s arcade games. If you’re willing to live without dual sticks, Virtual-On may be worth purchasing once the price drops, but for now, you’ve probably got bigger fish to fry.
Score: 6.0
Pros:
- Lag-free online play
- HD visuals
- Good soundtrack
- Each robot has a variety of attacks
Cons:
- Poor controls
- Sparse online community
- $15 price tag
- Lame single-player mode
- No splitscreen versus mode (unlike the Dreamcast version)
- Not much to do besides battle online
- Tutorials could use better explanations