Virtua Fighter 3

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Virtua Fighter 3
System(s): Sega Model 3 Step 1.0
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega AM2
Distributor: Deith Leisure (UK)
Genre: Fighting
Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code

Virtua Fighter 3 (バーチャファイター3) is the third entry in the Virtua Fighter series, and a direct sequel to Virtua Fighter 2. It was released in 1996 for Sega Model 3 Step 1.0 arcade hardware, as the first game to hit the system, followed by Scud Race.

Virtua Fighter 3 makes predictable graphical and audio improvements over its predecessor, Virtua Fighter 2. Virtua Fighter 3 also adds new gameplay innovations such as multi-level play areas and dodge button, as well as two new playable characters, Aoi Umenokoji (a Japanese student) and Taka Arashi (a sumo wrestler). A port for the Sega Saturn was announced but ultimately cancelled, however an update, Virtua Fighter 3tb was released on the Dreamcast.

Video game magazines at the time described it as having the best video game graphics up until then, comparing its real-time graphics to pre-rendered CGI of that era.

It was followed by a sequel, Virtua Fighter 4, in 2001.

Gameplay

This iteration is the first in the series to have undulation in the stages, such as a staircase in the Great Wall stage, a stage set on top of a sloping roof and a raft constructed of individually moving elements on a bobbing water surface.

A fourth button, the Dodge, was added (the series had previously used only three - Kick, Punch and Guard). Pressing the button with the joystick in neutral or held up makes the character move into the screen (i.e. away from the viewer), while pressing the button with the joystick held down makes the character move out of the screen (i.e. towards the viewer). This 'evasion' technique enables players to dodge incoming attacks, creating opportunities to counter-attack almost immediately.

Characters

• Returning Characters
  • Akira Yuki
  • Pai Chan
  • Lau Chan
  • Wolf Hawkfield
  • Jeffry McWild
  • Kage-Maru
  • Sarah Bryant
  • Jacky Bryant
  • Shun Di
  • Lion Rafale
  • Dural
• New Characters
  • Aoi Umenokoji
  • Taka Arashi

History

Virtua Fighter 3 was a launch title for Sega's Model 3 arcade board. Developed by Yu Suzuki's Sega AM2, it was a revolutionary game from a technical standpoint, with its detailed computer graphics earning widespread praise. Characters' eyes appeared to track the opponent's position, their muscles could flex and relax, and the fighting arenas featured stairs and slopes.

The game is also notable for being the last in the series until Virtua Fighter 5 R to include Taka Arashi. The series' current producer, Hiroshi Kataoka, explained that the removal of Taka in subsequent installments was due to the technical implications of having a substantially larger character. Indeed, the character was nearly cut from Virtua Fighter 3 due to difficulties with his jumping moves.

Concepts for Virtua Fighter 3 were drawn up and to some degree implemented in advance of the Model 3 board being finalised. In fact, for a while, it appears that Virtua Fighter 3 was literally just an enhanced version of Virtua Fighter 2, with select Japanese journalists being allowed access to what was presumably a version still running on Sega Model 2 code. 100,000 Sega Saturn owners we later given a promotional Virtua Fighter disc with pre-rendered artwork reportedly set to be used in Virtua Fighter 3 - this subsequently evolved into an eleven-part "CG Portrait series" starting with Virtua Fighter CG Portrait Series Vol.1 Sarah Bryant.

At the AOU Show 1996, in February 1996, Sega displayed tech demos of Lau Chan, Dural, and new character Aoi Umenokoji, who was unveiled for the first time at the show. However, Dural, the robotic final boss, garnered the most attention, due to being made of a metallic surface that reflected the surrounding environment. Sega also unveiled a playable demo at the same event, with two playable characters, Jacky and Dural. The demo was later unveiled in North America at the 1996 ACME show, held during the 7th to 9th of March 1996.

On July 26 1996, private show of this game was held in Kamata, Tokyo, Japan.

Around July 1996, it was pre-released at Tokyo_Joypolis, and getting a wide released in Japan in September 1996.

Saturn Prototype

Virtua Fighter 3 was due to be released on the Sega Saturn, albeit with vastly reduced graphics. A trailer was released during 1996 which made it onto numerous promotional videos and was featured in many magazines, although no gameplay footage of a Saturn version has ever emerged. The decision was later made to bring the game to the Sega Dreamcast instead, however significant delays meant that it was substituted for the improved Virtua Fighter 3tb.

Reportedly, Sega AM2 were working on a 3D accelerator cartridge for the Sega Saturn to boost the performance of a Saturn Virtua Fighter 3. This would have plugged into the Saturn's cartridge port to give the game extra resources at run-time, although the idea had been scrapped by mid-1997.

Production credits

• Producer: Yu Suzuki
• Program Director: Tetsuya Kaku
• Design Director: Kazuhiro Izaki
• Game Director: Daichi Katagiri

Programmers

• Game System, Undulation: Tetsuya Kaku
• Game System: Daichi Katagiri
• Game System, CPU Battle: Kota Matsumoto
• Cloth, Motion System: Yuichiro Mine
• Polygon Management: Yoichi Nakazato, Naohiro Hirao
• Camera: Takashi Ono
• Stage Collision: Norio Haga
• Stage & Character Effects: Shigeru Yoshida
• Stage Effects: Tsuyoshi Nishida
• Replay, Ending: Syuji Takahashi
• Advertise, Ending: Hiroshi Masui
• Scroll, Hand Motion: Takeshi Yamanouchi
• Main Motion Set: Masataka Daigo
• Motion Set: Kazuhiro Shigekuni, Masaya Takeshige

Designers

Motion Designers

• Main Motion Design, Direction: Kazuhiro Izaki
• Motion Design, Advise: Toshiya Inoue, Naotake Nishimura
• Motion Design: Kasyo Oda, Akira Morimoto
• Assistant Motion Design: Daichi Katagiri, Manabu Tsukamoto

Character Designers

• Character Modeling Direction: Toshihiro Nagoshi
• Main Character Design, Modeling: Mika Kojima
• Character Design, Modeling: Ringo Manabe

Stage Designers

• Stage Design Direction: Naotake Nishimura
• Main Stage Design, Modeling: Hideaki Kato
• Stage Design, Modeling: Gaku Nakatani, Shinichiro Shimano, Naoaki Tasaka, Masaaki Somaki

Planner

• Planning Support: Manabu Tsukamoto

Sound Designers

• Program: Hiroshi Kawaguchi
• Compose, SE: Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, Fumio Ito, Hidenori Syoji
• Supervisor: Toshihiro Nagoshi

Assistant Programmers

• Reflection Mapping, Model3 Base: Takuji Masuda
• Collision, Pin Point Light, Utility: Takashi Fujimura
• Polygon Converter: Kazuhiko Takata
• Sound, I/O Utility: Koki Koiwa
• Test Mode, Coin Utility: Kazutoshi Tozawa

Assistant Designers

• Stage Design: Yasuo Kawagoshi, Junichi Yamanaka, Kazufumi Ohashi, Hidenobu Miyakita, Mitsugu Tsuchida
• Assistant Stage Design: Shinya Inoue
• Effect Design: Makio Kida
• Scroll Design: Yukinobu Arikawa, Kazuhiro Izaki
• Character Design: Akihito Hiroyoshi, Daisuke Sato
• Taka-Arashi Design: Tetsunari Iwasaki
• Publicity: Yasushi Nakajima, Yoshifusa Hayama
• Special Thanks: AM R&D Dept. #4, AM Hardware R&D, AM R&D Dept. #2 Technical Research Section, 81 Produce, Action Team AAC, Yasuyuki Hattori, Terushige Watanabe, Yuko Ota
• Presented by: Sega

Source:

In-game credits

Magazine articles

Main article: Virtua Fighter 3/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

• 

  EU flyer

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source Computer & Video Games (UK) 100 №180, p80-82 GamePro (US) 83 №99, p52

	92
Based on 2 reviews

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score

	N/A
Based on 0 reviews

Virtua Fighter 3

Model 3, US (Deluxe)
Manual

Technical information

In the Dreamcast port, the character model of Aoi Umenokoji consists of about 7500 polygons, with her head alone consisting of about 4300 polygons. In the water stage, the polygon count reaches up to 1.9 million polygons per second, about 32,000 polygons per scene at 60 FPS.