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Virtua Fighter 3. What a badass game!

This thread, along with the discussion in the Dreamcast thread, has kinda convinced me that I should give 3tb another shot. I had the game maybe... I dunno, 14 years ago, and thought it was fun, but never really got into it. I'm sure I'm sophisticated enough to appreciate it now.

Learn the Korean Step, my friend. When you have learned that then I promise you, your mind will explode as you'll realise how deep the game really goes. Tip - Learning the Korean step will also teach you about buffering, which is essential for pre-executing moves before hand when using character such as Akira:

tumblr_mzd6qaDAMj1slig2vo7_500.gif
 
Definitely, and I hear ya. Huge step up compared to everything else at that time, including arcades, especially compared to VF2 and to think Sega actively tried to get a VF3 port done for the Saturn with that cartridge upgrade. Good times.

Unless you had a pc. If you had a good pc you were on par. Consoles were always weaker than the arcades.
 
Unless you had a pc. If you had a good pc you were on par. Consoles were always weaker than the arcades.

No, you absolutely were not.

On PC, Quake II would probably be your graphical showpiece in 96, and you're still two years away from the first Unreal game. Virtua Fighter 3 made a mockery of literally everything graphically at the time.
 
PC at the time suffered from the fact that 3D GPUs weren't common - the first relevant 3d graphics card Voodoo 1 was just released in October 1996. And the Vodoo 1 wasn't a matchto what Real3D did for the Model 3.

There is a reason why ATI and Nvidia were intereted in getting so much of Real3D know-how as possible when the company closed after Lockheed focused on their military assets.
 
Unless you had a pc. If you had a good pc you were on par. Consoles were always weaker than the arcades.

I don't think that's actually true. Virtua Fighter 3 came out before even the Voodoo 1 hit, and I'm pretty sure the Model 3 GPUs were superior anyway. (It had way more video RAM, just for starters, and while I'm having problems finding reliable polygon counts for the original Voodoo, the initial version of Model 3 could handle 66% of what a Voodoo 2 put out.)

Virtua Fighter 3 is a great game. I've always been sad that the series moved away from its expansive, uneven environments.
 
Obligatory "where's VF6?" post

Stop. :(

I've loved Virtua Fighter since the beginning but it was really Virtua Fighter 4 that properly blew my mind.

Yeah. Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution was the VF I played after VF2 on the Saturn. To this day that game blows me away. I always hope that we'll get something on par with VF4:E's Quest mode and training system in newer installments, but it never happens. :\
 
Like many other key Sega arcade titles, seeing this in arcades was like being transported to the future. It was a generation or two ahead of everything else.

Unless you had a pc. If you had a good pc you were on par. Consoles were always weaker than the arcades.

Haha, there was nothing like this on PC at the time.
 
That is one hell of a bump, but I love VF.

No particularly good at VF, but I have many fond memories of the game.

As prehistoric as VF I looks, the animation is still smooth.
 
I don't think that's actually true. Virtua Fighter 3 came out before even the Voodoo 1 hit, and I'm pretty sure the Model 3 GPUs were superior anyway. (It had way more video RAM, just for starters, and while I'm having problems finding reliable polygon counts for the original Voodoo, the initial version of Model 3 could handle 66% of what a Voodoo 2 put out.)

Virtua Fighter 3 is a great game. I've always been sad that the series moved away from its expansive, uneven environments.

In 1996 yes but the pc caught up fast and even in 1996 was much closer than the consoles were.

Just look at that 1998 Sierra racing game.
 
No, you absolutely were not.

On PC, Quake II would probably be your graphical showpiece in 96, and you're still two years away from the first Unreal game. Virtua Fighter 3 made a mockery of literally everything graphically at the time.

Accept for other arcade games that were not that far off. I mean vf3 looked good but it wasn't THAT far ahead of everything, have you played the original game or just emulators?

In 1996 yeah pc wasn't on bar though by 1998 that gap closed consideraby and was much closer to vf3 then the consoles ever were.
 
Since PC 3D accelerators were so uncommon back then, there weren't really any games written to truly push the limits of those cards. Even GL Quake was just a quick port that took advantage of basic features like texture filtering. The Valley of Ra tech demo (link below) that came with the 3dfx Voodoo 1 was every bit as impressive as Sega Model 2, if not more so, due to the addition of environment mapping on the Anubis model, and nearing the gap that was achieved on the Sega Model 3. Valley of Ra ran at 30+fps at 640x480, above the standard Model 3 resolution of 496x384, and had a triangle count that exceeded the Sega Model 2. Given that the subsequent 3dfx Voodoo 2 was purported to be up to 3 times as fast as the Voodoo 1 and double that when in SLI, I'm certain that a game written to take full advantage of that setup would've rivaled Sega Model 3.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPA9nTWXxjE
 
Accept for other arcade games that were not that far off. I mean vf3 looked good but it wasn't THAT far ahead of everything, have you played the original game or just emulators?

In 1996 yeah pc wasn't on bar though by 1998 that gap closed consideraby and was much closer to vf3 then the consoles ever were.

No, it looked ahead of everything else. Give us examples to prove otherwise.

So you're saying that in 2 years PC closed the gap? It didn't, VF3 still looked stunning with detail and animations beyond most else. Not saying there weren't gorgeous PC games, but it wasn't close to Model 3.

Since PC 3D accelerators were so uncommon back then, there weren't really any games written to truly push the limits of those cards. Even GL Quake was just a quick port that took advantage of basic features like texture filtering. The Valley of Ra tech demo (link below) that came with the 3dfx Voodoo 1 was every bit as impressive as Sega Model 2, if not more so, due to the addition of environment mapping on the Anubis model, and nearing the gap that was achieved on the Sega Model 3. Valley of Ra ran at 30+fps at 640x480, above the standard Model 3 resolution of 496x384, and had a triangle count that exceeded the Sega Model 2. Given that the subsequent 3dfx Voodoo 2 was purported to be up to 3 times as fast as the Voodoo 1 and double that when in SLI, I'm certain that a game written to take full advantage of that setup would've rivaled Sega Model 3.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPA9nTWXxjE

3dFX Voodoo 1 still came out a year or more after VF3, I really don't get why so many here are trying to rewrite history or take away from its accomplishment.

Let's not forget Scud Race also came out at the end of 1996. Another benchmark title. (Visually)
 
In 1996 yes but the pc caught up fast and even in 1996 was much closer than the consoles were.

Just look at that 1998 Sierra racing game.

I think you are referencing Viper Racing, which to me looks worse than competing racing games running on Model 3. (This could arguably be an art thing.) But regardless of taste, to get it running at 60fps you needed a top of the line videocard from 1998 (the Riva 128ZX), which still carried a third of the video RAM of the launch Model 3. And of course by that point Model 3 hardware had tripled its speed, we'd soon be marveling at early DOA2 footage, etc. PC coming (arguably) close years later isn't really what we're talking about.

Obviously top of the line PC hardware generally beats the consoles of its period, I don't think anybody is arguing otherwise. But top of the line arcade hardware (at least used to) usually beat PC the same way.

VF3's most popular 3D fighting game competition at release is probably Tekken 2, and VF stomps the hell out of it. It unquestionably was a massive leap forward in 3D graphics by any real measure.
 
No, it looked ahead of everything else. Give us examples to prove otherwise.

So you're saying that in 2 years PC closed the gap? It didn't, VF3 still looked stunning with detail and animations beyond most else. Not saying there weren't gorgeous PC games, but it wasn't close to Model 3.

Dude the model 3 was good but there were arcade machines that didn't look that far off visually for less cost. Also pc was closer to it then the consoles were. Not sure how that's wrong. Ps/n64 were pretty weak.


I also didn't say the gap was "closed" I said pc closed it considerably. It would only take a couple more years before it passed the model 3 and started causing past naomi.
 
I think you are referencing Viper Racing, which to me looks worse than competing racing games running on Model 3. (This could arguably be an art thing.) But regardless of taste, to get it running at 60fps you needed a top of the line videocard from 1998 (the Riva 128ZX), which still carried a third of the video RAM of the launch Model 3. And of course by that point Model 3 hardware had tripled its speed, we'd soon be marveling at early DOA2 footage, etc. PC coming (arguably) close years later isn't really what we're talking about.

Obviously top of the line PC hardware generally beats the consoles of its period, I don't think anybody is arguing otherwise. But top of the line arcade hardware (at least used to) usually beat PC the same way.

VF3's most popular 3D fighting game competition at release is probably Tekken 2, and VF stomps the hell out of it. It unquestionably was a massive leap forward in 3D graphics by any real measure.

No, I'm talking about that racing sim that was hard to play. Championship something.

Also I'm comparing overall graphics not just fighting games, there were better looking non-metal arcade games than tekken
 
Dude the model 3 was good but there were arcade machines that didn't look that far off visually for less cost. Also pc was closer to it then the consoles were. Not sure how that's wrong. Ps/n64 were pretty weak.


I also didn't say the gap was "closed" I said pc closed it considerably. It would only take a couple more years before it passed the model 3 and started causing past naomi.

Give me examples, because let me tell you, in 1996 there weren't. Find an arcade title from 1996 that compared. Who cares about cost? Nobody is talking about cost here.

Namco released the amazing but essentially PS1 level Time Crisis. Tecmo had the similarly incredible Dead or Alive but that was a generation behind VF3 regarding its visual fidelity. Cruis'n World? No.

There was nothing in 1996, it took everyone by surprise.
 
I remember Sega had the best graphics engine at the time but I was a bit of a Namco fanboy and willed Namco to have a better graphics engine but it was always behind in this era.
 
Give me examples, because let me tell you, in 1996 there weren't. Find an arcade title from 1996 that compared.

Namco released the amazing but essentially PS1 level Time Crisis. Tecmo had the similarly incredible Dead or Alive but that was a generation behind VF3 regarding its visual fidelity. Cruis'n World? No.

There was nothing in 1996, it took everyone by surprise.

Except for the many people who didn't play it.

I also said multiple times after 1996. I never ever said "when it came out"
 
So what is the point? That's like going in a Half Life 2 appreciation thread and saying it wasn't that impressive because you played it in 2008.

1998 was two years dude.

The point was generally the model 3 was not that far ahead and it took only a short time to par it. Or be near par. For less money. Without heading towards bankruptcy.
 
1998 was two years dude.

The point was generally the model 3 was not that far ahead and it took only a short time to par it. Or be near par. For less money. Without heading towards bankruptcy.

I was just making an example. And Sega didn't go bankrupt because of Model 3. Stop moving the goalposts.
It took around 2 years for other arcade manufacturers to catch up. That's a long time.

Someone else take over from me.
 
Accept for other arcade games that were not that far off. I mean vf3 looked good but it wasn't THAT far ahead of everything, have you played the original game or just emulators?

In 1996 yeah pc wasn't on bar though by 1998 that gap closed consideraby and was much closer to vf3 then the consoles ever were.

In 1996 other arcade games were far off. Yes, I've played VF3 in the arcades (in 1996, so I know what was around it), and no I've never played it via an emulator. The only games that were fucking with VF3 around that time were other Sega Model 3 games. Tecmo was using Sega's Model 2 that year, and Namco were still using turbocharged PlayStation hardware in the arcades. The only other notable contenders that come to mind would be Midway with San Francisco Rush, or Rare with Killer Instinct (which wasn't even fully 3D). Tekken 3 and Mortal Kombat 4 wouldn't arrive for another year, and both would still look damn near a generation behind.

Saying shit caught up in later years is a bit "well, duh..." it's technology, of course it did. By 1998 though, we're talking a different console generation entirely (the Dreamcast hit Japan that year), so I'd argue that by then they also did a pretty good job at closing the gap, seeing as that fixed hardware would be running Soul Calibur, Dead or Alive, and even shit like Quake III Arena.

1998 was two years dude.

The point was generally the model 3 was not that far ahead and it took only a short time to par it. Or be near par. For less money. Without heading towards bankruptcy.

Two years was an eternity back then. Two years prior Virtua Fighter 2 is state-of-the-art, the PlayStation hasn't been released, Quake I is two years away... etc.
 
I was just making an example. And Sega didn't go bankrupt because of Model 3. Stop moving the goalposts.
It took around 2 years for other arcade manufacturers to catch up. That's a long time.

Someone else take over from me.

I didn't move goal posts you just can't read.

I also never said the model 3 bankrupted them.

The point was yes it took pc and other console manufacturers LESS than two years to catch up. Which meant that although impressive vf3 wasn't that far ahead. Thanks for proving my point again.

It was a pretty game but it wasn't so far ahead that it would take much time to catch it as has been implied in this thread. Which I believe was a waste of resources.
 
I didn't move goal posts you just can't read.

I also never said the model 3 bankrupted them.

The point was yes it took pc and other console manufacturers LESS than two years to catch up. Which meant that although impressive vf3 wasn't that far ahead. Thanks for proving my point again.

It was a pretty game but it wasn't so far ahead that it would take much time to catch it as has been implied in this thread. Which I believe was a waste of resources.

Do you even know what 2 years means in technology, especially at the time when 3D tech was growing in leaps and bounds?

That 2 years was huge. Were you around at the time? I was there at the arcades, I saw Virtua Fighter 3 near release, surrounded by all the other popular releases of that year. Nothing came remotely close. And it took PC a lot longer than 2 years to truly catch up. Show me a PC racer that compared graphically with Daytona 2 in 1998.

This is history, you cannot change this, just accept it. I'm not sure why you are fighting against giving Sega its due credit, or why you are trying so hard to talk your way out of it.
 
This is such a strange conversation. VF3 Model 3 was the biggest leap in graphics I'd ever seen in videogames, and nothing since has quite had that impact. It was literally jaw-dropping.

Everything was behind, and considerably so. Including other arcade hardware. Model 3 was one of the most significant hardware releases, and arguing the toss about how long it took to catch up ignores just how much it raised the game in the first place.
 
I didn't move goal posts you just can't read.

I also never said the model 3 bankrupted them.

The point was yes it took pc and other console manufacturers LESS than two years to catch up. Which meant that although impressive vf3 wasn't that far ahead. Thanks for proving my point again.

It was a pretty game but it wasn't so far ahead that it would take much time to catch it as has been implied in this thread. Which I believe was a waste of resources.

What game in history has been superior technically for two years? Dreamcast release games didn't match VF3 (including, of course, VF3tb). It took Soul Calibur to well and truly surpass it. Even if you go back to something like Dragon's Lair, it was surpassed by similar sequels (and wasn't realtime anyway). In terms of outclassing the opposition, there's pretty much only this and Crysis.

Which makes it funny that I used to own a Model 3, but ripped it out to make way for a MVS and other cards. So far ahead then, and so outdated now :D.
 
I didn't move goal posts you just can't read.

I also never said the model 3 bankrupted them.

The point was yes it took pc and other console manufacturers LESS than two years to catch up. Which meant that although impressive vf3 wasn't that far ahead. Thanks for proving my point again.

It was a pretty game but it wasn't so far ahead that it would take much time to catch it as has been implied in this thread. Which I believe was a waste of resources.

You are moving goalposts.

You came in claiming that if you had a "good" (not even exceptional) PC back then, you were on par. That was bullshit, considering VF3 hit the arcade a month after the first Quake hit the PC, and there's no such thing as GLQuake yet until the following year.

You also stated that this was because consoles lagged behind arcade tech (as if PCs didn't), but the timeframe you're now giving for PC's reaching parity overlaps with the Dreamcast's release.

Being roughly 2 years ahead of comparable tech was basically unheard of at that time, as 3D technology was iterating so rapidly, that 4 years was the difference between a Saturn and a Dreamcast in the home. 3 years is the difference between software-rendered Quake I and OpenGL Quake III Arena.
 
Loved this game, played it both at the arcade (it was light years ahead of anything at the time). Being based in the uk i sold my pal version and got the japanese version for £2, best investment ever. The desert stage was the best in the game and the music puts later vfs to shame.

Come on sega gives us model 3 classics; this daytona 2 and sega rally 2.
 
I have always enjoyed these games much more than Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Killer Instinct, Soul Calibur, and Tekken. I would like to see an updated version of this in glorious 60 FPS.
 
Do you even know what 2 years means in technology, especially at the time when 3D tech was growing in leaps and bounds?

That 2 years was huge.

no it wasn't, it was less than two years first of all, and there were already games that were almost on par. Even in that time span most devs, arcade or PC were still not at VF3 levels so the time excuse, especially one so short doesn't even work here. Especially with people saying that the Model 3 was generations ahead. I don't understand why it's hard to admit games were on par when it was only a few in the first place. As I said you had a good PC you were not that far behind.

I mean in less than two years from VF3 PC already crushed the model 3 but even outdoing the Noami (at launch).

2895847-7181308345-yazze.gif
 
You are moving goalposts.

You came in claiming that if you had a "good" (not even exceptional) PC back then, you were on par. That was bullshit, considering VF3 hit the arcade a month after the first Quake hit the PC, and there's no such thing as GLQuake yet until the following year.

You also stated that this was because consoles lagged behind arcade tech (as if PCs didn't), but the timeframe you're now giving for PC's reaching parity overlaps with the Dreamcast's release.

Being roughly 2 years ahead of comparable tech was basically unheard of at that time, as 3D technology was iterating so rapidly, that 4 years was the difference between a Saturn and a Dreamcast in the home. 3 years is the difference between software-rendered Quake I and OpenGL Quake III Arena.

With the model 3? With VF3? Yes you were on par. Also as posted above PC was already on Dreamcast level when it came out. Then as we all know it swoops by effortlessly into the 2000's.

VF3 wasn't ahead 2 years, it was a head a few months at best for anyone who wanted to, it took less than 2 years to trash VF3 so how could it have possibly been 2 years ahead? What?

VF3 was a good looking game but it wasn't that far ahead from the best at the time, and it was quite quickly surpassed, and not just VF3 but the model 3 all together, which people keep saying was some kind of 5 year ahead of its time tech for some reason. I mean yeah it had some months at number one but the gap people are talking about seems very hyperbole.
 
I didn't move goal posts you just can't read.

I also never said the model 3 bankrupted them.

The point was yes it took pc and other console manufacturers LESS than two years to catch up. Which meant that although impressive vf3 wasn't that far ahead. Thanks for proving my point again.

It was a pretty game but it wasn't so far ahead that it would take much time to catch it as has been implied in this thread. Which I believe was a waste of resources.
Dude... Dude.. stop. I had a bad ass gaming machine in 96, but I couldn't stop putting quarters in the VF3 machine on the boardwalk because I lusted so hard for those visuals. It was the last of the era when almost all arcade machines blew away anything you had at home, and model 3 shit was mind blowing eyecandy.
This is such a strange conversation. VF3 Model 3 was the biggest leap in graphics I'd ever seen in videogames, and nothing since has quite had that impact. It was literally jaw-dropping.

Everything was behind, and considerably so. Including other arcade hardware. Model 3 was one of the most significant hardware releases, and arguing the toss about how long it took to catch up ignores just how much it raised the game in the first place.

This.

Virtua Fighter 3 was WAY ahead of anything back then, so much so that it blew my mind, much like VF2 did, but the leap was a bit more profound that summer. The model 3 was what I wished my games at home could look like, and it would be a long time before they did.

Yeah, two years later PC GPU's had a comparable amount of power, but we still did not have ANYTHING that looked as good or played as smooth as the first batch of model 3 games. Sega ruled 3D back then, and I distinctly remember wishing my PC could put out those visuals, much less the game play.

VF3 was not that hard to pick up, but a beast to master. I sat on that machine taking quarters from tourist for two summers, back when you got good at fighting games so you could play for free. It was a fighting game where you could easily take any button masher, and made for some really intense strategy against pros.

The second summer after it was out, in 97, the kids came down to the shore prepared, and us locals faced some steep completion, and we had a blast back then. I made some friends sitting over that screen, and can still remember some of the matches we had.
With the model 3? With VF3? Yes you were on par. Also as posted above PC was already on Dreamcast level when it came out. Then as we all know it swoops by effortlessly into the 2000's.

VF3 wasn't ahead 2 years, it was a head a few months at best for anyone who wanted to, it took less than 2 years to trash VF3 so how could it have possibly been 2 years ahead? What?

VF3 was a good looking game but it wasn't that far ahead from the best at the time, and it was quite quickly surpassed, and not just VF3 but the model 3 all together, which people keep saying was some kind of 5 year ahead of its time tech for some reason. I mean yeah it had some months at number one but the gap people are talking about seems very hyperbole.
Dude, what games are you talking about? I had a KILLER PC back then, one of the best machines I'd ever have for it's generation, I spent a shitload on it, and I can't for the life of me think of what games you are talking about that were even close to the model 3? Do you remember that period? I very much remember thinking how far ahead Sega was back then. What PC games looked on par with the Dreamcast in 96 or 97?
 
In 1996 there was nothing that came close to Scud Race. At that time, even PCs were struggling to compete with Model 2 level graphics.

You also need to take into account that all these arcade games run at 60fps. In 1996-97, you would be lucky if your 3D game could run at stable 30fps on your powerful Pentium PC.
 
look and run as smooth

Did you look at my above post at all with the gif?

Also really above poster? GPL is a sim of course it's not going to have 500 flags waving in the background with baloons But look at the detail, animation, realistic graphics, the impressive city in the gif is better than the single colored building models in scudrace.
 
In 1996 there was nothing that came close to Scud Race. At that time, even PCs were struggling to compete with Model 2 level graphics.

You also need to take into account that all these arcade games run at 60fps. In 1996-97, you would be lucky if your 3D game could run at stable 30fps on your powerful Pentium PC.

Yes however the under a year trouncing that 98 PC had should indicate that even though in 1996 the model 3 was powerful, that it wasn't THAT FAR AHEAD as people in this thread keep implying.

I mean if the PC games in 1996 and early 1997 were so weak that VF3 was generations ahead then PC jumped 5 generations in under 2 years.

I mean if you somehow still disagree then I can't convince you at this point since we are going in cricles, but I mean really once again, if you think it was THAT far ahead when it came out and NOTHING was even acceptably close then PC technology had the biggest jump in its history from 1996-1998.
 
no it wasn't, it was less than two years first of all, and there were already games that were almost on par. Even in that time span most devs, arcade or PC were still not at VF3 levels so the time excuse, especially one so short doesn't even work here. Especially with people saying that the Model 3 was generations ahead. I don't understand why it's hard to admit games were on par when it was only a few in the first place. As I said you had a good PC you were not that far behind.

I mean in less than two years from VF3 PC already crushed the model 3 but even outdoing the Noami (at launch).

Firstly, you example isn't less than 2 years. Virtua Fighter 3 released July of 1996, whereas Grand Prix Legends was October of 1998.

Secondly, crush Model 3? lol... It looks ridiculously basic compared to an equivalent Model 3 racer from two years prior.

2895847-7181308345-yazze.gif

RkIGUeq.gif


Like... seriously?

Looking at both games if you run GPL on a decent rig GPL looks better.

Then show it looking better then. How hard can this be?
 
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