Sega's Saturn console launched to the world with Virtua Fighter as it's flagship fighting game. VF was a huge hit in the arcades, and so naturally it would be the first choice game to sell Saturns. The only problem was that the port didn't go too well, and the game ended up less than up to scratch with it's arcade counterpart, especially in terms of graphics, which were disgracefully blocky, and worse than those of the 32X version! However, Sega hit back a while later, putting out Virtua Fighter Remix. I never owned one at the time, so can't be sure if this is true, but I heard that the game was actually sent out free to those who had registered their Saturns. While on paper this sounds like an awesome gesture on Sega's part, and in fact it was, the fact that not everyone who bought a console would register it, and the fact that the Saturn came out right about the advent of pre-owned games and consoles would see that many Saturn owners would actually be going without a copy of the game.

Virtua Fighter Remix, is basically Virtua Fighter with better graphics and a few moves added to each character's arsenal. For those who have never heard of the series, the Virtua Fighter games are 3D fighters where the idea is, as in most fighters, to win 2 out of 3 rounds of hand-to-hand combat by using punches,kicks and throws to deplete your opponent's health bar. What stood the VF series out from it's peers was the fact that not only was it the first of it's kind dimension wise, but the fact was, it was also by far the most realistic fighting game, Sega selling it as a 'combat simulator'. The 8 characters were all grounded in reality, all their moves were real martial arts moves, and the only thing not possible to accomplish with the human body was the bizarre floaty jumps that also became a series trademark. What did break from this trend was the final boss, Dural, who was a sort of female robot thing(VF never did have a story). Another aspect that made the game stand out was it's ring system. The fighting area was restricted to a square, which if knocked out of, the player lost the round. This meant that fighters couldn't just sit and block, because eventually they would be knocked out of the ring by their foe.

Given that the game really did lack a plot, the gameplay was where the VF series always did earn it's bread, and Remix doesn't disappoint. While the game isn't truly in 3D, you only really leave your 2D plain when rolling on the ground or such, it does feature one of the deepest fighting engines ever, with a plethora of moves available for each fighter, and a huge learning curve that ensured that the game was truly a contest of skill, and not a button-bashing contest ala their rivals Namco's fighters. Players could get lost trying to truly master characters, and while this put a lot of gamers off, it also attracted those looking for a real challenge. Remix only really adds a handfull of moves to each fighter, however it's nice that they did bother adding them, and it provides this as more of a bridge between the first two VF games. And to be honest, the gameplay's only problem comes from the fact that it has now been outdated by the second, and absolutely god-like, Virtua Fighter game. However, on it's own merits, the engine behind Remix is truly worthy of praise, and can be enjoyed moderately in single player, which is basically just for practice, but enjoyed a hell of a lot more in 2-Player, where some truly heated matches can be whipped up.

As I mentioned there, the game's true fault lies in it's almost complete lack of single player purpose. Sure it's pretty fun just to fight the opponents, and good practice, the utter absence of any form of story or endings just really annoys me, and I assume it always will, so I don't know why Sega persist with this folly, because it's really all that stops the series from having a genuine claim at being the greatest fighting game ever.

Graphically, Remix is leagues ahead of the original incarnation of the game, yet falls a little short of the outright sequel. The fighters are no longer LEGO-esque monstrosities, and are now almost as smooth and sleek as their second game counterparts, but not quite. The animation now runs a hell of a lot more smooth, with the polygons now actually flowing realistically, rather than all over the shop like the regular version of the game. The backgrounds have been made sharper and more defined, but they are still rather generic and uninspiring.

Sound...while the game claims to improve the sound, personally, I don't really hear the difference myself. The sound effects, of slaps,hits and blocks all sound as good, and the voices much the same. The music, which was pretty good to begin with, doesn't seem to be at all different either. Not that any of this is bad, because the sonic aspects of Virtua Fighter on the Saturn were about all the game could honestly claim were arcade perfect, and the arcade game sounded pretty sweet.

Controls are simple, and the same as nigh on every VF, or Sega made fighter ever. A is Block, B is Punch and C is Kick, response times are lethally quick, and if you get confused by that layout, then you honestly shouldn't be playing games like Virtua Fighter to begin with.

In general, my feelings towards Virtua Fighter Remix are positive. While it may be a step down from the immense second Virtua Fighter, I would say it's a couple of steps up from the original Saturn version of the first game. I settled on the 4-Stars mainly because it's a whole lot slicker and just plain better than the average 32-Bit fighting game, but the fact remains that it simply cannot touch it's sequel, which was an outright 5-Star masterpiece. While I would recommend Remix, especially ahead of the regular Saturn VF, it's actually harder to find than the second game, which is much better, so to be honest, I would opt for it first, but if you can't find it, Remix will do a good job of filling the gap until you can get your hands on it.

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Recommended: Yes