Gameplay - ★★★
Roster - ★★★
Graphics - ★★★★
Sound - ★★★

So I ran through the arcade version of this game and to be fair, was quite surprised by it.

The game is a 2D fighter reminiscent of Street Fighter in almost every regard. It's SNK, so that's to be expected of the time to be honest, as Capcom and SNK were synonymous of each other at the time in the arcades.

As far as the game goes, gameplay is pretty decent, with only some things leaving me scratching my head as I progressed through the arcade. After Stage 3, the difficulty really ramps up a whole lot, which makes it difficult to actually learn anything when the AI is doing max damage combos for each character you face.

The mechanics of the game are underwhelming but interesting, having 2 modes, "Speed" and "Power" - This does as you could expect. Speed gives you access to combos and 1 frame links, whereas power focuses on more poke heavy gameplay and rewards smart use of your specials, outputting heavy damage but punishing you heavier for fucking up. There is also a parry button which I find interesting, but overall honestly, I didn't end up using it all that much. I'm sure better players would have used this to its full advantage, but I am not one of them.

So it plays like the average 2D fighter of the time and graphically the game slaps. The soundtrack is crisp but nothing too memorable. The roster is decent, but no-one really caught my eye on who to play as to be honest. Overall it's generally a decent 2D Fighter. I could have done a lot worse with picking this one to play next.

Gameplay - ★
Roster - ★
Graphics - ★
Sound - ★★

So, I'm not even really sure why 2024 has started me off here, but it has.

This game is. Bad. Like, very bad. Roster is small, the graphics leave a lot to be desired, the game has remarkably less frames of animation than the original street fighter on the DOS that came out 20 years earlier than this, Donkey has meth teeth. Overall, just miserable.

No story, but there is a practice mode, which is about as useful as a chocolate fireguard considering there are only two buttons, so not a particularly hard game to master. There are hadouken inputs for each character though. Actually you could argue these are the only inputs worth using, as even the AI thinks so, spamming them a lot faster than you can, so good luck with that.

So most games I touch on the mechanics, so here's the rundown. Two buttons. Punch and more punch. Motion inputs, and a special bar that just, doesn't work - I pressed every button combo I could think of but just couldn't find the combination that worked. Also weirdly there's death pits - Holes in the map that act as insta death. Yeah, these are traps just for the player, because the AI sure as shit isn't falling in them.

This game has no redeeming qualities. I could have played absolutely anything else. Tekken 8 is out for fuck sake. What on earth am I doing with my time. But instead I got to stare at all 3 frames of animation each barely recognisable character had. Do not bother, this game is miserable.

Gameplay - ★★★
Roster - ★★
Graphics - ★★★★
Sound - ★★★

So, Virtua Fighter 3 was an absolute nightmare to get my hands on, considering MAME doesn't work for it, and instead I had to get a Sega Model 3 emulator, which in case you haven't heard of that, I wouldn't blame you as to be honest, I hadn't heard of it either up until I went to emulate the game.

Aside from that, when it was running, my lord was it a treat. Lets start with the gameplay. So problems aside from it being a little bit clunky with the dodge buttons, the layout was clean and generally had no problems whatsoever in terms of actually playing the game, and actually found myself wanting to learn how to play it more as I went along, something which isn't really something I tend to do. There are no command lists, as this is an arcade release, but the fact that it makes you want to put more money in to complete a full run is something else, and isn't too difficult either, which is both a blessing and a curse, as although it is relatively easy to complete, it would be nicer if the AI had half a brain, though at this point, I'm not sure whether that's just me adjusting to the jank that is old fighting games.

The stages are my favourite part of the game by far. They're unique, with different levels of height, with my personal favourite being the desert stage purely because of how aesthetically amazing it actually looks. the ring out is also super satisfying with characters essentially ragdolling off the side. General graphics look great for the time as well, with 3D models that although primitive definitely have some charm to them.

There isn't a whole lot bad to say about this game to be completely honest. I think that there is definitely room for improvement, but even the sound is great. Not overly-amazing, and not quite as iconic as say Street Fighter or Tekken, but strong nonetheless - hell even the new stage sound sticks out in my mind during transitions.

Aside from that, unfortunately the game is marked down for the hitboxes/Iframes being inconsistent at best, as well as a lack of variety in the move department. There isn't a whole lot of commands per character, each character plays somewhat the same and each arcade run can be complete relatively easy. I think that with some time it would be easier to work out what character is good at what, and there is clearly some balance issues I can see within the small roster of 16, with some characters having access to much quicker moves off the mark, and some moves just outright having terrible hitboxes. The game is fun at face value, but with enough time, you could definitely find a way to abuse the systems in place, and there aren't many to be honest.

I think that's another issue I had with the game, and that's how bland everything actually is. There isn't a whole lot of variety to be had in the game, and that's through no fault of the game itself as I truly do believe that the game pushed itself to a technical limit with the stage height mechanic and sound design. Almost as if the height itself acts as a fighting game mechanic not too dissimilar to Tekken 4.

I could go back to this game and enjoy a run of it any time, but wouldn't spend longer than half an hour doing so.