Review
After Sega secretly pulled the plug on the Saturn port of Virtua Fighter 3, it seemed obvious that they were going to have to release something to fend off the hordes of Japanese and American Virtua Fighter fans ready for the next installment of the series. With some quick thinking, the suits at Sega decided to crank out the industry's first "Compilation" 3D fighting game, that would combine fighters from the arcade hits Virtua Fighter, Fighting Vipers, and even some more obscure Sega Mega Drive titles like Rent-A-Hero.
Sega opted to use the 3D engine from Fighting Vipers, which offered smooth light-sourcing effects at the expense of resolution. That is kind of a bummer for those accustomed to the high-res glory of Virtua Fighter 2 and Dead or Alive. However, the gameplay is what truly shines in the end, and Fighters Megamix manages to add in almost all the moves from Virtua Fighter 3, along with side-stepping, and adds some tricky "wall-breaking" mayhem from the Fighting Vipers games.
The game's biggest strength is the pool of characters you can draw from, and as you fight along the game's multiple "tracks," which divides characters into categories such as "Tough Guys," "Girls," and "Dirty Fighters," you keep unlocking new fighters from all walks of Sega history. The hidden fighters range from the realistic, Janet from Virtua Cop 2, to the absurd, a giant fighting chunk of meat.
All in all, Fighters Megamix provides plenty of bang for the buck. Sadly though, it is the closest Saturn owners will ever get to a real port of Virtua Fighter 3.
