One on one mech combat? In three dimensions? Like Zone of the Enders, but years earlier? And I'm only hearing about this game now because... because it's called Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram. Of course it is.
Virtual-On OT is an arcade game sequel that stars stylish mechs battling it out in a bright and colourful world whose sole purpose seems to be to facilitate the battling of stylish mechs. Arenas are boxy and arguably featureless, serving as interesting backdrops to the explosive light show that takes place upon them - giant mechs launching missiles, firing lasers, slashing energy swords and spraying big pink hearts at each other. It's weird, in places.
But how was I ever going to know that until I played it?
Fun Times
'Blank Frank'? This game was practically made for me! Unable to play the Arcade original, there's a Virtual-On OT release on the Sega Dreamcast that serves as an option for me to emulate and would turn out to be my first foray into Dreamcast emulation - hopefully memorable for the right reasons.
The game is nothing more than an arena and an opponent. You have a number of options for movement and attack within that arena, mapped all over the controller, in this case.
Weapons are fired, launched or swung with the shoulder buttons, mapping the weapon in your left hand to the left button and so on, and combining the two for a shot from your chest mounted weapon. Each has a cooldown timer of sorts, as well as being somewhat contextual - different shots will be unleashed if you're standing still versus moving, jumping/hovering and up close within melee range. Naturally, different mechs have different kinds of attacks to suit their effective ranges, ensuring that there's something explosive for everyone.
In a lot of cases, weapons will lock on and home in on their target, but they can be blocked or dodged. Supposedly. I saw a lot of blocking and dodging, but only ever managed to dodge myself.
Frustrations
Part of the reason for this lack of blocking was that the controls are awful for movement. By default, running around appears to be mapped to the D-pad, with turning mapped - slowly - to the analogue stick. Both - for those of you who aren't aware - are on the left-hand side of the Dreamcast controller.
It was my biggest gripe in the early stages of playing Virtual-On OT, and while I swapped over to Type B controls for the most part (with control schemes all the way up to Type F showing just how varied they can be), I still didn't have the best of times, as you can see...
Poor controls, bad player skill, choppy emulation (better go and research frame skipping settings in my spare time this week)... none of it was working, and this was in the training mode of the game whose difficulty was set to 3 out of 8. That actually sounds closer than it appears in the settings menu, but the result was an awful lot of 'You Lose'
Further Fun Times
Losing over and over again at a game that doesn't run well for you sounds like the makings of a bad game, but Virtual-On OT just kept looking like a game I desperately wanted to play to its full potential, and even if I couldn't, I would damn well try and make the best of what I had available to me.
Game after game, round after round, I was still playing. It looks awesome, whether unleashing a devastating attack or finding yourself on the receiving end of one. There is a mix of traditional fireball-like laser shots, charged up energy beams, mini-explosions and some completely stupid ones that won't be mentioned here, including some kind of hologram snake and the aforementioned heart attack. I still don't know what's going on with that one.
To top the presentation off, rounds end with slow-motion action replays, cinematically showing my downfall. Here's the winner, firing his rockets...
...and there's one of them intruding through my midsection, emerging from the other side in a shower of sparks and shrapnel, encased in a fireball of what I can only assume is of mammoth proportions - the scale is a little hard to work out in this game.
Knowing that I was never going to see these mechs move like they should, I watched a CPU vs CPU game, in the hopes that the framerate would hold up, if anything, but no, it didn't. I did get to see some expert fighting, but it was just as choppy as my playtime.
That was that. I enjoyed Virtual-On OT but was gutted I couldn't enjoy it properly, and then I was going to write this blog post. I cracked open the 1001 book to see what they had to say, and things changed a little...
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| Source // Microsoft |
FORGET ABOUT THAT
Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram was released on Xbox Live and is available for the Xbox 360 I have gathering dust under the TV. As soon as I found that out, I hopped to the demo download button and then hopped to the delete things to free up space button (sorry, Guardian Heroes, but these are Mechs, damn it) and then back to the resume download button to get this show on the road.
I am so glad this release exists. Firstly, because I can play the game now, and secondly, because on whatever the default demo difficulty is, I can actually win rounds. Heck, I can win rounds without taking damage! Heck, heck, I can control these mechs now. And see them properly!
They still move a little awkwardly, perhaps because of having to remain faithful to the original layout, but being able to use both sticks, even partially, is wonderful.
The arcade mode - the only mode available in the demo - takes you through five stages of fights before the biggest tease I've ever seen in a demo. A boss fight beckons. Unlike the other stages, the computer doesn't know anything about your opponent. The usual helpful green overlays are now red and scary. The level loads. The boss whirs into gear. You pop off a shot as soon as you are able and... the goddamn demo fades to black and splashes up an advert hoping you'll buy the full game to see the rest.
At just a tenner, I think I might...
Final Word
My initial reaction to seeing Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram on the 1001 list was one of 'say what now? That can't be the title. No game called that could get on a list like this', shortly followed by words to the effect of 'I'll not be able to play it and it doesn't look like something I'd be into anyway'.
How. Wrong. Couldibe?
Virtual-On OT is a mech combat game where your mechs move with grace - and are, at the same time, as graceful as a heavily laden fridge that refuses to budge when you want to move it somewhere. It is a game where every attack feels powerful, but half of them trigger without you know what you've triggered or how you've done so.
In short, it's got its positives and its negatives, but is easily a game that I'd want to play again. A large roster of mechs allows you to pick from small and agile fighters or lumbering hulks, and a mix of styles means some of them look very western in their design, while others... others look like Japanese girls. I'd prefer less of that, but I guess I've not got much choice.
It's colourful, it's simple, and it's surprising. Flawed, sure, but not crippled. Even if you only think you've only got a passing interest in Virtual-On OT, try it to make sure.
Fun Facts
In a neat touch and an example of not being able to find a good screenshot to show it right now, the Dreamcast port features mechs with a Dreamcast sticking out their backs, that opens complete with a spinning disc when you're boosting. It serves no other purpose than to look good. Well, I say 'good'. It's not a feature that makes or breaks the game, is it?
Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram, developed by Sega AM3, first released in 1998.
Version played: Sega Dreamcast, 2000, via emulation.
Xbox 360, 2009.