Before we talk about Virtual On Marz, we need to talk briefly about the game that this was based off of, Virtual-On Force. I originally decided to opt out of not bringing up this game as I personally never played it in Japanese arcades. I consulted my best friend, who spent some extensive time in Japan as part of the military for the past few years, if he could offer his opinions on the title, but he was swamped and didn't have the time to spare since I cooked up this theme for the week at the last second. No biggie, I thought I could cover Marz without mentioning that game but truth be told, Marz has ties to Force that I wasn't aware of until I started compiling information and researching background information on this game.
That being said, I'm going touch upon that title as the lead-in for this write-up.
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| This was actually the third title in the series instead of the fourth to ease some confusion there, unless we're regarding Operation Moonbase as it's own separate release aside from the original Cyber Troopers Virtual-On, despite being literally the same game in a sense. |
Released originally in arcades and almost a decade later on Xbox 360, both exclusively in Japan and East Asia, Virtual On Force uses a slightly different graphics engine and gameplay speed. The VR’s models are more detailed and composed of less polygons, and the arenas more varied and offer tons of strategic positions. The game’s catch is the inclusion of four player battles (hence the “4” in the logo) and pits teams of 2-on-2 in deathmatch type engagements. One player is assigned as the "leader" for each team while there was a mechanic in play where their partner could give their health to keep their team leader alive as the There’s also a system that lets gamers save their VR data on cards and carry them around.
Virtuaroids
On top of this, each of the main Virtuaroids have ten different selectable palettes (as opposed to the two seen in previous games).
TEMJIN 707 Series
TEMJIN 707J (MBV-707-J)
TEMJIN 707J+ (MBV-707-J+)
TEMJIN 707J/c (MBV-707-J/c)
10/80 adv (MBV-04-10/80adv)
Is also listed under the TEMJIN 747 series
APHARMD J Series
APHARMD J typeC (RVR-24-C)
APHARMD J typeA (RVR-20-A)
APHARMD J typeG (RVR-28-G)
APHARMD J typeX (RVR-81-X)
APHARMD J typeM (RVR-27-M)
Fei-Yen Series
Fei-Yen with VividHeart (TF-14 A)
Fei-Yen with BlueHeart (TF-14 B)
Fei-Yen with PanicHeart (TF-14 C)
Fei-Yen with Cinderella Heart (TF-14 M)
VOX Series
Dan (VOX D-101)
Age (VOX A-300)
Joe (VOX J-500)
Jane (VOX J-504)
Danny (VOX D-102)
Bob (VOX B-240)
U-ta (VOX U-303)
Mariko (VOX M-400)
Tetsuo (VOX T-400)
MYZR Series
MYZR Δ (YZR-8000 Δ)
MYZR Η (YZR-8000 Η)
MYZR Γ (YZR-8000 Γ)
RAIDEN Series
RAIDEN 512E2 (HBV-512-E2)
RAIDEN 512E1 (HBV-512-E1)
RAIDEN 512A (HBV-512-A)
RAIDEN 512D (HBV-512-D)
RAIDEN 512N2 (HBV-512-N2)
RAIDEN 512N1 (HBV-512-N1)
BAL Series
BAL d MEORA (XBV-821 m-N)
BAL b CISTA (XBV-821 m-A)
BAL v TIGLA (XBV-821 m-F)
BAL m RINO (XBV-821 f-S)
BAL m LANDA (XBV-821 f-C)
BAL s RIMSO (XBV-821 f-E)
SPECINEFF Series
SPECINEFF 13 "The Sin" (YZR-XIII sin)
SPECINEFF 13 "The War" (YZR-XIII war)
SPECINEFF 13 "The End" (YZR-XIII end)
ANGELAN Series
Angelan MH (TA-17 L)
Angelan WH (TA-17 S)
Angelan SH (TA-17 H)
TEMJIN 747 Series
TEMJIN 747A (MBV-747-A)
TEMJIN 747F (MBV-747-F)
TEMJIN 747H (MBV-747-H)
TEMJIN 747T (MBV-747-T)
APHARMD T Series
APHARMD T typeF (RVR-36-F)
APHARMD T typeD (RVR-62-D)
APHARMD T typeB (RVR-77-B)
APHARMD T typeX (RVR-77-X)
KAGEKIYO Series
Something in Japanese 1
Something in Japanese 2
Something in Japanese 3
Something in Japanese 4
Something in Japanese 5
Others
Guarayakha (TG-11-M)
Force differs from previous versions of the series in that it features 4-players, 2-on-2 team matches. The battle system is heavily simplified from the game's predecessor, Oratorio Tangram, in order to balance the increased number of players. The left-turbo function is removed, and the speed is significantly slower. The game website states this as a side-effect of the V-converters being less efficient than the Mars crystals. The machine uses a magnetic card system to record player data, with the cards being called a "VO4 Pilot's License". Players start by choosing a base Virtuaroid, which will open up other variants in its family tree as the player plays more of the game. Because of this design, a large number of Virtuaroid variants exist, and the game has the largest VR roster of any game in the series name so far.
The VO4 Pilot's License can be used with the VO4 Terminal, which lets players view records, set the pilot name, swap color schemes or use another available Virtuaroid. During the lifespan of the game, an upgraded version named Virtual On Force M.S.B.S. Ver7.7, with new Virtuaroids, new stages and new magnetic card face designs.
The VO4 Pilot's License can be used with the VO4 Terminal, which lets players view records, set the pilot name, swap color schemes or use another available Virtuaroid. During the lifespan of the game, an upgraded version named Virtual On Force M.S.B.S. Ver7.7, with new Virtuaroids, new stages and new magnetic card face designs.
Xbox 360 version
The Xbox 360 version retains the same gameplay as the original series, only with a few inclusions: 2 on 2 Leader Battles, co-op boss fight mode, a Mission mode and Xbox Live support for online play. Battles have local 2 player splitscreen or up to 4 player over System Link. The game also has a special Collector's edition which includes a booklet called Virtual On Chronicle 15, that looks back at 15 years of Virtual-On, and a six disc soundtrack called Virtual On Official Sound Data. All of the items come packaged in a box with artwork from Hajime Katoki. The game's release date is confirmed to be December 22, 2010. Jaguarandi is now available as a hidden character, along with Apharmd the Hatter based on Apharmd J. However, Ajim, which was a playable character in Oratorio Tangram, is not playable in this Force version. The split-screen gameplay, which was absent from Xbox Live Arcade version of Oratorio Tangram, makes a return in this version. Preordering of the games allows access and download a special "Thorax" item that adjusts the bust sizes of both female Virtualoids: Fei-Yen and Angelan.
A revamped version of Virtual On Force was published on the PlayStation 2 under the name Virtual On Marz, though the arcade game itself was later ported to the Xbox 360 in Japan. Virtual-On Marz can be considered the spiritual home console version of Force, since Marz took its rules, stages and the Virtuaroids from Force, though without support for 4-player matches and only taking a select few Virtuaroids, while leaving most of the variants out due to storage constraints of the game.
For fans of Force, this game retained a lot of what players loved about that game in it's bare-bones Arcade Mode as all of the rules and stages, along with it's 4-player match format was completely intact. If that's all what you are looking for, then you will love this game. Sadly, you won't have all of the Virtuaroids available in the arcade release due to limitations on PlayStation hardware. It should be noted that the KAGEKIYO Series of VRs are completely absent in this release. The limitations in PlayStation 2 hardware were the reason why the visuals took a nosedive here in comparison to the previous games in the series too. This made the VRs look like they were made for a PSX title instead of a PS2 one.
Virtuaroids
Like Virtual-On: Force, Virtual-On: Marz groups its playable Virtuaroids by series, with most being brought over from Force with minimal changes. A small handful of Virtuaroids, however, are unique to Marz, although these models derive from Force designs so are not strictly "new" (for example, the TEMJIN 747H II is unique to Marz, but the original TEMJIN 747H is playable in Force).
Overall the number of Virtuaroids in Virtual-On: Marz is significantly less than in Virtual-On Force. Most of the cuts involve alternate (or "redundant") variations, although the KAGEKIYO series is missing entirely (the latter reportedly due to disc space issues, as mentioned above).
TEMJIN 747J (MZV-747-J)
TEMJIN 747H II (MBV-747-H II)
APHARMD J typeC (RVR-24-C)
Also in Force.
APHARMD J typeA (RVR-20-A)
Also in Force.
Fei-Yen with VividHeart (TF-14 A)
Also in Force.
Lee (VOX L-48)
Loo (VOX L-43)
Dan (VOX D-101)
Also in Force.
Joe (VOX J-500)
Also in Force.
Jane (VOX J-504)
Also in Force.
Bob1 (VOX B-240)
Also in Force (as "Bob").
Bob2 (VOX B-242)
MYZR Δ (YZR-8000 Δ)
Also in Force.
RAIDEN 512E2 (HBV-512-E2)
Also in Force.
RAIDEN 512E1 (HBV-512-E1)
Also in Force.
SPECINEFF 13 "The Sin" (YZR-XIII sin)
Also in Force.
APHARMD T typeF (RVR-36-F)
Also in Force.
APHARMD T typeD (RVR-62-D)
Also in Force.
TEMJIN 707S (MBV-707-S)
BAL d MEORA (XBV-821 m-N)
Also in Force.
Angelan WM (TA-17 B)
10/80 adv (MBV-04-10/80adv)
Also in Force.
Guarayakha (TG-11-M)
Also in Force.
In terms of gameplay, this game is dramatically slowed down in comparison to Cyber Troopers Virtual-On (Operation Moongate) and it's sequel, Oratorio Tangram. As a result, your turbo attacks/weapons are weaker. In most cases, they deal just as much damage as your standard attacks. This vastly limits your offensive options that was present in the previous two games. Where's the fun when your specials do the same damage as your standard beam attacks?
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| Ugh. |
Don't even get me started on the voice acting and various new characters that they added into this mode. I don't know what drugs Sega were on when they conceived the ideas for this mode.
I remember being very excited with my few close friends that were fans of the previous games upon the news of Marz getting a US release on PlayStation 2. At the time, I had no idea that it was literally a home port of Virtual On Force. When we finally got our hands on the game, I have to say that there was a bit of denial at first. I remember wanting to really like the game, but as I put more and more hours into it, unlocking more VRs and completing Dramatic Mode, I grew to be downright disgusted with this game. A lot of the unlockable VRs are mostly clones of the same few characters, mainly tons of Temjin, Vox, and Apharmd clones with roughly the same stats across the board, then there were Angelan and Fei-Yen of course to enjoy. Then there was the "Sin" Specineff variant that I adored (only available after defeating 199 opponents in Dramatic Mode), but that still doesn't excuse Sega from recycling a ton of the same VRs over and over in this game with different color schemes. It's bad enough that you have to play through Dramatic Mode once, but forcing players to play it again across multiple difficulties to unlock all of the characters is just fucking lazy, especially when you have to grind/farm particular enemies for kills to unlock said machines for play. It ultimately turns what could have been an enjoyable single player experience into nothing but a mediocre, yet very lackluster, chore to play through.
I will admit that one of the saving graces of this game in terms of general gameplay is that the game offers multiple control schemes for newcomers and veterans alike, especially if you never cared for the Twin Stick layout as newcomer or a series veteran. That was something I appreciated that was carried over from this game to the Xbox 360 re-release of Oratorio Tangram, in which you can customize the controls to your heart's content.
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| Split-screen Versus was one of the few positives of this game. |
Every single time I see this game used somewhere, I simply laugh to myself as I know I won't be suckered into playing this hot garbage again. As much as I love the Virtual-On series, Marz represents the worst and lowest point of it's history. Oratorio Tangram is regarded as the best of the series by all fans, but Marz doesn't even belong in the conversation of great Virtual On games in this series.
Long story short, if you want to play Virtual-On and your choices are either Marz on PlayStation 2 or importing Force for Xbox 360, go with the latter and go out of your way to import the arcade original. You're definitely better off skipping this entry altogether.
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