Where do I begin? Sega's 2001 arcade title Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Force was released in Japanese arcades using the short-lived Sega Hikaru system, which was more powerful than the Dreamcast-based NAOMI but expensive to produce. The Hikaru also powered other titles such as Shouboshi: Brave Firefighters, NASCAR Arcade: Rubbin' Racing, Planet Harriers, and Air Trix (also developed by Hitmaker, more on them later). In a nutshell, Force was the only game to feature four players in 2-on-2 team battles, and it's slower paced than Oratorio Tangram. According to the series' lore, the justification being the performance of these Virtuaroids was not on par of Earth’s due to the lower quality of Mars’ and Jupiter’s V-Crystals. While the Virtuaroids are more detailed than the previous game, it's a shame the four-player gameplay came at the cost of Oratorio Tangram's intense speed that made it so popular. The stage designs don't really work either, as incoming attacks are easier to anticipate and avoid due to the distances involved. The emphasis on having four players was a detriment in the long run, yet this aspect is also why Force still has a following behind it. Come to think of it, you're more likely to find Force multiplayer matches than even Oratorio Tangram M.S.B.S. Ver. 5.66 on occasion. Since Force didn't yet have a console release, this led to Hitmaker developing 2003's Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Marz for PlayStation 2. Needless to say, Marz being a third-person action game using Force's gameplay wasn't a great idea; its English release was worse for losing the story-related Database Mode, its shoddy translation, and terrible English audio. Despite Marz almost killing off the series, the Japanese PS2 version was re-released on the PS3's PlayStation Network to celebrate the series' 10th anniversary, and Apharmd the Hatter later appeared in the Super Robot Wars series. It's rather nice Virtual-On Force finally got a console release after all (albeit Japan-only, but it's region free on Xbox 360 consoles); if only Planet Harriers was also re-released on XBLA and PSN. The Xbox 360 version was a richer home port compared to previous titles; it included Apharmd the Hatter from MARZ as an unlockable VR, split-screen multiplayer was introduced along with some DLC missions, making Force worth more bang for your buck. Since Virtual-On Force was a physical release, it came with a standard and Memorial Box collectors’ editions. This collector’s edition included Virtual-On Chronicle 15, a massive book that looked back at the series' 15-year history at the time, a six-disc soundtrack collection Virtual-On Official Sound Data, and a download code for an item called Thorax, which allowed players to adjust Fei-Yen and Angelan’s bust sizes (for certain demographics), and two super balls with red and blue Tangrams printed on them. As Virtual-On Force came out during Sega's restructure in the Dreamcast era, the series' developer Sega AM3 (or Sega AM3 R&D) was renamed to Hitmaker. Prior to the restructure, Sega AM3 developed the Rail Chase games, SegaSonic the Hedgehog, Dragon Ball Z V.R.V.S. (co-developed with Banpresto), Jurassic Park, Star Wars Arcade, Sega Rally Championship, Baku Baku Animal, Manx TT Superbike, Last Bronx: Tokyo Bangaichi, Gunblade NY, Decathlete (Athlete Kings), Winter Heat, Top Skater, Le Mans 24, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, L.A. Machineguns, Dirt Devils and Crazy Taxi. As Hitmaker, they worked on sequels in the Cyber Troopers Virtual-On, Decathlete and Crazy Taxi series, in addition to developing the Virtua Tennis (Power Smash) series, the Crackin' DJ series, Air Trix, Confidential Mission, Segagaga, The Maze of the Kings (co-developed with Crazy Games of Blue Stinger and Illbleed fame), The Key of Avalon series, Astro Boy: Omega Factor (co-developed with Treasure of Gunstar Heroes, Dynamite Headdy, Alien Soldier and Guardian Heroes fame) and Kaijuu no Shima: Amazing Island (with Yuzo Koshiro's development studio Ancient). At some point on October 2003, Sega Rosso (developer of Cosmic Smash, Soul Surfer, and the Initial D Arcade Stage series) merged back into Hitmaker; as such the PlayStation 2 title Initial D: Special Stage credited Hitmaker in the PS2 The Best budget re-release. However, this didn't last long when Hitmaker became Sega AM3 again after the Sega Sammy merger in 2004, operating for four more years until its staff migrated to Sega AM1 and AM2 after yet another restructure. It's most likely why the Xbox 360 ports of Oratorio Tangram M.S.B.S. Ver. 5.66 and Force were developed by Sega AM2, which by now comprises of the remaining staff from CRI (who developed the home ports of Operation Moongate and Oratorio Tangram) and AM3. Although Sega AM3/Hitmaker no longer exists as a Sega subsidiary and as a division, they truly lived up to their name for the most part.
I actually liked many of the Virtual-On stories. They did not try to make sense and that is what made them interesting. The one story I like was about the Fei Yen series. Namely the original Fei Yen was the best period due to a fluke in the development (The virtualoid had a soul). Eventually Fei Yen ran away and vanished. Every Fei Yen after that was an attempt to surpass the super-prototype original with varying success.
@@Magiciter Like I said, they don't try to make sense on that, even if you try to read between the lines. The original Virtualoids were piloted by a lot of BS. The lore implies that the player was piloting the Vortualoids, and there was some sort of time travel thing involved (yes the lore said that the game was actually controlling Virtualoids). Later it became that some were piloted remotely, some had the pilot thoughts transplanted into the machine, and some had no need for pilots. When it comes to piloting, the lore took a back seat for rule of cool.
I just randomly discovered this series of games tonight and I’m obsessed with Fei-Yen and Angelan. They are so gosh darn charming (I mean Fei-Yen essentially goes supersaiyan!!! How cool is that?!)
Really? I heard about the PS4 version but not the PC. Hopefully that means that new crossover game will release on PC too! Edit: Do you have a source regarding the PC release? I did a search but can only see the PS4 announcement.
@@aryudsoh I apologize for the misinformation. Currently its heading to PS4 only. Since the source of the information is from Japan, we are still not sure if there will be a western release. It will definitely be great if we get on both PC and the west!
@@shyhhorng1956 Dang shame... Would be amazing if we have a PC port or Switch port as well! Dammit sega you have ONE job! Also this is the year of reviving old games in the past. PLEASE SEGA DON'T FUCK THIS ONE UP!
The fact that all of these games are coming to the PS4 is music to my ears. Ugh i can't wait to build a library of Japanese ps4 games before the ps5 comes out.
I bought Cyber Troopers Virtual-On "Force" in 2014 for my Xbox 360. I wish I bought it sooner. I'm giving it to one of my cousins because now I got my hands on the Memorial Box
Carlos H i heard that sega has a plan for a virtual-on game for ps4 and ps vita called a certain magical virtual-on... you could say it's a crossover... scheduled to release next year.... dunno if it will get western release or region free like this game tho....
Yeah, more info on the new Virtual-On came out today. www.animenewsnetwork.cc/news/2017-08-22/a-certain-magical-virtual-on-ps4-vita-game-characters-new-features-previewed/.120413
Ensemble Dark Horse the older ones looked more like the drawed mechas, it was just cool that way. With the new graphics is something very realistic for designs that... Weren't.
I actually have trouble hitting anything with Fei Yen in this game. It's weird because in VOOM or VOOT I have no problem hitting the enemy. In this one it feels like the enemy dodges everything and I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do to hit them. Would anyone be willing to teach a n00b at Force?
@@iPlaySEGA Well, I think that this game would be released for PC/Steam worldwide. BTW, the Virtual-On Neo video game would introduce Fei-Yen HD (Hatsune Miku) and the Nero series, which consists of the male anime protagonist-inspired Virtuaroids, like MRV-17-J (Jaden Yuki; from Yu-Gi-Oh! GX) and SRV-10-T (Chiro; from SRMTHFG!).
![Bullet Heaven HD #079 - Mushihimesama Futari Ver.1.5 [Xbox 360]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/-FtwtfkPmNo/mqdefault.jpg)
Virtual On is great, SEGA should bring it back again!
You are taking me back to my childhood. Loving the videos definitely a time when the gaming industry wasn't so jacked up.
Where do I begin? Sega's 2001 arcade title Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Force was released in Japanese arcades using the short-lived Sega Hikaru system, which was more powerful than the Dreamcast-based NAOMI but expensive to produce. The Hikaru also powered other titles such as Shouboshi: Brave Firefighters, NASCAR Arcade: Rubbin' Racing, Planet Harriers, and Air Trix (also developed by Hitmaker, more on them later). In a nutshell, Force was the only game to feature four players in 2-on-2 team battles, and it's slower paced than Oratorio Tangram. According to the series' lore, the justification being the performance of these Virtuaroids was not on par of Earth’s due to the lower quality of Mars’ and Jupiter’s V-Crystals. While the Virtuaroids are more detailed than the previous game, it's a shame the four-player gameplay came at the cost of Oratorio Tangram's intense speed that made it so popular. The stage designs don't really work either, as incoming attacks are easier to anticipate and avoid due to the distances involved. The emphasis on having four players was a detriment in the long run, yet this aspect is also why Force still has a following behind it. Come to think of it, you're more likely to find Force multiplayer matches than even Oratorio Tangram M.S.B.S. Ver. 5.66 on occasion. Since Force didn't yet have a console release, this led to Hitmaker developing 2003's Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Marz for PlayStation 2. Needless to say, Marz being a third-person action game using Force's gameplay wasn't a great idea; its English release was worse for losing the story-related Database Mode, its shoddy translation, and terrible English audio. Despite Marz almost killing off the series, the Japanese PS2 version was re-released on the PS3's PlayStation Network to celebrate the series' 10th anniversary, and Apharmd the Hatter later appeared in the Super Robot Wars series. It's rather nice Virtual-On Force finally got a console release after all (albeit Japan-only, but it's region free on Xbox 360 consoles); if only Planet Harriers was also re-released on XBLA and PSN. The Xbox 360 version was a richer home port compared to previous titles; it included Apharmd the Hatter from MARZ as an unlockable VR, split-screen multiplayer was introduced along with some DLC missions, making Force worth more bang for your buck.
Since Virtual-On Force was a physical release, it came with a standard and Memorial Box collectors’ editions. This collector’s edition included Virtual-On Chronicle 15, a massive book that looked back at the series' 15-year history at the time, a six-disc soundtrack collection Virtual-On Official Sound Data, and a download code for an item called Thorax, which allowed players to adjust Fei-Yen and Angelan’s bust sizes (for certain demographics), and two super balls with red and blue Tangrams printed on them. As Virtual-On Force came out during Sega's restructure in the Dreamcast era, the series' developer Sega AM3 (or Sega AM3 R&D) was renamed to Hitmaker. Prior to the restructure, Sega AM3 developed the Rail Chase games, SegaSonic the Hedgehog, Dragon Ball Z V.R.V.S. (co-developed with Banpresto), Jurassic Park, Star Wars Arcade, Sega Rally Championship, Baku Baku Animal, Manx TT Superbike, Last Bronx: Tokyo Bangaichi, Gunblade NY, Decathlete (Athlete Kings), Winter Heat, Top Skater, Le Mans 24, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, L.A. Machineguns, Dirt Devils and Crazy Taxi. As Hitmaker, they worked on sequels in the Cyber Troopers Virtual-On, Decathlete and Crazy Taxi series, in addition to developing the Virtua Tennis (Power Smash) series, the Crackin' DJ series, Air Trix, Confidential Mission, Segagaga, The Maze of the Kings (co-developed with Crazy Games of Blue Stinger and Illbleed fame), The Key of Avalon series, Astro Boy: Omega Factor (co-developed with Treasure of Gunstar Heroes, Dynamite Headdy, Alien Soldier and Guardian Heroes fame) and Kaijuu no Shima: Amazing Island (with Yuzo Koshiro's development studio Ancient). At some point on October 2003, Sega Rosso (developer of Cosmic Smash, Soul Surfer, and the Initial D Arcade Stage series) merged back into Hitmaker; as such the PlayStation 2 title Initial D: Special Stage credited Hitmaker in the PS2 The Best budget re-release. However, this didn't last long when Hitmaker became Sega AM3 again after the Sega Sammy merger in 2004, operating for four more years until its staff migrated to Sega AM1 and AM2 after yet another restructure. It's most likely why the Xbox 360 ports of Oratorio Tangram M.S.B.S. Ver. 5.66 and Force were developed by Sega AM2, which by now comprises of the remaining staff from CRI (who developed the home ports of Operation Moongate and Oratorio Tangram) and AM3. Although Sega AM3/Hitmaker no longer exists as a Sega subsidiary and as a division, they truly lived up to their name for the most part.
the Japanese always get the good region exclusives :(
At least THIS one is regionfree. ☺
+iPlaySEGA!! wait what? so if I buy the game online it's not gonna be region locked?
No idea about the download version but yeah, the disc version is region free and works on US and EU 360s aswell.
iPlaySEGA!! Is this the same as OnForce? Or is it the same both
Luckily this game isn't region locked. I ordered a copy off ebay for my NA 360, and it works like a charm! ^_^
Always loved the computerized voices they use in VO!!
"GET READY"
I actually liked many of the Virtual-On stories. They did not try to make sense and that is what made them interesting.
The one story I like was about the Fei Yen series. Namely the original Fei Yen was the best period due to a fluke in the development (The virtualoid had a soul). Eventually Fei Yen ran away and vanished.
Every Fei Yen after that was an attempt to surpass the super-prototype original with varying success.
One thing I've been curious about-Are Virtuaroids piloted remotely?
@@Magiciter
Like I said, they don't try to make sense on that, even if you try to read between the lines.
The original Virtualoids were piloted by a lot of BS. The lore implies that the player was piloting the Vortualoids, and there was some sort of time travel thing involved (yes the lore said that the game was actually controlling Virtualoids).
Later it became that some were piloted remotely, some had the pilot thoughts transplanted into the machine, and some had no need for pilots.
When it comes to piloting, the lore took a back seat for rule of cool.
I just randomly discovered this series of games tonight and I’m obsessed with Fei-Yen and Angelan. They are so gosh darn charming (I mean Fei-Yen essentially goes supersaiyan!!! How cool is that?!)
I remember seeing the original in the arcade with the two joysticks this was my favorite game I promise you
Good news. All 3 arcade versions of Virtual-On will be release on the PS4 and PC in 2019.
Really? I heard about the PS4 version but not the PC. Hopefully that means that new crossover game will release on PC too!
Edit: Do you have a source regarding the PC release? I did a search but can only see the PS4 announcement.
@@aryudsoh I apologize for the misinformation. Currently its heading to PS4 only. Since the source of the information is from Japan, we are still not sure if there will be a western release. It will definitely be great if we get on both PC and the west!
@@shyhhorng1956 Dang shame... Would be amazing if we have a PC port or Switch port as well!
Dammit sega you have ONE job!
Also this is the year of reviving old games in the past. PLEASE SEGA DON'T FUCK THIS ONE UP!
The fact that all of these games are coming to the PS4 is music to my ears. Ugh i can't wait to build a library of Japanese ps4 games before the ps5 comes out.
@@Abel-Alvarez
Are they out already????
dang, I still loved Virtual On 2 Oratario tangram as the best version for combat system.
somehow they made fei yen look even less practical in this one, but i cant argue, she is kinda adorable~
Holy shit, this exists...
I need to have IT.
I still love this game. Now THAT'S how to conclude a trilogy!
This game is supposed to be region free...can someone confirm this please? Being able to play this on a US 360 would be bliss...
+BalancedSpirit79 So I went and got it...region free! Question: Can anyone tell me how to unlock Kagekiyo and Guarayakha please?
I never played the game, yet I was in love with it
i miss my childhood. I wonder if I still got it?
I bought Cyber Troopers Virtual-On "Force" in 2014 for my Xbox 360. I wish I bought it sooner. I'm giving it to one of my cousins because now I got my hands on the Memorial Box
Not a good start to an opening when one of your mechs get stuck on the terrain before being introduced.
11:52 WHAT THE HELL IS THAT VOICE SAYING?!?!?!?!?!?!
They should put this on steam
had the first two on Saturn and Dreamcast. Never played this version though. hope they make a newer one for current generation hardware.
Carlos H i heard that sega has a plan for a virtual-on game for ps4 and ps vita called a certain magical virtual-on... you could say it's a crossover... scheduled to release next year.... dunno if it will get western release or region free like this game tho....
Zacky15ify were did you get this information from whats your source
ala jbara well.... oh yeah! i remember..... there's a youtuber that goes by the username BlazzerSora that uploaded a teaser video for the game
Zacky15ify awesome hope so
Yeah, more info on the new Virtual-On came out today. www.animenewsnetwork.cc/news/2017-08-22/a-certain-magical-virtual-on-ps4-vita-game-characters-new-features-previewed/.120413
Virtual On deserves a Battle Royale
Great visuals although I like the older ones.
Ensemble Dark Horse the older ones looked more like the drawed mechas, it was just cool that way. With the new graphics is something very realistic for designs that... Weren't.
The original Gundam VS game
Xboxes are great, but I'll always go back to Sony because of of region free potential. At point I would settle for an HD release of old VO games.
3:28 anyone know the name of that song??? been on my head for a week
"In the blue sky '01" you can find it on the Virtual-ON FORCE Album "Marsinal".
@@iPlaySEGA thank you!
Idk this game even existed outside the arcade
I actually have trouble hitting anything with Fei Yen in this game. It's weird because in VOOM or VOOT I have no problem hitting the enemy. In this one it feels like the enemy dodges everything and I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do to hit them. Would anyone be willing to teach a n00b at Force?
Hi, is it possible to play OFFLINE 4 players battle on versus mode ?
AH WHY DIDNT I KNOW ABOUT THIS:?! Though It does look slow compared to the Saturn version at least.
+fossilfern I like the Dreamcast version the best. Oratario Tangram. It was much faster with more moves.
Is it worth getting a xbox 360 just for this?
If you have a PS4, just wait for the Virtual On collection, it comes with this game, the original Cyber Troopers and Oratario Tamgram :p
Yes. But you can play Oratorio Tangram on XB1
Is there any chance of share an iso of this game?
How do you unlock Guarayakha?
Is this available for PS3 as well?
But this still looks awesome
what's the name of the music of cyber trooper virtual on 4 force?
Takenobu Mitsuyoshi! :)
Kentaro Koyama, Kentaro Kobayashi. He changed his surname somewhere down the line
Does this game so system link?
Can I play it outside Japan?
It's region free. I played it on a PAL/EU 360.
@@iPlaySEGA Well, I think that this game would be released for PC/Steam worldwide. BTW, the Virtual-On Neo video game would introduce Fei-Yen HD (Hatsune Miku) and the Nero series, which consists of the male anime protagonist-inspired Virtuaroids, like MRV-17-J (Jaden Yuki; from Yu-Gi-Oh! GX) and SRV-10-T (Chiro; from SRMTHFG!).
私もアップしたい！XBOXONEに互換こないかなぁ・・・
PC version??!!??!!??!!
It's super slow
Auch ouch