But then something amazing happened. Something that would revolutionise home gaming as the land knew it. Christmas 95
came. And we all know what happened then, don't we? The Big Three came. You know - the AM conversions of Virtua Fighter 2,
Virtua Cop and Sega Rally. With the help of the then-recently launched Sega Saturn Magazine, Sega managed to create a
hysteria among fans, the like of which has never been seen since. Well, actually, you're probably reading this after
May 21 1998: so this won't be strictly true...
Virtua Cop came first, which was logical as it followed the mighty Daytona on the Model 2 board. Unlike AM2's finest
racer, though, VC's conversion was of a faultless quality, with only the speed of the game being slightly slower than
the original's. Rage and Smarty, the two cops of Virtua City, sure knew how to cause a scene. Shops everywhere had
Cop boxed with the Virtua Gun - a tradition that has continued right through to today. Virtua Fighter 2 was available
before Christmas in Japan, but the UK had to wait until January 8th to get what was the best video game in history.
Unless, of course, you knew the select few shops that were selling it from the first day of 1996. Anyway, VF2, still
the best game on the UK market, incorporated everything people wanted into the game, but as a conversion, the lack of
a few background features and the general 2D nature of some of the backdrops meant that it wasn't a perfect version.
But the depth and sheer playability of the game has kept me for one coming back to it for two and a half years. Still
mastered by nobody outside the land of the Tetsujin, it's a legend, and also the perfect example of what AM2 is all
about. The third of the Big Three to be released in the UK (the PAL version being the best of the lot, incidentally)
was Sega Rally. Similarly, no racing game has bettered the gameplay of this title. You'd be hard pushed to think of a
game that surpasses the sheer feel of Rally - apart from the sequel, of course. With four tracks, three cars and perfect
gameplay, it was recognised by everybody as the best racing game around. And it still is, even by the Saturn's biggest
critics. So, just where have AM conversions come since the ground-breaking Big Three? They may not have been matched on
console, but the arcade scene had been extremely exciting and we've had all of the best Model 2 stuff to date.
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