Having had a brief but memorable love affair with the Sega Dreamcast, I could fondly remember my infatuation with the gifted Game God that is Yu Suzuki--creator of the awesome Virtua Fighter series and the ambitious Shenmue.  I’ve spent many an hour dropkicking foes left and right and have even fell in love with the plight of Ryo, hero of the RPG/fighter that let you do everything from buying stuff at the local convenience store to hitting the arcade to play Suzuki-san’s other Sega classics.  I’ve even looked forward to Virtua Quest when it was announced back when Sega’s console was still around so it was good news when it found its way on the GameCube.  Still, without the help of its Yu Suzuki, will this be a Sega classic Nintendo gamers will love?  Let’s get right to it, shall we?

Virtua Quest is a potpourri of gaming genres, mixing in a dash of fighting, a sprinkle of platformer gaming and dose of role-playing game goodness.  This concoction results in a game that in some way plays in the Virtua Fighter universe yet introduces some original new characters that aren’t beating each another to a pulp.  Enter Sei and his buddy Hayami, two young kids who have taken the high road to adventure by being “Treasure Hunters.”  Treasure Hunting in this world, though, consists of being jacked into the virtual Nexus world and the “treasure” consists of valuable Data Chips they can earn so Sei could buy parts for an air bike he plans to use in a race.  Yet all goes sour in the Nexus world and Sei and his friends discover that an organization called J6 might be kidnapping Treasure Hunters and that the threat is even leaking out into the real world.

Sei’s first official trip into the Nexus comes when he receives a Hunter Glove from his father--a glove used inside the network to store specialty attacks (but more on that later).  After a somewhat lengthy test of his skills, Sei obtains a Hunter’s License that allows him to jack into various areas within the Nexus and he does so but at a cost.  You see, he encounters a mysterious girl that tells him of his fate and as he picks up each mysterious Virtua Soul he learns new combat attacks from none other than familiar Virtua Fighter characters like Akira Yuki or even Shun D.  Yet first you must defeat them in a fight and you’ll find that your familiar opponents have all the same moves as in past Virtua Fighter games.  After defeating them you’ll be able to use their specialty moves in combat.  Nothing’s cooler than using Shun D’s Touku Hitenhou spin attack and seeing it performed by someone other than Shun D is pretty neat.

What isn’t pretty neat is the actual execution of said moves.  Thanks to the game’s problematic controls laying the smack on enemies just isn’t as smoothly carried out as in the fighting games that inspired this particular title.  In fact, much of the fighting will become repetitive.  Really, the only cool fights come when you go up against Virtua Fighter characters.  The same can be said about the platforming bits in this game--it becomes pretty dull pretty fast.  Sei’s glove allows him to use a wire hook that--like the classic NES game Bionic Commando--allows him to zip or swing or drag enemies closer to him.  Sounds great, alright but the camera plus the awkward controls just makes using the wire hook frustrating.  The only thing that really works well is the Prince of Persia-style wall running.

As for the role-playing part, it’s traditional in that Phantasy Star kind of way and that’s not bad but then again it’s no Shenmue.  You’ll be able to walk around the environment and communicate with other characters throughout the game.  Most important of all you’ll even level up and upgrade everything from Sei’s Battle Mode (that goes from Light, Middle and Heavy) that reflects on his armor and even hit point and hunter level.  The story does have its interesting points but it doesn’t hook you in enough to make you care about what’s going on . . . and that’s too bad since Sei and his friends can be a bit charming.

Visually speaking, though, Virtua Quest isn’t a very attractive-looking game nor is it filled with wonderful detail.  We’ve seen the GameCube produce some really spectacular graphics on past Sega games but this one, sadly enough, falls flat.  Even the game’s environments look a bit blockish and sterile with very little in terms of detail.  I’m even turned off by the animation and the visual effects but at least the characters are kind of cute . . . if you like anime, of course.

Sound-wise, I wince at the voice acting and wish there were more to the soundtrack.   The rough translation means the dialogue is embarrassingly cheesy but even then the performances feel as though they’re being read by people that aren’t even voice actors.  The soundtrack doesn’t play throughout the whole game and much of it is simply generic and tame compared to, say, Skies of Arcadia on the GameCube.  Even the sound effects aren’t as cool.  So if you’re looking for an emotional audio experience you won’t find it here at all.

Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution is bar none of the best fighting games Sega has produced and Shenmue is an extraordinary RPG fighting game, with a track record like this you’d think Virtua Quest would be gaming gold.  Sadly, this is far from the truth.  While the game has its few shining moments, Virtua Quest just doesn’t leave us wanting to see it through to the end.  Maybe it’s the gawky controls or the tame combat but this one just doesn’t play as good as it could have.  Sorry Virtua Fighter fans but I’d skip this one. 

Gameplay: 6.0
The game’s biggest disappointment comes in the form of its controls that are just too difficult to maneuver smoothly around the environments.  Many of the combat moves feel both good in the Virtua Fighter kind of way but also way too awkward.  The RPG elements aren’t really bad at all but they seem to lack that spark found in other Sega RPGs like the Dreamcast version of Phantasy Star Online.

Graphics: 6.2
The characters are actually pretty cute in that Pokémon Saturday-morning-cartoon kind of way and the familiar Virtua Fighter characters will be instantly recognizable when you see them.  While this is good, the environments and character animations are just so lackluster.  There are some okay visual effects but they’re not able to save this game’s overall visuals.

Sound: 6.0
Unfortunately the sound doesn’t make up for some of the game’s visual blemishes.  In fact, the sound actually hurts the game’s visuals thanks to badly performed dialogue.  The soundtrack could have even brought emotion to the cut scenes but it doesn’t.  The sound effects are actually pretty good, though.

Difficulty: Medium
Virtua Souls grant you some specialty moves that make fighting look good but thanks to the awful controls you’ll be struggling with it a lot in this game.  You’ll also be able to level up, which will help you defeat enemies easier.  Some enemies are too dumb to pose much of a threat while others will have you really mashing those buttons.

Concept: 6.5
I started liking the main character, Sei, unfortunately I started liking him way late in the game when his character began to show personality.  I like the Energy Wire that adds just a tad more variety to the platform-style and I absolutely LOVE the Virtua Fighter cameos throughout the game.  There is very little else, however, that will really thrill gamers.

Overall: 6.6
Sadly while it is an interesting concept, Virtua Quest just doesn’t have all the right moves to make this as enjoyable as the fighting games that inspired this title.  In the past Sega has given us some brilliant platform, fighting and role-playing games--and even some that combined all three but this one is just far too flawed to recommend.