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The arrival of AM3's first fighting game has been long in the coming. Development of the arcade game was unfortunately finished around the same time as AM2's VIRTUA FIGHTER 3. While popular in Japan it never saw much action in US arcades (although you can find a few arcades with import machines). Therefore, the timing of the Japanese release of LAST BRONX for the Saturn is particularly appropriate as there is no distinct competition, except perhaps Tecmo's DEAD OR ALIVE, scheduled in the near future.

For those of you not familiar with the story it goes something like this: despite the name LAST BRONX, this game takes place as far from Manhattan as you can get. It takes place in Tokyo where rival clans (Soul Crew, Orchids, G-Troops, Helter Skelter, etc.) fight for territory. A man called Redeye sends a message to the leader of each clan that states that there will be a series of duels, process-of-elimination style, to see who shall remain standing and assume the mantle of Last Bronx. Attendance is not optional.

The first thing you'll notice about the packaging is that it is a double-disc set. After much speculation as to the contents of the second disc, it has been revealed to contain a never-before-seen Last Bronx animated cartoon, as well as a tutorial mode where super deformed versions of your character plus an opponent discuss fighting styles and tactics. Additionally, there is a 'Dojo' mode where the format is similar to the tutorial, except that now you must execute moves, ala FIGHTER'S MEGAMIX style, while having your performance critiqued by your SD character.

As for the game itself, it's obvious that AM3 spent a lot of time putting the polish on LAST BRONX, which might explain why Australian developers Tantalus converted AM3's Manx TT to the Saturn as opposed to AM3 themselves. The game has all the obligatory modes you're accustomed to seeing in a fighting game by now, Arcade mode, Versus mode, Saturn mode, Time attack, and Survival mode as well as the options screen. Once you've entered the game itself you'll instantly discover the quality this game exudes. The first thing you'll find is that AM3 has eschewed the low-res Gouraud-shaded approach of AM2's most recent fighting games for a high-res 60fps look similar to VF2. These characters look excellent in battle and when you see them strut their winning poses you'll be amazed at how lifelike they feel. While the textures occasionally flicker and aren't as lush as those in the arcade version, the detail is high and the character's mouths are lip-synched extremely well. They really look like they're talking rather than just moving their mouths.

If you've been following LB's progress on the Internet you've probably heard rumors about fully 3D backgrounds, and while not completely untrue this has turned out to be somewhat misleading. Your fighting area is a closed in arena, square in shape, varying in style (fences, railings etc.). Your opponent, as well as yourself, can be smashed off of the barriers (although not to the extent found in FIGHTING VIPERS), and there are no apparent ring-outs since the point is to beat your opponent to a pulp. The backgrounds consist of multiple layers of 2D bitmaps similar to the ones in VF2 or, even more bizarrely, Toshinden URA. However, don't let the comparison's deter you, the BG's in LB are excellent. The foremost of the layers is 'locked' to the arena so when you beat your opponent around the square it scrolls and zooms as if it were actually 3D. It never just floats like VF2.

The gameplay itself will take a little getting used to. While the control layout is the same as VF2, FIGHTING VIPERS, and MEGAMIX, i.e. Guard, Punch, Kick, with options to assign additional commands to the XYZ buttons,you'll find that the moves are a little harder to pull off than you would expect. It's not that the commands are amazingly complex, it's more that the game requires a more nimble touch than usual, for example a pounce attack on an opponent knocked to the ground will often merely have you jumping and swinging at the air. Not impossible mind you, just a little touchy, that's all. The other problem while trying to 'quickly but lightly' enter your moves is that your opponent doesn't seem to have much sympathy for your plight, usually resulting in a beatdown for the uninitiated. What this makes for is a lot more button-mashing exercises than a game with this many moves (comparable to VF2) should require. Another thing that some players weaned off of FIGHTING VIPERS and FIGHTERS MEGAMIX might miss is the lack of a side-step and a flip-out routine. Now, these elements were never in the arcade game and will probably be incorporated in the sequel whenever that arrives, but for the time being, if you were spoiled by the ability of moving in and out of the screen, you just may miss it here. Additionally, the damage done by some attacks is relatively high and matches can end very quickly (remember this when fighting Zaimoku), although these things can be adjusted in the options menu.

As far as details go, LAST BRONX is chock-full of them. If you look carefully, or maybe not so carefully, you'll notice the backgrounds in LB are rife with advertising. Now, while this has been done before in many Sega games, you know, the occasional Pepsi or Java Tea ad, it has never been done to this extent. In the space of one screen you may see as many as three to four product placements. Items such as Crystal Geyser, Java Tea, and Japan Air Lines. While some may scream corporate sellout, it actually immerses you in the game due to the realistic nature of your surroundings. Also, if you look closely you might find a blue hedgehog chillin' in the background. This attention to detail brings the game to life. Other points of interest are things like the name entry screen where your character stands at the center of ball consisting of letters and numbers, he/she rotates in 360° as you make your selections. The presentation is very well done and it shows that AM3 really took the time to do it right.

Players who finish the game in Arcade mode will wish they could fast forward pass the ending credits, unlike FIGHTERS MEGAMIX where you were treated to a display of high-res still CG renderings as well as different music, the ending in Arcade mode consists of an EXTREMELY slow scrolling list of credits on a black background while two songs play, one a generic Sega rock track, the other something that sounds like a Russian cossack dance. Anyway the whole process seems to take 3-4 minutes which is unbearable if you just want to play the dang game. Saturn mode is where it really gets good. Each character has a principal nemesis, who isn't necessarily Redeye, that they confront at the end of the game. The two characters engage in some sort of discussion (which looks so cool, by the way) and then fight it out. Provided that you win you are then treated to a short animation revealing your ending. This relatively unique approach allows the game designers to tell a greater story more efficiently than if they were to use SGI rendered cinemas with awkward moving/looking characters who don't talk (Street Fighter Ex Plus Alpha comes to mind). Plus it's a lot better than VF2 telling you CONGRATULATIONS! at the end.

While getting first impressions of the game, one of the Arcade games' secrets made a cameo appearance at the end of a match with Redeye. In the arcade there were a number of secrets placed in the game. The first was a 'joke' weapon for each character, i.e Joe's nunchakus were replaced with corn-on-the-cob, Yusaku's three-sectioned staff was replaced with a toy-train set, etc. The second was the inclusion of 'Grey' characters, which were essentially grey Gouraud-shaded doppelgangers of the main characters. The third secret was very similar to the second, except that instead of being grey, the characters appeared as dark metal replicas, similar to Dural in VF3. The secret that surprised this reviewer was a grey replica of Zaimoku. No particular criteria seemed to trigger this, except perhaps that I was destroying everyone with Zaimoku and didn't lose a round(?), when after beating Redeye the screen switched to the 'Next Stage' message and brought me face to face with my grey counterpart who quickly kicked my butt. As far as the other secrets are concerned, nothing has caused them to surface as of yet although AM3 was quoted in SEGA SATURN WEEKLY in Japan as saying that they're all in there. Additionally, beating Arcade AND Saturn Modes with all characters did NOT unlock Redeye for use, although at the LAST BRONX demo stations at this year's E3 in Atlanta had him as a selectable character, so this would allude to his eventual selectability.

One small disappointment with the game was the fact that the original shadows from the arcade game, which moved proportionately in real-time didn't survive the transition to the Saturn. They have been replaced by anonymous grey ovals, which get the job done but were presumably substituted so that they could maintain a high frame-rate. This is key because at moments when your character is whipping out some blinding move the frame rate occasionally dips for the briefest of moments.

So what all this boils down to is this: LAST BRONX is the weapons-based fighting game for Saturn fans who can appreciate the subtlety of VF2 but prefer the quick-tempered, bone-crushing violence of TEKKEN 2. The character designs are far cooler than the bizarre (possibly corny) characters in FIGHTING VIPERS (no Sanman here!), biker chicks, tattoo's galore, motorcycle gang members etc. round out the ensemble, and the rewards are worth the effort involved. LAST BRONX is a game familiar enough to pick up and play, and yet will offer plenty of challenge to those who look deeper than the surface. With the extra disc full of options and animation, LAST BRONX is an essential purchase for those who buy imports and can't wait until October-November when it makes it to these shores in one form or another.

Graphics: 9.0
Not arcade-perfect but much better than VF2

Gameplay: 8.5
Doesn't control as smoothly as VF2 (which is it's closest contemporary) but when you get those hits it feels REAL good!

Innovations: 8.0
Not much in the way of innovations, unless you count the second disc, which you must certainly do.

Replay Value: 9.0
There's lots of that, believe me.

Music and Sound: 8.5
Voices are clear and vibrant, sound effects are bone-crunching. Music is so-so Sega fare.

Presentation: 10.0
The overall finesse of this package just oozes class.

TOTAL AVERAGE: 8.83
What this means is that if you dig on arcade fighting games, LAST BRONX is as essential as they come.