Last Bronx can be seen as trying to ride the 3D zeitgeist that Yu Suzuki’s AM2 defined. The interleaving of Fighting Vipers characters into the Saturn exclusive Fighters Megamix makes this connexion explicit. In this context, it is unsurprising that Sega would try to wring every last drop of creative and fiscal juice from its Virtua Fighter model. With the original Virtua Fighter home conversion enjoying huge popularity with the Saturn’s launch, it was clear that Sega’s arcade games were equally vital to the home market and the company’s increasingly fragile bottom line.
The one factor that had not changed was Sega’s arcade dominance, driving the Saturn’s unexpected Japanese success. Sega were enjoying a topsy-turvy period whereby their traditional strongholds in America and Europe had evaporated and been replaced by domestic popularity. Last Bronx‘s 1996 arcade release coincided with the high-water mark of Virtua Fighter 2‘s Japanese popularity.
0 kommentar(er)
