Dennou Senki - Virtual On - Cyber Troopers for SegaNet (Japan)
Sega Saturn
🇯🇵
Reviewed in 1997
88
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✪ Reviewed on June 5, 2023
82
SegaNet version of Saturn Virtual On, compatible with the era's network service. Online functionality now obsolete. Single-player identical to the standard version. Historical curiosity for collectors.
Your verdict
Category
Action2 players12+
Description
Updated version of Virtual On featuring network compatibility via Sega Net Link. Published by Sega, released in Japan in 1997. Content identical to the original game with its sixteen robots and standard modes, enhanced by an online mode for battles against remote opponents. One of the first networked robot combat experiences on Saturn.
Dennou Senki - Virtual On - Cyber Troopers for SegaNet review
MAX
Art direction
★★★★★
"Iconic"
MAX
Music
★★★★★
"Legendary"
2/5
Story
★★★★★
"Classic"
Angular mechs modelled in 3D, pared-down arenas and speed effects: the game unfurls a snappy, readable robotic action ahead of its time. The futuristic design and the crispness of the combat compose a dynamic spectacle. This visual direction, sleek and inventive, stood as a technical showcase of the console.
Electronic and supercharged, the music blends techno and nervy futuristic themes that match the speed of the mecha duels. Each clash pulses with a cybernetic energy perfectly in tune with the game's robotic aesthetic. This sleek, arcade sonic identity galvanises every fight with a resolutely futuristic groove.
Gameplay
"Excellent"
Fun
"From the very first seconds"
Piloting a nimble robot, dodging with a side dash and showering your opponent with homing fire: this 3D mecha duel breathes speed and fluidity. The twin-stick handling delivers an exhilarating sense of control, and versus clashes quickly grow addictive. Spectacular, snappy and deep, a pioneer of robot combat that electrifies.
Complete: box, manual and disc/cart very clean. Lightly handled.
Q1 damagedQ6 completeQ10 new
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Collector interest
Japanese revised edition of Virtual On for SegaNet, distributed by Sega in November 1997 with online mode added through the SegaNet service, a Japanese infrastructure that precedes the connected mecha versus genre. Sega Japan run was short relative to the first one, jewel case with intact obi marked SegaNet, and the definitive shutdown of the SegaNet service turned the online feature into a historical signal rather than a practical one. Complete with intact obi has become an archive object for Virtual On and SegaNet enthusiasts.
Better with friends
A connected variant of the mech-dueling arena, originally meant to link pilots remotely, but formidable locally on twin sticks. Everything hinges on the close-range dance: lock-on, slides and snap shots turn each clash into a tense tug-of-war. The era's online belongs to the past, but on-the-spot one-on-one keeps all its tension and addictiveness.
Is Dennou Senki - Virtual On - Cyber Troopers for SegaNet still worth playing in 2026?
A Saturn adaptation of the famous Sega arcade versus, Cyber Troopers Virtual On offers a mech arena combat where managing distance, dashes and lock ons matters more than complex inputs. The polished mecha art direction and technical handling make it a mecha versus reference on Saturn. Without original twin sticks, the controls demand effort. For anyone fond of mecha versus games or seeking an overlooked Sega classic, a warm recommendation still valid today without hesitation truly here indeed for any genre fan now.
