SHIRO!’s Virtual On NetLink League tournament concluded Wednesday night, the culmination of years of work and dedication.
Nathan, who goes by the gamertag Rasputin3000, took the top prize with fighter Temjin after staving off fellow SHIRO! Discord server member Moosetrack, who after losing in the first round, surged through the losers’ bracket and forced a reset in the finals.
Rasputin took the second of two bouts by claiming three rounds to two.
“That was intense,” Rasputin conceded in the tournament Discord chat following the finals.
Moose fought with Dorkas, using a ground shock attack to great effect.
“The tournament was a success. Every duel was lot of fun! I wanted to win, and it was close, but Rasputin got me,” Moose said in an interview. “Before the next VO NetLink tournament I’ll learn to pilot some different machines.”
“Moose was able to consistently set up a trap with the phalanx that would force me out of cover and prevent reactive dashing, and he would pair it with the hammer that is REALLY good at tracking in and not blockable by normal shots,” Rasputin said in an interview. “The first two rounds I had very little understanding of how to avoid his phalanx combo, but by the middle of the second round I was able to predict it.
“It was rough regardless with VERY little room for error.”
Moose also credited his combatants’ fierce play.
“During the tournament, I was having fun. Every match left my heart racing and hands aching,” he said.
Neither competitor had any experience with Cyber Troopers Virtual On, the 1996 Sega Saturn port of a 3D mech fighting arcade game published by Sega, and picked it up for the tournament.
“Cool to see two newcomers wreck s*** up!” NetLink League Tournament Director Double Dime said.
SHIRO! co-founder Patrick — who many saw as the dark horse favorite to take the metaphorical trophy with more than 20 years of VO experience under his belt — bowed out in the semifinals due to an illness.
“It was good to play Virtual On with some of the best and coolest people in the Saturn scene,” Patrick said.
The final bracket for the Virtual On NetLink League tournament.
Building a Saturn online community in 2024
While online tournaments are old hat in 2024, organizing one on a nearly 30-year-old console was no small feat.
SHIRO! Discord server member SegaRPGFan said in a recent podcast appearance he and another forum user began tinkering with resurrecting the Saturn NetLink capability in about 2015.
“Getting Saturn online to this point is something I’m truly proud of,” SegaRPGFan said in an interview. “Seeing other people enjoy the thing I put my passion into is very rewarding. It’s also fun to see people excited about getting online with their Saturns, especially the first-timers, because I know that feeling well.”
SHIRO! co-founder SaturnDave said NetLink play was at the forefront of Saturn discussions from the group’s start.
“NetLink play was really one of the earliest topics we covered on the [pod]cast back in 2017 when it was in its very early stages of resurrection over VoIP (which was pretty terrible), however, Joe (SegaRPGFan) has worked miracles with this new tunnel, and we’re stoked to be building a new online NetPlay community around it,” Dave said.
He said the burgeoning community of NetLink players and collaborators was never a sure thing.
“I certainly hoped it would get to this point, but to be honest, considering all the work we’ve poured into it over the years, it’s been a pretty slow build compared to other groups who grow overnight,” Dave said, adding that SHIRO! content “is more focused on long term community building.”
Patrick noted the preservational value of the efforts, especially for someone like him who did not get to experience NetLink play in its heyday.
When asked what his favorite aspect of the tournament has been, Patrick said, “Just playing the Saturn over NetLink, I never got a chance to, and since there’s no definitive Virtual On port, it’s really the best way to play the game online in 2024.”
VO tournament champion Rasputin said it feels as though the Saturn is truly alive again.
“This community constantly impresses me with their ‘get it done’ attitudes,” Rasputin said. “It feels like a big family where everyone is helping out.”
The Virtual On tournament began in October. SHIRO! has also hosted NetLink tournaments for Virtua Fighter Remix, Decathlete and Sega Rally Championship in 2023.
SHIRO!’s next NetLink tournament has yet to be scheduled. Those interested can check SHIRO!’s website or the SHIRO! Discord server for the latest updates.
Anyone interested in getting their Saturn online can check SHIRO!’s guide.
Cecil H4rvey is a contributor to SHIRO! Media Group, writing stories for the website on NetLink League events. H4rvey cut his teeth on Sega Genesis games as a kid in the ’90s, and his love Sega was reignited like many during the 2020 pandemic, when he discovered the massive amount of innovation in the retro scene. He purchased a model one Japanese Saturn and installed a Fenrir ODE in 2022 and never looked back. H4rvey joined SHIRO! on the heels of a career as a newspaper reporter in the Rocky Mountain West.
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