Courtesy of our good friends at HobbyLink Japan, we’ve been sent a toy from Virtual On to review. Specifically, the Composite Ver.Ka Temjin. In addition, to give the toy some context, we’ve also linked some gameplay footage of it in action from the excellent SEGA AGES PS2 port at the end of the review.

The original Virtual On was a classic game in many ways and one of its most striking elements was the ruthlessly efficient mecha design on the part of one Hajime Katoki. From the clean silhouettes to the simple shapes that sculpted the limbs. All of this was as a result of the technology of the time and the Model 2 board’s then inability to handle too many polygons, something that was literally baked into the designs of the game’s mecha.

MBV-04-G Temjin was effectively the Ryu of Virtual On’s virtuaroid (or VR) line-up. From a standard beam rifle, bomb and beam sword; it was a jack of trades but master of none. It sat functionally abreast of the game and as such, in the right hands at least, was a formidable force to contend with. Many of the best players in the 15 year history of the series have been Temjin pilots but this is not to say that Temjin was by any means uber, far from it in fact. Temjin was actually one of the hardest VR’s to master at the higher levels of play, mostly on account of how comprehensive the functional menu was and the skill based expectation that left on the player.

Considering that this year is the 15th anniversary of the original game’s release, it seemed only fitting that Hajime Katoki would help create a fitting homage to his design on the newly created Composite Ver. Ka toy line. Unsurprisingly, it’s really quite special.

Toy: Composite Ver.Ka Temjin
Price: 4800 yen
Size/Weight: 24.0 x 24.0 x 5.5 cm / 340g

As you can see, the toy is covered in all manner of lovely panel details and the sculpt is pretty much flawless. From the standard beam rifle, with its beam sword extension, you also get the prototype’s rail gun (something that wasn’t actually featured in the original game, but only visible on as a bitmap background on one of the leaderboards). In addition, the the Sega Saturn themed V-converter also opens up and contains a silver disc. The figure also comes with a variety of hand types, one which can also hold the bomb too, and a nice stand so you can do various dashing poses as seen in the game.

In terms of articulation, the arms, head and legs are very mobile. Even the feet hinge upwards allowing for some nice crouching poses. However, the ankle joints are initially quite rigid and somewhat limit the movements of the feet and makes for quite static poses. That said, the beam rifle can be held very snugly into the elbow joint (something the Sega Real Model toys had issues with) and the joints are pretty sturdy to even allow some nice beam sword poses.

The latter is especially notable, as the new beam sword add-on is pretty epic in terms of scale and is beginning to seem like a Composite Ver. Ka party piece (as in give the toy a ridiculously large weapon add-on to wield). We’re not complaining though as the beam sword looks pretty impressive.

Finally, it seems that after 15 years Virtual On fans have received the Temjin toy they’ve desired for so long. From the excellent sculpt and paint job, to the brilliant figure peripherals and a nicely hinged V-converter; it really is an excellent toy. Whilst the ankle articulation is initially a bit limited, the stand makes up for that as it allows for some nostalgic gaming poses. Overall then, if you’re a fan of the original Virtual On then this toy is a must get and is yet another excellent figure in the growing Composite Ver. Ka range.

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgxXcz2p1TA]