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The quintessential game of strategy is now available for play on the Nintendo 64, courtesy of Titus Software. Virtual Chess 64 features an award-winning chess engine (it once beat IBM's Deep Blue) as well an option to view light-hearted battle sequences with 3D characters. Once you capture a piece, a fighting animation will begin with two cartoon "pieces" displaying the results. Of course, serious gamers can elect to turn this feature off if it becomes too bothersome. The main view of the game is from a 3D perspective set behind one side of the board. Since the default board and pieces are three-dimensional, players can also rotate the camera to view the board from the side of their opponent. Besides the 3D board, Virtual Chess 64 features seven different 2D boards with their own style of pieces. Virtual Chess 64 includes several options to let you customize each game. There are a total of fourteen difficulty levels, ranging from two beginner settings that have the computer making mistakes to a setting where the computer calculates possible moves at the rate of 3,000 per second. Those who are new to the game need not worry, as an interactive tutorial covers seven different aspects of chess in detail: the board, the chessmen, rules of the game, the beginning, tactics and strategy, main mat scheme and endings. In addition to the tutorial, beginners can select an optional display marker showing the possible moves for each piece. Advanced gamers can edit the board to practice certain situations, and the computer can be forced to move at the press of a button or set to think during the other player's turn. Preferences as well as games in progress can be saved directly to a Controller Pak accessory.