Virtual On actually on XBLA April 29

When Sega's Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram made its North American home debut on the Dreamcast in 2001, it lacked two things: the online play of its Japanese counterpart and a standard controller capable of replicating the twin-stick controls of the arcade game. Those issues will be addressed next week, as Sega has announced an April 29 launch of Oratorio Tangram for Xbox Live Arcade.

Online multiplayer action isn't the only new feature being added for Oratorio Tangram's Xbox 360 debut. Like Sega's Live Arcade rerelease of Rez HD, the new version of Oratorio Tangram will give the game's graphics a high-definition upgrade.

In the past, consoles have not proven a welcome home for previous installments of Virtual On. The arcade original didn't fare well critically when it was ported to the Sega Saturn and performed only marginally better on the PC. More recently, the 2003 PlayStation 2 follow-up Virtual On: Marz failed to impress.

For more on the series, check out GameSpot's review of the original Oratorio Tangram on the Sega Dreamcast.