Virtua Fighter 5

The Good
The fifth installment of the Virtua Fighter series was to only be on the PS3. Thankfully Sega realized how stupid that move was, and has also released the game for the Xbox 360 as well. With online gameplay, the 360 outdoes the PS3 counterpart.

The fifth world fighting tournament is upon us, and now two new fighters have joined. El Blaze, the Mexican wrestler, and Eileen whom uses a very strange type of Chinese martial art. In the last tournament, Kage, made it to the finals. His goal to save his mother whom had been abducted and made into the new Dural. In the end he defeated Dural, but was unable to free his mother.

Now there is a new Dural, and a new fight begins with all eyes on the prize.

Virtua Fighter 5, plays just as smoothly as we have come to expect from the franchise. The familiar 4 button system returns. Punch, kick, grab, and block. The direction of the attack changes the attack. For instance Up plus Kick equal a high kick. It is still very fluid and as close to most of us will ever get to being in a fighting tournament. With the Hori Arcade Stick, it plays even better, if you can spare the $70 bucks. There are also quick attacks programmed onto the controller.

There are many modes in Virtua Fighter 5, Arcade, Vs, Online, Tournament, and Practice. In arcade mode you rise through the ranks as you attempt to become the next champion. Vs. is player against player, and if you have no friends or they live in another country you can play the Online. The online works quite well, two players fight and the winner fights the next person waiting, or you can set up other styles of play. Furthermore the fighters in VF5 are so customizable, that it will be rare to run into a fighter that looks like you.

"Start running, NOW!"-El Blaze-

In Tournament mode you customize your fighter, then enter “arcades” and fight many opponents in succession. Here you can rise in rank, and unlock other things for your fighter, you can then take your custom fighter and play online.

Practice mode allows the player to practice all the moves of a fighter, to help master them.

Fighters are more balanced in VF5, so no longer can a quick fighter decimate a slow one as in VF4, now it depends more on the skill of the player. Which is certainly a good thing.

In the past the Virtua Fighter series has not seen a lot in the way of unlockables. And many people have bitched and moaned about this. Well stop whining! Because VF5 has a plethora of things to unlock. Each fighter has 4 costumes and tons of items to change and tweak these said costumes.

"Ha, I can't imagine you winning."-Wolf-

The graphics are simply stunning. The lighting effects, the articulation of the fighters. The graphics also pack plenty of details. For instance in one stage it is raining. As the fighters get wet the show it, there clothes get soaked, and appear heavier with moisture. And the rain sprinkles off them. There are also some stages in which you can break part and watch the cement and wood go flying! This game has some of the best graphics I have every seen.

The sound is solid as well. From the punches and kicks, to the dialogue spoken. The music is not the shabby either.

The Bad
The A.I. can be a bit cheap. But then again if that’s not your thing play Online!

There are tons to do and see, here, but I want more!

The Bottom Line
This game is much better that VF4, and this time it is on a console that can actually run it! Furthermore this is one of the best if not best 3D fighters out there. Fighting fans have to check this one out!