There is no genre in videogames that has as many subdivided fans that are undoubtedly convinced that a particular title, or line of titles, is the pinnacle as 3D fighting games. Some titles have much more fleshed out stories, some have extra modes that play like old-school beat-em ups, and some are, simply put, much more accessible to new players. Virtua Fighter 5, on the other hand, has a story that most people don’t know or don’t care about, has no beat-em up mode and has a learning curve that shies away most people who are new to the series. What it has, however, is the most in-depth fighting system ever in a videogame, and the most lag-free online play I have yet to see in a fighter.
Finding a character that you like shouldn’t be a problem here as the game has 17 very different fighters with fighting styles ranging from utter brute force to Touru-Ken, commonly known as praying mantis, and with personalities as varied as the fighting styles. Sorry, there are no hidden characters here from popular first-person shooters or an animated block of wood that mimics the fighting styles of other characters.
While as individualized as the characters are, they all share one commonality: their voice acting, for lack of a better word, sucks. Given the level of quality set by the gameplay and available modes, one would think that they could go the extra mile and finally get some decent voice-acting. Yes, one would think, but they didn’t. Although, I must admit, now it’s becoming a series staple to have bad voice-acting and, as a Lion player, seeing people get even more annoyed by my character’s voice after they lose adds a level of enjoyment that if it were ever removed, I would love to have the option to turn it on.
Unlike other “places” that have reviewed this title, I’m not going to give this game a lower score because of its depth, or rather, its inability to appeal to a wider audience. If you like Virtua Fighter, you don’t even need to read this review to know the level of quality gameplay that you’ll be getting. If you don’t like Virtua Fighter, try the extensive training mode for a while, or better yet, talk to a hardcore player about the game and get some tips because like the others before it, this game may be too deep for newcomers to the series — regardless of whether or not you have played other fighting games before.
For example, frame-counting is an essential element to understand. I didn’t know why my opponent always hit me first when I chose Lion and did his Down and Punch move, even though we were doing the same move. I went onto http:/www.virtuafighter.com and discovered that Lion’s low punch takes more frames to execute than everyone else’s, so I had to find a different move to use in certain situations. Of course, this level of depth isn’t necessary in casual play, but if you really want to start getting competitive it’s something you’re going to have to read up on, as you won’t last long without it.
Taking your custom character through the quest mode provides an excellent offline experience as the A.I. is astoundingly well developed as their level of difficulty very accurately represents what level they are at and scales accordingly as you play. It won’t take you long to realize that fighting a 10th kyu is a lot different than fighting a 10th Dan. Various prizes and money are awarded with each battle which can then be used to outfit your character as you see fit. The changes are only cosmetic, so don’t expect to have an advantage with your character because you outfitted him/her with a “cute” pair of pink shoes.
Virtua Fighter 5 ONLINE has the word “online” in the title for a reason: this is the first time in the series that you can play online against other players. Does it pull it off? Yes. Very well, in fact. Other fighters such as Dead or Alive 4 suffered from hit and miss online play due to lag, but since they have limited the matches to 1v1, they seemed to have solved that problem. The options for online play are fairly limited when compared to the lobby system of Dead or Alive 4, but if you’re just looking to play other people online, you probably prefer this being bare-bones to get the best performance yet.
If the most important aspect of a 3D fighting game is the depth and balanced nature of the gameplay, then Virtua Fighter 5 has no rival. Sure, it doesn’t have the lobby system of Dead or Alive 4 or the character list of Tekken, but when the gameplay is this good, it doesn’t matter. This is without a doubt the greatest 3D fighting game out there, and it earns every point of its 10.0 score.
