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Turbo Review: Virtua Fighter 5 (XB360)


Kyoshi Frost Wolf

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Want just a quick summary? Head to the final verdict for that and my rating!

Virtua Fighter 5

Platform: Xbox 360, PS3(No online play on PS3 version)

Genre: Fighting

Publisher/Developer: SEGA/SEGA AM2

*This is a review for the original Virtua Fighter 5, not Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown

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The fighting genre has been very active over the past few years. With the likes of Blazblue, Mortal Kombat, and all of the Capcom fighters, there definitely has been no shortage of arcade fighters to satisfy gamers. However, with all of the good and bad fighting games over the years, there is one from 2007/08 that I always go back to and enjoy more than any of the others, that is the 3D fighter Virtua Fighter 5.

 

VF5 is, as you could guess, the 5th entry in the Virtua Fighter series. It features 2 new characters for the series, Eileen and El Blaze, as well as 15 returning VF characters, bringing the count to 17 for this release. The character roster might seem small compared to other fighters in recent memory, but each one uses real life fighting styles and they are fleshed out better than most fighting game characters entirely. This makes mastering a certain characters that you enjoy to use incredibly satisfying and relies on the efficiency of the real fighting techniques rather than flashy, over-the-top combos.

 

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The gameplay is what you would expect from the series, but it has never been better. It is a 3D fighter where you can strafe across the arena's with relatively fluid movement, for a fighting game at least. There are ring outs, guarding, grabs, and more technical moves. While some moves are better than others, there are no unblockable, flashy Super Attacks here. Each attack can be properly countered or guarded depending on your timing and knowing what kind of attack it is. The gameplay here is top notch and most likely my favorite fighting engine in history.

 

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The modes are fairly standard for the VF series. You have the standard arcade mode, where you climb the ladder and defeat the boss, VS, which is local multiplayer, Quest Mode, where you choose a character, rank up, and do endless an endless amount of fights among real Sega arcades, and new to the series and only for the Xbox 360 version, online play. There are other modes like VF TV where you can view CPU matches or saved replays and a customize mode. Out of these modes, Quest is by far my favorite. It can provide tons and tons of hours of gameplay and it is quite addicting. As you fight in this mode, you rank up and earn money and items to customize your character, with a surprising amount of options. Each arcade offers different difficulties for fights depending on which one you choose and in Arcade fashion, you fight until you lose or quit. During these fights you might have an item battle pop up or a ranking battle. These in combination with the excellent fighting system, can keep you fighting and fighting for hours on end and that is a great thing. My only gripe with this mode is the insanely cheap AI in the harder arcades. They are very cheesy and use spamming moves and immediately counter all guarding. Thankfully, those are pretty much optional unless you want to rank up further. All of the other modes are fairly standard in comparison to Quest, you know what to expect with them. Online play is the only other unique mode but sadly it kinda falls flat, with no real activity with the original version. This does not bother me as I hate fighting games online, but for those that like it, the mode here is a ghost town. The PS3 version does not include this mode at all, but the 360 version doesn't feel like it does either. Lastly there is a Dojo mode for practicing and learning the moves of the characters, with trial modes for each. It is standard as well but works well too. I recommend going here first if you are new of course.

 

The last thing I want to mention is the graphics of the game. While it may not seem important for a game like this, VF5 manages to have an impressive graphical look with fantastic looking character models and stages, with some pretty cool water effects as well. Also, the English voice acting of those that speak it is incredibly cheesy but charming in a way. The Japanese voiced characters are performed far better.

 

Final Verdict:

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Virtua Fighter 5 is a top class fighter. It has one of the best, if not THE best 3D fighting engine ever created and the use of real fighting styles is so well executed that you may even gain respect for the fighting styles as well. Most modes are fairly standard but they will keep you entertained for hours on end as you learn your favorite characters. The quest mode will also keep you fighting for a very long time, despite some cheesy difficulty spikes in harder arcades, but those are optional. The plentiful customization for the different characters is also a very nice plus. If you are looking for an unbelievably satisfying fighting game, look no further. If you are looking for an online fighting game, look elsewhere, as the online is a ghost town last I checked.

 

Pros:

+One of the best and most satisfying fighting engines ever

+Great diversity among fighters with REAL fighting styles

+Incredibly fun quest mode and customization

 

Cons:

-Very cheesy fighters in harder arcades

-Online is basically nonexistent now

 

Thank you for reading. :)

 

Until next week,

 

Turbo out!

  • Brohoof 1

3 Comments


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Glad you reviewed this, mate! I'm a pretty big fan of VF but I haven't been able to get any new systems in the last ten years or so, so i'll have to suffice with VF2 on the Genesis to get my fix. mlp-teyeroll.png

 

Still, this is a great review. I'll have to be sure to read these! mlp-psmile.png

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Virtua fighter is alwYs good.
That's what I have heard. Oddly enough this was my first VF game. I was never a huge fan of fighting games, save for Tekken 3, KI, Soul Caliber 2 and that's about it. This game though is just so refined and has such a fluid feeling that I think it beats them all in playability. :)

 

Glad you reviewed this, mate! I'm a pretty big fan of VF but I haven't been able to get any new systems in the last ten years or so, so i'll have to suffice with VF2 on the Genesis to get my fix. mlp-teyeroll.png Still, this is a great review. I'll have to be sure to read these! mlp-psmile.png
I am glad that you liked it. :3
  • Brohoof 1
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