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| Also available on PS3 |
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The modern renaissance of fighting games that began with the release of
Street Fighter IV
has had many positive effects on the genre. It has brought new players
into the fighting game fold, and the increased audience allows for
classic series that may have fallen by the wayside to be revived and put
in the hands of new players eager to see the diverse breadth of
experiences the genre has to offer. The original iterations of Virtua
Fighter 5 released in 2007 struggled to make an impact: the original
PlayStation 3 release lacked any sort of online play, while the Xbox 360
version debuted amid numerous other high-profile releases. Despite
positive reviews, the original VF5 didn't make many waves.
Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown takes a different approach. Rather than
being a full-priced disc release, it's a $15 downloadable title
available through the PlayStation Network. Instead of emphasizing the
single-player quest modes of the original release, the game is geared
toward competitive play, with a robust online matchmaking engine and
in-depth training and tutorial modes. You don't earn items to customize
your characters in-game; you buy downloadable customization packs that
contain hundreds upon hundreds of items, costumes, and colors for each
fighter. To top it all off, the game engine has received a significant
overhaul, making the game more accessible to new players while adding
depth and gameplay tweaks that longtime VF fans will find refreshing.
The result is a package that, while somewhat lacking in certain
respects, represents a tremendous value.
At first glance, Virtua Fighter is deceptively simple: there are only
three buttons (guard, punch, and kick), no super meters or other gauges,
and rings of varied size and shape to fight on. Once you begin playing,
however, the game's depth gradually opens up. The three buttons, used
in tandem with certain joystick movements, open up hundreds of different
commands for each character, with each individual skill having numerous
unique properties and potential uses. Every character has a wealth of
different strikes, holds, throws, and counters of varying heights,
speeds, and damage properties. The skills are based (sometimes rather
loosely) on true-to-life martial arts, so don't expect the flashiness of
massive fireballs, energy swords, or divekicks from across the length
of the screen.
The more-grounded basis of Virtua Fighter doesn't make the game any less
exciting, however: matches are fast-paced, tense, and involve more
up-close-and-personal beatdowns. The smoothness and detail of the
individual character animations accentuate the thrill of combat; the
sheer satisfaction of landing a particularly complex and damaging combo
or a rarely seen, off-the-wall throw is immense. Characters also come
with unique properties that affect the way they play: tiny luchador El
Blaze can dash speedily around the ring, drunken master Shun Di gains
improved moves when he's plastered (yes, really), and gargantuan sumo
Taka-Arashi's massive size renders him harder to knock down and hit with
combo strings, to give a few examples.
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