Virtua Fighter 5

- Reviewed on PS3 -

Virtua Fighter 5 released on July 12th, 2006.

The fighting series known to fans as Virtua Fighter, has had many different, elaborate titles in its long and rich history.

I personally grew up with Virtua Fighter games, on the PS2, and so when I began playing Virtua Fighter 5 on the PS3, I was excited to jump back into the action with memorable characters and a plethora of combos to start learning.

Virtua Fighter 5 was developed by Sega AM2 and published by Sega. 

This review WILL have Major Spoilers so keep that in mind before continuing...

Back in 2006, the main feature, Sega AM2, created for Virtua Fighter 5, was the customization feature.

With 17 characters available from the start, and one available to unlock, all 18 characters have four, different, preset costume slots (labeled Type A - D).

Every character has a Main Costume (which makes the game automatically choose that Type when playing) and a Sub Costume (which serves as your automatic second attire during certain circumstances).

To earn / buy more items and customize your fighters, you have to participate, specifically in the Quest game mode. This mode is where all the fun is, in my opinion.

Firstly, all the fighters in Virtua Fighter 5, that you can have separate quests for, include...

    - Akira
    - Pai
    - Lei Fei
    - Aoi
    - Goh
    - Kage
    - Sarah
    - Jacky
    - Eileen
    - Brad
    - Shun
    - Lau
    - Jeffry
    - Vanessa
    - Wolf
    - Lion
    - El Blaze
    - Dural (Unlockable)

To unlock Dural, you have to beat one of the other game modes, Arcade, with each character first. 

More on Arcade mode later though.

Back to the costumes and Quest mode, when you choose a starting character, you will then be on a hub world / map.

This is where you can pick various locations to fight in.

These locations on the hub world include...

    - Event Square
    - Sega Arena Coast
    - Sega World North
    - Club Sega Downtown
    - Home
    - Club Sega BayArea
    - Sega World Route 101
    - Sega Arena East
    - Sega World South

The purpose of these Sega-like locations is to give the player(s) different opponents of different difficulties. 

For Example, Sega World South is where High Ranked Opponents are, whereas Sega Arena Coast is where beginner level opponents are.

Speaking of Ranks, when you play Virtua Fighter 5's Quest Mode, you will slowly build up your said Rank by beating opponents one after another. 

Sometimes before a fight, you'll get a graphic for a Ranked Match or even an Item Match.

The Rankings in Virtua Fighter 5 are 10th Kyu (the lowest) to 1st Kyu (the highest). 

Then after you surpass the Kyu Ranks, you go from 1st Dan (the lowest) to 10th Dan (the actual highest). 

Also, as you play Quest Mode with any character, on any location / stage, a pop up for a Tournament will eventually show.

You'll want to take advantage of this optional opportunity, because if you win these, you can earn money, in order to buy new Customization Items in the Home location (on the hub world). 

You can also earn money and / or items, by doing Item Matches, but those aren't nearly as good / efficient, due to their rarity. 

Quest Mode is all about picking a fighter, ranking up, spending money to get costumes, obtaining orbs (which are like collectibles / milestones), and building a legacy (win / loss record) with that fighter!

All game modes in Virtua Fighter 5 include...

    - Arcade
    - Vs.
    - Quest
    - Dojo
    - VF. TV
    - Customize

Arcade is where you choose a fighter and fight against every character on the roster. 

Each fight in Arcade mode takes place on your opponents' main location / stage.

The actual fighting stages in Virtua Fighter 5 also have different boundaries to them.

One stage might have no railings on the four sides, resulting in Ring Outs if you or your opponent falls off, and another stage might be completely encapsulated by a Steel Cage!

Vs is where you can go for Multiplayer essentially.

Dojo is where you can participate in Command Training or Free Training.

VF. TV is a special mode where you can view NPC fights (to learn), view replays of yours, or even watch trailers!

Finally, Customize is the same as Quest's Customize feature, but on the home screen.

The music in Virtua Fighter 5 is incredible and matches perfectly with designated stages.

Though the music was great all throughout Virtua Fighter 5, the dialogue did sound severely compressed, and the chatter amongst the fighters were embarrassingly cheesy.

The graphics, at least on the PS3, still hold up today.

I'm genuinely impressed by how fluid the gameplay is in Virtua Fighter 5, despite the long loading times between matches and such.

If you love the old school Virtua Fighter games, then this installment in the series, with its customization, and large roster, is a major get!

Pros: 

    - Healthy Roster of Fighters
    - Memorable Music
    - No Gameplay Glitches or Frame Rate Drops (at least for me on PS3)
    - Great Customization
    - Good Stages

Cons:

    - Only One Unlockable Character
    - Hard / Takes too Long to Earn In-Game Money
    - Compressed and Embarrassing Dialogue
    - Long Loading Times
    - No Trophies / Achievements

My Rating for Virtua Fighter 5 (on PS3):

3 / 5


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Disclaimer

All Reviews, Ratings, Pros, Cons, and Opinions Shared on this Blog (Press A Reviews) are my (Connor Butler) own Thoughts and Feelings.



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