Virtua Fighter 5

Elitism exists in any activity, and video games are no exception. Virtua Fighter is an elitist’s fighting game, and with good reason. While frantically smashing buttons in Tekken like some kind of drunken gibbon will result in some rather impressive on-screen activity, button mashing in Virtua Fighter will see you knocked out for the count. This is a game were they have dojos in Japan to teach you how to play it. Dojos for a virtual martial art – I’ll let that one sink in for a while.

I’m willing to bet that those of you that are still reading are likely to be fans of the series, the hardcore of the hardcore. You’ve memorised Akira’s move set, and you understand when I say that this game doesn’t have online because you simply can’t afford to miss a frame counter because of lag. You’ve already decided to buy Virtua Fighter 5 – you decided that the moment you knew it was announced – and there’s a chance that before the 360 version was announced that you were prepared to purchase a PS3 just to do so. In fact, given that the 360 version is coming later, you probably still will.

What you, dear reader, really want to know is when is it coming and what can you expect? The game is due to launch with the PLAYSTATION 3 on March 23rd, and you can expect a fermented version of Virtua Fighter 4 - but given the impressive depth that Virtua Fighter 4 offered, that’s hardly a bad thing. As for the improvements, for a start, there are two new characters. In a tragic case of Virtua Fighter appearing to mimic Dead or Alive, there is a Mexican wrestler known as El Blaze, and there is a kou-ken (think monkeys) fighter known as Eileen who has decided to follow her idol Pai into the world of martial arts. One almost expects her to tell Pai that she learnt Kung-Fu to live in her world.

Although there are only two new characters, all of the returning roster have been fleshed out with new moves for you to master. Additionally, the sense of scale has finally caught up to games like Tekken, with larger characters like Jeffry and Wolf finally looking larger than characters like Lion and Pai. Indeed, the power of the PS3 and 360 has been put to excellent use, as Virtua Fighter 5 is probably the best looking fighting game seen to date.

Virtua Fighter 5 also marks the return of the quest mode, which doesn’t make up for a lack of online functionality, but certainly eases the pain somewhat. Once again you will be able to compete in simulated tournaments against a range of AI that has been programmed off some of the world’s best Virtua Fighter players. And once again, success in quest mode will allow you to unlock a wide range of content for you to customise your favourite fighter with.

Virtua Fighter 5 looks set to simply fine tune what is already considered to be the pinnacle of the fighting game genre. To cynics, it might be considered more of the same, but to those that know and love the series, it is merely another step towards pure perfection. If you’re a fan of the series, you simply must pick this game up for either the PS3 or the 360. However, given the extremely hardcore nature of the game, some players might want to consider whether any of their local friends and whanau will be willing to virtually spar them before they invest the amount of time the game demands. The AI is competent, but it’s no substitute for real, live competition. Look for a full review in the near future to find out whether the PAL version offers value for money.