VIRTUA FIGHTER 5
The Greatest Fighting Game Ever Created
By Ken Cross

Folks, I have an obsession.  It’s called Virtua Fighter.  I wasn’t always afflicted with Vitrua-itis, it was something that was thrust upon me after delving into SEGA’s classic Virtua Fighter 4 (and subsequently Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution) a few years back.  My unhealthy addiction has caused me to get immense joy out of continually playing a game that has since been devalued at retail shops to $5-10 dollars used.  What fuels this addiction is perhaps what Virtua Fighter’s main staple, and that is a seemingly endless abyss of strategic depth.  I can safely say there is no game ANYWHERE that uses only a 3-button configuration that completely outclasses the games like Soul Calibur, Tekken and DOA where 4 button configur ations are standard.  Every iteration of the series Sega manages to reinvent the game, whether it be graphically or gameplay and most reviewers in the industry have said that VF4 was possibly the best fighting game ever created.  So how do you top that?  Sega answers with Virtua Fighter 5 and boy is it ever good!

Every character from VF4 is returning, including a sexy redesign for Vale Tudo fighter Vanessa.  The characters have visibly aged and this is most apparent from looking at the hi-res shots of Shun Di and Lau Chan.  Introduced into the mix this time are two interesting combatants, El Blaze and Eileen.  El Blaze is a Mexican Luchador style wrestler.  He was created to give players a speedier alternative to the slow moving Wolf.  El Blaze displays flashier moves like the Hurracarana and Sunset Flips you see from Rey Mysterio in the WWE.   Eileen is a young girl who practices Monkey Style Kung-Fu.  Much like Lion, who practices the Preying Mantis style Kung Fu, Eileen isn’t going to overpower you in a match.  Her edge comes from having an array of unorthodox strikes that confuse opponents. 

Graphically, the game is a masterpiece.  Easily the best looking fighter in existence.  You can see the hairs detailed on the body parts of certain characters and can actually see the fabric flowing on their outfits.  It moves at an always fluid 60fps and finally does away with the jerky movements of some previous iterations of the series all together.