A great fighting game that could have been better.
The entire cast of Virtua Fighter 4 is back in action as well as two new characters in the form of Eileen, a monkey kung fu fighter, as well as El Blaze, a Mexican wrestler, which overall makes for a good crowd of quite diverse combatants and you're likely to find at least one character that fits you.
When it comes to the presentation, the game is clearly lacking compared to its competitors' as the story, while never of much focus in fighting games, is lacklusterly told inside the manual and a non-issue in the game. There are no character-specific cut scenes when you finish the arcade mode and you won't unlock new characters. You can however unlock a load of different costumes, clothes and accessories for each character by participating in the games quest mode which, aside from the arcade mode and a VFTV dubbed mode that pits 2 A.I. opponents against each other, builds the main singleplayer experience of the game.
Quest mode basically simulates the life of an aspiring Virtua Fighter pro who hangs out in (virtual) arcades and plays Virtua Fighter 5 all day long to one day earn the title of the best player in the (virtual) world. However, while better A.I. opponents tend to block a whole lot more often than easier profiles, the enemies often fall for the same combos over and over if you just tried them a couple of times which can lead to some easy wins. By accumulating more and more wins you'll earn items and prize money to buy more items that allow great character customization. Unless you have a friend to play near you, however, your pimped out fighter with his new sunglasses and recolored shoes probably won't get the attention he deserves though.
It's definitely an omission that the game is lacking and online capabilities whatsoever and while pro player sure would have complained about any sort of lag, it would have made the purchase of the game a better deal for people just looking for a terific fighting game to play every once in a while. Instead you'll have to rely on a good group of friends to come over whenever you want to brag about your skills and showing off the latest combo you perfected or a new costume you earned.
Skill and training is defintely something the fantastic fighting mechanics reward and perfecting the controls over just one character can take months. The game is based around the three buttons punch, kick and guard, but while the system sounds very simple, the sheer variaty of options in any situation is stunning, given you have the timing to perform the right presses at the opportune moment. That's not to say Virtua Fighter 5 is only enjoyable for players who are extremely passionate for this type of game, when even matched, two beginners can have a great time and to improve your vocabulary of moves the training mode the place to be. It's too bad the game lacks the feature to watch a move being performed though as it's the best way of getting the ever so important timing right.
Since the PS3 version is a very straight port of the arcade version, it makes for some impressive visuals with smooth animations, great looking backgrounds and a overall great framerate. If something negative can be said about the graphics it's probably the somewhat stiff mouth motions of the characters while talking and even with an installation of over two gigabytes onto the PS3's harddrive, load times can be provokingly long.
The sound of Virtua Fighter has never been the strong suit of the series and while the background music is ok for this type of game, much of the voices and punch sounds feel like rehashes of previous titles. To tell the truth, the whole game feels to some extent like a rehash with prettier graphics and the game definitely is more of a Virtua Fighter 4.5 than a clear 5. And while this still makes the game one of the best fighters currently available thanks to its great gameplay, without the inclusion of an online mode, your enjoyment of the game is greatly tied to the number of friends in your neighbourhood who can join up with you to play this terrific fighting game.