Pros: Virtua Fighter series now online, Version C, Quest Mode Online increases longevity, Graphics improved
Cons: XBox360 gamepad not optimal for game, announcer voice annoying, music hardly memorable, character quotes cheesy
The bottom line: Virtua Fighter 5 comes to the XBox360 with an excellent fighting system and a series first online. However, you'll need a better controller to truly enjoy the game.
Gameplay (25%): 9
Graphics (15%): 9
Sound (10%): 5
Controls (25%): 8
Longevity (25%): 9

Overall: 84% (Above Average/4 stars)

The lack of fighters on XBox360

The last major fighting game release (non-XBox live arcade related) was Dead or Alive 4 WAY back in September of 2006 of last year. It has been a seriously long time since a new modern fighting game, with any semblance of innovation, has graced the XBox360 and it is with thanks to Sega that we now see Virtua Fighter 5 on this system. The how's and why's of what took so long with bringing a new fighting game to the XBox360 can be complained about and raised to the nearest Microsoft complaint line, but we can all be grateful that we have one as solid of a series as this one.

Virtua Fighter's Long Journey

The Virtua Fighter series has been argued to be the first game that introduced the gaming world to the 3D fighting genre. Developed and released in 1993, the game was developed initially for the then-Sega Saturn technology and released in arcades. Other games around at the time (remember Street Fighter II or Mortal Kombat, anyone?) relied on as many as 6 buttons and a joystick to execute commands on screen, but this game, despite being 3D, only relied on 3 buttons (punch, kick, and block) and a joystick to execute commands. Like the fighters around at the time, combinations of buttons could execute combos, throws or special moves. However, very much unlike the popular fighters of the time, these moves never involved fireballs or spears being launched across the screen. Virtua Fighter was actually hailed as one of the most complex fighters of its time for representing real world fighting techniques and, despite its polygonal appearance, revolutionary. Those real world fighting techniques were represented by 8 fighters, ranging from Akira Yuki's Kung Fu to Jacky Bryant's Jeet Kune Do.

Never choosing to surrender that niche as being the most complex fighter, Virtua Fighter 2 continued with the tradition whilst adding two more fighters representing real martial arts (Lion Rafale praticing Tourou-ken and Shun Di of Drunken Kung Fu). In the 2nd iteration, not only did the game push the technical envelope, the game was also credited for pushing the graphical envelope as well. So powerful was the game in 1994 that the game could not be run on any hardware at the time at full power (i.e. Sega Saturn) that it was released on.

The third game, considered by some to be the height of the series, was when Sega chose to introduce not only two new fighters (Aoi of Aikido and Taka-Arashi of Sumo... his only appearance in the series); but also a dodge button and stages that were not simply squared rings. The stages this time actually had different levels and undulations, though not as details as the Dead or Alive Series, thus introducing some strategic planning into the fight. However, this was not to last, and all of this was removed in Virtua Fighter 4 for some inexplicable reason... oh with 2 new fighters and the removal of Taka-Arashi.

Coming full circle to Virtua Fighter 5, initially released as a timed exclusive on the PS3, it was stated by Sega's AM2 studios that in no uncertain terms would there ever be online in the Virtua Fighter 5 game (if not the series). The primary complaint was due to the latency issues that the internet would cause and the extreme precision that the moves would require. Then, for reasons that have not been publicly released, the company reneged on their initial thoughts and stated that they would include online on the XBox360 release and update the same game to version C.

Virtua Fighter Benefits from Online Mode

The Virtua Fighter of old is still there, with a fresh coat of paint and a heck of a lot of balancing. Unlike the Tekken series, which interestingly enough started it's releases later but has more iterations, this game has benefited from balancing and more care being taken by AM2 studios and Sega. What you will not find here within Virtua Fighter 5 is one character group or class that is unbalanced, overpowered, or underpowered against one another. However, the caveat to this is that you will have to dedicate yourself with loads of time to each character (more on some than with others) if you wish to truly master them. Button mashers beware, you will not rarely win a match against online opponents or skilled friends just mashing the punch or kick button time and again. This is especially more true if your opponent bears the Japanese flag when you are online, no offense meant to any skilled American players out there.

Speaking of those online opponents, the quality of the internet connection you have and the same of your opponent's will dictate the smoothness of your match. From my personal experience, if both my opponent and I were from the USA and had cable, no lag was experienced. However, as the quality of my opponent's connection degraded, the amount of lag increased and the quality of the game decreased. It is like most any game you would play on your PC or any other multiplayer game you would play online, you want someone who has a good internet connection.

Unfortunately for those of us who have this game, however, Sega did not furnish much of a lobbying room to interact with other players. It is the most extreme bare bones internet you can expect from a fighting game. If you select a ranked match, it will pair you up against an opponent and off you go to the versus screen. If you create an unranked match, you can invite a player from your friends list. But regardless of how you find your opponent (even if it is your friend), you're dropped back to the create menu after every match. This was quite an annoyance and it would have been nice to have a lobby to interact, like DOA 4 or other fighter games that have online (though I can only reference the one above from experience).

The quintessential Arcade, Vs., Practice modes have returned to allow you to get some local butt-kicking on, like everyone remembers from years of old. The Quest Mode from Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution returns, with the ability of the player to travel between fake arcades and attempt to beat AI opponents that progressively get harder. Though the mode is interesting in theory, due to the ability to do tournaments within the game, it would have been better to apply this to actual competition than what was really applied on online mode.

Graphics - 9

Graphically, this game looks really nice. The common complaints of the PS3 version were that the game had anti-aliasing issues (i.e. jaggies cropped up often) and the characters had a plastic look to them. This time around, those complaints seemed to have been addressed, as the anti-aliasing seems to have been raised to reduce the jaggies and the characters look less like plastic and more like people.

Though the improvements are duly noted, the backgrounds at times leave much to be desired. In some stages the backgrounds look flat and really do not portray a sense interaction that a 3D game should. In others, the stages really are quite impressive (i.e. El Blaze's stage) and portray a sense of lighting that really translate through to the characters themselves. What really would have been nice, and has been expressed above, is more interactivity overall with the backgrounds. Alas, that is another point that has been already expressed.

Will the Commentators please shut up? (Sounds - 5)

Though I am certain that Sega meant well, the commentator addition was hardly a useful addition. With the noted pauses at times, you will know that these guys are canned voices that were trying to add flare to a match but woefully failed. This is more true when the commentator voice screams (off tone no less) that, "Some character is in danger!" Thankfully, you can turn them off.

The other aspect that has not changed from prior iterations of Virtua Fighter are the extreme cheesy quotes from the fighters. Whether this is a thing that the developers like, I really do not know, but they really seemed to have amped the cheese in this round. Jeffrey's quotes really push it to the max, with added close ups to maximize the effect. Even El Blaze (new guy) joins in on the fun. For those who have non-English quotes, they begin to sound old after just a few listens.

Last, the punch and kick sound effects have not changed since the days of Virtua Fighter 1. Why all fighters refuse to change their sound effects, I really do not know. However, it would have been nice to maybe change it up or update the sounds just for the sake of it. Perhaps add some flare to the kicks and punches and may it sound like they hurt, because they really never have.

Controls - 8

If you know anything about the Virtua Fighter series, it has never been friendly towards novices. It will take you an enormous amount of time (hours per character) before you can consider yourself somewhat skilled with a (yes singular) character. Some moves with any specific character require such precision, that we are talking a tenth of a second. How does the XBox360 D-Pad respond?

Not well. You will need a new pad, costing no less than $60, if you wish to perform well in this game. As the competitive bone in us will eventually meander online, this will eventually become a necessity. Hence, the game a receives a deduction due to the added cost requirement that players will be subjected to if they are serious about having some fun online. Otherwise, you may very well find your win-loss record (ranked) suffering, as well as your XBox360 D-pad (e.g. thrown across room).

Longevity - 9

This game's longevity increased significantly due to the addition of online and the continuance of quest mode. Without online, it would most likely not have received such a high score in my books. In fact, as an example, I was through with Virtua Fighter 4 in a month because my friends and I got tired of beating the crap out of each other. Thankfully this time won't be the same case.

Conclusions

As only the 2nd fighter of note on the XBox360, this game garners my recommendation as a must get for anyone who enjoys fighters. If you have an interest in fighters, and have patience in getting into a fighting game, I would recommend that you give this one a try.

However, if you really just want a button mashing experience of a fighting game then I would recommend that you give this one a rent. My final thoughts are that the XBox360 D-pad is not the optimal gamepad for this game and you should get one that is far better suited for a fighting game of this technical caliber.