Virtua Fighter

Gaijin Repellant

HIGH Nailing a combo with pitch-perfect timing against a similarly-skilled opponent to win a heated match.

LOW Most of the new music is... not good, and several design decisions are a step back.

WTF Coming across a customised Akira online decked out with a leather cap, a handlebar moustache and a pair of stylish red underpants. Then losing.

Virtua Fighter 5 is a fighting game stripped down to the most basic elements. It's almost as if the developers don't have the slightest interest in attracting new players. I'm sure they're turning a profit; according to the credits, the game is made by a shockingly small number of people, and it has a long life in the remaining arcades, but I can't help but wonder how long a series can last with a static user base.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence

Game Description: Virtua Fighter 5 offers worldwide fighting stages in which as many as 17 contestants vie, including two new characters, El Blaze, a Mexican wrestler who dominates with his Lucha Libre fighting style, and Eileen, a Chinese Monkey style kung-fu champion. SEGA also has implemented a new "offensive move" enabling players to take down opponents from different angles; these moves are believed to set VF5 apart from past VF games.

I think Gene is being a little pejorative by hanging that 8.5 on Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution. He labels it "user-nasty," then bemoans the fact that he had to spend time in the training mode—"slogging through command list after command list"—in order to reaquaint himself with the controls.

Even as I took out the 20 dollar bill out of my wallet to purchase this game, I asked myself why I'm bothering paying to play a game I had mastered and even reviewed almost a full year ago. The answer is pretty simple: I really like the game. So much that I'm willing to pay to see the new additions.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Suggestive Themes, Violence

The Virtua Fighter series has always presented itself with a greater sense of dignity and realism than other fighting games that usually take the anime-fantasy theme route, but the latest sequel of the series exposes the hand-to-hand martial arts simulator label to be more hyperbole than substance.

Virtua Fighter 4 is the latest in the series evolution, and it is the deepest, most beautiful and most balanced of the series, and maybe of the entire 3D fighting genre. The game focuses on one-on-one martial arts matches achieving victory by knocking the opponent out cold or out of the ring.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Violence