Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. Review

At the core of the Virtua Fighter series is simplicity. Years after games like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat had set the stage for 2D fighting games, VF emerged as the pre-eminent 3D fighter. Instead of a more elaborate 6 or 5 button setup, VF had three: Block, Kick, Punch.

I’ve played every iteration of the franchise (even the ill-fated third in the series), but I first played VF5 when it came to X360 back in the late 2000s. A boxed title, with the latest iteration of the arcade tweaks, a fully enabled online mode, and an extensive single-player campaign.

My favourite moment from that period was sitting down with a friend and doing fighting sets. We were both solid players so, as we battled each other, a meta layer emerged. One of us would win a fight, so the other would adapt a new strategy then win the next. Patterns were recognised, feints introduced, old strategies employed, revised and varied. It was mind-boggling to see punches and kicks change in their delivery depending on the context of the input beforehand and the position of the character. There seemed like an infinite number of ways to fluidly move between stances. At the time, the animation and quality were right there to make sure that each fight was a dazzling ballet.

I dipped back in when they re-released the title as a download-only. Although the amount of content in this one was paired back (no real single-player except for Arcade mode), there was honed version of the fighting system. Each of the characters were markedly different, not just in terms of response times, but entire move sets and been reworked. For example, I had to relearn my favourite character Sarah Bryant as her combos were now completely different.  

It was during this time that I appreciated Virtua Fighter 5 on a second level– the simplicity gave everyone a chance. I played it alongside an old house mate, who had never indulged in it before. Within minutes he was wiping the floor with me. I started by playing Goh, a character known to be challenging to play as it required a lot of counters. I then switched to Jean, a newer character I didn’t have a lot of experience with, then I settled into playing Sarah Bryant.

It was while watching him flatten me over and over again, that I saw how VF5 has a flow to it. Fighting games are often compared to high-speed chess, VF5 feels more like a dance and my buddy had tapped into that rhythm intuitively.

The next iteration didn’t come to Xbox but now there is Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. out with two editions. The cheaper version has everything new people might want, while the slightly more pricey edition has extra costumes and soundtracks for the fans.

The game more than justifies its price tag with the expanded single-player and multiplayer content.

The online portion resembles a modern release. There is a list of games to join, these might be winner-stays-on, a traditional 1-on-1, or a knockout tournament and the connection seems robust. I appreciated that there was also the option to join as a spectator, so that I could study what people were playing, that and the main menu randomly streams fights, like I am walking through an arcade and spotting some people getting a couple of bouts in.

Next to the Arcade and Training options, there is a World Tour option. This is a welcome revision of the mode that existed in the 2007 version. It is spread out across different buildings and offers a way for a player to progress through increasing AI difficulty. As the player progresses, they will level up and unlock more customisation, there are even challenges for winning games with different characters (that can be switched on the fly).

In recent interviews the developers at SEGA talked about how they wanted each AI player to have a personality, and for the player to feel like they were taking unique characters. I think they have succeeded with that, and this World Tour serves as a way to transition from training with a character, to experimenting with their combos on in a ‘live’ scenario. My only qualm is that I would have liked to jump ahead to the harder difficulties with the characters I know well and then returned to easier areas with the ones that I didn’t. In this setup it takes a while to unlock the higher difficulties.

One other minor quibble I have is that after almost 18 years VF5 is starting to show its age visually. There have been some attempts to clean certain things up and give the models some extra sheen. However, the skin now looks a little rubbery, the eyes a little more dead, and the facial animations and voice lines are quite stiff by modern standards.

I don’t think that any modern audience should consider this a strike against the game, this is the best it has ever been, and its core conceit remains completely intact. It is a beautifully simple game that caters to a niche that is not present elsewhere in 3D fighting.

If anything, consider these mild criticisms as more of a plea from me. Virtua Fighter 6 looks so tantalising, replaying this entry has made me yearn to see where it will go next.

Conclusion

In VF5: R.E.V.O. the gameplay and content have never been better. This version feels like the complete package, even if visually it is starting to look long in the tooth.