Pounce Online

Issue date: 11/30/07 Section: in Review(s)

Virtual Fighter 5 is no different from any other fighter game; it has no story line. (Adam Larck/Pounce Online)

Final score: 7 of 10

Fighting games have also been one of my favorite genres. While I'm
not the best at them, normally I can hold my own in arcades.

Unfortunately, this is also one of the genres the Xbox 360 really lacks. With the release of Virtua Fighter 5, though, the Xbox gets a game that gives
them a step in the right direction.

Fighting games normally don't have a story mode, and Virtua is no exception to this. What takes the place of story mode, though, is the quest mode. In quest mode, the player takes the fighter he chose to different arcades to fight other computers. These fights can help level characters up.

While leveling up doesn't give characters new moves or abilities, it can unlock achievements for the game and give bragging rights out to people when playing online.

Online mode is the biggest feature to be added to Virtua Fighter 5. While this had been released on the Playstation 3 in February, 360 owners had talked about wanting online if it was going to be released for Xbox.

Sega then delayed the release for Xbox to put in an online feature. The online really is a great feature, with little to no lag and a variety of competition.

Also added to this game were two fighters, also seen in the PS3 version. Eileen is a new female character that uses Monkey Kung-Fu style of fighting. The other character, El Blaze, is a lucha libre fighter that wants to fight his rival.

Both characters give the game new styles for people to try and master to use online against other people's strengths and weaknesses. The only problem I have with this game is the same I have with all fighters, replay-ability value.

After you beat arcade mode and put in a good amount of time into quest mode, there really is no reason to keep going except just to try different characters. Online mode does help this by giving it more of an arcade feel facing other opponents, but that can only help so much.

Even with this minor problem, Virtua Fighter is a solid game for the 360. Many people won't pick it up though due to other big name titles. I at least recommend a rental for the game, just to show Microsoft that people are interested in fighters.

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