Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O is the latest updated version of the historic fighting game franchise. This release gives us a much-needed refresh as the game now supports 4k visuals, animations are smooth, and the feel of the game is everything that I remember from when the original game was released in July of 2006. With a new Virtua Fighter project on the horizon, all eyes are on this game to introduce fans to the franchise.
It’s safe to say that the fighting game community has been eating well for the last few years. Some might call it a renaissance of sorts, but at the end of the day, fighting games have steadily been gaining even more popularity among gamers worldwide, and I’m here for it. If the recent release of Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection proves anything, it’s that anything is possible: like bringing back a popular game from the past and revamping it with modern features such as rollback netcode and a training mode with frame data.
So, what makes Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. different from the other revivals? We already got an update to the 2006 title when Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown released, so why do we need yet another version of this game? Truth be told, we don’t, but what the team cooked up has been fun, though I’m not sold on the fact that we needed it.
“Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. is a 19-year-old game with a modern facelift.”
Whenever I play a new fighting game, I always hit the training mode to understand the buttons and how combo strings work. This is always a good practice, since you don’t want to jump into a match and get destroyed with no context of what just happened to you. I spent a couple of days in training mode, playing around with various characters before I got the hang of it.
The training mode does a decent job of showing you how to perform combos as well as movement for evading and blocking. Being a 3D fighter like Tekken, movement is very essential to its core gameplay. I haven’t played this game since it was on PlayStation 3 and retained none of that information in my brain.
I played on my Mad Catz T.E.S+ fightstick and, in saying this, I do believe that this game is better suited for standard controller players. Since this fighting game employs button blocking, rather than holding away from your opponent to block. Typically, I use a fightstick for everything, but there are some exceptions to the rule (Looking at you, Mortal Kombat franchise).
“Virtua Fighter is known to have one of the highest skill ceilings of all fighting games.”
Virtua Fighter is a “three-button” fighter, meaning that this game literally uses three buttons for its core gameplay: punch, kick, and guard. You’ll have to use these buttons to perform variations of your moves, like harder kicks, punches, as well as throws. A three-button fighter usually provides a very friendly entry point for people who want to learn fighting games. With that being said, Virtua Fighter is known to have one of the highest skill ceilings of all fighting games.
A big thing that this game is missing is the ability to switch between modern and classic control schemes. Modern-day fighting games give you the ability to use one button to perform combos, which has been a great accessibility feature as well as an awesome way to learn how to play the game.
Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. is a 19-year-old game with a modern facelift. The addition of stages and characters from past DLCs is the icing on the cake, but it’s nothing more than that. The price point is attractive, and I do recommend this game to folks who enjoy 3D fighters; it’s hard not to compare this to the superior Tekken 8. It goes without saying that Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. is not in its weight class.
Going through the arcade mode with various characters to completion, I came to the realization that not much has really changed over the years. The more I played, the more things began to feel familiar, which isn’t inherently a bad thing, but I wanted and was expecting more.
Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. brings some solid visuals and, again, new animations make the gameplay flow so much more smoothly than before, but at the end of the day, it’s a very safe update. I’m happy that fans can play a more complete version of Virtua Fighter 5, but that’s where my excitement ends for this title.
