Virtua Fighter holds greater significance for me than any other video game franchise. I played VF and VF2 in arcades with my weekly allowance, traveled across the country looking for unique Virtua Fighter 3 cabinets, and finally played VF4 Evolution and Final Tuned in Japan to connect with friends who lived abroad. Therefore, I want the new—or new-ish, in this case—Virtua Fighter game to be the greatest it can be when it comes out. Not only for me, but also so that others can discover why we die-hard Virtua Fighter fans love these games so much.
A few years ago, Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown was a good attempt at this, bringing the beloved VF5 Final Showdown to the PS4 with a new look. But it made some serious mistakes, especially with the netcode, which was an odd delay-based system at a time when combat game companies were openly and swiftly adopting better rollback methods. Now that a new Virtua Fighter is being developed and the series is receiving renewed attention, Sega has released Virtua Fighter 5 REVO, another PC-only update that includes the much-desired and player-requested rollback netcode.
Game Overview
Since a large portion of the game is still based on VF5 Ultimate Showdown, the rollback netcode is undoubtedly the main selling feature here: With a little more refinement and visual flair if you have good graphics gear, the menu graphics, interface, and character models are very much the same. That’s okay, though, because those places didn’t require much work, so why fix what isn’t broken?
Indeed, this time around, the netcode is (almost) everything, and fortunately, Sega has nailed it—for the most part. The game is far more playable and appealing because it contains the finest netcode any Virtua Fighter game has ever had. From my home in the US Pacific Northwest, I’ve had easy matches in my sessions with people from as far away as Japan, the Philippines, and the UK. While many bouts worked perfectly with the default parameters, others required a minor adjustment to the number of rollback frames. Playing online is practically possible under the right circumstances.
But that’s when things are at their best. With its default visual settings, Virtua Fighter 5 REVO is surprisingly demanding for a “old” fighting game. Therefore, it’s likely that your frame rate will start to drop below 60 frames per second if you download the game and start playing it online without first adjusting any settings. That is a significant issue since, even when the other player’s setup is operating smoothly, the netcode must work harder when someone’s frame rate is steady, which causes a choppy, stuttering experience for both players. The only way to smooth out the experience right now is to force people to spend time modifying graphical settings from the beginning. However, a benchmark test before going online to ensure everyone has a steady 60 frames per second would do wonders.
Gameplay of virtua fighter 5
In addition, this version represents the first significant update to the fundamental gameplay in about 12 years. Among other changes, attacks from previous games have been reinstated, several moves’ attributes have been altered, and character weights have been updated. Although they don’t actually constitute significant selling features, these modifications have both minor and significant effects on the moment-to-moment fighting gameplay: Characters that were deemed extremely strong in the previous edition, such as Taka-Arashi and Jacky, have been knocked down a few levels, while some of the (now less) lightweight characters, like Pai, seem much better. This game is arguably the most evenly matched it has ever been. (Notably, VF5 Final Showdown has also been modified to incorporate similar gameplay modifications.)
Conclusion
One of the things that makes Virtua Fighter 5 so fantastic to play competitively in all of its iterations is how these minor adjustments can have such a profound impact. The process of learning Virtua Fighter is drawn out, difficult, and immensely rewarding. Because of VF’s exceptionally high skill ceiling, you can play for years and yet find new, intriguing, and thrilling parts of the fight every time you jump in. Combat is fast-paced and requires constant decision-making, with multiple possible outcomes in nearly every scenario. You can express yourself through the fights themselves, which is like to learning a new language.
It goes without saying that not everyone wants to play competitively, and VF5 REVO still lacks the single-player content that Ultimate Showdown did. Additionally, there are currently very few choices for character customization: Only a small portion of the strange and unusual equipment that was available for characters to equip themselves for battle in the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of VF5 Final Showdown is available in REVO and VF5US, and a large portion of it is now restricted by DLC. But there’s always a potential that additional customization will be added in the future.
As of right now, VF5 REVO is the greatest 3D fighting game that is currently on the market. Virtua Fighter offers some of the most intense fighting available if you’re prepared to put in the work. Before you do anything more, please check to make sure your computer is running it at the correct frame rate.
