The deadly arts

by ERIK LEIJON

When it comes to graphical innovation, the Virtua Fighter series is peerless and never fails in drawing a crowd.The first VF, released in 1993, was the first 3D fighter ever released and ushered in a golden age of polygonal mayhem. Every subsequent addition to the series has successfully upheld the game’s reputation for quality visuals, often overshadowing its Zen-like gameplay. Virtua Fighter 5 (PS3/Sega, AM2) is yet another triumph for Yu Suzuki and his Japanese development team, and is one of the first Playstation 3 games to impress from start to finish.

While the equally enjoyable Tekken series had loopy storylines and over-the-top action, VF had a graceful pacing to it, as if it were less a game and more a piece of art. Even Dead or Alive, a series I’ve warmed to over the years, has a fighting system that’s fun to learn, but hardly as artistically realized as VF since it doesn’t require you to get a “feel” for the controls. In the fifth game, only a few minor changes have been made, and most centre on making throws slightly more effective and rewarding proper evasion techniques. Without a rigid cancel system like Dead or Alive or an emphasis on heavy attacks like Tekken, Virtua Fighter 5 requires players to telegraph the timing and speed of their opponents—button-mashing has never been less successful than it is playing a skilled VF player.

BATTLING BALLET: Virtua Fighter 5

The series has also been known to err on the cautious side when it comes to roster movement, and all the original characters are back, along with two new combatants. El Blaze is a lightning-quick luchador who excels in making quick strikes, followed by quick side movements. The other new character, the pint-sized Eileen, reminds me of a cross between Soul Calibur’s Taki (in that her moves often mix high, mid and low attacks) and Samurai Showdown 2’s Cham Cham (since both she and Eileen move like monkeys). She’s not a great character, but together they balance out the roster, which had too many larger fighters.

Thankfully, all of the characters got makeovers and look frighteningly realistic, especially during pre-fight scenes. A common difficulty in fighting games is to sync the animation so the action looks fluid, since both characters are attempting to pull off different moves at the same time. AM2 has taken advantage of the PS3’s power to make every fight look like a choreographed ballet; fighters weave in and out of moves, evade attacks with perfect timing and counter in the heat of the action without breaking animation. The character models and environments are spectacular (except for Dural’s female torso and chunky man-legs), but the fluid movements are what truly separate it from its predecessors.

Made primarily for the arcade, VF5 has precious few options beyond the typical arcade and versus. Quest mode is an odd Potemkin village designed to feel like you’re playing online even though you’re not. In Quest you win cash and prizes used to customize your character, but otherwise you play a never-ending series of battles against trash-talking AI-controlled opponents meant to feel like real-life gamers. It’s easy to complain about the inadequacies of a particular game’s online experience, but VF5 feels incomplete without it.

If you stopped playing fighting games after Mortal Kombat 3, it’s about time you end the hiatus with this beautifully crafted title. And if anyone knows an arcade that has VF5, do tell because I want to whup ass with Sarah Bryant on some unsuspecting humans.

Five fighting games you must play
(1) Samurai Shodown 2 (2) Soul Calibur (3) Power Stone 2
(4) Bushido Blade 2 (5) Killer Instinct