I remember far back when I was just a young cub popping quarters into fighting machines and realizing how badly I sucked at performing Hadokens and even performing the simplest Sub-zero fatality. The day had finally come when I went to a Chuck E. Cheese birthday party and there it was in all its glory, a Virtua Fighter machine with all its boxed 3D style and I mastered it with such ease because it was in 3-dimensions. I could side step, circle my opponent and chain combos at such god like pace. It was that moment that 2D fighters no longer held me down and I found my salvation with in many sequels. Today during this week of E3, Sony has kindly bless us with a free copy of Virtua Fighter Final Showdown which is also available on the Xbox 360 and yes I purchased it on there as well. This game stays popular because the only thing that changed is the graphics and the fight mechanics keep getting smoother with each sequel that is produced. I welcome you to my review and try not to ring out when reading.
The Virtua Fighter series has spawned many titles and was a break through for the 3D fighter genre by sticking to traditional martial arts and not having any type of blood or breaking the barrier by adding fatalities. It is a clean fighter that gives you that rich challenge that I feel many fight fans have enjoyed for so many years now. In final Showdown the developers kept the same feel but with a few new characters and the return of some old fan favorites. This version of showdown actually has been out for quite sometime and was a favorite at many tournaments in Japan, but finally came over to our shores. It is basically a revised version of VF 5 that updated each character giving a more comfortable feel towards it and new customization gear.
I am really having trouble putting the rest into words, but frankly speaking VF 5 Final Showdown has many rich environments and before each match there is a small menu that gives you a bit of detail of the level you are fighting on by the size and if it is breakable. The online in it has been improved with more fluid movement and minimum to no hiccups during battle but that varies with each opponents connections. In that I like to add more praise since this is the first time online is functional on the PlayStation 3. I had a minor hiccup when I went into my first ranked match in the video which you will be seeing below, but it was fixed half way through. That is usually the weakness with many 3D fighters that go online is the many lag situations that really aggravates us gamers. I say this because 3D fighters are not as fast paced as the 2D ones since the 3D style is more patient and timed which when lag gets involved it turns into you running through thick oatmeal. I stated earlier how the development team does not follow suit with other titles where they stick to what they know and just improve on that by cleaning up the glitches or adding other characters that are more diverse than other fighters in the sense of the believability in their respected martial art. I remember the developers were worried about adding Sumo martial art against the other faster characters and apparently they worked around it and Taka Arashi was here to stay. Below is a List of Characters in this title and their respected fighting style.
Characters:
- Akira Yuki – Hakkyoku Ken
- Taka Arashi – Sumo
- Eileen – Kou Ken
- Kage Maru – Hagakure Ryu Ju Jutsu
- Aoi Umenokoji – Aiki Ju-Jutsu
- Lei Fe – Shaolin Kung Fu
- Sara Bryant - Savate, Taekwondo and Karate
- Pai Chan – Ensei Ken
- Lau Chan – Koen Ken
- Jacky Bryant – Jeet Kune Do
- Vanessa Lewis – Vale Tudo
- Brad Burns – Kick Boxing
- Shun Di – Drunken Kung Fu
- Wolf Hawkfield – Pro Wrestling
- Jeffry Mcwild – Pancratium
- Lion Rafale – Tourou Ken
- Goh Hinogami – Judo
- Jean Kujo (New To NA) – Karate
- El Blaze – Lucha Libre
If there is one downside, that would be the costumes are in a dlc pack for $11.99. In the previous Virtua Fighter 5, you could unlock them in tournament mode. I don’t know why they did not keep that either, but it would probably add more dollars to the game I guess.
In that you have many characters and styles to try out so you can be comfortable with the character you will take on your conquest to be a fighting god. In my final verdict this is a BUY! If you had not noticed from the beginning, I enjoyed this game for many years and actually seeing this product with online play on the PlayStation 3 is a blessing, but do not be saddened, I will be on xbox live as well kicking all of your butts as well. This is a direct download title and goes for $14.99 on S.E.N and 1200 Microsoft points on Xbox live which is not a bad price for a title of this caliber. In that the fight bell has rang and it is time for me to battle so I hope you enjoyed this short review and please check it out for yourself, stay frosty gamers!
