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The Beat-‘Em-Up genre isn’t the pinnacle of the
videogames industry as it once was. Time has not been kind to a
genre having pushed-through the decades
 of upgrades and additional
horsepower with seemingly little innovation to the naked-eye.
However, those affluent with the genre take every release, every
update, every remake and every home console conversion with a
keen-eye on the technicalities of the Fighting System ingrained in
each subsequent release; and minor updates can mean a whole new
world of possibilities.
Dead Or Alive 4 launched soon after the Xbox360’s
arrival in the UK, and garnered a hardcore audience imminently upon
arrival. The title’s silky-smooth animation and technically overt
design meant fans of the series could punish their opponents on the
world’s then-most powerful videogames console with glorious style.
The PLAYSTATION3’s One-On-One Beat-‘Em-Up Killer App. comes in the
form of SEGA’s Virtua Fighter 5; a series with which a
reputation for hardened players has formed over the years. While
it’s recently been announced the title will be travelling onto the
Xbox360 also later in the year, for now, the PLAYSTATION3 release is
the only version of the title available on home consoles; and it
certainly pulls its’ weight.
With more than fifteen characters, including two new
additions to the roster, a huge range of fighting styles is
available for the player. El Blaze, a Lucha Libre Wrestler and
Eileen, a young girl trained in Monkey Kung-Fu, add a new layer of
detail to a title already fluent with a great variety of technically
astute fighting styles. Differences between the last edition of
Virtua Fighter and this most recent of releases are obviously
most apparent as far as the quality of the graphics and sound are
concerned, however, Virtua Fighter devotees will find minor
tweaks have drastically realigned the balance. While is was often
commented that the PlayStation2 release of Virtua Fighter 4:
Evolution saw Akira and Wolf offering broken-attributes,
destroying the balance of the game, the same cannot be said for
any character on the Virtua Fighter 5 roster. The
throw-speed has also been reduced; nulling its’ over-arching ability
for intrepid counter-attacks somewhat, but also lessening the chance
of withdrawal from an untimely grab.
An entirely new system has been introduced to the
formula also. While it’s unlikely to cause any regulars to stumble
for long, at first a little adaptation may be required for the
die-hard Virtua Fighter fanbase; however these players will
no doubt have already become accustomed through Arcade play. The
Clash System has been presented in an attempt to enforce a more
“moral” style of gameplay; and is clearly exponentially designed
purely for the title’s Multi-Player aspect. When initiated with the
right timing, an opponent’s attack can be cancelled out with an
Instant Throw, creating a “clash” and leaving both players at a +0
Frame Advantage – in other words, a neutral state where neither is
on an advantage with the next attack.
With the Multi-Player aspect of One-On-One Beat-‘Em-Ups
being the calling-card for many titles, it’s rather disappointing
SEGA chose to release Virtua Fighter 5 without the option for
online play. Having stated some months ago that the project was
being scrapped due to limitations in the current online
infrastructure (an effort that can easily be seen as appropriate,
given the hit-and-miss affair of
Dead Or Alive 4’s online play), the lack of support hasn’t
come as a shock; but is still slightly infuriating. Offline, the
title present’s itself in the traditional, hard-boiled manor that
would be expected of such a significant release in SEGA’s portfolio,
and does add effect to a package that does feel complete, even
without online attributes.
Virtua Fighter 5 is both astonishing and
dismaying, graphically.
 While the characters glisten perfectly
during bouts and flex and manoeuvre with grace in pre-set animated
sequences, it’s very clear the background detail has been placed in
sacrifice for the sake of keeping a consistent Frame-Rate. Each
Character Model far excels on those presented in Dead Or Alive 4,
whilst still retaining the mannequin-esque silk-skin that seems to
be becoming more of the norm with the Current-Generation. While
being beautiful at all times does add much to the escapism
experience, surely developers should, by now, have begun to realise
that blemishes and imperfections are simply a necessity for
presenting a more “realistic” vision of their art; and maybe they
have realised this, but are simply unwilling to taint their
creations with real-world human foibles.
Virtua Fighter 5 is simply one of the best
One-On-One Beat-‘Em-Ups ever to have graced a home videogames
console, in the entirety of their existence. While the series has
tangibly less followers than much of the competition –
Dead Or
Alive,
Tekken and
Soul Calibur
all receive much
greater credit for their aspirations – Virtua Fighter 5 may
make some waves to change this predicament in the
Current-Generation. The removal of any training options may dismay
those familiar with the series, but does nothing to hinder
newcomers. The title is an incredibly well thought-out release,
perfectly balanced for the launch of the PLAYSTATION3. If a more
significant One-On-One Beat-‘Em-Up enters the arena within the next
twelve months, it’s no longer the Dead Or Alive series the
title will be clicking-its’-heels to, it’ll be SEGA’s Virtua
Fighter.
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