Throughout my life there have been fighting games that have sucked me in such as the classics like Soul Calibur 2 and Street Fighter IV. Recently while remembering those happy times beating foes up I decided it was a good idea to try and start fighting again, and began a mission to try and understand one of gaming’s most impenetrable genres. Now a couple of years later I feel vaguely competent in my ability to punch, kick and Hadouken, and am ready to try a new fighter. The much beloved Virtua Fighter to be exact, and what better was to do so than with Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage.
If this is your first tentative step into Virtua Fighter town like it is mine, you’ll be greeted by a whole load of characters and some very grounded melee combat. This isn’t a fighting game full of fireballs and a story mode with a wacky narrative to tell, this is a game about punching and kicking someone until they get knocked out. It’s no nonsense, and relies on you really dedicating yourself to understanding the basics.
Despite its serious side though, you’d better believe that Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage has a whole lot of ridiculous characters to play as. I immediately jumped into a match playing as professional wrestler/red haired god Wolf Hawkfield, and was greeted by opponents like Vanessa Lewis – a security guard whose uniform seems to always have a lot of buttons undone. In the next round Jeffry McWild appeared, followed by Brad Burns. I promise I’m not making these names up, although I’d be very proud of myself if I had.
The actual combat of Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. could easily be described as no frills, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a hell of a lot to learn. The basic buttons you’ll use in combat are punch, kick and block, but when combined with different directions and other buttons you have dozens and dozens of offensive options at your disposal. After a few matches getting a feel for the game and throwing some fists I decided it was time to try and really sink my teeth into the combos on offer and went off to the training mode.
In an age where fighting games offer clever tutorials to show how the game works, Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage just sort of expects you to get to studying. I spent a good hour testing out all the moves that Wolf had to offer, and despite this dedication I’ll admit I still had no idea when to use each of his twelve different short punches. I’ll also admit that I had to skip a lot of the wild combos shown that were way too intense for my skill level.
Not ready to take on the masses yet, I decided to check out the single player modes Virtua Fighter 5 has to play. Arcade mode is exactly what you’d expect from a fighting game, with just a selection of fights against various strengths of CPU opponents. It’s totally fine but nothing to write home about, so it’s a good job that the new World Stage mode is also ready for eager challengers.
The idea of World Stage mode is seriously clever. By emulating the route you’d need to take to become an eSports legend, you’ll fight opponents in a variety of arcade settings. These aren’t just any old AI rivals though, they’ve been magically programmed to act like real Virtua Fighter players. I can’t pretend this was immediately obvious, but it’s a fun mode that will keep you busy for much longer than most fighting game single player experiences.
For Virtua Fighter V veterans though, it’ll be online play that’s the most important way to play R.E.V.O. World Stage. The big improvement in this version of the game though is the inclusion of Rollback Netcode. As you’d expect it ensures all your fights will go smoothly online, whether it’s a fun contest with a buddy or a sweaty ranked match.
Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage is clearly a fantastic fighting game, but a few aspects of it don’t quite suit my style. I find it much easier to grasp a fighting game when it has flashy special attacks with specific functions, and Virtua Fighter as a series just isn’t about that. This might have been less of an issue with more guidance and tutorial options, but instead it felt like I was left to flounder in a particularly hardcore fighting game experience.
Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage is a pure fighting game experience that genre enthusiasts will love. It’s not particularly flashy and it doesn’t pull any punches, but the core combat is clearly expertly crafted. With Rollback Netcode and the wonderful new World Stage mode, this is the definitive version of this well loved fighter.
