Virtua Fighter 5: Hi-Res Video & Screens

Without question this is the best quality Virtua Fighter 5 trailer you'll see anywhere for now, along with some screens we, uh, made earlier. 60fps video justice!

It's no secret that the Virtua Fighter series is one of the very best fighting series out there. Which is why we're very excited indeed about Virtua Fighter 5, which was first shown in teaser form back in May and announced properly earlier this month.

It's just inevitable that Virtua Fighter 5 will be awesome.

The forthcoming title comes from Sega's AM2 studio and respected series producer, Hiroshi Kataoka. The arcade game will run on the new Lindbergh arcade hardware, which is capable of delivering graphics that are clearly much improved over the most recent Naomi 2-powered predecessor, Virtua Fighter 4: Final Tuned.

The lighting on the new Great Wall stage is stunning

A myriad of spectacular and dynamic lighting effects help to create convincing images. One scene in particular shows father and daughter characters, Lau and Pai, on the returning Great Wall backdrop during a strong sunset, that actually obscures forground detail when the overwhelming brighness of the sun is on screen. This kind of sophisticated graphical implementation has simply never been seen in any fighting game before.

The characters show off just a small helping of the new moves and techniques that are set to be in the game, and gives a sneak peak at the two new characters making their way into the mix, a young female combatant and a male wrestler.

The Virtua Fighter series is often renowned for its impeccably balanced gameplay and unsurpassed depth. With VF4 and its updates, Evolution and Final Tuned, some players felt that the gameplay had reached its absolute peak.

But with so many of the same talented staff from the VF4 games still in the driving seat, including Hiroshi Kataoka and AM2 veteran Makoto Osaki, it seems very likely that VF5 will once again surpass players' expectations.

There are still quite a few unknowns about Virtua Fighter 5. We've seen a tiny number of new fighting techniques in the game, but will there be any major new gameplay addition?

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There almost certainly will be. But what might they be? VF4 already added a number of new features into gameplay to create a very deep play experience, such as "tech rolling" (quick recovery after falling to ground to speed up fight), power moves (charging up attacks that can be unleashed at just the right time) and loads of other stuff. What will VF5 introduce to the mix?

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Then there's the matter of the new characters - we know that one is a young female fighter and the other a pro wrestling combatant (yet styled quite differently to Wolf, also a pro wrestler). How will these guys play? Will Taka Arashi (the massive sumo wrestler from VF3 who was dropped for VF4) possibly make a comeback? Hmm - it's unlikely but it would be cool. Only time will tell.

The two new fighters: a young girl and a wrestler

We'll be bringing you a lot more on Virtua Fighter 5, including some very special coverage later this year. Don't miss it.

Adam Doree
Director, Kikizo.com