Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown

[Serris]

|| Developer ||Sega||
|| Publisher ||Sega-AM2||
|| Platform(s) ||XBox 360, PlayStation 3||
|| Genre ||Fighting||
|| Number of Players || 1-2
|| Release Date ||June 5th, 2012||
|| ESRB Rating ||T (Teen) - Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence||
|| PEGI Rating ||12+||
|| MSRP ||$14.99 USD||

Virtua Fighter 5 (バーチャファイター5 Bācha Faitā Faibu) is the latest game in Sega's Virtua Fighter series and direct sequel to Virtua Fighter 4: Final Tuned. The original version was released on July 12th, 2006 into Japanese arcades and in February 2007 in European arcades. A revised version (called "Version B") was ported on the PlayStation 3 on February 20th, 2007 (despite the advertised date of February 23rd) and was a launch title for the console's European release on March 23rd, 2007. The Xbox 360 port of arcades' "Version C", was released in February 2007 in North America and October 2007 in Europe.

On February 18th, 2010, Sega released a trailer for a second revision called Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown. This update debuted at the 2010 AOU Expo, and features new character costumes and new animations. The game was officially released in Japanese arcades on July 29, 2010. Version A of Final Showdown was released on April 20th, 2011 at the Japanese arcades. It was announced at Gamescom 2011 that Final Showdown would be coming to PlayStation 3 on June 5th, 2012 and Xbox 360 on June 6th, 2012, complete with online play for both platforms. The game was released in downloadable format.

[COLLAPSE="XBox Live Gamertags:"]

• KumaOso: KumaOso
• Scamp: Smack Dave

[/COLLAPSE]

[COLLAPSE="PlayStation Network IDs:"]

• Serris: Herple-Derples

[/COLLAPSE]

 

[Big-Cat]

TOTALLY EXCITED! I can't wait to play as Eileen and El Blaze.

Hey, I just met you,
And we're both crazy.
I'm KumaOso.
For XB GT.

 

[Serris]

TOTALLY EXCITED! I can't wait to play as Eileen and El Blaze.

Hey, I just met you,
And we're both crazy.
I'm KumaOso.
For XB GT.

You've played vanilla before, right? I'm new, playing as El Blaze, and I have no idea what I'm doing.

 

[Big-Cat]

Actually, this will be my first VF game. You know more than I do. All I've done so far is put their movelists I found on GameFAQs into an organized form in Word.

 

[Serris]

Actually, this will be my first VF game. You know more than I do. All I've done so far is put their movelists I found on GameFAQs into an organized form in Word.

Well, I can tell you right now that El Blaze's fast jab input is outrageous and that the game is fun to play. The only thing I keep tripping up on is the guard button. I'm so used to Marvel and Street Fighter that I hold back and wonder why I get hit.

 

[Minato]

I might pick this game up. I don't plan on devoting a lot of time into the game, so it might be one of those games where I only play with friends online/offline or just do offline modes.

WIth that said, how's online, Serris?

 

[Serris]

I might pick this game up. I don't plan on devoting a lot of time into the game, so it might be one of those games where I only play with friends online/offline or just do offline modes.

WIth that said, how's online, Serris?

I've been focusing on tutorials and actually blocking, so I've been kind of afraid to make the jump to online play. From what I've heard, the networking code is very good. I'll hit up a player match and get back to you with my impressions.

 

[Big-Cat]

Well, I can tell you right now that El Blaze's fast jab input is outrageous and that the game is fun to play. The only thing I keep tripping up on is the guard button. I'm so used to Marvel and Street Fighter that I hold back and wonder why I get hit.

Yeah, the guard button's gonna take some getting used to.

I'll be going in first with Eileen. I wouldn't be surprised if I spend most of tomorrow just imitating her moves and stance.

 

[Serris]

After one round, I can definitively tell you that this is a game for pads, not arcade sticks. You just can't dash fast enough with them to be able to keep up. Other than that, the networking code seems stable.

 

[Atlus8]

Yesterday on Ultrachentv, they brought in an expert VF player, LA Akira, and he was explaining damn near everything on the stream for almost 4 hours! It's archived in their channel, but I think they are gonna have it on their youtube sometime soon! He also said that the online is very solid!

 

[Serris]

Yesterday on Ultrachentv, they brought in an expert VF player, LA Akira, and he was explaining damn near everything on the stream for almost 4 hours! It's archived in their channel, but I think they are gonna have it on their youtube sometime soon! He also said that the online is very solid!

I can verify the last part of that statement. Having spent some time in a lobby (or "room" as they're called) with some good-natured people doing voice chat, I can say that the online experience betrays a $14.99 package. I'd go so far as to say the networking code's better than Super Street Fighter IV. I'll be uploading some replays to YouTube soon.

EDIT: And here they are. Admittedly not the best examples of how to play the game. Just for the record, I only play as a white El Blaze, and I'm only in the second video.

 

[Big-Cat]

Got it and as expected, I love Eileen and El Blaze. Still trying to adjust to this game's "charge" inputs, but I'm loving it, and I've got some new moves to practice myself.

Does anyone know if there's any real difference between grabs done from the left and right? I'd figure there'd be a difference for front and back.

 

[Scamp]

Every character has a different animation for side grabs. The command to break a side grab also changes depending on which side your on.

Xbox tag: Smack Dave

I've been playing this series since VF2 and I'd be happy to answer any questions people may have about the game to the best of my ability.

 

[Big-Cat]

So is it just an aesthetic difference then? The function doesn't change for the side you're throwing from?

 

[Scamp]

Well it's character dependent, as each throw may send your opponent in a different direction or you will end up in a different position. This can be important to ring out your opponent or even to not ring yourself out. So if you can choose which side to go for this is a factor. Also, again, if you are getting thrown you need to input your throw escape toward the side that your opponent is on.

Side throws are much easier to escape than regular throws because no matter what command you input you will get a side throw. And there's only one per character per side. (Not including crouching throws, but that escape input is the same as well.)

I hope that answered your question. I'm not 100 percent sure what you mean by 'function'.

 

[Serris]

Three more replays from another Room Match I did. Any tips on how to improve my game?

 

[Big-Cat]

Well it's character dependent, as each throw may send your opponent in a different direction or you will end up in a different position. This can be important to ring out your opponent or even to not ring yourself out. So if you can choose which side to go for this is a factor. Also, again, if you are getting thrown you need to input your throw escape toward the side that your opponent is on.

Side throws are much easier to escape than regular throws because no matter what command you input you will get a side throw. And there's only one per character per side. (Not including crouching throws, but that escape input is the same as well.)

I hope that answered your question. I'm not 100 percent sure what you mean by 'function'.

Well, I'm going through Blaze's throws and there are so many different throws depending on how the opponent is laying down and where they are relative to your body. I know there are different throw inputs, but is there a difference from doing the same input grab with the opponent faced down with their head toward you or face up?

 

[Scamp]

Three more replays from another Room Match I did. Any tips on how to improve my game?

Online matches are kind of hard to judge in a way because while the game is pretty decent online even the smallest amount of lag changes so much. Certain moves become safer, certain combos become practically impossible, you get the idea. Anyway I have a few tips for you.

When you knock someone down don't back away. Your long range game with Blaze is good and fun to watch, and lots of people are more comfortable staying away from the opponent. But you have a significant advantage when your opponent is on the ground as their options are very limited and backing away basically lets him stand up for free and reset the position. However, you can still backdash when you knock the opponent down, but do it later. The point is to try to get a wake-up attack to whiff and then hit the recovery.

Never do two 2p attacks in a row. If the first one hits you have advantage and you have better offensive options than another 2p. If the first one is blocked or whiffs your opponent has the advantage and can inflict major damage. Speaking of which...

The Kage player attacked a lot but wasn't overly mashy. When an opponent really likes to attack you learn to recognize when you have the advantage to set up big combos, usually by launcher. I think every character has at least one safe launcher. For your next match try 2p and then fast launcher, even if it's not safe. Then try to react to 2p hitting with a launcher but if it's blocked you do something else, probably block. And then do 2p into throw.

Your back and forth movement was pretty good but look to add lateral movement to your game. It's generally a tough thing to incorporate (especially coming from Marvel) and will lose you some matches while you learn it, but it is invaluable. You can also use it during a lot of character's strings, which forces them to not throw them out so mindlessly. For example the Kage player did PPPK a lot, and you can step the K. If you dodge and punish the K then your opponent has to either stop using the K or delay it. Either way you do have the advantage still and making your opponent hesitiate to do anything is good thing.

Possibly nott he best example because you can only dodge the kick to Kage's front, which means you have to pay attention to his feet and that can be a little overwhelming to someone learning the game.

I think that's enough for now. Hope this helps.

Well, I'm going through Blaze's throws and there are so many different throws depending on how the opponent is laying down and where they are relative to your body. I know there are different throw inputs, but is there a difference from doing the same input grab with the opponent faced down with their head toward you or face up?

Yeah you get a totally different throw animation. El Blaze's ground throws all do the same amount of damage, though.

I was wrong earlier, though. I checked his move list and it turns out he does have command throws that are for when you're on your opponent's side. Interesting stuff.

 

[Serris]

Online matches are kind of hard to judge in a way because while the game is pretty decent online even the smallest amount of lag changes so much. Certain moves become safer, certain combos become practically impossible, you get the idea. Anyway I have a few tips for you.

When you knock someone down don't back away. Your long range game with Blaze is good and fun to watch, and lots of people are more comfortable staying away from the opponent. But you have a significant advantage when your opponent is on the ground as their options are very limited and backing away basically lets him stand up for free and reset the position. However, you can still backdash when you knock the opponent down, but do it later. The point is to try to get a wake-up attack to whiff and then hit the recovery.

Never do two 2p attacks in a row. If the first one hits you have advantage and you have better offensive options than another 2p. If the first one is blocked or whiffs your opponent has the advantage and can inflict major damage. Speaking of which...

The Kage player attacked a lot but wasn't overly mashy. When an opponent really likes to attack you learn to recognize when you have the advantage to set up big combos, usually by launcher. I think every character has at least one safe launcher. For your next match try 2p and then fast launcher, even if it's not safe. Then try to react to 2p hitting with a launcher but if it's blocked you do something else, probably block. And then do 2p into throw.

Your back and forth movement was pretty good but look to add lateral movement to your game. It's generally a tough thing to incorporate (especially coming from Marvel) and will lose you some matches while you learn it, but it is invaluable. You can also use it during a lot of character's strings, which forces them to not throw them out so mindlessly. For example the Kage player did PPPK a lot, and you can step the K. If you dodge and punish the K then your opponent has to either stop using the K or delay it. Either way you do have the advantage still and making your opponent hesitiate to do anything is good thing.

Possibly nott he best example because you can only dodge the kick to Kage's front, which means you have to pay attention to his feet and that can be a little overwhelming to someone learning the game.

I think that's enough for now. Hope this helps.

Very detailed and informative. This will help a lot. Thank you! Now, anyone else going to post their gamertags and IDs? I can stream PSN lobbies~

EDIT, 10:47 PM EST: Speaking of which, I'm in a lobby that's being streamed here. Look for the white El Blaze.
EDIT, 1:35 AM EST: Stream and lobby are done.

 

[Scamp]

I heard a rumor MLG may replace KOF with VF if Sega supports it. Dunno how much validity the rumor has but I'm behind it!

 

[Brightside6382]

I heard a rumor MLG may replace KOF with VF if Sega supports it. Dunno how much validity the rumor has but I'm behind it!

MLG doesn't know how to handle FG's anyways so it doesn't really matter.

 

[Scamp]

MLG doesn't know how to handle FG's anyways so it doesn't really matter.

I really don't understand that attitude toward MLG and fighting games. What has MLG done that warrants that kind of statement recently? I'm not talking about 5 years go, mind you.

But anyway, since you checked this thread, are you or anyone around you playing some VF?

 

[Brightside6382]

I really don't understand that attitude toward MLG and fighting games. What has MLG done that warrants that kind of statement recently? I'm not talking about 5 years go, mind you.

But anyway, since you checked this thread, are you or anyone around you playing some VF?

I still have some bitterness from melee events. Im not gonna lie im a bias fool.

In Chicago we are scraping together a small following but people don't seem that interested. i personally am enjoying the game.

 

[Scamp]

Yeah I can understand that. In any event, I'm hoping something happens that can kickstart the VF community in the US. It never seems to take hold, though. I'm happy with a small community, honestly, since this is pretty much the only fighting game that I've played that I can play against one opponent for several hours and not get bored.

Melee and Guilty Gear also fit into that category for me. This is, of course, assuming that one opponent isn't really bad or really robotic.

 

[Lore]

Yeah, I really like Virtua Fighter too. I just have too many games to play for me to add this to my list right now.

How does it compare to the last one?

 

[Big-Cat]

I'm getting a little better with Eileen day by day. I wish I had more stuff that I know beyond PPP and this one BnB. And I need to play Blaze more, HOT DOG!

 

[Scamp]

Yeah, I really like Virtua Fighter too. I just have too many games to play for me to add this to my list right now.

How does it compare to the last one?

By 'last one' I'm going to assume you mean Vanilla VF5 (version C) and not VF5:R, which never had a console release.

It's pretty similar, though. The game has been streamlined to be easier, overall, but it hasn't sacrificed any of the depth of the game IMO. The throwing system is much easier now and the new sideturned state is a simple but interesting change. Obviously there have been tweaks to the characters and the overall balance is still very good.

The stages are more dynamic this time around as well. There really is a difference in the way stages play out and this is either a good or bad thing depending on how you play. Also, of course there are the two new characters.

So, in a nutshell, it's still quite similar to VF5 Vanilla and you can still use that to practice for FS.

I'm getting a little better with Eileen day by day. I wish I had more stuff that I know beyond PPP and this one BnB. And I need to play Blaze more, HOT DOG!

Eileen is my secondary and she was my main in VF5 Vanilla. If you want help learning her I could probably help you.

 

[Scamp]

I swear this game will be popular one day!