Fights take place in both closed and open arenas, with the latter allowing for ring-out victories. This deceptively straightforward control scheme works wonders with the intricate fighting systems and styles. The core fighting uses a simple three-button approach: punch, kick, and block, with an additional throw command. Ultimate Showdown proves how there’s still nothing quite as disciplined as learning to play Virtua Fighter beyond just mashing buttons. The fighting roster is balanced, with each character rewarding to learn and master with something to suit all play styles. The variety in the real-world fighting styles represented is diverse and impressive, with everything from sumo to mantis-style painstakingly recreated with as much realism as possible. Watching him go to work at his best is a bit like watching a lion absolutely maul a gazelle on the Discovery channel, and so it’s no wonder he is both the protagonist and final boss of the game.įighters like Akira and the rest of the cast are also a testament to why Virtua Fighter is still a refined 3D fighting experience, even in the modern scene. It’s great to get reacquainted with the cast and remembering how there isn’t a fighter quite like the legendary Akira Yuki and his deadly Hakkyoku-ken. While adding a new character probably would have helped, the complete roster from Final Showdown has been updated, revised, and balanced in this new edition.
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Ultimate Showdown is the best the series has ever felt from a gameplay standpoint. The fluid and refined 60 FPS fighting is fully intact, and it’s easy to take for granted just how sublime and meticulous Virtua Fighter can be.
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The Dragon Engine certainty does its part well to make Ultimate Showdown look like a worthy 2021 fighting release, whether running on a PS4 or a PS5.
Even the stages benefit from the graphical makeover, especially the backgrounds, which animate with more vivid details than previously. Far beyond being just a mere remaster, the fully remade character models in Ultimate Showdown are immediately apparent in their impressive facial detail and texturing.Īnyone familiar with the character models of the Yakuza series will notice the same attention to detail here, with some facial expressions almost being visible for the first time. The latter lending their impressive Dragon Engine to completely remake the graphical style and presentation of Virtua Fighter 5. The game is a co-developed effort by original creator AM2 and Ryu Ga Gotoko Studio. But even with Final Showdown already being accessible in various forms, Ultimate Showdown does plenty to live up to its namesake as a brand new edition.
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In recent years, Final Showdown was included as a free mini-game in Yakuza 6: The Song of Life, Yakuza: Like a Dragon, and even Judgment. It is not to be confused as a mere port or remaster of Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown, the latter which launched on Xbox 360 (backward compatible on Xbox One and Series X|S) and PlayStation 3 back in 2012. Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown is officially the third and now final revision of 2006’s Virtua Fighter 5.