A 15 Year Old Game Looks Even Older
It has been a hot decade and a half, but Virtua Fighter is coming back, in a fairly limited capacity, but back nonetheless. The latest game in the series was Virtua Fighter 5, which came out in 2006 in arcades before the PS3 and Xbox 360 in the following couple of years. Today, we are still waiting on a Virtua Fighter 6, but in the meantime, PS4 players will be getting Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown. Not PS5; PS4, but let’s deal with it and move on. Known as Virtua Fighter eSports in Japan, Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown is an enhanced remaster of the game and will be released just next week.
The developer of the original version of Virtua Fighter 5, Sega AM2 co-developed the Ultimate Showdown version with Yakuza developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio. This release uses the Dragon Engine with updated graphics, new UI, new music, and updated online features. While new and shiny is neat and all, we all like a good joke feature. Alongside the release of Ultimate Showdown will be the Legendary Pack DLC, which features a PS1 graphical style, giving all the characters a low-polygon demake look. This mode gives the characters a make-under and changes the UI to the Virtua Fighter 1 style.
PS4™『Virtua Fighter esports』6/1~PlayStation®Plusにて期間限定でフリープレイ、PlayStation™Nowでも同時配信！
さらに追加DLC コンテンツ「レジェンダリーパック」を税込1100 円で、「Virtua Fighter esports ゲーム本編＆DLC パック」を税込3300円にて販売します！#バーチャファイター #VFes pic.twitter.com/PmVh8kf6dj
— セガ公式アカウント? (@SEGA_OFFICIAL) May 27, 2021
Unfortunately, low-poly mode is exclusive to the DLC, which you will have to pay for if you want it. For a limited time, the base game will be available for PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now members for free. You can also buy the game and DLC bundle. Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown will be available on June 1st for PS4.
Will you check out the remastered Virtua Fighter 5? Let us know in the comments below.