t has always been my opinion that the Virtua Fighter series is the most intense and balanced of all the 3D fighters on the market. Its control scheme is intuitive, its pacing perfect, and its depth unmatched. This entry even introduces two new characters in El Blaze and Eileen, who are fine additions to the always growing character list.

That said, I am extremely disappointed with this by-the-numbers port of the fantastic arcade game. It’s on PlayStation 3, so having great looking graphics isn’t so much of a feat as an expectation. Outside of delivering on what is expected, VF 5 doesn’t do much. While I would be upset if this game didn’t have Vs or the Quest mode, the inclusion of these modes doesn’t really put this game over Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution in terms of options.

Even worse, this game doesn’t offer an online component. Now generally, I am not one to take a title to the woodshed simply because it lacks the ability to go online, but in the world of fighting games this is absolutely necessary, especially on Sony’s new hardware. Now whether Sega or Sony is to blame for the lack of an online component is unknown, but when a game offers a very basic single-player experience like VF 5 does, the online portion is required to let people play this game the way it is intended – against a human opponent either on your couch or online.

Complaints aside, Virtua Fighter 5 is an outstanding fighting game.Customizing your characters is fun, playing against your friends is a blast, and the Quest mode will most certainly pass a lot of hours if you enjoy the Virtua Fighter franchise. While I would love to give this a higher score, its lack of online play and dearth of innovation hurts its entertainment value. Fans will enjoy it, but there isn’t much else here.