Virtua Fighter 5 (Xbox 360)

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Xbox 360 owners finally have a fighter to be proud of

Features wise, VF5 is actually a little thin on the ground. You've got the obligatory Arcade mode, Vs. mode and Dojo (training). The customisation mode, which allows you to dress up your character in all manner of embarrassing accessories, as seems the standard in beat-'em-ups these days, is extensive, although I've never seen the point.

Quest mode, which sees SEGA dumping the traditional laughable storylines seen in beat-'em-ups for playing the part of someone playing the game in the dog-eat-dog world of arcades, makes a return from VF4 EVO. In it, you play gradually improving AI controlled players with weird names and even weirder slogans to earn cash spent customising your character. It's compelling only for a few hours, and is just like any other beat-'em-up quest mode, except dressed in different clothes. In fact, the whole single-player side of VF5 smacks of box-ticking.

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So it's a reassurance to find SEGA-AM2 hasn't messed about with the core philosophy of the series - a wonderfully balanced, technical fighter that's all about speed of execution and anticipation. Apart from the graphics, it's not a massive leap forward from the last game. Fans of the series will head straight for their favourite character to scan for evasion tweaks, new moves and, if you're particularly hardcore, changes in frame rates, recovery time and animation glitches.

The two new characters are Eileen, a young girl who uses monkey kung fu, and El Blaze, a Mexican lucha libre wrestler who instantly brings frat-boy favourite Jack Black's bungling big screen wrestler Nacho Libre to mind.

Veterans and newbies alike will be impressed with how sumptuous the game looks. It's easily the best looking fighter on a console...

From a usability point of view, they're about as accessible as VF gets. Both characters have a good deal of moves that won't give you RSI, but, again, in true VF fashion, have finger-breaking combinations towards the end of their command lists. Eileen is more of a mid-range character, her monkey fighting style giving her an erratic, staccato feel. She's most effective getting in your face for a bit then stepping out for a quick breather. El Blaze makes me laugh too much to take seriously. In a game that's as serious as they get, he seems to stick out like a sore thumb. He does impressive throw-based damage and has decent running attacks, but I can't see the Japanese arcade masters warming to his oiled-up pecs.

Still though, both new characters highlight one of VF's great strengths: character balance. Other beat-'em-ups will have double the characters VF5 does, but half of them will be useless. With VF5, as it has been throughout the series, every single one of the 17 characters is as useful as the other. For preserving that, SEGA should be applauded.

As mentioned before, the only great leap forward in VF5 (other than the online play) is the graphics. Veterans and newbies alike will be impressed with how sumptuous the game looks. It's easily the best looking fighter on a console, beating the latest iterations of Tekken, DOA and SC hands down. Everything on screen looks absolute quality. When playing on a HD television the level of detail is so good you feel as if you could reach forward and wipe the oily sweat straight off those ridiculously oversized limbs. Veins pulse, muscles flex, lighting and shadows kiss the game's textures with subtlety and care, and some of the attack and hit animations look so realistic, you'd be forgiven for thinking you'd slipped a Jet Li movie into the Xbox 360's disk drive by mistake.

The backgrounds are equally impressive. From fighting on a raft in the middle of an expansive river, to the crestfallen overtones of an abandoned Japanese dojo, VF5's environments do as much as any beat-'em-up, if not more, to lend gravitas to each and every fight. Character interaction with the arenas is there, but is understated, and always effective - wood splinters, glass shatters and you leave, quite beautifully, real-time depressions in snow and ripples in shallow water.

It's not all Spartan-esque six packs and picturesque sunsets, however. The music in VF5, which is classic SEGA, is mind-bogglingly bad. Someone really needs to let them know that glam-rock went out of fashion 20 years ago. At one point I left the game on the character select screen to get some food and actually found myself paying attention to the cringe worthy guitar riffs with renewed disbelief. The music is so bad, it's funny.

We advise you pick up an arcade fighting stick to get the most from the game

The English voice acting is even cheesier than the music. After winning a round, Leon screams with joyful abandon "I'm twice the man I used to be!" El Blaze is another cheese-stinking culprit. Again, so bad it's hilarious.

As a fan of all the major 3-D beat-'em-ups out there, I'll refrain from saying it's better than the rest; it's equally good in its own, unique, satisfying way. More than any other beat-'em-up, being good at VF5 makes you feel good about your gaming skill, kind of like those ultra-hard 2D shooters Treasure keeps knocking out for masochists.

The Xbox 360 pad sucks balls for beat-em-ups of course (you'll want to get yourself a Hori Fighting Stick EX2 Virtua Fighter 5 Edition for Xbox 360), but clearly Virtua Fighter 5 on the 360 is the best version of the game. There are rumours that the developers could release a patch to enable online play on the PS3 version, but until then, owners of Sony's next-gen console will have to make do with their friends and the Quest mode.

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