Final Round. Fight!

The fighting game is not dead. It might seem like it sometimes, given the relatively small lineup of fighters available for current-gen systems, but quality stands for far more than quantity in a fighting game. True, the halcyon days of the 2D and 3D fighters on the PSone and Saturn are long behind us, but do we really miss the Toh Shin Dens, the Bloody Roars, The Psychic Forces and World Heroes that permeated the lineup of fighters? Not really, because whilst the herd has thinned, the strongest have survived. And so we present our list of the best fighters of this generation; the best of an increasingly breed, perhaps, but still the best.

Its been a long battle through each of the five rounds, but we're here: GameShard's Top Fighting Game of this generation.

Not what you were expecting? Probably not- despite being the first of its kind, the Virtua Fighter series rarely gets the kind of attention lavished on it that it deserves.

1. Virtua Fighter 5 Online

Back in 1993, Virtua Fighter wowed the world as the first 3D fighting game. Its horribly blocky characters look utterly archaic by today’s standards, but even from this early stage its goals were clear: Virtua Fighter wanted to be sharp, realistic, and challenging. Part of that came from the concept of ring-outs, which made position and spatial awareness important, and from the simplicity of its control system – VF has only ever relied on single buttons for punch, kick and guard, and yet it boasts one of the most expansive move lists for each character of any fighting game.

Where Virtua Fighter really differentiates itself from other fighting games is with its stoic dedication to balance and realism. 5 games in, the cast only numbers 19 characters – compared to Tekken 6’s 41 characters – but each has a wildly different set of moves, and not a single one feels unbalanced or overpowered. There aren’t any ninja cyborgs or bears or green-skinned critters to be seen: Virtua Fighter’s cast, like its move set, is understated and grounded in reality. You can’t jump very high, blocking is more important than attacking, and bouts between skilled Virtua Fighter players become a dangerous game of poker, with each combatant using bluffs, double-bluffs and misdirection to find an opening to exploit. Timing is everything, precision is tantamount, knowledge – of both your own character and their opponent – is essential.

As such, Virtua Fighter can be a difficult game to get into. But the path is eased by VF5’s tutorial modes, which breaks down your combat technique and offers suggestions for improvement. VF5 is not a game for button-mashing: success only comes with the dedication to learn your character’s strengths and weaknesses, and from knowing how to exploit them.

The arcade mode is brief but punishing, racheting up the difficulty level with each fight in sometimes jarring steps, but it’s the Quest mode that exposes the real depth of the game. Here, your chosen character can be customised – their clothing and colouration completely altered – and you travel the city battling other players, each the ghost data of another Virtua Fighter player, programmed around that player’s technique and skills- no two Jacky Bryant’s or Akira Yuki’s will fight the same in Quest mode, and you can take your character – together with their win / loss ratio – online against players across the world (and have your ass handed to you promptly by some Japanese master). But you’ll learn from your defeats and your victories every step of the way.

Perhaps there’s something a little elitist about Virtua Fighter’s unforgiving approach, but if so, perhaps it’s necessary. Virtua Fighter just isn’t a game you can pick up and play- at least, not and be any good at it. I’ve lost count of the amount of Soul Calibur, Tekken, even Street Fighter bouts where a player can just mash the buttons and control stick and steal a victory, but I’ve never seen such a thing happen in the history of the Virtua Fighter series.

Moreover, Virtua Fighter is the closest games have come to emulating that feeling or real sparring- where watching your opponent and out-thinking them is more important than how strong your punches are- and that has to count for a lot. Tense, exciting, and hugely rewarding, Virtua Fighter 5 online is, in our book, the best fighting game of this generation.

Written by :

James Hall