The environments are somehow better than

For a downloadable fighter, Virtua Fighter 5 looks razor sharp. The environments are somehow better than in the previous retail version, though the animations continue to be spot on, from Sarah’s spin kick to some of Shun Di’s more ridiculous grabs. It’s a polished engine, and the best Virtua Fighter we’ve seen to date. The audio is still what it is, with voices that either fit a character or make them sound worse (at least Sarah sounds nice) and decent background music.

But gameplay is the main draw here, and we’re happy to report it’s completely intact. During the demonstration, Sega broke out the deluxe fighting sticks to show just how dedicated the game is. It feels just right, between setting up Sarah’s lightning kick attacks and Wolf’s crazy wrestling moves. We didn’t have a problem executing any of the moves, even in the thick of a versus battle. Granted, your performance may vary if you’re using a regular Xbox 360 controller, but fighting fans will feel right at home here.