Among the long-running fighting series out there, I’ll admit that Virtua Fighter was one that I never quite connected with. I believe the last time I bumped into it was way back with Virtua Fighter 2, and while on a technical level I always appreciated the obvious technique that it had running under the hood, I just struggled with it. Now, with the benefit of not needing to feed a machine quarters to get rolling with it, my perspective is a bit different, and though I’d still consider myself a bit of a novice it’s absolutely grown on me quite a bit. 

For those of you who aren’t up to speed on this franchise, it was one of the more popular early 3D fighting games that hit the arcades. While in its earliest incarnations that made for some pretty primitive characters and environments, the ability to sidestep and rotate on the z axis really changed the dynamics of a typical fighter, and it always felt like a far more technique-driven affair than its competition because of that. Given the added complexity of the controls, I’d say one of the most critical features of this release is its deep and extensive training options. Going far beyond walking you through fundamental techniques and moves, there are even character-level insights to be gleaned from this section, making it a great tool for fans trying to brush up, or for super-charging the learning process for newcomers.

In terms of the fighting action itself, you’ll have a number of options to choose from, though for the most part they’re just changing up the format of your challenges. You can go old-school with the Arcade mode, take on a friend locally in Versus, tackle a challenging Room Match, or likely get curb-stomped by opting for taking your skills online… but the best general home for solo play will be the World Stage mode. In each location you’ll need to work your way up through the ranks by defeating random foes, and then trying to take out a boss before moving on to another tougher set of challenges somewhere else. Aside from it being a great mode to simply enjoy working through the game’s many characters, you’ll also consistently unlock new cosmetics that you can then use to customize your favorite fighters with, which is a nice touch.

As is the case with all fighting games, what you get out of it will really be a matter of what you’re looking for. Given the fact this series has always stood apart from the majority of its competition in terms of its style and feel, you at least shouldn’t merely feel like you’re going through the motions. There’s nuance and technique to be learned here, though I’ll admit that with a controller some of the moves that require pressing 3 buttons at once can be a challenge to pull off, so it isn’t necessarily a perfect conversion either. Nevertheless, it helps that it looks and plays wonderfully on the Switch 2, and then when you throw in its comparatively affordable asking price, when compared to some of its contemporaries, it feels like a solid option for fighting fans.