Sega revealed that a remaster of Virtua Fighter 5, called the Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown, is to release on June 1.
The remaster of the cult fighting game is being developed as a PS4 exclusive by two Sega teams: Sega AM2 — the studio that originally developed the Virtua Fighter series — and Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio — the team behind the Yakuza games.
Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown will have a host of changes. It will run on the Dragon Engine that powers the Yakuza series. There will also be new UI, fresh background music for each stage and new online features. These will include a tournament mode, a spectator mode and a lobby system. It was not specified whether the game would utilize delay-based or rollback netcode.
The history of Virtua Fighter
Virtua Fighter was released in 1993. This original 3D fighting game series was a pioneer in the genre. While other 3D fighting games, such as Tekken and Dead or Alive, have eclipsed Virtua Fighter in popularity, the series continues to have a devout audience.
Virtua Fighter 5 released in arcades back in 2006. In the following year, the game was ported to the Xbox 360 and PS3. An updated version of the game, Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown, was released in 2010 in arcades and in 2012 as a downloadable title on the Xbox 360 and PS3. Characters from the series have also made guest appearances in the last two Dead or Alive games. Fans of the series have been waiting for a new entry for nine years.
Virtua Fighter has a history with that of Yakuza and its developer, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio. In the last several entries in the series, Virtua Fighter 5 has been playable inside the in-game arcades. The version of the game that appeared within the arcades in Yakuza also had netplay, making it the only way players could experience Virtua Fighter 5 on a modern console until June 1.
