Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage is a marvelous appetizer to the series grand return

Date: Wed, 05 Nov 2025 11:06:29 +0000

Its almost hard to believe that the original release of Virtua Fighter 5 is
20 years old. Segas 3D fighter has had almost as much staying power as Street Fighter 2, with a dedicated fan base thats continued to keep the torch lit
for two decades now.

Review info
Platform reviewed: PS5, PC
Available on: PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC (Nintendo Switch 2
coming soon)
Release date: October 30, 2025

Its a title that has received not one, but two revisions in 2025 alone, as
part of a series revival that will culminate in a brand new entry expected to arrive sometime over the next couple of years. Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O.
World Stage is the latest rendition, bringing the Steam release of R.E.V.O. earlier this year to modern platforms, including PS5 , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S , and soon on Nintendo Switch 2 .

While mostly a straight port of said PC version (which has also received a
free update adding in the new content), World Stage does bring new elements worth checking out. The titular World Stage mode is a substantial piece of single-player content, and its joined by a new playable character (who is unfortunately paid downloadable content), full crossplay between consoles and PC, and the reintroduction of customization items from earlier versions of Virtua Fighter 5.

Its an impressive package for the low price of $19.99 / 15.99 / AU$27.95, and an easy sell for folks looking for a new 3D fighter to get into; perhaps even those whore burned out on Tekken 8 s controversial Season 2 changes.

Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage isnt brimming with content
necessarily, but I have been enjoying World Stage mode in short bursts. And ultimately, in terms of play, VF5 simply remains one of the best fighting
games out there, with bogglingly complex and technical gameplay that
stretches far beyond what its three-button system might initially imply.

So first, a quick introduction for those who might be largely unfamiliar with Virtua Fighter 5. It - along with the series in general - is a 3D fighter
with just three main buttons: punch, kick, and guard. It sounds simple, but
the games overt complexity comes from its characters incredibly diverse move sets, and what it does with various combinations of those buttons.

Each of the games 20 playable characters are masters of a specific martial
art and largely plays wholly differently from one another. Jeffry, for
example, hits like a truck with his Pankration style, while Pais Ensei-Ken is faster and more elegant.

Then you have more specialist characters. Vanessa is essentially two
characters in one, able to switch between stances for two completely
different move sets. Aois Aiki Ju-Jutsu is more of a defensive style, prioritizing parries and reversals for big damage cashouts. And if youre looking for something flashier, Wolf and El Blaze fill out the pro wrestling and Lucha Libre styles, respectively. Then theres Taka Arashi, a sumo
wrestler whose large size makes him entirely unique in both offense and defense.

Virtua Fighter 5 is much more grounded than other 3D fighters like Tekken or Dead or Alive, with relatively few fantastical aspects. A decidedly more realistic fighting game experience, matches can be over in a matter of
seconds thanks to small health bars, quick round times, and blisteringly fast-paced gameplay. Button mashing and input mistakes are heavily punished,
as is forgetting to guard, given thats an action assigned to its own button here.

Lets talk about the new, then. Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stages biggest addition is the titular World Stage mode. This is an entirely single-player piece of content that aims to emulate Virtua Fighter 4s excellent Quest mode. In World Stage, you travel to various venues from a menu where youre pitted against random AI opponents. Each new venue scales upwards in difficulty,
with some opponents even being based on real-world players signature playstyles. Best bit (Image credit: Sega) Virtua Fighter 5 is a three-button fighting game that does a lot with a little. The complexity can be utterly mind-boggling for newcomers, but within lies one of the most satisfying learning experiences you can have with any fighter on the market.

It starts off simple enough for beginners to enjoy, and keeps the training wheels on while encouraging them to try out a bunch of characters. Youre even incentivized to do so, as there are hundreds of challenges that each unlock a piece of clothing or an accessory for you to customize characters with. Its a snappy, fast-paced mode that queues up fights one after another in rapid succession, and its really enjoyable in short bursts.

Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage also adds Costume E - a fifth outfit
for each playable character, and the bulk of World Stage modes unlocks are related to these outfits. Sadly, customization still feels lacking overall, with most options being simple recolors, and there arent all that many different styles per character. You cant mix and match pieces of clothing between characters (you can only do so with certain accessories) either, and there are no custom color options for clothing or hairstyles.

Thats a real shame, especially because older versions of VF5 had even more customization options that are still absent in World Stage. Its a step in the right direction with the addition of Costume E, for sure, but Id like to see future patches potentially adding more. Of course, its not the end of the world; VF5 remains an unbelievably fun and rewarding fighting game to just play, and nowhere is that more apparent than in its online suite.

Online play in Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage is stronger than its
ever been, thanks to its release on modern platforms with full crossplay support. That means PlayStation and Xbox players (and soon to be Switch 2)
can play against each other as well as with those on Steam.

Rollback netcode is also great here, allowing for smoother connections
between players online. Though Id still recommend investing in an Ethernet cable if you havent already, Wi-Fi and fighting games just dont mix well, no matter how good the netcode here is, due to the inherent instability of wireless connections, and especially when fighting players who live overseas.

The suite of online options is pretty standard, but not really missing
anything major except for unranked quickplay. You have ranked matches, as
well as room matches, for when you want to set up a lobby with multiple players. There are also tournaments that happen periodically that you can
sign up for.

Ive been playing on PC on and off since the release of Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. back in January. Now that Ive tested the game on PS5 via the World Stage revision, Im happy to say that online connectivity holds up just as
well on that console as it does on PC.

The only real issue Ive run into is occasionally slow matchmaking times. The playerbase here isnt as lively as it is for, say, Street Fighter 6 or Tekken
8, so its not uncommon to be waiting upwards of a minute to get into a match. But now that the game is available across all platforms, I hope this issue diminishes as more people discover the game.

Should you play Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage? Play it if...

Youre burned out on Tekken 8
As 3D fighters go, VF5 is refreshing in its grounded design. It could not be further from Tekkens fantastical elements or its agonizingly long combo strings. Overall, its a brilliant palette cleanser and significantly less stressful right now than the state Bandai Namcos fighter finds itself in.

You want to be a part of a close-knit fighting game community
I can say with confidence that the Virtua Fighter community is an incredibly nice and welcoming one. The official Discord server is full of folks willing
to help out beginners, offer tips, and generally make the intimidating task
of learning VF5 that much more manageable.

You like single-player content in fighting games
World Stage does have a standard arcade mode, but the addition of the
titular World Stage mode adds tens of hours of play time for casual players
who like ticking off challenges and collecting customization goodies in an offline environment.

Don't play it if...

You were hoping for the next big 3D fighter
As Ive already said, World Stage is not a blockbuster, full-priced premium release. While a brand new Virtua Fighter is in development at Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios, World Stage is more of an affordable appetizer to tide folks over until the next big game.

Accessibility

There arent any dedicated accessibility settings in Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage; nothing in the way of things like colorblind modes or visual or audio cues like we see in other modern fighting games like Tekken 8 and
Street Fighter 6.

How I reviewed Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage

Ive played Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage for a combined 25 hours
across PC and PS5. Some of that playtime also came from R.E.V.O.s initial release back in January. For World Stage specifically, I played a whole bunch of the new World Stage mode and tried out the new crossplay features, which open the game up to console players.

My controllers of choice were primarily the Razer Raiju V3 Pro on PlayStation 5, as well as the 8BitDo Ultimate 2 and Corsair Novablade Pro on PC.

First reviewed November 2025 ======================================================================
Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/gaming/virtua-fighter-5-revo-world-stage-review
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