Nintendo's long tenure in the home console and handheld space has meant that almost every big multiplatform fighting game franchise has graced its systems. Almost every Capcom fighting game has been on a Nintendo platform, including its latest title, Street Fighter 6. The same goes for Mortal Kombat, which had every entry available except for Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. Tekken has appeared once on the Game Boy Advance and again on the Wii U. Dead Or Alive made it to the 3DS, and SoulCalibur appeared on the GameCube. Virtua Fighter is one of the few series to not grace a Nintendo platform, and while some would argue that the Genesis version of Virtua Fighter counts, it plays differently enough that others would argue otherwise. With Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage, that argument has come to rest, as a Nintendo platform finally has a mainline entry in the series, albeit one that has gone through several upgrades since the base version came out on the Xbox 360 and PS3 years ago.

For those who haven't played any of the games in the series yet, this is a 3D fighting game that hits very differently compared to its contemporaries. For starters, some arenas have boundaries, and when they're crossed, they count as an automatic loss for the player who's gone outside of the ring. The physics are mostly realistic, so even though you can jump impossibly high in the air, you can't bounce opponents off the ground or get them caught in juggle combos. Special moves aren't available, so you aren't going to be able to keep enemies at a distance. The lack of a special meter means the ability to turn things around with a flashy automatic combo is also gone. What you will get is a fighting game more steeped in realism and strategy, and pulling off a natural combo is just as important as setting yourself up so that you can dodge an incoming hit. It has a simple three-button system — one for blocking, one for kicking, and one for punching — but the system is deep. Each fighter has a plethora of moves that can be initiated with proper button timing and slight directional changes, rather than sweeping movements. The system is deep enough to reward players who take the time to learn its nuances, but it is accessible enough for newcomers to be jump in and be formidable.

As alluded to earlier, Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage is the latest in a line of tweaked versions, and if you were following along from the start, you'll notice that the changes have been minimal. The character lineup of 19 fighters hasn't changed, and the same goes for the backdrops you'll fight in. The models haven't changed since Ultimate Showdown, and the game still sports the Tekken-like particle effects and color flashes once a move has made contact with an opponent. The costume DLC has also received no updates, and while that's fine for the Yakuza and classic Virtua Fighter costumes, seeing Tekken 7 get promoted in this fashion, despite Tekken 8 being out for a while. The latest balance patches are available from the beginning, but with development finally moving on to the latest game in the series, don't expect this game to get patched further unless there's a big, game-breaking bug.

The big focus of the game is online play, and you get your first indication of this when you see that Ranked Play is the first mode highlighted. It has adopted some of the things that newer fighting games have for online play, such as making you choose a character beforehand to save time. You can also practice against a training dummy, so you aren't staring at a loading screen while waiting for a match to pop up. Beyond Ranked mode, there's Room play, where you can set up a room of up to 16 players to battle it out without affecting your official win/loss record. A Tournament is also present, but it only seems to be available when sponsored events are up or during specific points in a weekend. One thing that is missing is a proper Player mode for those who don't want the stress of ranked play but don't want to fight against a small crowd of other fighters, either. In place of that is an alternative to VF.TV. Placed in the main menu, it constantly broadcasts replays of previous fights. The option is nice for those who want to relax and watch others spar, but there doesn't seem to be a way to tag specific players, so you can watch all of their specific replays. There's no search function if you want to see bouts featuring specific characters.

All of this is being governed by rollback netcode, which has already proven itself in other games to be one of the better solutions for fighting online. One big advantage for online players is that this game comes with cross-play so you can fight against PlayStation, Xbox, and PC players. The game is fairly niche in the fighting genre, but there is a small but dedicated base of players at all times, and the online performance has remained solid for the few bouts we've played. Keep in mind that newcomers will get beaten initially, but the game's mechanics provide enough of a fighting chance that you won't be completely destroyed with round after round of flawless fights.

The previous version of the game was criticized for not having much for solo fighting game fans. This version tries to address that with World Stage, a mode that was previously available in Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution and in the first version of Virtua Fighter 5. The mode essentially has you facing off against a parade of CPU fighters in a given location, and the goal is to beat the boss of each area to move forward and ultimately become world champion. Along the way, you can also take on side tournaments, and the reward for completing each fight is a slew of customization pieces for each fighter, so you can create your own costume from scratch. The mode is fairly basic, and it lacks the personality of the older game, where you travel around actual arcades from Japan. It works for those looking for fights instead of lore, which the series has always shied away from in the past.

Otherwise, all of the other solo-oriented modes are still available. Training mode is still present with its myriad of sub-modes, and offline versus play remains untouched. Arcade mode is also available, and it plays like it normally does, where the final fight ends up being against Dural. You see the credits whether you win or lose that bout, since the game doesn't let you replay the match otherwise. Speaking of which, if you want to play as Dural, you'll need to pay for that DLC. Even then, that ability is limited, since you can only use her in both online and offline versus matches. There's no way to use her in World Stage mode or in Arcade mode; this feels like a giant oversight, since she's quite a pricey character to begin with.

Considering what other developers have done on the Switch 2 thus far in its first year, it should come as no surprise that the overall presentation is quite good for Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage. The graphics look great, with the character models looking quite nice, and the same can be said for the environments. The animations are smooth, with the game running locked at 60fps. The only knock against the game has to do with color vibrancy, which appears a little dull compared to other platforms. On the audio side, the music and sound effects are good. The voices come through clearly, and even though the lines for the fighters can be a bit cheesy, that adds to the game's overall charm.

Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage sets itself up as the real definitive version of this long-running entry in the series. Online play is still the main focus, and it helps that the performance is good, while cross-play ensures a longer than expected online life for the game. The single-player content is fine from a purist perspective; it'll keep you busy with fight after fight, but don't expect anything deeper than that. It looks and performs well on the system, and that's all you can really ask for. This is a great addition for Switch 2 owners who love fighting games, but it would be really nice to get more info on a brand-new entry rather than another port of this title.

Score: 8.0/10