Hi! This is Tohru Murayama from AM R&D dept. #2, SEGA!!

I copied the way the other developers greet their readers because I found them a lot cooler than the way I usually write. However, it doesn’t feel the same way when a Japanese man writes it though.

Anyhow, I’m going to continue the previous column and talk about the Quest Mode of Virtua Fighter in more detail for you.

There are various goals in the Quest mode which gives the player flexibility on how they play through Virtua Fighter 5. Below, I’ve listed some of the goals you’ll find while playing through the Quest Mode. Hopefully this will help guide you through the game.

Attempt to win a championship in Tournaments

This is the most basic goal in the Quest mode. There are two types of tournaments that you can take part in. There are the ones that are held in each individual arcade and the official ones that are held in a special venue. You can complete the Quest Mode by winning the Official Victory, however, this does not mean that you have finished the game.

Aim to win against rivals 100% of the time

Virtua Fighter 5 is filled with rivals that can be found in the videogame arcades in Quest Mode. Although the opponents are random, the AI is such that you won’t play against high-ranked players when your rank is low and vice versa. But you should try to defeat all rivals to increase your level quicker. If you participated in our online contest asking for ring names and sayings, you’ll find those winners in the Quest Mode. It’s all random though, so you’ll need to pay close attention to your opponents!

Aim to collect the complete line up of Emblems

As you compete in the Quest Mode, you can earn various emblems. Emblems are offered as prizes in the Tournaments that are held in the game parlors. These emblems have a Japanese feel since it was designed by a Japanese team. I hope that overseas players will understand the various meanings of these emblems. For example, one of them is a dorayaki which is actually a Japanese bean-jam pancake. You can also find an alligator and so forth.

Aim to collect the complete line up of items

As you fight matches, you may enter battle matches which are called "Soudatsusen” (Battle for Items). The winners of these matches are able to win items such as glasses, hair styles, clothes, etc. Or, you can also win gold which can go towards buying certain items. You can get items in various ways, like winning in Soudatsusen, purchasing ones
at shops by saving gold, winning in Tournaments, acquiring ones at certain ranks, etc.
It’s very difficult to collect the entire set, but I would definitely encourage you to achieve it.

All in all, the game is full of challenges of all levels so definitely spend some time in the Quest Mode.

Although I work solely on the PS3 version of the game, I adore the arcades and obviously, Virtua Fighter 5 is a huge arcade game here in Japan. However, I must admit that the environments of the arcades in the US are utterly different than the ones here in Japan. I visited various video game parlors when I went to E3, but something was different, really. I didn’t see any beat-em-up videogame that has the style like Virtua Fighter 5 where cabinets are lined and opponents sit across each other without showing their faces. The only types of games I really saw were racers and gun shooters. In the arcade version of the Quest Mode, you enter an arcade and there are three opponents that the player chooses to fight against. Maybe this isn’t as interesting to the American market? Who knows! This is why I’m glad that the game is coming to you on the PS3 so you can play it in your living rooms at home.

Thanks again for letting me talk about VF5. Can’t wait to hear what you think!

Key Features

• Two New Characters, El Blaze and Eileen, round out the cast of 17 dynamic characters. El Blaze is a Mexican wrestling champion that uses the Lucha Libre fighting style, and Eileen, originally from China, uses a Monkey Kung Fu style which she learned from her grandfather.
• Stunning, Highly-Detailed 3-D Fighting Environments inspired by locales around the world where players can challenge their opponents in unique types of arenas.
• Offensive Move lets players to easily move around their opponent from the side and back allowing players to be more strategic with their battles.
• Customize your character with the enhanced attachment system and customization engine giving players more flexibility than ever before when creating their characters.
• Next Gen Presentation includes 720p HD resolution (widescreen) and 5.1-channel Dolby Digital surround.

Virtua Fighter 5 is being developed by SEGA Studios and will be available on the PS3 in Spring 2007.