Street Fighter V: Champion Edition Review – But Why?

There’s a lot of artefacts that a game can be comprised of and while some might not lead to its success, Street Fighter V in its fourth year of going in and out of the oven is a prime example of something as bare-bones upon release can be something more than just a glorified game of rock paper scissors. The latest edition of the ground-focused fighting game unlocks a slew of content from characters, skins, stages and much more for its tempting asking price of nothing more than 24.99 GBP for the standalone game.

So if you’re a newcomer to the series or was simply holding off for no apparent reason, this is easily one of the best purchases to make if you’re itching for a fight. Meanwhile, owners of the base game or arcade edition have very little reason to jump the gun for their credit cards considering you can unlock characters with its in-game currency (fight money) or participate in extra battles to unlock certain character skins. And the catch? It’s a long and painful road to trek.

But why… why now?

Given that I’m a complete newbie to the whole Street Fighter V scene, for me, there’s an unsurmountable amount of tasks and game modes to play on after getting my hands dirty. From the game’s general story (requires a separate download) that puts you in the shoes of the many characters from Street Fighter both old and new in an impressive and equally engaging core story. While some moments fall prey to the usual idiotic scenes that villains in both films and video games do, there are also the funny moments to enjoy and some tear-jerking moments that leave me speechless.

There’s also the character episodes that delivers extra meat to its already packed offering, the multiple arcade modes, the extra battle for unlocking more content, missions that range from weekly to monthly for earning more fight money and its unique survival mode that pits you in a series of battles in which you can use consumables or points gained in battle to give you a fighting chance at beating the entire thing. Not to mention the online modes like the battle lounge with friends or complete strangers and both casual and ranked matches give an even weightier time sink to what seems will be a very long gaming cycle. So… why wouldn’t you start right now? Is the better question.

The ground game has also been further upped with the second option added to the V-System. This gives new character specializations from Chun-Li’s Renkiko that adds an extra hit to her normal attacks which can now be switched over to a Kikosho that releases a small orb of energy in her palm to hit her target multiple times. This makes characters feel more unique to the usual playstyles while still providing a huge impact on the overall mind games than fighting games are known for. The fundamentals are well-engraved in their place which makes for a fully-enjoyable experience right from the beginning of a match to my loser screen as I get pummeled to the ground for my lack of mechanical and tactical judgment.

Street Fighter V: Champion Edition, in a nutshell, is the definitive edition of Street Fighter to date. It has all the bells and whistles of what a fighting game hopes to achieve and all that served in a single silver platter for just about anyone to enjoy or rage into. There are tons of unique and interesting goodies from old and new characters, amazing skins and recolours to make them even more unique as well as an amazing soundtrack in a visually stunning set of landscapes from New Zealand’s amazing view of the waterfalls to India’s bustling market packed with on-lookers climbing atop an old and rusted train.

But if there’s one thing that roughens the deal for me here, is that the game is not as easily accessible to newcomers, unlike the Dead or Alive series which feels easier to chain moves to one another or Arc System Works’ BlazBlue with its stylish mode as opposed to its more technical mode of button inputs. This and the fact that the upgrade kit is account-locked if you bought it from the Playstation Store which prevents you from accessing your sweet line up of characters and skins without having to use the account you got it from.

Street Fighter V: Champion Edition is published and Developed BY Capcom and is available on PC and PlayStation 4

This Review is based on the PlayStation 4 version of the game

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