Patience is a virtue, especially when it comes to purchasing a Street Fighter game. Since the days of the groundbreaking Street Fighter II, developer and publisher Capcom has updated early every Street Fighter release with a version (or two!) that adds features, characters, stages, and alternate costumes. No game in the series has benefited from this practice more than Street Fighter V, a title that launched with a small roster and an overreliance on paid downloadable content. With Champion Edition, however, Street Fighter V finally feels like a finished product, thanks to the inclusion of multiple V-Skills, balance changes, and every character, stage, and costume released so far (save some very select content). Unfortunately, mediocre netcode and annoying monetization tactics are still issues with this otherwise solid PC game.
What's in the Package
On PC, Street Fighter V: Champion Edition is only available via the $24.99 Upgrade Kit (on PlayStation 4, you can opt to buy it as a $29.99 disc). Champion Edition requires the base Street Fighter V game, a title that retails for $19.99. That's an excellent price, considering all the content bundled in the package.
Champion Edition includes 34 stages, 40 characters, and more than 200 costumes—nearly everything from the Street Fighter V's previous seasons. The only items missing are Capcom Pro Tour content, sponsored costumes, and Fighting Chance outfits. Champion Edition also includes character balance changes to foster fairer competition.
Cinematic Story Mode, 2-out-of-3 runbacks, environmental KOs, time-specific Battle Challenges, and other singleplayer and multiplayer features return from vanilla Street Fighter V and its Arcade Edition update. In short, this is the definitive Street Fighter V.
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Evolution, not Revolution
Champion Edition's graphics are in line with what came before it. Street Fighter V's visuals are more of an evolution of Ultra Street Fighter IV's graphics (minus the ink blot aesthetic flair) than a revolutionary change. If Champion Edition is your gateway to Street Fighter V, don't expect the radical aesthetic overhaul that the series experienced as it moved from Street Fighter II to Street Fighter III, and then from Street Fighter III to Street Fighter IV.
Street Fighter V is powered by Unreal Engine 4, which means that the highly detailed character models look good in motion, but somewhat awkward in some areas when scrutinized. For example, Ryu sports a dirty, frayed gi that ripples as he moves, and the lighting and shadow effects give the character—and game—a more realistic appearance than that of Ultra Street Fighter IV, despite similar stylized graphics. On the flipside, Ken suffers from a lack of refinement; his hair looks like Play-Doh and his Under Armor-like default outfit appears as if it were painted on rather than resembling actual clothing with threads and stitching.
On the surface, Street Fighter V's core gameplay doesn't look very different from Ultra Street Fighter IV's combat, but those who invest time learning the new system are rewarded with interesting gameplay mechanics that give a nod to Street Fighter's past while still pushing the action forward.
Why You Should Game on a PC
Street Fighter V's fisticuffs is faster and more forgiving than Ultra Street Fighter IV's action. For example, when you experience a "throw tech" (when both fighters attempt to throw at the same time and are forced apart) you end up closer together afterward, so that you can quickly continue the fight. Similarly, recoveries, which happen when you press two punches or kicks at the same time after your character is knocked for a loop, are nearly instant.
On top of that, Street Fighter V has a more-lenient window for pulling off combos and specials, so you don't need super-precise timing to pull off Dragon Punches and Sonic Booms. This is important, because it means you no longer need to "plink," or press two buttons that aren't mapped to a special or a throw, so the game picks the higher priority button and puts you a frame ahead of the input for the move or combo you want. The most hardcore of the hardcore Street Fighter players may decry the change as one that caters to a more casual audience, but filthy casuals still need to be aware of moves, countermoves, and about a dozen other combat elements. In other words, Street Fighter V isn't as simplified as the beginner-friendly Fantasy Strike, and a scrub won't become an Evo champ overnight. It's a welcome change, as input mastery is one of the most challenging hurdles for newcomers to overcome.
Street Fighter IV's Focus Attacks are nowhere to be found in Street Fighter V. Instead, Street Fighter V's fight flow has the three-part V-System, which consists of V-Skills, V-Triggers, and V-Reversals.
V Is for Victory
V-Skills, activated by simultaneously pressing Medium Punch and Medium Kick, are character-specific special techniques that require no meter to perform. For example, Ryu's V-Skill is an extremely useful Street Fighter III-like parry, called Mind's Eye, that absorbs melee and projectile attacks and fills his multi-section V-Gauge (the red meter at the bottom of the screen that governs when you can activate a V-Trigger special attack). Ryu's parry window is wider than its Street Fighter III incarnation, which makes the counter friendlier to players who don't want to spend weeks in the digital dojo mastering the move. Champion Edition gives each character two V-Skills; in previous Street Fighter V versions, the fighters were limited to one.
V-Triggers, activated by simultaneously pressing the Hard Punch and Hard Kick buttons, give characters enhanced abilities. For example, Ryu's V-Trigger causes him to crackle with energy and do extra damage with fists, feet, or fireballs. While Ryu's V-Trigger is activated, you can start a fireball animation and hold the energy ball to throw off an opponent's timing. V-Triggers, like V-Skills, add lots of strategy and mind games.
Unlike V-Skills, V-Triggers are fueled by the V-Gauge. Depending on the character, some V-Triggers drain the V-Gauge over time, while others immediately deplete it. As a result, it's extremely important to know when to pop a V-Trigger. If you've played Killer Instinct, you'll feel right at home here, as V-Triggers are Street Fighter V's version of Instinct Mode.
V-Reversals, Street Fighter V's version of the Street Fighter Alpha series' Alpha Counters, require one V-Gauge stock and let you counter a move from a blocking position by pressing all three punches or kicks. Unlike Alpha Counters, however, V-Reversals don't result in a universal counter. Instead, depending on the character that you select, V-Reversals cause you to knock down, push back, or switch sides with opponents. For example, R. Mika busts out a Stone Cold Stunner when you press forward and all three kick buttons when in block stun. Because V-Reversals are character-specific, you'll want to spend time learning how to best apply them in battle. You'll need them, especially against Karin, Ibuki, and other rush-down characters who continually apply heavy pressure.
EX-tra Damage
Street Fighter III's EX Gauge, a meter that fills as you beat on rivals, returns in Street Fighter V. The EX Gauge is used to either power up special moves or perform Critical Arts super combos. One of the best examples of the EX Gauge in action is when it's applied to Ryu's Hadoken. The fireball gains additional speed, damage, and stun potential.
The Street Fighter III comparisons keep piling up, because visible stun meters return to the series for the first time since Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. This is a bit of a shame—stuns should be a surprise. Plus, it's one more meter to watch. They'll surely benefit some players, but it would've been nicer to have one fewer thing to clutter the screen.
Street Fighter V's fighting feels good—really good. As explained earlier, the action moves at a brisker pace than Ultra Street Fighter IV, and melee attacks land with chunky, satisfying impacts accompanied by just-as-satisfying, bone-crunching sound effects. The animations really sell the moves; getting clobbered with a Roundhouse jerks your character back in quite a pleasing fashion.
People with keen eyes and strategic minds will notice that the animations also serve as hit-confirms. For example, Ryu's crouching Roundhouse animates differently when blocked versus when it successfully makes contact. Quickly identifying the hit animation lets you know that it's safe to proceed with another attack without risking punishment. This is essential for high-level play.
Online Play
Street Fighter V miraculously supports PlayStation 4 and PC cross-platform play, so you can battle other gamers on either platform. Capcom uses its own proprietary netcode, Kagemusha, to enable "the most lag-free experience in Street Fighter history." That statement wasn't true when Street Fighter V first launched, the game was plagued by dropped connections, but the netcode and servers are now stable; stable, but not perfect. Street Fighter V has far less connection errors than when the base game launched, but I experienced lag over my Fios connection. The lag was extremely noticeable in online battles and also in Training mode where I played until matched with another player. It's a shame that Street Fighter V still has a netcode issue, especially when CodeMystics recently patched excellent rollback netcode into SNK's Garou: Mark of the Wolves, a game that's now enjoying an online resurgence.
You can square off against other online players in Ranked Matches or Casual Matches. There's also a score-keeping Battle Lounge in which you can search for—and create—rooms. A Spectator Mode is available, so you can watch others scrap.
New with Champion Edition is Tournament Mode. It isn't available at Champion Edition's launch; in fact, another Tournament Mode open beta test is scheduled for after the game's release. When it does arrive at some future time, Tournament Mode will enable single- or double-elimination tournaments.
Money, Money, Money
Despite containing a ridiculous amount of content, you'll still want to amass Fight Money, Street Fighter V's in-game currency. You can pocket Fight Money by simply winning matches or completing singleplayer challenges. Alternatively you can open your wallet and buy costumes, characters, stages, and other items using real-world bucks. Champion Edition comes with so many characters, stages, and outfits that Fight Money and real dollars don't have much use...yet. I would be shocked if more purchasable goodies aren't on the way.
Capcom, sadly, goes for an additional money grab with Champion Edition's in-game advertisements. Ads—Capcom's own or others from third parties—appear on the Versus screen before a battle begins, exist as alternate character outfits, and display as sponsored content in stages. You can turn ads off, but they're on by default. In exchange for viewing ads, you earn extra Fight Money after fights. Regardless of their "benefits," ads should not appear in games that carry a price tag. Nor should the lootbox-like Fighting Chance content. That's the revenue scheme for free-to-play titles.
Hadoken Hardware
To run Street Fighter V: Champion Edition, your gaming PC must have at least a 3.6Ghz Intel Core i3-4160 central processing unit, Nvidia GeForce GTX 480 graphics card, 6GB of RAM, and the Windows 7 operating system. Champion Edition doesn't have an extraordinary number of graphics options, but it lets you tweak Resolution Scaling, Anti-Aliasing, Post-Processing, Shadows, Textures, and Effects.
My gaming desktop that packs far more than the minimum specs, ran Champion Edition at close to 60 frames per second. That said, when online lag kicked in, Champion Edition's frame rate dropped to 40fps. As a Steam game, Champion Edition supports Steam Achievements and Steam Trading Cards.
Worth a Purchase
Despite netcode and monetization issues, Street Fighter V: Champion Edition is a worthy purchase, particularly if you fight offline more than online. The fighting game contains a bounty of Street Fighter V singleplayer and multiplayer goodness at a low price. If this is Street Fighter V's grand farewell, and it certainly feels that way, Champion Edition is a decent send off for a game that endured a rushed, horrible start. Hopefully, Capcom learned valuable lessons from Street Fighter V's stumbles that can used to make a potential Street Fighter VI avoid similar troubles.
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With Champion Edition, Street Fighter V achieves what may be its final form. Boasting a reasonable price and a wealth of content from the game's multiple seasons, it's a good deal. Still, the fighting game's netcode and monetization schemes need work.
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