Gaming review - Street Fighter V

He was playing as Sagat and I was the Brazilian feral savage Blanka; The battle was close and it came down to the last 5 seconds when my opponent jumped for an attack, I saw my chance and activated Blanka's special ability by crouching and emit a devastating electric shock, thus beating him and having bragging right's for the next 20 years.

Nearly everyone I've met has had a different approach to the series and everyone seems to have there own style, this has become the power of this franchise - for every person who swears by Blanka, there was always someone proudly stating Guile's ferocious and agile fighting style. It has managed to harmonise itself through the fighting game zeitgeist to popular culture, and the community is just as passionate today as it was at the very beginning.

Before a single punch has even been thrown, Street Fighter 5's ego for overly intricate playing style is apparent from the off. Time's have moved on since Street Fighter 4's Focus Attack system, most crucially. The mode was designed as a get out of jail free card when you were stuck in tricky predicaments, allowing opposing hits to be absorbed and then counter attacked. However, its secondary use as the primary meant you could set up some of Street Fighter 4's most powerful, crowd pleasing and triumphant combos, this meant every game was different and fun in many ways. As it's replacement, literally, activated by the same, simple two-button press is the Ex gauge and the V-Skill. Or rather, the many V-Skills. Because instead of limiting creative play via a very specific route, a la its predecessor, the V system triggers the open, freeform, 'anything can happen' play that Street Fighter 5 revels in.

Literally, hit both medium attack buttons simultaneously, then watch as your character will immediately perform an insane special move or attack that is unique to them. There is no need for any stick waggling or button bashing here (Although my button bashing skills do always end up with a magical set of moves and combos, I always wonder how?). These things are pretty straight forward, but huge powerful game changers, for example Zangief can drain an almighty amount of damage, but he can do this whilst advancing, essentially reversing the giant

grappler's previous problem with landing himself into attack range. M. Bison can snatch fireballs out of the air and launch them straight back at his opponent, whilst Chun-Li will catapult herself into the air at ridiculous angles, totally throwing off opponents that are used to her generic jumping angles. Ryu can also gain the ability to harmlessly parry as many incoming hits as you can nail in the short amount of time within the abilities reach.

Beside these new mechanics lies the core system which are still the same as what you'd expect from a Street Fighter game. Veterans of the series will have no issue picking up Street Fighter V and having endless fun with it. They have even removed the annoying chip KOs, which now means the damage you take while blocking won't result in a KO (I would always be on the receiving end of this) unless your opponent uses a Critical Arts attack on you. This is a satisfying and smart design decision from Capcom if ever there was one.

However, the majority of these changes feel like a move to make the game more accessible for inexperienced players, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it does take away what the franchise has been about from it's inception.

Away from the mechanics of the game, you have the choice of 16 fighters to play with right off the bat. Ken, Ryu, Zangief, Dhalsim, Chun-Li, Vega, M. Bison and the ever expressive Cammy all return from the Street Fighter II generation, then you have the likes off Birdie, Karin, Nash, and R. Mika, also added to the roster from the Alpha generation and finally, the refreshing addition of 4 new characters: Necalli, who is a dreadlocked, aztec warrior, capable of some of the most powerful attacks in the game. Rashid is one of my favourite characters in Street Fighter 5, he can bounce around the screen, build up some quick and insane combos, he does have a weak defence however, and then we have Laura - A pretty and powerful attack minded fighter who can easily pull out some devastating moves within a split second. Possibly my least favourite character in the game is F.A.N.G, a very difficult to control, potion making, awkward magician, he does however possess one of the most entertaining walks in the game (Think John Cleese in Faulty Towers).

Capcom have really upped their game in terms of new character design. Characters now feel unique, life-like and fun to play in their own individual way, on top of that they look incredible - There is a certain glow and polish about the way they move and attack. Originally I was skeptical about certain fighters prior to release, but honestly, every character looks amazing. With the six DLC characters that we aware of (Alex, Juri, Balrog, Guile, Urien, and Ibuki) set to join the roster on a monthly basis which only leaves Honda, Blanka, and Sagat from the classic fighters (Please give us Blanka, Please give us Blanka) which are likely to be found in some unannounced DLC, I think it's pretty inevitable Capcom will include these classic characters in the future.

The basic character stories are good, with plenty to offer in terms of experience and the offering of an opportunity to adjust to new characters with a slight light-hearted backstory as we prepare for the exciting cinematic story experience that launches in June - though the stories in the game are actually quite short, lasting between three to five fights each, they are still worth a play through.

Also arriving at a later date, is Challenge mode, In March which should give us an injection of additional features and a positive training facility, daily activities and more. Although Its arrival isn't too far off, I would not have expected what is considered to be a very important part of the single-player content to be missing at launch.

So, this brings us on to the online battleground, where our impressions have been a mixed affair. When Street Fighter 5's online mode works, it works incredibly well and every fight play's out as well as having a two player bout with your mate sitting next to you. However during pre-release, on several occasions those results have only being apart of the whole experience about 50% of the time, the remaining would take performance from bad to worse. Fingers crossed the net-code will be majorly improved as time goes on.

The Verdict

The question to end the review with is simple, Is Street Fighter 5 the best in the franchise to date? The answer is yes. Despite being almost incomplete at launch it boasts some amazing, distinct and enjoyable gameplay accompanied with simplistic but beautiful presentation and on top of that the visuals are stunning. With a host of exciting, unique characters and plenty more to come, there is more than enough fighting greatness for returning veterans of the series and new warriors who are eager to prove their worth.