Street Fighter V is off to a bare and slow start

It’s been fifteen years since Capcom revolutionized the fighting game world by introducing Street Fighter II – The 1991 sequel to the simplistic brawler that first featured Ryu and Ken as the only playable characters.

Featuring more fighters, special moves, and strategies to learn, the game became a cult classic, and soon spawned a number of revisions and rereleases that unlocked the bosses as playable characters and sped the game to a faster pace. Soon enough, the Street Fighter franchise blossomed and introduced more sequels and spin-offs, particularly the Street Fighter Alpha and Street Fighter III series, as well as a partnership with Marvel and SNK that introduced a number of crossover “VS” games that were widely praised and accepted.

After the release of Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike in 1999, the franchise would remain stagnant and its future uncertain for almost a decade. Then a miraculous recovery happened when Street Fighter IV was announced and released in 2008 – the first numerical and true sequel after a nine year hiatus. Featuring a combination of characters new and old, the game utilized 2.5D gameplay – mixing 3D visuals while retaining the standard 2D gameplay. SFIV was met with great success, and soon got a number of rereleases like its predecessors with Super Street Fighter IV, Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition, and Ultra Street Fighter IV – all of which introduced new mechanics and added more characters to the already huge roster of over 40 characters.

Now in the present day, we come to the newest chapter of the franchise with “Street Fighter V” - a game that is both bold and ambitious in moving towards the next phase and evolution in the series’ history. First announced in December 2014 as an exclusive for the Sony Playstation 4 and Microsoft Windows platforms, the game is the first to incorporate cross-platform gaming – meaning owners of both PC and PS4 can do battle against each other online. After months of development, a Beta Testing phase was put into motion through the middle of 2015, giving players who pre-ordered the game and those with an exclusive key pass a chance to test out raw portions and selected characters that would be available for the final release. That time has finally arrived… But does the game manage to deliver?

The answer is both a resounding yes and no. Since its release in February 16 this year, Street Fighter V has struggled to live up to its promise of being an evolutionary chapter in the saga that incorporates new dynamics and online gameplay while retaining that traditional, old school fighting game nostalgia that makes the fanbase what it is today. Unfortunately, launching with the barest portions ready are what keeps it from becoming a powerful entry, instead relying on the promise of future online updates that are still far from completion.

The game contains only 16 characters at present – Featuring stalwarts and mainstays like Ryu and Chun-Li wearing their traditional garbs while other original characters like Ken and Dhalsim get updated makeovers that separate them from their classic appearances. New fighters are a mix of new faces and familiar fighters from past installments. Street Fighter Alpha veterans Karin, R. Mika, Birdie, and the resurrected Charlie Nash return, and the new blood come in the form of the beast man Necalli, Brazilian fighter Laura, Middle-Eastern wind man Rashid, and F.A.N.G - the newest recruit of M. Bison’s Shadaloo organization. All of these characters play differently and have their own unique fighting styles and moves  - which are enhanced by the new V-System that incorporates three essential components – V-Skill, V-Reversal, and V-Trigger. Super Combos, Cross-Ups, and Links remain the bread and butter of the series, but SFV’s V-System is what truly determines how the tide of battle turns based on one’s skill and technique.

Unlike its predecessor Street Fighter IV, SFV has no Arcade Mode – meaning there is no set of stages to battle through and a final boss to encounter. Instead, a story mode featuring predetermined battles and sequences quietly layout a character’s background and tale during the events of the game. Capcom has announced that a TRUE Story Mode will appear and be released in June as a free DLC update for the game, but that only adds more caution to the wind for those hesitating to buy this sequel.

As of the moment, server problems, lag performances, and random disconnections plague Street Fighter V’s online system, giving players a lot of headaches and requests for Capcom to fix this problem ASAP. DLC content is also planned to be released sporadically, with the first new character and returning SF III veteran Alex coming on March along with the Shop update that gives players the option to purchase additional content via Fight Money (earned by playing the game) or through “Zenny” – points that you can purchase via the online store with real money. It’s this model, the persisting problems of online play, and the lack of content at launch, that keep the title from reaching its true potential of becoming a revolutionary entry in the franchise that is hailed as one of the kings of the fighting game genre.

In a nutshell, Street Fighter V has a lot of promise but a long road to traverse through. Like a newbie still warming up his skills in the ring, it needs to take a lot of solid hits before it can truly become a worthwhile contender for “Game of the Year”. That’s not to say the game doesn’t have its positives, as there’s plenty of challenges and characters to play around with until new content and fixes for the game arrive. If you’re a fan of the series, then there’s no reason not to get this game and give it a chance. Otherwise if you’re a casual player and want a solid experience, you may want to be a little more patient before grabbing this punching bag of a video game. — TJD, GMA News