Street Fighter V Champion Edition

Street Fighter V: Champion Edition is the next edition of the brawler that was originally released in 2016 on PC and PlayStation 4 console and belongs to the well-known series with roots dating back to 1987. The edition in question offers access to all the characters, boards and enhancements, as well as most of the outfits and gameplay modes that have come to the game since its release. Japanese company Capcom is responsible for creating and publishing this title.

Storyline

The action of Street Fighter V takes place between the fourth and third part of the series (in that order - Street Fighter III: Thrid Strike showed the later events). Charlie Nash can be considered the main character, although during the game we control different characters. The plot focuses on the conflict with the dangerous Shadaloo organization, whose plans may threaten the whole world.

Mechanics

Fighting mechanics in Street Fighter V resembles what we know from previous installments of the series. The game starts with character selection - the list of available heroes is extensive (it includes all heroes available in the next four seasons) and includes classic fighters such as Ryu and Ken, as well as completely new ones, such as Rashid and Necalli. Also available for the first time in SFV as part of the Champion Edition are Gill and Seth, known from SFIII and SFIV respectively.

During the actual fight we control our hero in two dimensions, moving left or right, and our task is to reduce the opponent's life bar to zero. We do this by dealing regular blows and also by performing dangerous special attacks, which are different for each character. We also can't forget about defense - blocking and keeping an appropriate distance.

A new feature is the V-Gauge mechanic - it's a special bar which fills up when our hero receives damage. When we gather the appropriate amount of energy, we can use it in several different ways. The first option is to use the so-called V-Skills, which are unique special attacks. The second option are V-Reversals, which open the opponent to counter attacks. The third alternative is V-Triggers, which absorb all the V-Gauge and strengthen the fighter for a while. It is worth mentioning that in the discussed version of the game we have access to two variants of V-Skills and V-Reversals.

In the game, we also have the so-called Stun Gauge - when it is filled, it triggers a stun effect characteristic of the series (stars above the head) or other effects depending on the character (for example, Kolin can freeze his enemies). We also have the classic EX Gauge bar, which recharges thanks to the attacks we make and allows us to perform the most powerful special blows.

Game modes

Street Fighter V has several game modes. We get the story campaign, single battles (as part of Arcade module or having a form of challenges, such as time). We can also play tournaments and compete with others - locally or over the Internet - or practice our skills in the training room.

Technical issues

Street Fighter V: Champions Edition runs on the popular Unreal Engine 4 graphics engine. Despite the two-dimensional gameplay, the setting has been realized in full three dimensions, with both characters and locations stylized in such a way as to resemble an animated film (cel-shading). The whole thing looks really nice and spectacular - particularly good impression is made by interesting character designs and animations of individual special attacks, using a whole range of lighting effects.