Four years ago (wow, really?), Capcom released Street Fighter V, followed by the Arcade Edition two years later. Now, two years after that, the Champion Edition has arrived. It’s worth pointing out that the base game still receives all of the balance updates, game modes, and online play capability that this latest, shiniest Champion Edition gets. In fact, you can even grind — and I mean grind, given the earnings-to-cost ratio — your way to getting content via Fight Money if you don’t have the interest of using real money. Anyway, the Champion Edition is a compelling choice for someone looking to get back into SFV or jump in for the first time, which was more so my scenario.
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Before going any further, I’ll point out that our own Nathan Stevens reviewed the Arcade Edition two years ago and my review will simply compliment his, as very little has changed between then and the Champion Edition. Sure, there have been a ton of under-the-hood updates and balance fixes over time, but the core game is very much the same.
That said, fighting games these days are often loaded with post launch DLC and a crazy amount of customization in the form of costumes and badges and things like that. This is a nod to eSports and a change of business model for fighting games, as they’re no longer just released and done, but every major fighting series now seems to have months or even years of planned, paid content updates before the next major version comes out. For some serious sticker shock, just take a look at the DLC for Dead Or Alive 5. Anyhow, the Champion Edition (I keep wanting to say and type Championship Edition) has all previously released content, except for Fighting Chance costumes, brand collaboration costumes and Capcom Pro Tour DLC. I couldn’t tell you what that missing content looks like or if you can even get it anymore, but that heads-up comes straight off the press release for SFVCE, so I wanted to mention it. Even with that missing, though, you’re still getting a lot of material, totaling forty playable characters, which now includes Seth from SFIV, plus thirty-four stages, and over 200 costumes.
SFVCE is a big game beyond those basic numbers. There are a bunch of gameplay modes, Fight Money, and the Capcom Fighters Network, but these are all the same modes the Arcade Edition has. This is one of those games that you could really lose yourself in for months or years at a time, as evidence by how the game continues to receive updates and content and is featured at tournaments. Personally, though? I’m old school and prefer to fight locally and solo at that. I’m not interested in fine-tuning my skills, owning a fight stick, or dealing with the glut of online options, but give me a good arcade mode and I’ll be fine. In my own limited experience, the netcode was good. However, in reading about people’s experiences online, it appears that Capcom still has room to improve the netcode, which is surprising given how long this game has been in development.
Anyway, I really like the Arcade Mode in SFVCE. After a set number of battles, you get to see a character’s ending. Your scores for clearing are uploaded to online leaderboards, and these reset monthly. Titles can be earned by completing this and other challenges. I think it’s really cool that there are six different paths you can take within the Arcade Mode to get a varied and robust experience. I have spent the majority of my time in this mode as Sagat, and it’s been fun. Survival Mode has been adapted to include Items that you can use to help turn the tide of a fight that’s going bad. This is similar to something that NetherRealm did with MKX if I recall. V-Gauge state transitions between battles. Despite the variety of options, I find myself most often returning to Arcade Mode to finish the game with different characters.
SFVCE is by no means an entirely new game, it’s just a culmination of where SFV has come so far. In the last four years, the game certainly has come a long way. If you’ve waited until now to jump in, this is obviously the best version to get.
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