Street Fighter V Arcade Edition Review: Finally, A Complete Experience

Capcom’s Street Fighter V is a magnificent case study of how NOT to release a fighting game. The lack of game modes overshadowed what was one of the best fighting game experiences of 2016.

Almost two years later, Capcom has delivered a version of Street Fighter V that brings a ton of great new content that, honestly, should have been in the game from the start. Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition is everything that Street Fighter fans want. Furthermore, Capcom will offer the Arcade Edition as a free upgrade as a gesture of goodwill to players that already own the original SFV.

Now, it’s up to debate whether Capcom has done enough to make its fans happy, but what isn’t up to debate is that the Arcade Edition is one hell of a good time for fighting game fans.

ARCADE MODE

The big update for SFV: Arcade Edition is the implementation of an Arcade Mode. While this mode was left out of the initial launch (for some bizarre reason), gamers who look for a substantial single-player experience will really enjoy it.

Players will be able to go down six different paths based on the different titles in Street Fighter’s history. What follows is some good ol’ fashion CPU beat-‘em-up as you make your way to the final boss. Sprinkled in are some great nods to past games like crate busting bonus levels, remixed music, vintage stages and much more.

Each path has a different number of characters to choose from and it’s fun to select characters that you may not otherwise play in order to reach their unique ending. There are even special endings that unlock when players complete the Arcade Mode under special circumstances, such as defeating it on a higher difficulty level.

While the endings are beautifully drawn, it would have been nice to get more than just a single page of art with a line of text.

TEAM BATTLE

Another addition, albeit probably the smallest, is the Team Battle mode. This versus mode really brings the local multiplayer/party aspect of Street Fighter V to the forefront as teams of up to five can go toe-to-toe. It’s pretty straightforward with each elimination coming after their health bar goes to zero.

Players can also customize their team battle experience.Players can choose how matches end, either when all members of the opposing team are eliminated or a “best of” series format, to how much health is recovered after elimination, the Team Battle mode is a great way to play with friends.

V-TRIGGER 2

The introduction of the V-Skills system was a great way to simplify and streamline some of the fighting in Street Fighter V. It makes the game more accessible to casual fans and make the various characters on the roster feel more unique.

Arcade Edition gives a second V-Trigger to every current and future character on the roster and it will really change how casual and expert players enjoy the game. From Ken’s new ability to punish aerial attacks with his Shinryuken skill, to Laura’s Shock Stance is both a defensive and offensive move as it avoids attacks and performs a throw.

It was fun to try out each new V-Trigger and to come up with various ways to play. It will be interesting to see how the expert players use these new abilities in competitions.

VERDICT

Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition is the complete version of SFV that fans will love. The new additions really gives Street Fighter V a more robust single-player and local multiplayer experience that it sorely lacked. The introduction of new V-Triggers will also bring new wrinkles to how players will battle.

Capcom really has done a good job with all of this new content available free for those who stuck it out with Street Fighter V in its nearly two years of being released. The $39.99 price tag for the complete game and a massive amount of DLC is also a great jumping on point for those who were waiting for this version of the game.

If you’re a fan of the series or fighting games, jump into Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition .