Common Sense Media Review
By Marc Saltzman
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Fighting franchise has perfect KO with largest brawler yet.
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Street Fighter V: Champion Edition
Parent and Kid Reviews
Based on 3 parent reviews
What’s It About?
The iconic fighting-game franchise is back in STREET FIGHTER V: CHAMPION EDITION. The Champion Edition includes all of the content from the original game and Arcade Edition, along with all of the downloadable content, apart from the Fighting Chance costumes, Capcom Pro Tour, and brand collaboration gear which remains as a separate download. It also expands the gameplay to include Seth as the 40th character on the roster, packs in more than 200 costumes, and 34 stages. The gameplay retains much of what the series is best known for: male and female fighters, each with their own fighting style, weapons, and special moves, with your goal being to enter a round with an adversary and emerge victorious. Only by mastering the offensive EX attacks and defensive moves as well as studying the opponent (to counter that opponent's strengths) will you be the last person standing. Classic characters such as Ryu and Ken are back, as are many new challengers. The new battle system is employed to add more depth and strategy for veteran players, as well as an extra V-trigger for opponent takedowns. Along with solo play, side-by-side matches, and online matchmaking, this game includes access to the Capcom Pro Tour, an online league for competitive fighting games, with dozens of tournaments and $500,000 in prizes, the largest in franchise history. The Champion Edition also includes an Arcade mode that provides new personal stories for fighters across Street Fighter 1-5 and Street Fighter Alpha. Additional images for each fighter can be unlocked and found in an expanded gallery. Players can also partner up in team battles and challenge each other to see who's left standing, while the Extra mode provides online challenges for players to earn Fight Money, experience for levels, costumes, and other bonuses.
Is It Any Good?
The latest installment of this fighter provides the largest and most complete version of this brawler to date. Street Fighter V: Champion Edition vastly expands on the content of the original game thanks to the addition of more than 200 costumes and 34 stages. The roster has also grown to 40 fighters with the addition of Seth as a playable character. On top of the V-gauge system, fighters now get an extra V-trigger, providing more powerful attacks that force players to reexamine their tactics against opponents. The Team mode also lets players pick to fight on the Blue or Red team, and determine who the best players happen to be; options include winners staying on until they lose or best of round series. This is perfect when you have friends over and want to test your skills without going online against random players.
Further building on the gameplay is the Extra Challenge mode, online fights where you'll be tasked with brawling against a series of enemies and beating them within a certain time period. Completing these fights will provide you with a ton of Fight Money, experience for your online rankings, and more. This is a great way to test and keep your skills sharp for the other game modes. But the true standout is the addition of Arcade mode, which takes you through a chronological tour of Street Fighter 1-5 and Street Fighter Alpha. While it limits the roster to fighters that were appropriate for the release of that game (with some obvious liberties taken to add brawlers), it provides players with unique stories and endings for each fighter in each one of these games. On top of that, players who complete certain conditions in matches will unlock unique artwork for each character in the expanded gallery. This builds more content into the game past the previously included Story mode, and makes even the most specialized player want to revisit other characters to unlock their secrets. The only downside with this edition is that it doesn't include all of the downloadable content ever released for the game, but this is a minor issue. Veteran fans or newcomers to the series really should get their hands on Street Fighter V: Champion Edition and step into the virtual fighting arena.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about violence in the media. Is the impact of the violence in Street Fighter V: Champion Edition afffected by the lack of realistic combat in the game? Is the violence okay because it doesn't pack realistic blood and gore? Is there a concern that this is still a fighting game and could desensitize players to real-world violence?
Why do you think the female characters wear so little or have overemphasized features? Why are the male characters not shown in the same way? What do you think this says about the image of the female fighters in the game?
Game Details
- Platforms: PlayStation 4 , Windows
- Pricing structure: Paid
- Available online?: Available online
- Publisher: Capcom
- Release date: February 14, 2020
- Genre: Fighting
- Topics: Magic and Fantasy , Sports and Martial Arts , Brothers and Sisters
- ESRB rating: T for Mild Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence, Mild Blood
- Last updated: December 16, 2021
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