It would be an understatement to say that Capcom’s Street Fighter V has had a rough start. Modes that had promised to launch with the initial release, like the cinematic story mode, had failed to do so, and it seemed heavily like the company had left casual fans in the dust with their emphasis on the online play and tournament scenes. As both season one and two of DLC waves passed things looked only slightly better, fans not having really latched on to the new characters that came with season two. After such a turbulent life cycle, Capcom has decided to finally steady the boat with the reveal of Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition!
Arcade Edition looks to add not just a season three of characters, but also all new ways to earn in-game currency Fight Money and some new modes that fans have been clamoring for. The first of these is the namesake of this new update, Arcade Mode! Arcade mode has become a celebration of the series’ history, letting players pick a mode representing a major game in the franchise. These modes range from Street Fighter, Street Fighter II, Street Fighter Alpha, Street Fighter III, Street Fighter IV, and Street Fighter V. Capcom has said that there are over 200 endings featured in this mode, with the new Gallery helping to figure out unlock requirements. This could be simple things like getting a perfect on bonus rounds or completing a path. This was a much-requested feature, and it sure looks like Capcom took a long look at those pleas.
Another new mode is Extra Battle Mode. In this mode, players will have the ability to take on timed, exclusive challenges to fight NPCs from the cinematic story mode to gain premium exclusive costumes for characters. It adds the growing number of single-player modes that many so desperately wanted to see. The last mode added will be the Gallery, where players can view unlocked art and arcade endings. However, modes were not the only thing that was announced to be coming. New features are coming too. Right off the bat, there’s a new UI coming to the menu. All returning characters now have 2 V-Trigger abilities that can be selected when making a character choice, which will change how some characters approach battles. This will really shake the game up and offer a new experience when the edition drops. Lastly, a bonus stage where players break falling barrels akin to Street Fighter IV has been added.
The last change to talk about is the Season 3 characters. At Capcom Cup 2017, Producer Yoshinori Ono gave fans a look at the first character for the new season: Sakura! He then showed off the new opening cinematic for Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition and we got a look at the new characters. In order of release we now have Sakura (Street Fighter Zero/Alpha 2), Blanka (Street Fighter II), Falke (newcomer), Cody (Final Fight, Street Fighter IV series), G (newcomer, speculated to be Greg the Gorilla from Bloody Roar), and the long-requested Sagat (Street Fighter, first playable in Street Fighter II: Champion Edition). This latest buff to the game’s roster will surely please fans of the series and bring in new players as well. For those excited about this new chapter in Street Fighter V, the arcade edition cinematic is just below!