Many hours of my childhood was spend hunched over an arcade machine playing fighting games such as Killer Instinct, Mortal Kombat, Samurai Showdown, and of course, Street Fighter 2. Ryu, Guile, and Chu-Li were some of my favorite as I dropped quarter after quarter into the machine.
While it’s been a long time since I’ve played a Street Fighter game, I still look back on some of those characters with fond memories. That’s why I was excited to check out Street Fighter V: Champion Edition Legends, a cooperative game of brawling action published by Kess Co. In each game, you will work together to defeat your rivals and overcome your nemesis by building your combos and upgrading your abilities.
Gameplay Overview:
For each game, you’ll choose an iconic Street Fighter character to control, and pick one of four stages to battle in. Then you select a minion group (from among 3), a nemesis (4 to choose), and a rival.
On a player’s turn, they need to play 2 of their 4 cards. Each card played will let you move around the board and/or fight (melee or ranged). To fight, you roll a number of dice equal to the skill you played (so 3 fight will let you roll 3 dice). Hits are added up, and if you roll enough, the minion/rival is defeated. This earns you EX, which is a sort of currency.
You can spend 1 EX to add a die or reroll one in an attack. You can spend 3 EX to level up one of your combo powers. Each character has 4 combo powers that they can activate using cards from their combo meter. After you play one of the above cards on your turn, it’s added to your combo meter. You can use icons from those cards to activate your combo powers at any time, even on other players’ turns.
After you’ve played both cards, the nemesis gets a turn. First, any minions/rivals on the map will move and activate. Attacks against you automatically hit. Take 4 damage and you’re knocked down. Next turn you flip to your round 2 side. After the minions activate, you draw a Nemesis card, which will spawn more minions and cause other headaches for you. Once the Nemesis deck runs out, it’s reshuffled and the Nemesis spawns on the map. If you can defeat him, you win. If you get knocked out twice, you lose.
Game Experience:
I remember seeing the crowdfunding campaign for this game and I was intrigued. It seemed like a more streamlined version of Street Masters (which is really good), but using characters I have more of a connection to. While the crowdfunding campaign has its own issues, the retail version has arrived with the same gameplay, but using standees instead of minis. While the minis look cool, it plays just fine with the included standees.
I really like the card play system though. You play two cards on your turn, which let you move around and attack, then drop them into your combo meter. It’s these combo powers where the game really shines. Each character has their signature moves from the video games, and being able to activate them out of turn can be powerful. Your fellow player may be finishing their turn and a minion moves into your space. Activate that combo power for Ryu to Shoryuken that minion into the next town, earning you some sweet EX.
I thought the EX system was also well-designed. Using it to upgrade your combo powers is the obvious move, as it just makes them stronger. However, It’s also tempting to use them for rerolls or extra dice. Make no mistake, this is solidly a dice chucker so having that little bit of luck mitigation can make all the difference.
However, I will say that I think the dice can be a bit too swingy at times, as more often than I’d like, I’ll roll a miss, spend an EX, and get another miss, repeat. That can make for a really frustrating play as the minions spawn constantly. A few bad rolls and you can get behind the proverbial 8 ball. It would have been nice for a more concrete way to mitigate a bad roll (I’ve heard someone suggest spending EX to turn a miss into a hit, which could be a solid house rule).
I think the character customization was nice, with each character having their own combo powers, and then able to select any deck for their cards. There are 6 or so options, so it does create a bit of variety when you are playing. The minions and rivals on the other hand feel kind of bland. The rivals all have the same HP, and just have minor differences in their attacks. So Blanka as a rival isn’t going to feel all that different from Dahlsim. The minions have even less variety, with them always having the same HP and only very minor differences. Both of those areas could have used a bit of fleshing out.
Final Thoughts:
For an affordable, beat ’em up dice chucker with a great theme, it’s hard to pass on Street Fighter V: Champion Edition Legends. The core gameplay loop is fun, it’s very easy to get to the table, and when the dice go your way, it’s a blast. I will say that the game can be difficult to win at times, and there aren’t really any options in there to make things easier (outside of house rules). So you’ll need to be ok with getting pummeled to the ground when things go south.
But for me, I really enjoyed Street Fighter V: Champion Edition Legends, and will probably incorporate a few house rules to make things a tad easier in our plays. If you missed out on the crowdfunding campaign (or just dont want to wait), this ia great alternative.
Final Score: 4 Stars – A really fun dice chucker that’s not too deep on the rules and has some solid moments of excitement.
Hits:
• Quick, streamlined gameplay
• Can combine decks with different characters
• Combo system is great
• Solid dose of nostalgia
Misses:
• Minions and rivals feel bland
• A few misses and it’s easy to get overwhelmed
