Street Fighter 5, PS4: four things you need to know about Ryu and co’s return

In the world of fighting games, one franchise stands supreme – a favourite of arcades, eSports, and Friday night hang-outs.

Street Fighter is back with the long-await fifth game in the series, here to throw a bright blue fireball at the current console generation as it arrives on PS4 (as well as PC).

Here are four things you need to know about the latest instalment.

1) There’s plenty more to come over the year

If there’s one thing that can be truly frustrating about the current state of games, it’s that mining the full potential from your favourite titles can prove hugely expensive.

DLC (downloadable content) packs aren’t solely a phenomenon of the latest generation of consoles – remember buying Expansion Pack discs back in the day? – but while some offer genuinely fresh extra content for die-hard fans, other cases feel like you’re being forced to buy back half of a game you thought you'd already paid for.

As it stands now, Street Fighter V is far from complete – several gameplay modes haven’t launched yet, and the character selection is limited to 16 for now. In the coming months, expect Challenge Mode, new character drops, and a full story mode to drop.

To their credit, Capcom aren’t charging extra for their updates – master the current content and earn enough Fight Money, and you’ll be able to play the full thing without further denting your wallet.

It’s a shame that more isn’t available as launch – but fans of the series can look at their initial purchase as an investment in everything the developers are promising will be on the way in the coming months at no extra charge.

2) It looks absolutely stunning

What is here looks absolutely beautiful.

Street Fighter has always had a distinctive look, and V is all vibrant locations, eye-popping super-moves, and hyper-stylised manga-influenced character designs.

On the one hand the art style is stunningly detailed, and on the other it’s textured with painterly flourishes that make the game feel lovingly crafted.

3) It’s a great starting point for new players

Heading into a franchise with such extensive heritage can be daunting for new players – but Street Fighter V goes out of its way to be less overwhelming to newbies without compromising on depth.

Stripping down the character roster to just 16 options – set to expand in the coming weeks – makes it easier to give each a go and see which is most appealing in story mode, while the new Variable System – opening up super-powered moves in attack, countering, and evasion categories – is easy to understand.

4) The current story mode is just a prologue for now

There’s still various additional gameplay modes yet to launch on Street Fighter V, and sadly some of the existing ones feel particularly thin.

The story mode is one of them – for now, you play through three battles as each character, connected by basic non-animated cut-scenes that won’t make a huge amount of sense for the non-initiated.

After those three basic battles… that’s it, and it’s on to the next character.

Luckily, it seems like a full story mode is coming in June at no extra charge – and what’s currently there is just a prologue to the main event.