Genre: 2d Fighter
Developer: Dimps
Publisher: Capcom

It's been over a year since this reviewer evaluated the then brand new, much-anticipated Street Fighter V, on Windows. Even though Capcom has left the visuals unchanged in that time, fresh eyes reveal that the backgrounds are in fact pretty detailed and interactive-- it's merely the objects within the backgrounds that look straight from Street Fighter IV. Interestingly, the visuals in the newly-added story mode, which emphasize the incredibly detailed character models and previously unviewable areas of the stages, are somewhat of a treat in fact.

The same story is present in the aural category, and if anything the act of revisiting the title after a lengthy hiatus paints the dour, generic, and unremarkable remixes in an even less flattering light. The game's in-battle voice acting is quite good, with characters making occasional remarks to the opponent, such as Ryu's "nice blow!" compliment. During the character story cut-scenes, the bizarrely ebullient style of delivery does no favors to the game's child-like writing-- and yet, these same voice actors do a fine line-reading job in the full-on story mode proper.

Street Fighter V has been continually re-balanced in patches since its release, and the original release's ridiculous levels of latency have been mildly diminished. All the same, aside from being terribly unambitious, the game very nearly plays more like a 3d fighter than a Street Fighter release, with even the fireball-oriented characters operating like close-range, mauling grapplers. Thankfully, with a friend, sharing a couch and playing on the same system, the gameplay is significantly more enjoyable than either online or versus the AI.

Almost incredibly, Street Fighter V still lacks an arcade mode-- and given the game's improved balancing and increased character count (granted, hidden behind DLC "shopping cart" icons), such a mode could essentially salvage this latest Street Fighter flagship, as the game engine itself plays just fine. The new story mode is sort of interesting, but it's something that's only ever worth playing through once. All that's left is the "same fighters in the same order every time" survival mode, and bare-bones versus play. And over a year after release, it's doubtless that this situation will improve.