I love fighting games. I always have, and this love affair started when I first played a “Street Fighter 2” arcade machine on a family vacation when I was about 12. I only got to play it briefly on that trip but when the home console port came out on the SNES, I played “SF 2” for hundreds of hours and tried to master each of the characters.

“Street Fighter V” was announced by Sony at last year’s E3 press conference and was one of my most anticipated games of the show.

The “Street Fighter” series is one of the most popular fighting games ever released because it appeals to the most hardcore gamers and is accessible enough to be played by casual players as well. The visuals have always been bright and colorful and the controls have always been easy to use but tough to master.

“SF 4” was one of the best in the long running series and “Street Fighter V” continues improving upon the groundwork that was established in the last game with some tweaks. If you played any of the previous games you should be able to jump in and do some moves, all the character moves, such as throwing fireballs are relatively the same, but now there is more strategy involved thanks to the edition of the “V-System.”

This new system makes fighting more accessible for new players, because it allows you to perform powerful combos without doing some of the more complicated moves. Each of the fighters has a V-Skill, V-Trigger and V-Reversal move which are easily triggered, V-skills typically extend combos or increase your character’s strength. There are still big combo moves but now they are called “Critical Arts,” and they work like super combos did in previous entries.

“Street Fighter V” introduces a bunch of new fighters to try out. Rashid is good for close-quarters fighting and F.A.N.G is a good long range fighter. Along with the new characters there are several returning fan favorites with all new moves and combos to try out, the new fighters are great but some old favorites are missing, but they will come out as DLC.

Large portions of this game will be coming out as DLC content later in the year making this version of the “Street Fighter V” feel like an unfinished game. You can fight but there is no story mode; this is coming out in June. Right now the only real thing you can do is play competitive online multiplayer, because the single player content isn’t coming out until later. If you love playing online then that’s great news for you, but if you only like playing the story and arcade modes you might be waiting for a while. Capcom has announced that all the downloadable fighters can be purchased by earning fight money by playing the game so you can earn new content which is great news. There are some online game modes that can be played right now but there isn’t much besides normal fighting, and because there isn’t a training mode you will just have to try it and see if you like using that fighter.

Overall I like the mechanics of “Street Fighter V” the fighting is great, and the visuals are stunning, but the lack of content and game modes is really disappointing. Eventually this game will be great when all the different game modes and fighters are released, but right now it feels a bit lacking. If you only like to play online, you are in luck. You can do that but if you are more of a single player or want to play locally with friends you might want to wait until June.

System: PS4, PC ESRB

Rating: T for Teen: Mild language, suggestive themes, violence

Developer: Capcom

Robbie Vanderveken is the digital operations specialist at The Times Leader. E-mail him at rvanderveken@timesleader.com.

By Robbie Vanderveken

For Weekender

“Street Fighter 5” was released this month is a great fighting game for new and experienced gamers.
http://www.theweekender.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_SFV-2.jpg.optimal.jpg“Street Fighter 5” was released this month is a great fighting game for new and experienced gamers.

“Street Fighter V” is rated T for teen due to its mild language and suggestive themes.
http://www.theweekender.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/web1_SFV-3.jpg.optimal.jpg“Street Fighter V” is rated T for teen due to its mild language and suggestive themes.