Capcom recently teased Street Fighter 6, as part of the series’ 35th anniversary celebrations, and has now announced what will probably be the last major update for Street Fighter 5. It arrives March 29 and is described as the ‘definitive update’, and adds some unexpected but great-looking features: prime among them being a cel-shading filter that makes the game look absolutely gorgeous and like a descendant of the much-missed Alpha series.
There is also a pixel filter that gives the game more of a classic look, though sadly both come with a big caveat: offline play only, which is a bummer. That pixel filter, meanwhile, is a weird one, looking more like a washed-out CRT screen. Clearly we’ll have to see it in action properly.
In addition to the looks, the update makes a bunch of balance changes and judging on the above video adds some new combo strings for existing characters. It also adds some new remixes of character themes, including those of Dan, Rose and Oro, while Capcom has also added a bunch of new colours for every character.
This is a little bit like history repeating itself: when Capcom wound-down development on Street Fighter IV, it also added filters and the like in the final updates. The company’s focus is now on Street Fighter 6, though given Street Fighter 5’s somewhat troubled launch it has to be acknowledged the game is now, after years of substantial support, in a great state.