The combat, though, is king, and Street Fighter 5 once again proves Capcom is fighting game royalty. It usually takes years for the fighting game community to deliver a verdict on a new Street Fighter (the debate over Street Fighter 4 rages even now, eight years later), but at launch we can safely...

I have had a week of tearing my beard hair out. I have been waiting a long time for Street Fighter V (SFV) , but this isn't what I was waiting for. Not by a long shot. The fighting itself, the actual game part that, by most people's standards at least, is all that really matters, is amazing.

Beautiful game | Amazing combat systems

Lack of content | Server issues

Street Fighter as a series… as a franchise… is the brass ring of fighting games. Street Fighter 2 is arguably the template that all other fighters are judged by, and its subsequent releases have been a series of peaks and valleys that follow in the spirit of that seminal release.

Positives Paced, deliberate fighting; Gorgeous visuals; Solid mix of old and new characters that complement each other

Negatives Entire sections of the game are missing; Unreliable online features; Core content stripped for future DLC

When it comes to fighting games, there has always been one king franchise. Capcom's Street Fighter has always reigned supreme over the competition and is undoubtedly the biggest name in the fighting game genre.

We don't doubt that Street Fighter 5 will be more than it is today at some point, and it may not even take long to get there. The most important skeletal elements of a strong fighting game are here, and they set the stage for a fighter that should have the legs to carry it years down the road.

Street Fighter V upholds the series' legacy, offering a diverse cast of 16 characters that bring its great fighting engine to life. Combatants new and old alike vie for your attention with infectious personalities and unique fighting styles.

Excellent fighting system that promotes action over caution; New mechanics add great depth and variety; Diverse cast with a range of fighting styles

No effective training options for casual players; Insubstantial story mode; Frustrating always-online requirements for some features

It has been almost a year since Street Fighter V controversially launched as a half-baked product, with Capcom charging full whack for a title that lacked a whole host of common fighting game modes and presented a handful of characters.

"This game isn't finished. Why is it on shelves?" A question I find myself asking more and more these days. Whatever it can be blamed on is definitely up for debate, but the most likely culprit is pre-order culture, which is more aggressive than it's ever been.

'Street Fighter V' stops short of being an online-only experience, but players need to want to play online nearly all of the time to get much mileage currently. The roster is impressive, but undercut by the game's insistence that players pre-select a single character before going online.

When Street Fighter V is at its best, it's untouchable. A fantastic fighter with layer upon layer of depth. At its worst, it feels hollow and cheap. A work in progress that hasn't quite managed to complete the parts that are there.