Tabletop Game Review: EXCEED: Street Fighter

EXCEED: Street Fighter

Level 99 Games

Players: 2

Play Time: 15 Minutes

Fighting video games are often known for their blend of fast-paced gameplay and tactical thinking. Most of these games require an impressive amount of fast reflexes and knowledge of the mechanics. The amount of skill needed to play fighting games makes the genre fairly inaccessible to new players who want to learn the mechanics and play semi-competitively.

The Street Fighter franchise is no different. While I enjoy fighting games like Street Fighter V, it’s depressing to know that I will never be “good” without many hours of practice. Fortunately, EXCEED: Street Fighter is here to give us a tabletop version of the fighting game franchise. While it certainly isn’t a slow game, EXCEED encourages strategic decisions, rather than stressing over fast reflexes and quick thinking.

We got the opportunity to play the Ryu Box, which includes four fighters: Ryu, Zangief, Akuma, and Sagat. For those who are not fans of those particular characters, there are also the M. Bison and Chun Lee boxes. What we found in our four-character box was an unexpected amount of fun.

Firstly, EXCEED does a fantastic job at properly catching the feel and excitement of the Street Fighter video games. EXCEED embraces its theme with gorgeous art, signature moves, and staple mechanics. Players start with their fighters separated from each other. Players get various actions on their turns, including moving, preparing, and attacking. EXCEED is a card game, and players will need to manage their hands while planning to come out on top. The game is turn-based, but it somehow doesn’t feel too slow. Players only get one action per turn, which keeps the game moving at a quick place. The “Strike” action allows each player to throw an attack card down. This action is simultaneous, which successfully gives this action the feeling of both players hitting their attack buttons at the same time.

Quite a bit goes into each attack. An attack card has multiple stats associated with it that players will need to consider. Speed determines who’s attack lands first. Power indicates how much damage the attack will deal, while Armor cancels out a certain amount of damage. Players will also need to consider the range of their attacks (How many spaces away they can hit from) as well as the Guard stat. If Player A’s attack hits Player B and the Power exceeds the Guard, Player B will be stunned and won’t get to attack at all. This results in a highly tactical game in which players will have to pick and choose their battles to succeed.

Of course, there is more to each card than just an attack. Every card also has an action at the bottom called boosts that acts as a tech for the player. Some allow you to move, others allow you to buff your next strike. These boosts further increase the amount of strategy in EXCEED without slowing it down. Players can also build their gauge through landing attacks and boosts to perform ultra attacks, which tend to be expensive to perform but are devastating.

EXCEED: Street Fighter is full of strategies for players to take advantage of, and the diversity of the characters only adds more strategies. Half of the fun of learning EXCEED is finding the characters that truly fit your favorite playstyles. The variety in character abilities makes each individual feel unique, and players will need to play to their own strengths to win. For example, I took a liking to Zangief, who is a character that needs to be as close to his opponent as possible to succeed. Chris Green from our team liked playing as Akuma, a character that does damage in large bursts but is often at risk of taking a lot of damage himself. Other characters emphasize speed or range and discovering how new characters work is an absolute joy.

EXCEED: Street Fighter is a fantastic game to pick up for those who are looking for an exciting one v one card game. It perfectly captures the feel of the video games while giving players some time to breathe. It’s full of interesting and engaging mechanics which allow for a multitude of strategies that make it a blast to play. Pick up one of the three boxes that interest you and start fighting.

EXCEED: Street FIghter is available for purchase in the Level 99 Webstore. 

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