Blanka-Chan, Battle Menat, Gelato Hair Ken and beyond; here are our favorite costumes in Street Fighter 5
Not a single Chun-Li outfit made the final cut
Since Capcom has released no less than six thousand costumes — give or take — for Street Fighter 5, we thought it might be fun to do a few stories highlighting the ones we liked most along with those we felt are least inspired.
A few other EventHubs staff members and I have selected our three favorite outfits from over the last two and a half years of SF5. We'll kick things off with my own personal picks.
The first costume that pops up in my mind when I think of my potential favorites is Necalli's Wolfman Halloween outfit. It fits the character so perfectly that, while it may not be the game's most detailed and visually stunning, it gets a million bonus points for proper inspiration.
The next one on my personal list is Menat's battle costume as it's objectively one of the best in the whole game because of... reasons. You can disagree with me if you want, but you're wrong.
My last pick is based not on execution, but the opposite. The third slot goes to Ken's Backstreet Boy Band KeNsync Gelato Hair Disasterpiece — I think that was the official name. This one got points for being the most entertaining, as I probably have used it in more banners and SF5 references than any other one costume. In a weird way, that makes it my favorite.
There were definitely others that were qualified — like Blanka-Chan, Kolin's Frozen and Gladiator Zangief — but I know some were already chosen by fellow staff members for this post and the three I chose were all via very different avenues of qualification that I didn't want to repeat.
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MajinTenshinhan's Picks
Ed's Nero Costume - Honestly, there's just no denying that this is one of the best costumes Capcom have put out so far. In my opinion, it's the very best. Having the demon arm, the Devil Trigger shadow hanging around him at all times like a Stand from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure... It's just perfection.
Any Devil May Cry fan is lucky to have this costume, and it fits Ed really well, too. I've had very high hopes at Capcom bringing costumes from their other IPs into Street Fighter, this is the first one to truly realize that potential, for me.
Nostalgia Alex - Honestly, I never thought default Alex in Street Fighter 5 was as bad as many else did... Until his Nostalgia costume was released. Ever since it came out, I feel like I just can't play my best in tournaments unless I have it available. It's such a prefect recreation of the classic 3rd Strike Alex, that it has managed to retroactively make me kind of dislike standard Alex in Street Fighter 5.
Maybe it's not a great thing for Capcom to produce a costume that makes me think less of the base model, but ... If that's not a testament to how good a costume is, I don't know what is.
Menat's Christmas costume - Menat has become a fan favorite awfully quick in Street Fighter 5, and it's really no wonder why. Capcom really know how to play her personality to its maximum, and this costume is elegant, shiny and most importantly of all, it makes Menat fling around a Christmas tree ornament instead of her usual fortune teller's orb.
At first, it just seems like a nice looking and cute costume, but the devil is in the details, and Menat's cat-inspired theme shines through amazingly well in this costume, giving her paw prints on her socks and gloves that are only visible briefly at certain angles, and her little cat ears on her hood. It truly brings out the best aspects of Menat's character, and it's no wonder PG|Infiltration is so fond of using it.
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DarkHorse's Picks
My first pick would probably be Alex's Halloween costume, as I feel it was the first genuinely good costume he received after his first three were relative duds to me. This costume brought me back into playing the character after initially dropping him.
Juri's School costume is punk, rock and goth all rolled into one killer package that perfectly suits the character and reminds me of Dangan Ronpa's Ibuki.
Since Devil May Cry is one of my favorite series, I have no choice but to pick Ed's new Nero costume as one of the absolute best of the game. The amount of detail put into the entire ensemble from his clothes to his Devil Bringer and Red Queen is awesome to see in Street Fighter 5.
Plus the Yamato Devil Trigger mimicking Ed's every move just throws everything over the top. I just wish at least one color would make his hair white though...
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DreamKing's Picks
Urien's Halloween costume was an easy pick for me. Not only do I love the character, but making him into his powerful brother from Street Fighter 3: Third Strike was a great choice on Capcom's part. The costume looks fantastic, and hey! We got Gill in Street Fighter 5 now...
Blanka-Chan is one of the most unique costumes in the entire game. He looks so ridiculously awesome, and he actually resembles a giant plush doll come to life. It's great for trolling people, so if you play Blanka you've got to rock that Blanka-Chan!
Balrog's Nostalgia costume is definitely the most tame of my choices, but I have good reason. The nostalgia costumes in Street Fighter 5 are meant to capture the essence of the characters' classic looks, and while I think the others do a good job in this game, none of them are quite as good as Balrog's, in my opinion.
This alternate outfit makes Balrog look like he was pulled right from Street Fighter 2 and dropped into the world of Street Fighter 5. To me, this is the perfect example of a classic look returning in the modern day.
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Naturally we'd love to hear which of SF5's many outfits are your favorites, so please chime in with your picks in the comments below. You can view all but the most recent releases via Shadaloo CFN by clicking on any character and then selecting "costumes." Stay tuned for our least favorites that'll be coming soon.
