Street Fighter 5 Beta Announced, New Gameplay Trailer Confirms Charlie Nash

Capcom confirmed that there will be an online beta for Street Fighter V. Those who pre-ordered the game will be eligible to participate in the beta. The test will run for both PS4 and PC gamers. Capcom also revealed a new character joining the roster.

Over on the Capcom Unity blog they made the news public that Charlie Nash, last seen in the old Street Fighter Alpha titles, will be making a return to form in Street Fighter V, albeit with a few striking new changes.

Charlie was originally in the Alpha games and was friends with Guile. He was also the originator of the “Sonic Boom” attack. He died in Street Fighter Alpha II, or at least we thought he did. Turns out some Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier stuff happened to him and now he's back and better than ever. You can see him in action with the introductory trailer for the character below.

We get to see some really spiffy new moves by Charlie. He was always a difficult character to play because he wasn't quite a combo character, he wasn't quite a grapple character and he wasn't quite a projectile-focused character. I played him regardless.

But here... oh man, here we see that Charlie has a very distinct place on the Street Fighter V roster. He's quick, he has some amazing looking combos and that diving sonic kick looks righteous. The thing is, I wonder if it can be used as a counter to anti-air attacks like the dragon uppercut or Guile's flash-kick? It's rare that characters get special dive kicks because of how dangerous they can be and how easily they can be manipulated, sort of like Johnny Cage's diving shadow kick in the earlier Mortal Kombat games.

Additionally, we get to see Charlie unleash his Sonic Boom from across the screen. However, the real highlight is his teleport – he uses the projectile as a trap while teleporting behind Chun-li to unleash a combo attack.

Capcom has hinted at some very spiffy abilities for Charlie if he's played right. I can easily see him being very popular in the FGC scene. Over on the YouTube comment section we already have people like Lionheart Mind Explosion saying things like...

You know what? I concur. I'm amazed, too.

Hopefully Capcom takes a page out of NetherRealm Studios' promo book and keeps on rolling out new characters in this way to help get Street Fighter fans hyped up for the release of Street Fighter V. The tactic is working wonders for building up hype for games like Mortal Kombat X.

As for the beta... no further details have been made public other than that it's coming. We'll keep you posted when more info is made available.