Archive for February, 2009

Street Fighter IV
Publisher- Capcom
Developer- Capcom
Multiplayer- 2 player versus online and offline
Website- www.streetfighter.com

For most gamers, when you mention fighting games, one of the first that come to mind is the Street Fighter series. Many like to think of their glory days in the arcades pumping massive amounts of quarters into a Street Fighter II cabinet. Aside from HD Remix, we haven’t had a full Street Fighter since 3rd Strike, which has been almost 10 years. Now, Capcom has put a smile back on the fighting junkie’s face with the release of Street Fighter IV.

Street Fighter IV(SF4) takes place right after Street Fighter II. Bison is back from the dead and on the hunt for an evil corporation called S.I.N. They are creating an army of super soldiers that have all the powers of the street fighters and Bison wants that power. Of course, Ryu, Sakura, Guile, Chung-Li, and many others are trying to stop both S.I.N. and Bison so they all enter the Street Fighter Tournament once again in order to stop them.

The controls are almost identical to SF2. All the moves you know and love are still here along with a few new tricks. In addition to special moves like the Hadoken and Tiger Knee there are also Super and Ultra combos as well. Each time you attack, your super meter will fill up. There are four sections of the super meter. These sections represent EX moves. When one EX section is filled you can choose to use an EX special move. An EX move is basically a more powerful version of your regular special move. Let’s say Ken uses a Hadoken which hits once. An EX Hadoken hits twice. EX moves are executed by hitting two or more of the attack buttons that are required to perform the attack. If you choose not to use your EX moves, your Super meter will continue to fill up. When it’s full, you can pull off a Super Combo. Each character’s super is different but are executed the same way. Back to Ken, his super is quarter circle forward, quarter circle forward and a punch. So it’s like a Hadoken but you to the movement twice. Some of these can hit up to eight times. Then, you have the Ultra combos. These are filled by your revenge meter which only fills up when you get hit by attacks. Ultras are the exact same as your character’s super with the exception that you have to hit all three punch buttons or all thee kick buttons. These bad boys can hit up to 16 times.

Another new addition is the focus attacks. By pressing and holding the medium punch and medium kick buttons, you charge up an attack that, if it connects, will stun your opponent. This can be very useful when wanting to create combos. Also, when you are charging a focus attack, you can be hit once before the attack is broken and you take damage. Another great trick is to cancel the focus attack to trick your opponents.

Most people are a little worried about the 360’s controller for controls. Let me just say, Capcom have some great programmers. They have tweaked the controls to almost perfection. I’m a hardcore Street Fighter player who used to think using an analog stick was blasphemy, now that’s all I use. Movement and move execution is spot on. The button layout is also very convenient. You’d think it would be hard to hit all three punches or all three kicks to pull off an Ultra combo, well worry not, the LB is all punches and LT is for all the kicks so pulling off Ultras are a piece of cake.

Now that I mention that, I want to go ahead and say that this game is very accessible, not only to long time veterans but to the new comers as well. Everything is streamlined to make the game play both deep and simple for all players. Honestly, people who have never played a Street Fighter before can easily pick up this game and after five minutes with the training mode, they can jump into the game.
The game has an extensive selection of game play mode. Arcade mode lets you play through the story with a really nice option of having people over Live challenge you to matches for both ranked and player games while you play the single player. Think of it like you’re at the arcade playing by yourself and a guy walks up and puts a quarter into the 2nd player slot. There is also a training mode to get all the moves down. A really great addition is the Challenge modes. They have survival challenges, time challenges, and combo challenges that extend the game five-fold. Of course, there is online and offline multiplayer as well as a player versus CPU mode. One disappointment is that both online ranked and player matches can only be played in 1 on 1 lobbies. So you can’t have a group of buddies in a room and fight with each other. I have heard rumors about a patch coming to add larger room size but nothing has been confirmed, and until then, it’s a huge disappointment.

The character selection has all the SF2 characters plus two of the new challengers. They have also introduced six new characters into the game: Gokuen, Seth, Able, Crimson Viper, and Rufus, and El Fuerte, each one with new moves and interesting play styles. Keep in mind, some of the characters must be unlocked before you can play as them. All the characters have both intro and outro movies in the form of anime cut scenes. The unfortunate thing is that these cut scenes are not particularly well done. The voice acting is decent and the music is great. I really like the fact that during the “rival fight” you can hear your rival’s old SF2 theme during the match. It’s a really nice touch.

I really do like the art style Capcom went with for SF4. It’s almost a cartoony feeling game with very exaggerated bodily and facial expressions. The coloring is magnificent with bright and vibrant mixtures all around. I do like how some attacks are followed by a black ink wave when they connect, kind of like the opening cut scene. It’s a nice touch.

I do have to say that finding an online game can be somewhat of a chore. You will constantly get “unable to play” and “this session is no longer available” messages. Although, I do have to say, when you do get into a match, 90% of the time there is no lag whatsoever.
There really are a lot of small things you can do and collect in this game from new costumes and taunts to great concept art and icons for your online profile. There’s a lot to be had here which, I think, adds a lot to an already wonderful game. With its easy accessibility, this game could very well be the game to get people back into fighting games. All fighting fans should pick this up. No question. For non fighting game fans, this is a definite rent. It’s a really good game for a fun time at your house with a few buddies. Do not pass on this one at all. I will go as far as to say this is one of the best games I have played in ten years.

The Good: Anyone who has played a SF before will know this game, great controls for almost anyone to play, decent character selection, very balanced roster, brilliant visuals, lots to do in the game.

The Bad: Only one on one lobbies in both ranked and player matches, the new characters are ok but nothing to write home about, the final boss: Seth will frustrate you to no ends at points.

Bottom Line: DO NOT skip this game. Give it at least a rental. It may be for you, it may not, but I can promise you, you will have some really fun moments while playing for even just a weekend. Honestly, anyone can pick this up and have some fun. Street Fighter vets will fall in love all over again with this one. This is the one game I will always come back to. Capcom still knows how to make an almost perfect fighting game.

OVERALL-9.0

Other reviews from around the web

TestFreaks-10/10
Gamespot-9/10
IGN-9.3/10

—Written by: Frustrated Fury