by Sirfalcon
The grand daddy of fighting games has finally returned. Fighting game fanatics and Street Fighter fans have anticipated this game for quite some time. With so many Street Fighter games it’s hard to believe this is only the fourth title in the series. All your favorite classic characters have returned with 5 additional new characters making 25 selectable fighters and 18 selectable stages. But that aside it’s good to see that Capcom decided to stick to their old roots and keep things classic with a few minor changes.
Graphics. So here we are in 2009 and we are in the HD era. Street Fighter has taken their anime styled game and taken a new approach with 3D character models. At first they all look clunky and huge, but as time passes they start to grow on you. I personally like the facial expressions that all the characters make when doing their signature moves. The same goes for the opposing character when they are about to receive an attack.
Backgrounds look rich and have a lot of commotion and at some points they react to what’s happening in the fight. It’s nice to see a story mode with anime inspired cut scenes, even if the story makes no sense. But story was never the strong selling point in fighting games, especially Street Fighter.
Control. Whether you have played Street Fighter in the past or you are new to the series the controls have remained the same for over 10 years. Light, Medium, and Hard for both Punches and Kicks. There is not much of a difference when playing it on the PS3 or the 360. Just depends on what the user feels comfortable with. I personally can’t stand the 360’s D-pad or the analog stick. Same goes for the PS3 controller . So I went out and bought a fight pad from Madcatz which is your best bet for either system.. The game feels fluid and the control responds well for both returning players and newcomers alike.
Sound. Not much in the department here just your typical punch and kick noises. The soundtrack does keep it going fairly well. It would’ve been nice to hear more classic Street Fighter tunes while in versus but you can blame Capcom for that one. The announcer is a hit or miss, I personally don’t mind him some people find him as an annoyance. But it all adds up with Dolby 5.1 to give you the complete package.
Gameplay. Capcom has including a Story mode which is basically fan service for Street Fighter fanatics. A versus mode (duh) to hone your skills against a friend, locally or a computer. Also included is a Xbox Live mode to take on opponents globally which extends this games replayability greatly. This mode works great. There is barely any lag, and makes for great competitions and tournaments as many of you have seen (hello, EVO!). There is a Challenge mode where you can play Survival or Time Attack which unlocks all the colors for the costumes. There is also a Character Combo Challenge Mode where you can learn all the programmers preset combos, and of course a training mode to help you learn the new moves from the old characters as well as completely learning the new characters. Bear with me as I get a wee bit technical now.
The game has taken a change from the famous Parrying System from Street Fighter III and has moved on to the newly named Focus System. The Focus System requires you to hold both the medium punch and medium kick buttons to charge up an attack that will leave your opponent totally vulnerable if hit. You can absorb a hit and release your focus which kind of gives you the sense that you are still able to parry an incoming attack. This new system allows you to do numerous moves including a Focus Dash Cancel, where you double tap the direction you want to move into cancel the attack. Or you can Focus Cancel your attacks to surprise your opponent or keep them guessing. How far we have come.
The EX moves have returned where you can do a special move and hit two of the attack buttons to perform a more powerful version of the special move. Another huge change is the Revenge Meter where is fills as you take damage and can be released for a devastating Ultra Combo. Players must learn to use this wisely because your opponent’s gauge fills even when they get hit by it as well. Other than that Supers are still present but they are more like shorter versions of the Ultra attacks. I wish that they could have put multiple Supers in there like the Street Fighter Alpha series or Street Fighter III but that is a moot point.
Overall. To wrap things up Capcom has released a rehashed game with an old formula with a couple new add-ons that still works. It’s great playing with friends online and off. Hopefully it won’t be too soon before Capcom releases a second edition to Street Fighter 4, because I’ve grown accustomed to this one and I think it will be played for years to come.
