When it comes to fighting games, there is no game more well known than Street Fighter II. The game was a milestone in fighting game history back when it was released in the early 90's. Fast forward about TWENTY GAMES later and Capcom is finally bringing Street Fighter back to it's roots with their latest and, maybe, greatest addition to the legendary fighting game series, Street Fighter IV. Is Street Fighter IV the true world warrior or does it deserve a SHORYUKEN right into the garbage?
"Oh yeah, it's that time again.
Like I said before, Street Fighter II is one of the most beloved fighting games ever created. Capcom really knew what they were doing when they unleashed the behemoth that was Street Fighter II. After MANY itterations of SFII, Capcom moved away from that game and created new Street Fighter games like Street Fighter Alpha. It wasn't until many years later that Capcom returned to the numbered series with Street Fighter III.
As storylines go, Street Fighter IV falls somewhere between the timelines of Street Fighter II and Street Fighter III, so don't expect to see and characters from the SFIII. The story this time around revolves around a being known as "Seth", who is the combination of all the greatest fighters in the world. While some character's storylines, like Ryu's, are actually tied to stopping Seth, most of the characters are entering the next tournament for their own reasons. For example, Ken gets a postcard from Ryu and enters the tournament so they can challenge each other to see how their skills have improved. Even though their storys might not revolve around the main villian, the end of every Arcade mode playthrough ends with an encounter with Seth.
When talking about the game's "story", one can't help but notice the anime inspired cutscenes that play at the beginning and the end of arcade mode. As far as anime goes, Street Fighter IV's cutscenes are awful. Not only do these cutscenes have NOTHING to do with the actual story of the game, but the animation is horrible. Add in some atroscious writing and voice acting to wrap up the whole package of crap. Luckily, these cutscenes only happen during arcade mode and you can skip them with no hassle.
Enough about the story, let's talk about the incredible graphics. Street Fighter IV sports a brand spanking new ink/cell shaded graphical style that really looks cool. Everything has a sketchy, sort of, inky style to it with bold blacks, bright, colorful backgrounds and characters that are dripping with style and personality. It's pretty difficult NOT to attach yourself to one of the many characters. With Street Fighter IV's new art style comes some interesting charcter design. Each character has a specific design to them with some being huge, muscular beasts like Zangief, E. Honda and Sagat while others are smaller, skinnier and quicker like Sakura, Cammy and Fei Long.
The big addition to the character roster is the addition of 6 brand new characters exclusive to SFIV, Crimson Viper, Abel, El Fuerte, Rufus, Gouken and Seth. The new additions are a treat to players with a little something for everyone. It's tough not to find one of these new fighters to love. I'm quite fond of Crimson Viper and it's not just because shes stylish and sexy. She can kick some major ass.
"It's really difficult to explain the art style with words. You really have to see it to believe it"
Gameplay wise, things haven't changed all that much from Street Fighter II, which is definitely a godsend. Instead of adding to what was already implimented in Street Fighter III: Third Strike, Capcom has completely scrapped all the new additions in favor of traditional Street Fighter II gameplay.
For this part of the review, we are going to focus completely on the new additions to the Street Fighter experience.
Street Fighter IV takes a lot from it's fighting game grandfather in terms of traditional gameplay. SFIV adds a few new bells and whistles to the overall experience. For starters, Street Fighter IV is packing a compitent single player experience. I've often complained in past Street Fighter reviews (HD REMIX) that the single player experience of a Street Fighter game has always been limited. You usually got the standard arcade mode and that was about it. Street Fighter IV mixes things up with more modes to play through by yourself. The traditional Arcade/Story mode is still here, but now along side that mode is something called "Challenge Mode". Inside Challenge Mode comes 3 more modes, time attack, survival and trial mode. Time Attack mode is like you'd expect, beat the opponents as fast as possible. Survival mode is also like it sounds. Players have to see how many matches they can survive before being defeated. The new addition to Challenge Mode is trial mode. Trial mode has players select a character and then go through a series of command challenges, where players are prompted to input commands.
Once you jump into a fight, you'll notice a few more bars and gadges than you're used to in a Street Fighter game. The bar at the bottom of the screen is the EX meter. When you land successful attacks, your EX meter will fill up. The meter is divided into multiple blocks and when all the blocks are filled, players can execute a super attack. Not only that, but some of the special moves in the character's move set have special EX levels. Instead of hitting the usual punch or kick button at the end of a special move input, you can hit all the punch of kick buttons at the same time to do an EX level special move, which is more powerful than a normal special move. When you pull off a special move or just a regular super move, either part or the whole EX meter is drained, prompting players to refill it as they fight.
The other gadge, next to the EX meter, is the Revenge Gadge, which is the complete opposite of the EX meter. The Revenge Gadge doesn't fill when you successfully attack an enemy, but it will fill up the more you take a beating from your opponent. Once you fill up the gadge half way, players can pull of an Ultra Move. These Ultra moves can be incredibly helpful for new players because they keep players in the fight longer by allowing them to turn the tables on their opponents.
The last new addition to the gameplay of Street Fighter IV is the Focus move, which allows players to build up a special strike that can down your opponent upon hit. What is special about the Focus move is that it can actually block one attack while allowing the character to retain his/her stance.
"Street Fighter IV plays like Street Fighter II but with a few more extras"
The biggest addition to Street Fighter IV is the addition of the online intergration. Players have the option to intergrate the online mode with the arcade mode so players can be challenged to an online match while they are playing the arcade mode, kind of like how things used to be in the real arcades.
Before players jump into the online world, they are given the opportunity to set up a profile to be used online. Players can choose from specific titles and icons that they can use to customize their profile. As players play through more and more of Street Fighter IV, they will unlock more icons and titles to use.
Once you get online, you can choose from either ranked or player matches. Playing online is just like playing with a person on the same console, except there are some technical issues that need to be taken into account. Let me just come out and say this now, SFIV's online could have been loads better, but for what it does, it does well. First off, connection strength is very important in SFIV. If your connection is crap then the game will reflect it. This doesn't come in the form of something like "lag" but it can come in the form of either slowdown or delay. If you get the delay, you'll have to think two steps ahead of your opponent if you want to succeed. If you've ever played Super Smash Brothers Brawl online, you know what I mean. The slowdown is the other issue you might have to deal with. Slowdown isn't as bad as the delay, but it can be annoying. For the most part, the online portion of the game works great. However, if your connection is bad enough, you might even lose connection to the other player. I never had a problem with lose of connection more than once, but I have experienced both the delay and the slowdown plenty of times.
"Check your connection strength before you head online or you'll be in for a surprise"
Botton Line: Even though i've almost gone the entire review, praising Street Fighter IV for being an incredible fighting game, it is still the same Street Fighter you've played at some point in your life. Hardcore Street Fighter fans already own this game, but casual fans have more to appreciate in Street Fighter IV. The game is much easier to pick up and play as a casual fan but still offers so much more depth for those who want it. Street Fighter IV is truely a game that is easy to play but difficult to master.
The problem with Street Fighter IV is that if you don't like Street Fighter then this game won't change your mind. If you've ever had any small amount of interest in the series then you should definitely check this game out.
Reccomendation: Buy it...SHORYUKEN!!!
"Oh yeah, it's that time again.
Like I said before, Street Fighter II is one of the most beloved fighting games ever created. Capcom really knew what they were doing when they unleashed the behemoth that was Street Fighter II. After MANY itterations of SFII, Capcom moved away from that game and created new Street Fighter games like Street Fighter Alpha. It wasn't until many years later that Capcom returned to the numbered series with Street Fighter III.
As storylines go, Street Fighter IV falls somewhere between the timelines of Street Fighter II and Street Fighter III, so don't expect to see and characters from the SFIII. The story this time around revolves around a being known as "Seth", who is the combination of all the greatest fighters in the world. While some character's storylines, like Ryu's, are actually tied to stopping Seth, most of the characters are entering the next tournament for their own reasons. For example, Ken gets a postcard from Ryu and enters the tournament so they can challenge each other to see how their skills have improved. Even though their storys might not revolve around the main villian, the end of every Arcade mode playthrough ends with an encounter with Seth.
When talking about the game's "story", one can't help but notice the anime inspired cutscenes that play at the beginning and the end of arcade mode. As far as anime goes, Street Fighter IV's cutscenes are awful. Not only do these cutscenes have NOTHING to do with the actual story of the game, but the animation is horrible. Add in some atroscious writing and voice acting to wrap up the whole package of crap. Luckily, these cutscenes only happen during arcade mode and you can skip them with no hassle.
Enough about the story, let's talk about the incredible graphics. Street Fighter IV sports a brand spanking new ink/cell shaded graphical style that really looks cool. Everything has a sketchy, sort of, inky style to it with bold blacks, bright, colorful backgrounds and characters that are dripping with style and personality. It's pretty difficult NOT to attach yourself to one of the many characters. With Street Fighter IV's new art style comes some interesting charcter design. Each character has a specific design to them with some being huge, muscular beasts like Zangief, E. Honda and Sagat while others are smaller, skinnier and quicker like Sakura, Cammy and Fei Long.
The big addition to the character roster is the addition of 6 brand new characters exclusive to SFIV, Crimson Viper, Abel, El Fuerte, Rufus, Gouken and Seth. The new additions are a treat to players with a little something for everyone. It's tough not to find one of these new fighters to love. I'm quite fond of Crimson Viper and it's not just because shes stylish and sexy. She can kick some major ass.
"It's really difficult to explain the art style with words. You really have to see it to believe it"
Gameplay wise, things haven't changed all that much from Street Fighter II, which is definitely a godsend. Instead of adding to what was already implimented in Street Fighter III: Third Strike, Capcom has completely scrapped all the new additions in favor of traditional Street Fighter II gameplay.
For this part of the review, we are going to focus completely on the new additions to the Street Fighter experience.
Street Fighter IV takes a lot from it's fighting game grandfather in terms of traditional gameplay. SFIV adds a few new bells and whistles to the overall experience. For starters, Street Fighter IV is packing a compitent single player experience. I've often complained in past Street Fighter reviews (HD REMIX) that the single player experience of a Street Fighter game has always been limited. You usually got the standard arcade mode and that was about it. Street Fighter IV mixes things up with more modes to play through by yourself. The traditional Arcade/Story mode is still here, but now along side that mode is something called "Challenge Mode". Inside Challenge Mode comes 3 more modes, time attack, survival and trial mode. Time Attack mode is like you'd expect, beat the opponents as fast as possible. Survival mode is also like it sounds. Players have to see how many matches they can survive before being defeated. The new addition to Challenge Mode is trial mode. Trial mode has players select a character and then go through a series of command challenges, where players are prompted to input commands.
Once you jump into a fight, you'll notice a few more bars and gadges than you're used to in a Street Fighter game. The bar at the bottom of the screen is the EX meter. When you land successful attacks, your EX meter will fill up. The meter is divided into multiple blocks and when all the blocks are filled, players can execute a super attack. Not only that, but some of the special moves in the character's move set have special EX levels. Instead of hitting the usual punch or kick button at the end of a special move input, you can hit all the punch of kick buttons at the same time to do an EX level special move, which is more powerful than a normal special move. When you pull off a special move or just a regular super move, either part or the whole EX meter is drained, prompting players to refill it as they fight.
The other gadge, next to the EX meter, is the Revenge Gadge, which is the complete opposite of the EX meter. The Revenge Gadge doesn't fill when you successfully attack an enemy, but it will fill up the more you take a beating from your opponent. Once you fill up the gadge half way, players can pull of an Ultra Move. These Ultra moves can be incredibly helpful for new players because they keep players in the fight longer by allowing them to turn the tables on their opponents.
The last new addition to the gameplay of Street Fighter IV is the Focus move, which allows players to build up a special strike that can down your opponent upon hit. What is special about the Focus move is that it can actually block one attack while allowing the character to retain his/her stance.
"Street Fighter IV plays like Street Fighter II but with a few more extras"
The biggest addition to Street Fighter IV is the addition of the online intergration. Players have the option to intergrate the online mode with the arcade mode so players can be challenged to an online match while they are playing the arcade mode, kind of like how things used to be in the real arcades.
Before players jump into the online world, they are given the opportunity to set up a profile to be used online. Players can choose from specific titles and icons that they can use to customize their profile. As players play through more and more of Street Fighter IV, they will unlock more icons and titles to use.
Once you get online, you can choose from either ranked or player matches. Playing online is just like playing with a person on the same console, except there are some technical issues that need to be taken into account. Let me just come out and say this now, SFIV's online could have been loads better, but for what it does, it does well. First off, connection strength is very important in SFIV. If your connection is crap then the game will reflect it. This doesn't come in the form of something like "lag" but it can come in the form of either slowdown or delay. If you get the delay, you'll have to think two steps ahead of your opponent if you want to succeed. If you've ever played Super Smash Brothers Brawl online, you know what I mean. The slowdown is the other issue you might have to deal with. Slowdown isn't as bad as the delay, but it can be annoying. For the most part, the online portion of the game works great. However, if your connection is bad enough, you might even lose connection to the other player. I never had a problem with lose of connection more than once, but I have experienced both the delay and the slowdown plenty of times.
"Check your connection strength before you head online or you'll be in for a surprise"
Botton Line: Even though i've almost gone the entire review, praising Street Fighter IV for being an incredible fighting game, it is still the same Street Fighter you've played at some point in your life. Hardcore Street Fighter fans already own this game, but casual fans have more to appreciate in Street Fighter IV. The game is much easier to pick up and play as a casual fan but still offers so much more depth for those who want it. Street Fighter IV is truely a game that is easy to play but difficult to master.
The problem with Street Fighter IV is that if you don't like Street Fighter then this game won't change your mind. If you've ever had any small amount of interest in the series then you should definitely check this game out.
Reccomendation: Buy it...SHORYUKEN!!!