Street Fighter IV - It's Been A Long Time...

Depending on where you start counting it's been 10 or 12 years since there was a new Street Fighter game. Street Fighter III was released in 1997 and Street Fighter III: Third Strike in 1999. You can check Wikipedia to find all the stuff that has come out in the world since there was a new SF game. Many iterations of other fighting games have come, gone, and been refined by other companies like Guilty Gear, King of Fighters, Soul Calibur, and so on, but Capcom the creators of the Street Fighter franchise show that they're on top of their game with their latest, Street Fighter IV.

The game receives a huge graphic update and a bit of a reboot from the previous game. All 12 (or 13 depending on how you count Akuma/Goki) of the original characters from the mega-popular SF2 are back for starters (All but 4 were MIA in SF3) and 4 brand new characters and a new boss were added. Seven additional characters from other iterations of the franchise (one playable for the first time ever in the series) were also added to the home version of the game. The game is done in the 2.5D style which is becoming more and more popular. All the characters and backgrounds have been rendered in 3D, but the actual gameplay is done on a 2D plane. The only time the camera moves from its fixed position is when certain attacks are performed and then it returns to its prior angel. The graphics are amazing and there is an enormous amount of detail on the characters. Capcom wanted to make sure that the game not only retains to feel of the Street Fighter franchise but also looks the best it possibly can. They worked on this game for a long time and made a last minute change to it just before the arcade version was released last year to change the hit boxes from 3D to 2D so the game would play and feel like its predecessors.

From a gameplay standpoint, I am absolutely in love with it. I was about 9 years old with the original Street Fighter game came out and I played it on one of the original machines with the velocity buttons before the change was made to make it a 6-button fighter. I've played every incarnation of it to some degree and while most casual people who played some SF2 back in the day may not notice a difference in gameplay, I can tell you that there is a whole 'nuther level the game is working on. For the sake of this review, I will keep to the basics. All the old characters control just like they used to. Fireballs, dragon punches, sonic booms, and the like still have the same inputs. What's different is the focus system and the ultra meter. In this game you have the ability to counter opponent by absorbing an attack from them and then quickly unleashing one of your own. You can also charge this up to "crumple" your opponent allowing you a couple seconds to hit them with an additional attack, or you can us it to "cancel" the animation of a special move you've just input which allows you to still get credit for some to all of the damage for the move you did while freeing your character to quickly follow up with an additional attack. The ultra meter is a new meter unique to this game that charges as your character takes damage, when it hits a certain point an ultra attack can be unleashed which does heavy damage to your opponent if it's landed and can completely turn the match around. Use of both of these is not a requirement to play and enjoy the game, but they are techniques you will want to learn about if you want to play against anything other than the computer. The speed of the action is a little faster than SF2, but not nearly as fast as SF2 Turbo which makes it a little easier for newcomers and people who have been away from the series to pick up. And let's face it, the object of the game is to beat the living snot out of one of the two onscreen characters. It's not that difficult to learn.

Speaking of learning, the game also features some great single player challenge modes. You have the fighting game standard modes of time attack and survival, but there is an additional trial mode which has been in some of the home versions of SF games in the past. This mode is character specific and is broken up into 10 sections per character which teaches you how to pull off some each characters moves and combos in the game. It starts off just getting you familiar with the character by doing basic moves and in the end has you doing some very difficult timing sensitive link combos for every character in the game. It is a nice touch, one that helps improve some skills as well as dishing out vast amounts of controller/joystick throwing frustration. Some of the challenges are quite difficult and require an advanced level of understanding the game's systems as well as fast button inputs. What I feel is missing from this mode are a demonstration button so you can actually see what the sequence it wants you to do looks like and it could also benefit by having something help you with timing exactly when to input what move or what button. It sort of leaves you in the dark a little and this may alienate some people as they may feel that if they cannot perform what the challenge is asking to do, that they are no good at the game. It also doesn't teach you any strategy of when to attempt to perform these chains. I guess that may be asking for a bit too much but may be better for the individual to figure out how to implement what they've learned instead of holding your hand through it. You have to learn that sometimes it's better to eat full or chip damage from a fireball than to jump in trying to avoid the hit because a super or ultra will be waiting for you.

The game features on-line play as well. You can challenge people in ranked matches for battle points and overall ranking tracked on either PSN or XBox Live, play your friends/random internet people in player matches which do not count toward your ranking. And the game also offers a throwback to what fighting games used to be like in the arcade with the on-line fight request system. When you have this on and are playing the game's single player arcade mode challengers who are also online can jump into your game and challenge you just like having someone throw a couple of quarters into the machine in the arcade. Players can be searched for based on language preference, stability, and skill level. Unfortunately skill level is determined by how many battle points they have from winning matches and not actual skill in the game. I've played on both PSN and Live and they are both full of people gaming the system by performing the same moves over and over due to internet latency and lag. Even on the best connections there is some input lag, but aside from people's play styles it works and is serviceable. I have enjoyed a couple hundred matches between both platforms and will continue to play online and try to move up in the rankings.

And now the hated console comparisons:
As mentioned I have both console versions and have spent a lot of time with both versions. First off, they both run smooth and there is nothing wrong with either version. Aside from that, the PS3 version has a noticeably more textures on the characters. You can see slightly more detail and the kind of pop out from the background more than they did on the arcade version or 360 version. The 360 version looks a lot closer to the arcade and the characters appear to be more in place with the backgrounds since there are less textures. None of this has any effect on the gameplay. Both versions feature hard drive install capabilities, which I recommend doing if you plan on playing it often. The 360 version loads faster both in single player and online. As far as online goes, it has more to do with what your internet connection is like. I have had an easier time finding matches on the PS3 than 360 and matches have ran better for me on that console. On the 360 version the only way I've been able to get a match is by creating a lobby and have never been able to connect to someone else's game. This could be completely different for you depending on where you live and what you internet connection is like. I've gotten it to work and have had a blast on both consoles. My preference is with the PS3 version which is entirely subjective and more of my friends (people that I know in real life) have the PS3 version, so that is what I play it on most.

And just before I wrap this thing up, I want to talk about joysticks. Personally I have never played SF without a joystick. I bought an arcade stick when it came out on Super Nintendo, and have always had a joystick of some sort for every game system I own for fighting games. I currently have a Mad Catz Tournament Edition stick on order, but I'm playing on one of the Soul Calibur 4 special edition Hori joysticks right now and it gets the job done quite nicely though I wish it had more weight to it so it would stop sliding off my lap. This is my personal preference, and you do not need a stick to play this game; hoverer it would behove you to find one if you are really into the game because it does make the experience better. This is an arcade fighter that was released in arcades in joystick form. All arguments aside Capcom meant for this game to be played with a joystick. I do know people who better than I am at the game that play with the controller, but to me the joystick is the only way to go.

And for the score... you can say I'm bias or pre-disposed to liking this game or whatever based on my background with the series and fighting games in general, but from an objective standpoint this game is still a masterpiece. The core game gets everything right and everything else is just dessert added to a five star meal. A+/10/100.