Street Fighter IV Review

When I first heard about Capcom releasing a new Street Fighter game, I had very low expectations. The last great Street Fighter game in my opinion was Super Street Fighter II. Then I attended the Game Developer Conference in San Francisco, California, in February of 2008. I was quite happy with what I saw that Capcom had developed. Over the following months, I followed all the news and trailers of the upcoming title, awaiting its release. Now for my review:

Graphic and sound:

The graphics in Street Fighter IV, are 3D characters and backgrounds rendered in two-dimensions. The colors are vibrant and the palette reminds me of the old 16bit era days, without the pixilation. The game should be played on an HD television, as the difference in resolution is very visible, with heavy blurring around the characters and text if played on a standard definition television. The sound effects sound great and the background music is non-intrusive. The main theme song is horrible though. It sounds like a bad song from the 1980s that never aged well.

Gameplay and controls:

The game is played in 2D like the old classics from the 16bit era. There is no sidestepping; it is true left to right combat. The characters have their traditional moves and a new system has been introduced which builds up an ultra gauge that fills up as you take damage from your opponent. An ultra move can be performed when the gauge fills up which does major damage, but can be blocked and countered. Also a standard special move gauge is available, which allows for a special move gauge to fill up as hits on the opponent are achieved. This system allows for greater strategy instead of having people spam a certain move over and over again and prevents special/ultra moves to be used all the time. The controls are practically identical to the old games from the 1990s and should be familiar to anyone who has played any of the previous games in the series. Unfortunately, the controllers on the XBOX 360 and PS3, are not friendly to the 3-button punch and kick configuration of this type of fighter game, and take some adjustment or the purchase of a 6-button controller to overcome.

Overall thoughts:

The game is a great comeback for a franchise that has been doomed with repeated failures in the recent past. It introduces new characters such as Crimson Viper, Rufus, and Seth, which have some unique moves and character design. Also, some old characters make a return as unlockables such as Cammy, Fei Long, and Akuma. The single player is fairly brutal on the harder levels and the last boss Seth is unforgiving. The online play is where this games shines, as battling online with Street Fighter hasn’t been seen since the XBAND back in the Sega Genesis/Super Nintendo days. Make sure you unlock all the characters and practice a lot before going online, as the competition is tough. Also, for PS3 users, installation should be done as it reduces loading time dramatically.