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 Just when you thought it was safe to put up your quarter, HERE COMES A NEW CHALLENGER! Street Fighter IV is finally gracing the US with its presence, and the masses rejoice as the wait is over. Capcom's legendary 2D fighter returns with new characters, old favorites and a familiar control scheme. Get your hadoukens and flash kicks ready.
It's safe to say Capcom has taken a step forward with the series, while remaining true to the roots. Street Fighter 2 was a huge deal for the genre and 16-bit era in general, but many gamers like myself, got lost when the future titles split into SF 3, SF Alpha, SF Third Strike, and so on. It was a lot to keep up with. Street Fighter IV is basically the same style you would find in the classic Street Fighter 2, which helps coming just a few months after the release of SSFIITHDR. The same moves are in place. Lots of quarter circles and charge moves. At first, you'll feel right at home. There are a few added techniques, such as slightly easier to execute Super and Ultra Combos. These attacks launch your character into an animation, which if connected, will deal out a crazy combo and steal quite a bit of life. There are also focus attacks. Focus attacks are performed by holding the two medium attacks together, to charge up. If you're attacked while charging your Focus, you'll take the hit with slightly less damage, and then counter, giving you a moment to launch into a combo or attack while your opponent is stunned. It does a lot of good if you know your opponent will rush and attack you often. You can charge up for a second and prepare for the impact. As you probably know, the Xbox 360 controller isn't exactly the most popular controller for fighting games. It's less than stellar D-Pad doesn't make getting those double quarter-circles off too easy. It's not impossible though. Just takes getting used to if you're more of a traditionalist. I had the benefit of playing with the Hori EX2 arcade stick for the 360. It provided a much better retro feel and easier execution with the directionals. Staple characters return, as expected. Chun Li, Guile, Ryu, Ken, Akuma, E. Honda, Blanka and more the original gang are back and looking better than ever. The animations and redesigns are pretty gorgeous. And who doesn't love seeing old school game icons updated for the current gen games? There are four newcomers as well. A femme fatale (C. Viper,) a big chubby guy (Rufus,) a luchador (El Fuerte,) and a brawler (Abel.) The only one who seems out of place is Rufus. He controls well, and faster than expected, but his design seems out of place in the Street Fighter universe.  I didn't get through the entire game, so some characters were left unlocked, and I mostly only played multiplayer with some pals. But if you remember staying up all night playing Super Street Fighter 2 on the SNES with your buds, this will be a welcome transition to the return of 2D fighters. One thing I really enjoyed was the slightly faster pace. I'll always have a sweet spot for the Marvel VS Capcom series, and SF always felt a bit slow for me. Street Fighter IV rides the middle very well. If you missed out on the SF heyday in the early 90s, it's still a great game to get into. There's an excellent Trails Mode that teaches you the basics of fighting, and progresses you up to master level combos. You'll learn which moves flow together and how to use that to your advantage. Fighters continue to be good party games. Everyone gets to test out their moves, brag a little, and "ooh," and "aah," over the near death comebacks. It's Street Fighter, through and through. You know what you're getting. And it's good. Classic 2D fighting for the new generation that makes itself accessible to young and old alike. There's even a collectors edition out that gets you a soundtrack CD, action figure, and more. It's still fun, still intense, and M. Bison will probably still kick your ass. Street Fighter IV is available for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. MSRP $59.99Review copy was played on an Xbox 360.
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