[Review] Street Fighter IV

There are some things we take as given. Anyone remotely interested in fighting games, or games in general even, will have probably heard of the following words, names and phrases at least once:

“Fireball”, “Ryu”, “Dragon Punch”, “Ken”, “Chun Li’s Thighs”, “THROWS ARE CHEAP YOU PUNK BITCH”.

This is especially true for people who were really into gaming back in the 90’s, when Capcom was practically shoving 2D fighters down our throats every second week or so. Not that we complained.

Which is why a new sequel to the main Street Fighter franchise is such a big deal. It’s also why it’s been almost a decade since Street Fighter III first hit the console scene.

These reasons are also why Street Fighter IV tries to appeal to both new and old players, “casual” gamers and returning pros. People in their late teens won’t care about a game that came out when they were five years old for nostalgia's sake, the same way people in my age group (late 20’s) never really cared about Yie Ar Kung Fu and such. Yet at the same time, you have to appeal to older gamers who would love to play a new game with characters they remember from their early years, like the green monster dude that electrifies people.

We call him Jimmy

The result was a game that is indeed appealing to both old and new players, with an instantly familiar cast that is still charming enough despite their age and the rather silly concepts* behind some of them. The new characters aren’t as immediately likeable as the old cast, perhaps due to their “new kid” status, but they grow on most people before long. Yes, even Rufus.

Not as cool as this Rufus, still.

The gameplay should also appeal to both newcomers and returning pros, as it is much more simplified to the parry-fests and custom-combo madness that were SFIII and the SF Alpha series, yet it is still complicated enough to reward patience and muscle memory over random button mashing.

Pros and Cons time!

Things SFIV does right:

- SFIV is a true sequel to the SF franchise. It combines the fireballs-and-uppercuts gameplay of SFII, with the added use of EX special moves (an extra strong version of a special move with added bonuses such as fireball invincibility) and super cancels from SFIII. It will remind you of the previous games, but feel fresh at the same time. In a word, SFIV feels right.

- Visually, SFIV is a gorgeous game. While the polygon count is not as high as in, say, Gears of War 2 or Killzone 2, the animation is simply beautiful and the special effects that cover the screen during each fight are equally as impressive. Some of the character designs are rather questionable, but for the most part, the fighters look great[*2].

- The added option to accept a challenge from another player online while you’re in the single player Arcade mode is a very inspired addition. In fact, it is the closest we’ll ever get to being challenged by a complete stranger in a regular arcade place these days. Proceeding to kick their behinds is almost as satisfying, still.

- Focus Attacks, the one truly new thing (Ultras being just a variation of Super moves) about SFIV work great. You can play and win a game just fine without them, or even with limited application. However, once you start using them as part of your regular set of moves, and especially when you use them to cancel special moves into Ultra combos then you’ve “unlocked” a completely new level of the game.

- The roster of the game is, for the most part, balanced in a fair way. Not a mean feat, given the amount of fighters (24).

Things about SFIV that aren't that hot:

- Jumping (an integral part of most 2D fighters[*3]) feels weird in this game. Whether you want to call the jumps themselves floaty, or as if the fighters were covered in jello or perhaps even underwater, there’s a certain something about jumping in this game that feels very different to its predecessors. You get used to it after a while, but it will still mean that sometimes your cross-up (jumping over an opponent to mess up with his blocking) will miss, or even make you land in front of your opponent. Very frustrating when it happens at key points in a fight.

- While the roster, as mentioned earlier, is quite balanced, a few characters stand out. Namely, Sagat and Zangief. Sagat does insane damage and has multitude of options depending on the case, while Zangief’s throws and his Spinning Lariat move have priority over pretty much everything other characters throw at him. Nothing about these two characters is grossly overpowered, but it does seem as rather unfair compared to what other characters have to deal with[*4].

- Ultra moves - the jury’s still out on those. They work in the sense that newcomers can still try and put up a fight even after a bad start, but it’s kind of ridiculous that it’s not uncommon to have your Ultra move ready twice a round, while it takes almost two rounds to fill your Super bar. For the record, Ultras generally do more damage than Supers. Furthermore, the fact that some characters can combo into their ultra with ease, while others have no such option, is fundamentally unfair.

- Certain aspects of the game feel like a stepback from Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (HDR). For example, moves such as Cammy’s Hooligan Combination that were simplified in HDR in order to be more useful, are back to their original, and pretty complicated, motions for SFIV. A rather weird decision, given how the game is marketed towards the casual market. Moreover, the lack of online lobbies which allow for more than two players to join is rather perplexing. It makes playing the game with more than just one friend online rather frustrating, since someone will have to leave the lobby after each match.

- The online experience is a mixed bag. I’ve had matches against people in Japan which were super-smooth with no lag whatsoever, yet I get huge lagspikes while playing people in my own city. On the whole though, online works much better than most other 3D fighters, especially when compared to say Soulcalibur IV.

- For the first time in a Street Fighter game, characters have a second set of costumes available for them, rather than just different colors as was the case before. The catch? You have to pay for them. The amount is pretty small, but most people don’t appreciate paying for content that was already in the game disk they bought. Not to mention that some of the costumes themselves are simply lazy, such as Dhalsim’s. Rose’s, however, is awesome.

Look to the left

In the end though, none of SFIV’s (admittedly several) negative points are anywhere close to being game-breaking. As a result, this is a triumphant return to form for the franchise, after reaching a low point in the early to mid 00’s, and for that reason earns the title of:

The Genuine Article

TL;DR version:

Don't be this guy. Seriously.

I should also say, I find it mind-boggling that Capcom would spend resources on adding anime cut-scenes at the beginning and ending of each character's Arcade mode (and an entire movie on top of that for the Collector's edition) and yet never bother with quality control, as the cut-scenes are atrocious.

* After all these years, Edmond Honda is still traveling around the world, beating people up to show them that Sumo is the superior form of martial arts. I’m not sure if that’s ridiculous or just awesome.

*2 Unsurprisingly, the female fighters look better than their male counterparts. I don’t blame them being more inspired by Cammy’s tush than Honda’s fat belly, though. Amusingly enough however, we end up seeing close-ups of both.

*3 Even if people tend to overdo it.

*4 Give Rose an overhead, what the fuck. No, seriously.