Street Fighter IV Review

All that’s old is new again… and then some.

by TWODOGSz

©2009 Aaron Bertinetti:- NE (News Editor)

It’s the reserved feeling for gaming’s truly elite franchises…

“The immediate emotional reaction to a gamer’s nostalgia reborn; the shared consciousness with all those fans over all those years; and the overwhelming sense that the king of fighters is back with a vengeance.”

That Street Fighter IV manages to overcome these burdens is remarkable. That it actively embraces them and then exceeds them makes the finished product all the more astonishing.

It’s with trepidation when you first fire the thing up, followed by the shock at how goddamn cool it looks even when juxtaposed with perhaps the cheesiest video game theme song ever.

But by the time you’ve finished your first match, the concerns about the new art style and 3D polygons are gone. The game really is a showcase for fluid animation and bright, colourful art design. Characters pop with muscles and larger than life expressions, throwing ink, dust and sparks across the screen as they duel, and not once does the frame rate slip.

It’s a comic-book on steroids at 60 frames per second.

The roster is an impressive 25 characters deep. Everyone’s favourites from Street Fighter II are present, along with several fan favourites from other entries and a handful of new characters including “the fat man in a Kill Bill tracksuit” Rufus and “I run like I ate too many beans last night” El Fuerte. Thankfully the balance of the roster remains intact with the exception of the overly cheap boss Seth who will likely cause many controllers to crash and burn.

Perhaps not as impressive are the truly substandard anime stories that accompany the beginning and end of each character’s arcade “campaign”. They range from banal to embarrassing and make you wonder why the developers didn’t use the sterling animation in the opening credits.

It’s a minor blight along with some boring arena backgrounds and that questionable title track that pugnaciously finds its way into your head to the point that it starts making your feet tap at work as you anticipate your next fighting fix. Thankfully the occassionally laughable voice acting can be switched between English and Japanese for each character to your heart’s content.

“Whilst marvelling at the level of polish in the game’s presentation is all well and good, it’s not long before the synapses of your childhood kick in and you’re throwing Hadokens and launching Shoryukens across the screen like good times past.”

What’s remarkable is you can do this with ease using a standard 360 controller’s analogue stick or (shock-horror!) d-pad. Sure a proper joystick would be nice and certainly improves top level performance but Capcom have done an admirable job of loosening controller input windows, meaning you’re far less likely to miss your quarter circle, zig zags and stringing combos on a standard controller.

In addition, the parry system of Street Fighter III has been removed and returned to the tried and true “press back to block”.

The result is a far less twitchy fighter that leads to a heavier emphasis on strategic thinking, timing and patience. The inclusion of EX moves allowing a player to substantially increase the damage of any special move at the partial expense of their Super Combo meter, which in itself eventually enables a player to execute a devastatingly beautiful Super Attack on their opponents, is a nice additional layer.

“But it’s the introduction of Focus Attacks and Ultra Combos to the gameplay mix that really lifts Street Fighter IV to another level.”

Focus Attacks put a player in a charging state for a counter attack, whilst also absorbing one enemy attack like a shield. Unleashing the Focus Attack after a successful “absorption” creates a counter attack and leaves an enemy momentarily open to a combination of your own. It’s a relatively easy concept for beginners to grasp and use by pressing medium punch and medium kick together, but it also provides more advanced players with the ability to cancel their own attacks and then build higher string combos off that.

Ultra Combos are also a new addition that ensures fights are always on edge and never lost until the KO. In stark contrast to the super meter, as a player is damaged a separate meter, the revenge meter, builds up. Once a player’s meter is over 50% full they can execute an Ultra Combo which are easily the most stunningly brutal attacks in the series.

The core of Street Fighter’s mechanics have always been close to rock solid, but it’s the achievement of implementing these new elements and making a strategically deeper fighter, whilst also making it incredibly more accessible for newcomers, that really sticks out.

Layered upon these foundations, is the depth that the series is renowned for with cancels, cross-ups, crazy combos and seven difficulty levels all there for the elite’s disposal. And that should mean that amateur and pro alike will be playing this years and years from now.

It’s easy to learn, but impossible to master.

However, the core gameplay and presentation are not the only things going for Street Fighter IV. It has a slate of other features that, for the most part, expand the longevity of this title even further.

Outside of the main arcade mode are a range of various challenge modes to hone a player’s skills further. They include time attack, survival and trial based modes on two difficult settings that are respectively focused on improving a player’s speed, style and skills. Unfortunately there’s no tournament mode, but I assume this will come as a title update in the near future.

The trial mode is most relevant to newcomers who want to advance their skills through a set of challenges that teach basic and then more advanced moves. However, in an opportunity sorely missed the mode fails to explain the context in which to use such moves and how that ties into the basic fundamentals of fighting.

The training mode continues this theme, with a vast range of options for those who already have an established understanding, but not much guidance for those new to the genre or returning to the series after a long absence.

“Finally, the arcade spirit has been faithfully executed with SFIV’s online capabilities.”

Ranked matches, player matches, unlockables galore for online titles and tags, scoring and leaderboards are all present. There’s even an option to open up the single player arcade mode to online challengers.

For the most part online performance is pretty good, although the matchmaking system seems a little unbalanced at times perhaps given players haven’t played enough games to sort the men from the boys just yet.

It is a shame, however, that the party capabilities of the 360 couldn’t be utilised to create online tournaments and allow players in a party watch others duke it out. It also seems odd that there’s no replay function to upload your best performances and download those of the pros.

Here’s hoping some of these features come in future updates and unlike additional player skins DLC, they don’t have a price tag!

The Verdict.

Despite some questionable niggles and oversights Street Fighter IV is a triumph of nostalgic homage, pure gameplay, subtle innovation and stunning production values. It’s not infallible, but it is the best fighter on any console, and likely represents the rebirth and reawakening of a genre so long confined to a niche.

“9/10

©2009 Aaron Bertinetti:- NE (News Editor)

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