Spring Break
Round Four ... Fight!
Capcom's historic 'Street Fighter' series returns with new faces, old favorites and that same old thrill of the fight
Paresh Jha
Issue date: 2/26/09 Section: Focus
For years, the fighting genre has been missing something. No one was sure what it was, but we could all tell it was gone. "Soul Calibur" and "Tekken" have been great, but amidst all the 3-dimensional button mashing, one (especially someone who's been playing games since the "Street Fighter II" era) couldn't help but feel a little empty inside. Well, Capcom is finally back, ladies and gentlemen, and they pulled out all the stops for this one. Say goodbye to that emptiness.
After years of putting up with the nonsensical "Street Fighter EX" series, Capcom has finally given us a great true sequel to the original king of fighting games, "Street Fighter II." The first thing Capcom did was to keep the players firmly planted on a 2-D plane. This was probably the greatest decision ever because they were able to maintain nostalgia (very good nostalgia in this case) and still add countless features to keep things fresh. Speaking of fresh, the new 3-D character models are beautiful. The semi-cel shaded look combined with the fluid animation and frame-rate works wonders on a franchise that desperately needed to look cool again. Street Fighter has never looked this good.
But who cares about looks? Everyone wants to know how this game plays. Thankfully, Capcom has delivered us some of the most unprecedented gameplay ever. The pace is fast (no Sonic speed, but formidable) and the combo system is unheard of. The combat system allows for virtually any type of player to join in on the fun. It doesn't matter if you are a seasoned veteran or a casual gamer fresh off the gaming boat, because Street Fighter accommodates each player. This is especially great for you button mashers (yes, you know who you are) because the game truly allows for any person of any skill level to easily hone their skills.
Once you mashers do manage to hone your skills then you can move on to creating a more nuanced fighting style for yourself. The game is aggressive, so anyone looking for the old parry system of "Street Fighter III" might be disappointed, but let's face it, fast paced and aggressive is way better than slow and defensive. "Street fighter IV" has added many extra gauges in addition to the normal health meter. Aside from the self explanatory combo and ultra move gauges, Capcom has thrown in something called the Revenge gauge. This gauge works alongside the ultra moves. Every time your character takes a beating, your revenge gauge fills up a little bit. Once that meter is full and says "ultra," you can do an ultra move to really turn the tables on your opponent. This basically means that, no matter how badly you might be getting thrashed, you can still pull a miracle move to upset your opponent.
Now I could nitpick at little things in the game - like some of the stupid new characters - but really, that would prove to be a moot point because everything else this game does is nearly flawless. Even those stupid new characters have some decent move sets. Capcom has taken all the positives of the fighting genre over the past decade or so and put them into this game. So this is not just a truly perfect "Street Fighter" game; it is the best the fighting genre has to offer.
After years of putting up with the nonsensical "Street Fighter EX" series, Capcom has finally given us a great true sequel to the original king of fighting games, "Street Fighter II." The first thing Capcom did was to keep the players firmly planted on a 2-D plane. This was probably the greatest decision ever because they were able to maintain nostalgia (very good nostalgia in this case) and still add countless features to keep things fresh. Speaking of fresh, the new 3-D character models are beautiful. The semi-cel shaded look combined with the fluid animation and frame-rate works wonders on a franchise that desperately needed to look cool again. Street Fighter has never looked this good.
But who cares about looks? Everyone wants to know how this game plays. Thankfully, Capcom has delivered us some of the most unprecedented gameplay ever. The pace is fast (no Sonic speed, but formidable) and the combo system is unheard of. The combat system allows for virtually any type of player to join in on the fun. It doesn't matter if you are a seasoned veteran or a casual gamer fresh off the gaming boat, because Street Fighter accommodates each player. This is especially great for you button mashers (yes, you know who you are) because the game truly allows for any person of any skill level to easily hone their skills.
Once you mashers do manage to hone your skills then you can move on to creating a more nuanced fighting style for yourself. The game is aggressive, so anyone looking for the old parry system of "Street Fighter III" might be disappointed, but let's face it, fast paced and aggressive is way better than slow and defensive. "Street fighter IV" has added many extra gauges in addition to the normal health meter. Aside from the self explanatory combo and ultra move gauges, Capcom has thrown in something called the Revenge gauge. This gauge works alongside the ultra moves. Every time your character takes a beating, your revenge gauge fills up a little bit. Once that meter is full and says "ultra," you can do an ultra move to really turn the tables on your opponent. This basically means that, no matter how badly you might be getting thrashed, you can still pull a miracle move to upset your opponent.
Now I could nitpick at little things in the game - like some of the stupid new characters - but really, that would prove to be a moot point because everything else this game does is nearly flawless. Even those stupid new characters have some decent move sets. Capcom has taken all the positives of the fighting genre over the past decade or so and put them into this game. So this is not just a truly perfect "Street Fighter" game; it is the best the fighting genre has to offer.
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