Street Fighter IV
Street Fighter IV brings the legendary fighting series back to its roots by taking the beloved fighting moves and techniques of the original Street Fighter II, and infusing them with Capcom’s latest advancements in next generation technology. The result is a truly extraordinary experience destined to reintroduce players, both familiar with the Street Fighter series and those coming to the game for the first time, to the time-honored art of virtual martial arts.
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What Was Old is New Again
Knowing a good thing when they see it, Capcom has gone to great lengths to ensure that everything that made the legendary Street Fighter II a hit in the arcades, living rooms and dormitories across the globe all those years ago has been brought back in Street Fighter IV, and this naturally starts with the characters. Fans of the franchise, as well as the fighting genre in general, will be happy to know that whether you prefer to stick with the superior abilities of top tier characters or explore the ins and outs of mid to lower level combatants, when it comes time to pick your fighter there is a wide array of choices. Also, not only will players be able to play as and against their favorite classic characters, such as Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Guile, Zangief, Blanka, Sagat, etc., they will also be able to take on new characters. Just a few of these include:
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Abel This young French amnesiac comes from a mixed martial arts and mercenary background and is dedicated to chasing down the remnants of Shadaloo. |
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Crimson Viper This tough and beautiful agent assumes a businesslike demeanor, ignoring all emotion and obligation to her fellow man. She wears a high-tech suit filled with deadly gadgetry.. |
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El Fuerte This fighter divides his time between perfecting his Lucha Libre skills and his cooking abilities, yet surprisingly his indomitable spirit is a match for even the legendary Red Cyclone. |
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Rufus This portly fighter has declared himself America’s greatest fighter and uses his own brand of Kung Fu in his decidedly one-sided rivalry with Ken for top dog in the States. |
- 3D environments and characters.
- Traditional “2D” Street Fighter six-button gameplay.
- Classic Street Fighter characters re-imagined for a new generation of gamers, including the original cast of Street Fighter II.
- New brawlers: female super-spy Crimson Viper, lucha libre wrestler El Fuerte, mixed martial artist Abel and more.
- New special moves that go beyond any Street Fighter fan’s wildest imagination, including Focus Attacks, Super Combos, and the revenge-fueled Ultra Combo system.
- Amazing locations never seen before in a Street Fighter game.
- New gameplay elements provide challenges for both newcomers as well as the most seasoned Street Fighter pro.
New Combat Features: Focus Attacks and Ultra Combos
Although Street Fighter IV is designed to draw heavily from past game features in its franchise history, it does offer some stunning new gameplay options. The first of these are Focus Attacks. These moves allow players to absorb the energy from an attack and quickly counter with their own. Used properly, Focus Attacks allow for tremendous flexibility during combat and are the end result of efforts by the game’s development team to evolve combat away from the rigid memorization of set combination patterns, giving players the freedom to be creative against opponents. The other new combat feature are new powered up moves called Ultra Combos. Like standard combos their purpose is to unleash maximum damage on an opponent, but unlike the combos of old, when performed correctly these long strings of punches, kicks and moves result in changes to the in-game camera angle and quick cinematics which illustrate the strength of your skills like never before. Taken together, these two new features herald Street Fighter IV as the new king of the fighter genre and a force to be reckoned with for years to come.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Street Fighter IV
I bought it for a close friend and he’s frank enough to tell me if it was worth a buy or not. He absolutely loves it. I recommend this game for all ‘old school’ street fighter gamers!
3 Stars Not that good, Disappointed
Several things wrong with this game. The 3D character models are good, but not great. For a 25th anniversary and highly anticipated sequel, the character models just don’t seem perfect. The fighting moves are good, but it feels like something is missing. Also Street Fighter 4 lacks a tight fighting system. I enjoy Street Fighter 3 Third Strike and Street Fighter 3 Alpha a lot more because of the fluid animations and tight fighting system. The graphics are good and clear though. But the backgrounds are boring, and don’t make much sense. There is a background that I fought Sagat in, and there were kids running around in the background. Other backgrounds are uninspired, and looks like they were put in as a last second effort. The energy bar has a weird curve to it. It seems like it is a programming flaw, but it was intentional. It just doesn’t look right. However, there are a good number of fighters, all the originals from the Super Street Fighter 2 games, plus four new ones, but the voice syching isn’t proper either. The lips of the characters don’t match the dialogue at times. There is some japanimation which looks like cheap animation done by a kid. They should have made much better drawn animation. There’s an arcade mode, versus mode, and time trial/survival challenge mode. A game like this should have integrated a World Warrior mode similar to Soul Calibur 2 where you travel through different areas and develop different super moves, etc. The four new characters are terrible and their animations are not fluid or practical. This game is just very disappointing from what I expected. I got tired of playing it after a half hour. I can’t play it more than a half hour when friends come over. The fun factor just isn’t there. I will stick with Marvel vs. Capcom 2 and the other better fighting games. STREET FIGHTER IV gets a rating of 5 out of 10.
5 Stars SFIV rocks
This brings back the glory days of SFII. This is our favorite game - when the boys are over everyone gets in line to grab a controller and go. Classic game. Great selection of characters old + new.
the multiplayer could have been designed better, only gripe.
1 Star Once games hit the new 360 they are PATHETIC..
This game is SAD as in ,unless you guys really ( lie a lot) or just enjoy losing over and over ,i have every street fighter known to man ( and hot babes) i can not believe how hard these dudes have gotten ,doa4, this ,what’s next…damn do i miss the ps2 and all other gaming machines of YES the good ole days ,the only title to hit the 360 worth a crap is R.E.5 enuff said / look at mercs 2 , Gta4 is (good for graphics ) so 2 titles down and i could keep going BUT; this gem is sad good thing V.F. 5 was fun and more to do …GOD ,i hope they don’t ruin Tekken 6 ,like this…. agree or not i am right….
5 Stars A classic reborn
For anyone who played Street Fighter 2 back in the day you will be right at home here with Street Fighter 4. It has more depth than you might think at first, especially if you are a novice. Luckily even a newbie can jump in and mash buttons and still have some fun, but for the real Street Fighters out there I suggest you learn the usefulness of focus attack, super and ultra attacks early and don’t forget combo training! The game has an excellent challenge mode that will make you a master by the end. The only downside I have found is no lobby mode for multiple players for online play like in SF2HD Remix released late last year, but I suspect an update will rectify that some time. Plenty of unlockables will keep those not playing online busy and each character feels pretty balanced against most others, a feat that I can’t even describe to you. Get this game if you are a fan of fighting games what are you waiting for?
