Not much new here besides the graphical update, but WOW what an update!!!
The two player mode is A LOT of fun at first. It seems to be very accessable to new users who just need a short explanation of the control scheme. But, don't bother fighting someone if your experience isn't matched. Someone who has played this for months will anihilate someone who has played it for a week leaving your opponents very frustrated. But with that said, you can see that there IS depth and much to learn in this game when it comes to strategy and quickness. Of course, that's again nothing new for people who have played previous installments.
What really sells this sequel to an already great fighting game is it's appearance on a Next Gen system, and it really takes advantage with a LARGE graphical update. Knockdowns still use rag doll physics. But in my opinion, with the power under Playstation 3's hood, more could have been done to make knockdowns a little more realistic.
The career mode is nothing special but it IS fun and that's what's important in the end. The training mini games between scheduled fights are actually a lot of fun this time around, but it DOES get a bit repetitive after a while.
Overall, my approach to this game is to schedule a career fight every once in a while and of course train for it. In that way, I get a more life out of this title and the training sessions don't bother me as much.
As far as the online component, I must admit that I have only played once and was DESTROYED by my opponent, leaving me frustrated and wanting to gain more experience before going there again (as I mentioned earlier in the two player mode).
My suggestion to all is to rent this title first since it definitely isn't for everyone, and if you are the type to sit with a new game for hours at a time, this is not the game for you.