Pays homage to the past, shows a brillant promise of a future that's indeed positive.
There is some plot to discover in Street Fighter IV, but the truth is, none of it is really important, unless you have attained a sentimental attachment to the roster and their back stories. Ultimately what matters is the objective itself - either you or your opponent must do whatever it takes to win at all costs. The good news is that within this universe lies a diverse, yet interesting cast of characters for anyone to find, learn, and master. Sixteen characters, from the original twelve world warriors to four new combatants, are immediately playable and ready to follow instructions at your whim, with nine additional bonus characters eventually revealed once certain requirements are met. Although it is left up to you to discover who they are, the element of surprise is used wisely, giving both newcomers and veterans a few surprises in store. Do the math and players will quickly realize that they are given a total of twenty-five characters to discover and possibly unlock their true potential. Some may complain that it is a short roster when compared to other fighting games that contain a ridiculous amount of characters that are either necessary or not. But the truth is that Capcom has provided the right amount of balance with fighters that carry the essential tools needed to win their fights, should the player devote their time in mastering their chosen fighter. All twenty-five characters also range from various games in the past, so in a sense, no one is singled out. Each fighter is also different, forcing the player to think differently on how to win their matches and that task is easier said than done, yet always making their own battles both entertaining and exhilarating nonetheless.
The old adage "Out with the old, in with the new," certainly applies here, as the system that was previously found within its predecessor is no longer in play here and instead players will find a new gameplay system to be tinkering with the days to come. Gone are the days when air blocking and parries were your best friends, especially in a crucial moment during a match that could either make it or break it for you, as some competitive matches in the past proven this fact. Now a new system must be learned from top to bottom and used to your advantage if you are to emerge victorious. For starters, focus attacks is a key move that serves the player both offensively and defensively at the same time. By holding down the medium punch and kick buttons at the same time, you can charge it up to three levels. Sadly, there is no on-screen bar that indicates what level you are reaching with your charged strike, so you will have to instead rely on both the ink splash and the character animation to determine that level before striking your foe. Each character possess a different animation and are either short or long in their reach, so you must be very careful in where you stand before beginning your assault with a focus attack. They are always performed when you're only standing, perhaps making you a vulnerable target, yet players are given the option to cancel the move and either move forward or retreat back. However, if you character is completely into the focus attack and your opponent strikes in the first act, that enables a quick parry, absorbing some energy and retaliating with a hit of your own, not to mention stopping them in their tracks. Yet if you channel your focus to the third level, if you manage to strike your foe, not only does it inflict pain, but enables a temporary stun, watching your opponent's character fall to the ground helplessly as you charge forward and deal some major damage.
A few games in the past have brought back a few tricks that have aided players greatly and some of those ideas also made it way back into Street Fighter IV. There's the EX power-bar, located at the bottom of your screen and can be charged up with each attack that you land successfully. If you manage to reach one bar or fill it up, you can utilize stronger special moves that can inflict more hits or chain them together with combos that may get the job done faster. For those that are new into this concept, it will take time to get used to, but once you finally master the concept, it will grow on you, enough to the point of where you will want to discover the best combos that suits your style well. Another idea that's introduced into the Street Fighter landscape for the first time is the revenge gauge, easily located right next to your EX-bar. As your opponent dishes out the pain right back at you, it eventually builds up until it reaches a boiling point and enables you to counter back with an Ultra, a very dangerous move that not only causes serious damage, but may even turn the tide against your current opponent. Some characters have the ability to either juggle their opponents in the air and quickly initiating the Ultra or can link them in a simple combo without much trouble. For the most part, Super moves, a lesser form of Ultra moves, yet just as deadly, can often be linked into combos as well. This is indeed excellent, as it offers a range of flexibility, allowing you to discover new ways to hurt your opponent and find it suitable to your method of madness. The bad news is that even when you don't use your Ultra at all, it does not carry over to the next round, only anything that you have gained in your EX power-bar does, so you must build that house from scratch and once again find a way to use it appropriately during the conflict. All of these aforementioned elements may take time to grasp for newcomers of the game, but with time and patience, if you find the right balance and figure out how to use them correctly, then you, along with your chosen fighter, may become a force to be reckoned with.
There are fans out there who do enjoy the characters and what they have to offer in the series's enriching history, so chances are that they wish to immediately discover what's new for their favorite fighters. That's where the Arcade mode comes in, consisting of eight duels in total and ending in a final showdown with the game's latest, yet newest villain, Seth. As you slaughter your opponents one by one, your chosen character will eventually cross paths with their main rival for the game, complete with scripted dialogue between the two rivals. The biggest hurdle in these segments is that it doesn't exactly explain to the player why they hate each other, as some of the combatants themselves really have no clue as to why they do in the first place. Luckily, you can fill in the gaps and quickly comprehend what's truly going on. Before your first fight and right after the conclusion of your last fight, players are treated to a short cinematic animated sequence that does its best to explain why they are involved in the tournament and what happens to them after it is all said and done, although it's unfortunate that some clearly don't make sense, especially in the case of one or two characters. The good news is that you can find a difficulty level that suits your skill level best, allowing you either a cakewalk or a challenge. The bad news is that even the most easiest difficulties aren't exactly all that's cracked up to be, since opponents will figure how you play and try to surprise you with the occasional super or ultra combo and may get frustrating later on, especially with Seth. Make no mistake about it, compared to Street Fighter III's last boss, Gill, Seth isn't that difficult to take on and defeat, despite the negativity spreaded throughout the community regarding how Capcom programmed him. Whether it's your first time or not, there's a challenge to be found here. Keep in mind, however, that playing the Arcade mode will not sharpen your skills as well as you'd hope for, so use this only as a way of either practicing on your own or taking the time to discover the fate of each character and meeting those aforementied requirements to unlock new ones along the way.
Once you unlocked the entire roster and finally picked your poison, it all comes down to devoting yourself into full mastery and control of your champion. You can accomplish this in modes that do enable your skill to be sharpened even further, such as the training mode. Training mode is a great tool, as it lets players practice for an infinite amount of time. You can either practice a certain move for many hours or attempting to discover a few key combos that may prove devastating to future opponents that you encounter, offline or online. You can also instruct your sparring partner to stand idly, crouch low, or repetitively jump. Players also have the option to allow a friend control of the sparring partner and either fight you or help you with certain moves and combos. You can even fight the CPU in a difficulty setting of your own choice. During practice, you may be confused on how to pull off a certain move. No need to take out the instruction manual in the box, as you just have to pause the session and load up the command list. All the moves for your chosen fighter will be shown, complete with directional input on how to execute the move. If you are playing on a small television, chances are that the text will be too small to read, but if you're playing on a bigger television, it won't be an issue at all. For some people, especially casual players, training may be nothing more but a waste of time, but for those craving the desire to win, training is essential and all the options you seek from it are there for yours to explore at your heart's content until you fully believe you found a strategy that may work. If not, you can always go back to the drawing board and experiment yet again until you are satisfied once more.
Once training is over, the real test begins. You can fight in two ways. Offline, you versus a friend in head-to-head combat with two characters of your choice. Online, you are given the option to either be involved in ranked matches or player matches. The difference between the two, however, lies in the battle points, which you are rewarded only through ranked matches. Battle points display your current skill and aid you in the matchmaking process. Of course, you can always look for a opponent that's beyond your skill, should you crave the extra challenge. Perhaps the greatest thing about this unique experience is that it does feel being at an arcade. If you'll remember, while you're busy with the CPU, someone could just walk up to the machine, land a few quarters into it, and challenge you. It's the same feeling here, but to achieve that feat, you'll simply need to leave the fight requests on. Keep in mind that you'll be flooded with back-to-back invites, so it may be a wise idea for you to turn it off so that you can still stay focused on the task at hand. More importantly, no fight is ever played out the same way twice. Each online opponent you face off always use a different fighter with a unique strategy incorporated into their fighting style, so you'll quickly learn to adjust yourself to the situation accordingly and do the best you can to survive the whole match. In some cases, you may lose more often than win, but that's only because you will encounter players that have far more experience than you have, but don't let that be a bad thing. If you're serious enough about improving your game, even in loss, you can always learn from your mistakes and receive a better understanding on why you lost. If you win, then that's all the more sweeter. Finally, most fights online do hold up reasonably well, although except a few occasions where connections are low - bad enough to where you may receive plenty of lag and eventually a disconnection from the battle. But don't let it stop you from enjoying the thrill of combat that you won't get elsewhere, as each fight is new and exciting, making you want to come back for more, whether you are competing offline or online. Which route you take is left entirely up to you, but either way, the strive for improvement always happens and for good reason.
If you're tired of dueling it out with friends or the CPU, there are also distractions that are worthy of your time, and you can find those mods in one called the Challenge mode. In this mode, you have several options to consider. First off, time attack and survival modes are back as usual, as you engage opponents and destroying them before either time expires or before your life bar is completely extinguished. If that's not challenging enough for you, you may as well go directly into the Trial mode. Fans of the Street Fighter EX series may recognize this interesting, yet unique mode, as each character you chose begin their trials. You can try your luck on either normal or hard. In either case, however, each character must undertake five trials, all different. On normal, you will discover the basics of your characters, from basic punches and kicks to moves and eventually learning how to string a few easy combos together. On hard mode, however, lies five new trials featuring combos that will help your competitive gaming in the long run. Some trials take longer than most, due to strict timing and certain points of the combo duration. These trials cannot be done overnight, unless you're really that skilled and know exactly what you're doing. Some newcomers may find the Challenge mode to be tough for awhile because they are not used to pulling off these moves or combos without a problem, so therefore, it may take days, weeks, even months to finish them all. However, when successfully completed, you'll earn new rewards along the way and also gain a feeling of accomplishment all pouring all the blood, sweat, and tears into the process. It's one of the best modes included in the game for the simple fact that it provides excellent challenge and enables you to brush up on your skill at anytime, making it just as useful as the training mode, if not better in its own ways.
Aesthetically, this is definitely one of the year's best looking games to date. No fighter has ever looked good as this. All twenty-five characters animate beautifully with their personalities, along with their idiosyncrasies, remaining intact. Even if the action is fast and furious, the animation never crawls and always manages to keep up at a cool, crispy sixty frames-per-second, so you'll never have to worry about the action ever being slow. Elsewhere, the backgrounds are a marvel to behold, each of them very different from the other. Some have been lifted from previous games and have been given a new look, one of those stages being Chun-Li's crowded marketplace. You'll see people gathered around and watching the fights in progress and as you successfully land hits on each other, they'll cringe or back away, covering their eyes in fear before getting right back to the action. At the end of each match, depending on what stage, they'll even demonstrate their reaction to the fight and it's nothing more but a pleasure. Your fighters will also display a wide array of emotions during combat as well, from their eyes wide as dinner plates and their jaws dropping as they watch an Ultra being pulled off successfully to feeling the pain with each blow landed. None of the animations from each character are the same, so you'll always be expecting something different and maybe even catch a glimpse of a new animation that you didn't see before. It's also true for the background scenery, especially when your not involved in the fight and rather becoming an observer as two other people duke it out, making the little details that much more significant than before. Of course, no one can help but notice the clippings that happen every now and then, such as Zangief's hand not showing when pile driving Rufus to the mat, but those moments are far and few between, so it's only a minor distraction, nothing to be concerned with. When you combine the best of both 2D and 3D with the colorful, yet gorgeous art style, you'll instantly realize that you have a great visual package that you won't be disappointed with from start to finish.
Sound wise, there isn't really much to talk about here, but it is definitely one of the game's biggest highlights. Players will be immediately introduced to a pop song that's both cheesy and mundane, yet you can't help but get hooked to it, because in a sense, it does fit the atmosphere in its strange way. But the rest of the soundtrack isn't to be laughed at afterwards, as it offers a wide variety of tunes. Some of them are new to the Street Fighter IV universe, others are lifted directly from the past and given a new leash on life. The good news is that there is a tune, somewhere in that soundtrack, that everybody will come to like and overall, it does fit the intensity and emotion that each battle offers. Once the battle starts, the music plays out normally, but as you and your opponent fight towards the finish for the round or even the match at stake, the music carries a sense of urgency, so it never feels out of place. Yet underneath the music lies the sound effects and they also do their jobs effectively. From the noise of the crowd to the dogs that are barking in the distance, one can't help but appreciate the little touches that Capcom added in for good measure. They didn't have to do this, yet they decided to do whatever possible to bring the world and its characters to life and have accomplished the task even here. They even went the extra mile to include either English or Japanese voice acting, so you can feel free to use whatever voice style to your liking, although it is highly recommended that you stick with the Japanese voice acting over the English voice acting, as the English side of it leaves a lot to be desired. Granted, some may not be able to understand Japanese, but it packs a major punch over all. Even so, audiophiles or Street Fighter fanatics alike won't have much of a problem here and will actually enjoy what it has to offer in the end.
If you want your chosen champion to succeed in every fight, you gotta have great control to achieve that task. The controller that's comes with either the PlayStation 3 or XBox 360 aren't exactly great devices to use, as the d-pad in either case be a little slippery. Further experimentation with the analog stick, however, revealed that pulling off special moves and even ultras provided less hardship than before. However, if you are truly serious in competition or have the desire to improve, it is highly recommend that you pick up either the standard or tournament fighting stick. Either arcade stick will help you improve your game tremendously and once you get comfortable with those controls, you'll never want to look back at a controller again. With an arcade stick in your hands, all of your favorite combos and moves can be executed with ease. Of course, there may be some cases when some fights don't allow you the move or combo needed at that certain time, thus handing over your opponent an opening they need, so it's to be expected. As far as any differences between the two, you won't find much. Both versions offer the same modes, along with the same rewards, the only difference is that one rewards you with trophies, the other rewards you with achievements. There's a lot to do in this game, for sure, but with each feat accomplished, the burden on your shoulder is lifted more and more and you'll be glad to get it all done, as you will be handsomely rewarded with medals, icons, titles, even personal taunts and different costumes for each fighter.
Street Fighter IV is definitely one of the year's biggest surprises. Newcomers will be able to easily pick it up and play without much trouble and veterans will be thrilled to discover a new gameplay system, even if they are discouraged that some things are gone. The visuals are literally outstanding and full of life, the sound and music a welcoming joy to hear for the ears, and the challenge is there each and every time you boot up the game. A lot of replay value is to be found here, so even if you do manage to unlock everything in the game, the desire to fight and test your skill against others never gets dull and is always a pleasure to go through. While there are many great games that already out or coming out later this year, if there is one game you should pick up, it should be Street Fighter IV. Street Fighter IV indeed pays homage to the past very well and gives us gamers an excellent glimpse of a future that's both bright and positive.