That 9.0 is a lie, that classic gameplay is outdated!
So if you have played any other street fighter game in the past, this one will definitely feel the same. My brother said "its Street Fighter 2 with updated graphics, nothing else other than that". And I agree with him, Capcom never changes their gameplay, the only time SF characters have combos or fight as good as characters from King Of Fighters or any other 2D fighter is if its a cross over like Marvel Vs Capcom. Speaking of the graphics, SF IV has a mix of 2D and 3D with a cell shade twist thrown in the mix. Characters no longer have their own theme song except for when you fight your rival in Arcade mode. The stage designs are great.
When you think about the final boss, he's just another ugly stupid looking boss with moves that imitate every character in the game (or at least almost all of them). It sort of makes you wonder, why developers can't create a boss with their own unique moves, and one that at least looks cool enough to fight.
Aside from the graphics, SFIV doesn't have anything new going for it. As I said before, the gameplay is outdated, and it feels extremely slow compared to games like Tekken 6, Virtua Fighters 5, etc.
Its just odd how this game got a 9.0 while King Of Fighters XII received a much lower score when it was a lot faster, and the game play did feel slightly new to some people. But in SF IV everything just feels old, and outdated except the graphics. Playing this game was like playing Street Fighter EX 2 again. And just to make sure that I was correct. I tested Street Fighter Alpha 1, 2, 3, Street Fighter 2, Capcom Vs SNK 2 (which has SF gameplay instead of King of fighters), Third Strike, then Street Fighter IV, they all played the same way. Which is why this is a game I can never play no longer than 30 minutes before getting tired of it.
There are times when you want to do something new, but in SF IV that's not even an option. Its more about scoring points and being defensive. I noticed the pattern in a lot of the characters move sets and how the CPU reacts to certain things. For instance, Sagat still tries to predict your jump attempts, by upper cutting if you attempt to jump over him. If you just stand there, he will constantly shoot fire balls at you (High, low) just like he always does in every SF game he appears in. Ryu is also that way now if you try to jump him, he will shoryukken you.