A beautiful game that is destroyed by poor mechanics.
I won't go into too much detail, but the fighting system is just so maddeningly flawed that it renders the game almost unplayable. Against the CPU, you'll have a great time. But if you want to battle someone real-as is the true point of fighters-you're in for an unsatisfying, irritating attempt at a good time that, frankly, you'll rarely ever have. Such is the case for Lite Mode, at least. Nine-tenths of the people you'll come across are spammers. And sure, you could easily beat them, but that's not very fun. It's tedious. Extremely, extremely tedious. Especially when you do it over and over. Yes, that one fight you finally have is enjoyable-extremely enjoyable-but it isn't worth having to go through so many boring, repetitive battles that you will undeniably have to go through. Capcom really should have done something about this. They should have required some interval of time between the use of touch-screen attacks. But they didn't, and this allows anyone to win with no effort required.
"Well, reviewer, just use Pro Mode. Then you won't have to deal with all the annoying spammers you've been complaining so much about," says a commenter. Well, commenter, I would, except that the controls aren't what they should be. There are three punch and kick buttons, but the locations are just so awkward. Imagine trying to use these cumbersome controls while trying to remember and execute a complicated series of inputs for a special move that often times doesn't work the first few times you try. Then, imagine using all the focus and cunning it requires to strategize and predict your opponent's move while trying to navigate the crazy controls. It's nearly impossible. Yes, I could spend hours in training mode figuring out just the right way to move the circle pad, but that isn't very fun. I'd rather be battling with other people.
I realize this is a Street Fighter game, and that most SF games have a hardcore element to them. But this is a handheld, after all. I feel as though the makers of this game disregarded the casual audience entirely. They made Lite Mode, but obviously they didn't put very much thought into it. This only leaves Pro Mode, for the hardcore fans. The rest of us casual gamers are on our own.
Super Street Fighter IV 3D is a beautiful game. It utilizes the 3D technology in a fun and exciting way. But unless you want to invest hours into learning the tricky controls-which is quite tedious on a handheld-I suggest you pick up another game.