May 30th, 2009
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| Original Release Date: February 17, 2009 |
| Number of Players: 2 |
| ESRB Rating: Teen |
| Genre(s): Fighting |
| Developer: Capcom |
| Publisher: Capcom |
| Other Platforms: Xbox 360, iPod Touch/iPhone |
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 As the days of the abominable T-Rex have become a forgotten relic of the past, so to have the glory days of video game arcades. The scent of delicious pizza in the air, the sounds of early 90s top 40 in the background providing a soundtrack to your visit, and the trademark feeling of a greasy arcade stick really let you know you were experiencing something exclusive. In the early 90s, taking a trip to your local arcade was like hopping in a DeLorean and seeing a sneak peek into the near future. Back then, gaming consoles couldn't dream of reproducing what you could get from a tried-and-true arcade machine.
Arcades saw some big hits before -- ranging from the simplistic Pong to the heavily addictive Pac-Man, but no other game inhaled the George Washingtons like Capcom's Street Fighter II. Depending on who you ask, that game may be the mother of all fighting games. It's inspired an entire genre (even it's SNK rival, The King of Fighters) from it's game mechanics to character design, and even after almost 20 years since it's inception, it's still the one of the most playable games you'll find in the category while others have become trite and dated.
True, Capcom released about two handful's worth of updates to the game and it's seen life on just about every system known to man, but it's definitely earned it's stripes in the gaming world. It's sequel, Street Fighter III didn't make such a big impact in 1997 mainly due to the popularity of arcades fading in America and the technological funk consoles were in at the time (Playstation's horrible handling of sprite-based games, Saturn's need to add an extra RAM cartridge, and the N64's limited cartridge capacity). The game wouldn't see a suitable home version release until the next generation of systems arrived (Dreamcast, and later PS2). While it's still remembered for being "good," it's largely a forgotten entry in the franchise.
Then Capcom put the franchise in a limbo and took a page from Nintendo's book and got lazy put the characters in other games (SNK vs Capcom, Marvel vs Capcom, etc.) to appease fans. It's been almost two decades in the making, but we finally have the rightful heir to the SF2 crown with 2009's Street Fighter IV on the Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and later this summer on the PC.
The first thing you'll notice right off the bat are the graphics. 'Tis true, I wasn't sold on the 3D look of the game at all when it was revealed for the first time in '07, but after seeing more screens and looking at video of it in motion, I grew quite fond of it. The game still operates like the old skool brawler, but it looks a hell of a lot more modernized. Actually playing it confirms this ten-fold -- this isn't an abortion like Street Fighter EX (Yeah, I went there).
It's really nice to see the 2D fighter genre back in the spotlight again after being frowned upon by the mainstream for years. SFIV's character models are superbly animated and the extra depth allows for so much more detail during fights that just weren't possible with sprites. The in-game camera pans in dramatic, three dimension angles to capture big moves like super and ultra combos and switches back to the side view without a single hitch. Facial expressions really come alive with the new engine -- letting you see everything from the look of shock on an unlucky victim about to get torn apart by a beastly 27-hit combo to the goofy "what the hell"/over-the-top anime reaction to getting punched in the face by joke character Dan.
Veterans of the second Street Fighter will have to readjust their gameplans here (myself included), as the game is a much more balanced affair this go 'round. For starters, characters seem to all be on an equal playing field with one another. In the older games, every character had a counter-character that could wipe the floor with them easily unless you were an absolute beast on the sticks. Thankfully now you can even pick "weaker" characters like Dan or Sakura and still do some respectable damage against "stronger" antagonists like Ryu or Akuma (after some practice, of course). I can vouch for this after getting my ass beat using Zangief against Sakura. Yeah, I know. Fail.
Throws also take less damage and are a smidge harder to perform; requiring better timing in addition to pressing two buttons instead of one. This cuts down on fights that end in a matter of seconds due to stronger players abusing throws (like in SF2 with T. Hawk or E. Honda), but it also makes doing them a tad pointless other than for pure show. Good luck trying to toss a seasoned player around because it's not going to happen (you'll get tossed like salad, though).
Focus Attacks (charge moves) have a lot more potential to be match changers than throws anyways. When done (within range) correctly, it is an unblockable hit that will temporarily stun your opponent, leaving them extremely prone to a combo flurry. The downside is these need to executed before your adversary has a chance to disrupt your charging -- and that's when skill comes into play.
Street Fighter IV controls on a solid level using the standard DualShock 3 pad and using the shoulder buttons for heavy attacks isn't as bad as I thought. My main complaint is the PS3's D-Pad design and size of the controller. While this certainly fares a step above the Xbox 360's controller, the D-Pad on the PS3 will rub your thumb raw over extended play periods thanks to the rough texture. The analog sticks prove to be a tad too loose and unpredictable to rely on full-time, thus cementing my decision to purchase the fight pad in the future. You can also purchase arcade sticks, but from my experience with those things, I'm better off controlling the game with my nuts and dick while blindfolded.
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