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Posted on: Feb 17, 2009
Street Fighter IV
WORDS BY: Dan Amrich
At first, Capcom thought it was a bad idea. Street Fighter IV? Why mess with the legacy? But producer Yoshinori Ono eventually convinced his bosses that this game could do it all — live up to its legacy, reconnect Street Fighter with its passionate past, and be a fantastic fighting game in its own right. Capcom eventually agreed, resulting in the rebirth of an entire franchise.
It wasn’t easy. Ono went back to Street Fighter II and built everything around the simple joy of beating the living snot out of someone else. In an industry dominated by 3D graphics, Street Fighter IV is definitely 2D — in its gameplay, at least. The characters and arenas are all polygonal, but you never have to worry about sidestepping or a rotating camera. It’s pure, and that’s part of why SFIV feels so right. If you’re a fan of the older games, you’ll drop right in and enjoy yourself; the classic six-button controls feel perfect, and as you take different characters through Arcade mode, you’ll unlock alumni who didn’t appear in the coin-op edition, like Cammy, Rose, and Dan. Everyone looks as you remember them, only better. Exaggerated new facial animations make every attack look like it really hurts, and the game’s distinctive painted graphic style gives it the classy look of an interactive work of art.
In addition to old friends, there are some new characters to try (see sidebars) and a subtle but excellent new gameplay mechanic: Focus Attacks. Hold the middle punch and kick buttons to charge one; you can absorb one of your foe’s attacks, and time your release to make them crumple to the ground. (As an art-direction bonus, Focus Attacks are accompanied by an inky splatter.) As they fall to their knees, they’re vulnerable to throws and even bigger damage before they hit the ground. It’s a great game changer that doesn’t overcomplicate the fairly technical existing mechanics.
Sat, 10/17/2009 - 19:48
Posted by wickland
Now THIS is one wicked game! Street Fighter was always my all time favorite along with Akuma!
Wed, 09/23/2009 - 12:46
Posted by SplatterHouse 3
IM GOING TO BUY THIS FREAKIN GAME!
Sun, 03/15/2009 - 15:48
Posted by astew1975
I must agree with you Dragon80, the ultra's are almost impossible to pull off. As I, I grew up playing Street Fighter, and love the game. When will they realize that it may look or be easy for them to do it since they made the game, but not easy for someone like me. It really hard to do along with the dash part of the move. I hope they update this in the future.
Sat, 03/07/2009 - 17:20
Posted by Dragon80
I was extremely thrilled when i saw the first photos of the new street fighter. ive owned, played and dominated freinds and family growin up playin the originals. and capcom deliverd once again i love it. except for one thing that seems to haunt me about alot of games particularly fightin games. Take SFIV for example the super and ultra combos (the coolest new thing in the game) is the biggest pain because the buttons are exact to another move so 9 out of 10 times i try to do it in a fight i just do the special move.and wear the skin right off my thumbs tryin. I DREAM OF THE DAY A GAME MAKER WILL REALIZE THE SIMPLE THINGS AND MAKE A GREAT GAME FLAWLESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sun, 03/01/2009 - 19:42
Posted by MitchyD
I don't get the infatuation with the dpad. When did eight-way buttons replace the arcade stick, which is represented well by the 360's analog sticks?
Wed, 02/25/2009 - 14:48
Posted by Dan OXM
I spent about an hour with the 360 pad and then went back to a Hori EX2 stick (the same one they brought out as the DOA stick some years ago). But if you miss the old pads, look for the Mad Catz FightPad to come back in stock -- it's $40 (don't get cheated by the scalpers just because they're out of stock for a little while) and really is as close to an old Genesis or Saturn pad as you're going to find. The d-pad is enormous and awesome.
Sun, 02/22/2009 - 20:23
Posted by sithvol
Great column as always Dan. I can't help but wonder though, regardless of how good a fighter is, it suffers when played on a control pad that by all rights was never designed as a fighter's controller. The only knock I have on my 360 is the wonky control pad.
I am an old school gamer and have never been able to truly play a fighter with a joystick. (Give me a NES or Sega Genesis control pad any day.) What I wouldn't give for the ability to play one of these fighters on 360 with one of those pads.
Thu, 02/19/2009 - 16:10
Posted by Dan OXM
Well, you shouldn't take offense at all, really. It's not an offensive thing to say "this didn't work for us and here's why."
Disagreeing is one thing. But if you start taking offense at other people's independent opinions simply because your point of view is different, we're going to be in pretty bad shape!
Thu, 02/19/2009 - 04:41
Posted by imosh818
I disagree with you guys about the anime style cinematics at the the beginning of the arcade mode, I enjoyed these quick flicks. I don't think they serve the purpose of adding an insane amount of depth to the story but they really make you appreciate the art direction in which they took this game. I guess maybe i just really enjoyed them and took offense to the negative reaction.