Gameplay:
If you’re one of the millions of people that have played a fighting game then you know what Street Fighter is all about. Capcom’s Street Fighter series has been celebrated as the most widely successful fighting game series to date. Among the more than half-dozen Street Fighter games that have come out, nearly all of them have been highly competitive and have been the highlight of many international tournaments. The secret to the recipe is the overall balance, depth and sheer difficulty of the games. With that said, this next-generation installment of the series has been highly anticipated for quite some time, and thankfully it doesn’t disappoint.
Unlike other fighting games, Street Fighter IV is very combo-based. Button-mashing proves unsuccessful while speed and timing are absolutely necessary to win. The game sports a large cast of characters with all kinds of different unique abilities ranging from the defensive such as M. Bison, to the more offensive fighters like Akuma. Street Fighter IV includes several game modes that range from a typical arcade mode to a challenge mode that has dozens of very difficult challenges that reward you with unlockables. The arcade mode begins with an introduction the character of your choosing and sends you on a journey to fight different fighters around the world, and you eventually fight your biggest rival as well as the final boss. Subsequently, characters as well as videos are unlocked by just about everything you complete which makes this a very rewarding experience.
Controls:
Any fighting games controls can either make or break the game. Thankfully, Street Fighter IV has very quick and responsive controls which at times suck you into the gameplay. Each character has several special abilities which all require special inputs that take a lot of practice to master, and many experts recommend buying a fighting stick if you want to compete with the best. With that said, the PS3 controller’s D-Pad work perfectly fine but with intense play your thumb will throb with pain due to the technicality of the game.
Graphics:
Thankfully, Capcom went with a 3D cell-shaded design for the game which came out looking amazing. The game is played on a 2D plane as seen in the previous titles but all of the graphics are rendered in 3D. Overall, the game looks great and the quality of the series has been preserved but given a very welcomed facelift.
Sound:
The music for Street Fighter IV is good but not great. On the other hand the sound effects are very well done and the unique sound of the series has remained the same. Also, both Japanese and English voiceovers have been included and both are absolutely top-notch.
Replay Value:
The story-mode can be beaten within about 30 minutes, but that’s only the beginning. Challenge mode has trial, survival and time modes which all have both normal and hard modes. Each challenge mode rewards you with unlocks as you progress. Also, there are more than half-a-dozen unlockable characters which take a lot of time to unlock, and all of them are very interesting. To top that off is a full-fledged online mode which features titles and icons to deck out your profile. The online mode is great addition and probably one of the best online fighting experiences to date. Overall, you’re looking at over 60-100 hours of play time before you might feel like you’ve done everything, and that’s assuming you practice enough to be able to complete the toughest objectives.
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Rating:
Story: 5.0
Gameplay: 10.0
Graphics: 9.0
Controls: 9.5
Sound: 9.0
Replay Value: 9.5
Overall: 9.3
Own, Rent, Avoid:
Own: This is without a doubt the best fighting game this generation and the content included will keep any fighting game fan busy for a long time.
Last Thoughts:
Capcom has finally released their next-generation Street Fighter game and it’s absolutely stunning. Besides the story there are no flaws to be seen, and the amount of work put into the game shows in just about every facet of the game.
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Written By
Jonathan Leack
4/6/2009
