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The iconic beat-em-up prepares to dragon punch away the hours of gaming; TVG grabbed an arcade stick and casts an early hadoken...
The words 'classic' or 'iconic' are perhaps bandied about in videogaming a little too readily these days, but there's no question over Capcom's Street Fighter II. The 1992 beat-em-up is an unquestioned classic, with multiple iterations from Turbo to Super and beyond, all cementing the title as one of the all-time greats.
And with Street Fighter IV, it looks like the publisher is gunning for a franchise return of 'Second Coming' proportions.
The teasing and baiting from Capcom UK has already lasted months, but at the 2008 Leipzig Game Convention, TVG came face to face with the new features and characters for the first time...and we were out to prove our Street Fighter credentials...
Tapping Into The Soul Of Sheng Long.
Despite its various stumbles over the years, the Street Fighter series is every bit the classic franchise, with the second instalment proving more procreative than a family of rabbits. Following the release of the early '90s sequel, seemingly dozens of variants were produced quite feverishly by Capcom: the Championship Edition, the Turbo Edition, the Super Edition, the Turbo Edition of the Super Edition - tweaks, nips, and tucks were made along with additional characters and moves.
But whilst a split between fans of the franchise occurred during the Street Fighter 3 days, thanks to the introduction of the parrying system, Capcom is looking to bring the factions together with Street fighter IV. Already available in Japanese arcades, the fourth instalment will hopefully grace the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 within a matter of months, satisfying the hardcore and (according to Capcom) attracting a whole new following.
So how do they plan to do that exactly?
For starters, Street Fighter IV reintroduces the same bunch of globe-trotting fighters wrinklies are familiar with: Ryu, Ken, Chun Li, Guile, and the rest of the Street Fighter II line up make it onto the roster, along with Sagat, Vega, Balrog, and M Bison. Even Cammy, the British addition to Super Street Fighter II will make it. So that's the hundred hand slap, jack-knife, fireball, and dragon punch dealt with. Capcom is also throwing in a whole new line up of fighters all eager to stamp their authority on the brand, and reassuringly, all have some trademark daft reasons to being there. But whilst the likes of Crimson Viper remain more like an SNK knock-off, Abel looks set to become a fan favourite, with a strong mix of brute strength and martial arts skills combining to form quite a formidable character.
Street Fighter IV also marks the introduction of a new move set called 'Focus Attacks', last gasp counters that replace the parrying of Street Fighter III. A three-tier system that gives characters the ability to absorb single attacks, or counter with their own quick attacks, the Focus Attacks are coupled with some nifty-looking 'inky' visuals first used in the Street Fighter IV teaser. The Super Combo system of past instalments make a return here too, although they're joined by the even more devastating Ultra Combos, a series of last gasp moves that can turn the tide of a bout in spectacular fashion. Multiple camera angles and a creative use of freeze framing on different stages of the combo all work together to bring a wildly over the top few seconds of combat. Unlike its 'Super' cousin, Ultra Combos rely on the Ultra Meter, which is filled when player's are on the receiving end of an attack.
Chasing The Dragon (Punch).
Purists with no doubt be glad to hear that the console editions, certainly the Xbox 360 version, will arrive alongside arcade-style sticks, enabling the hardcore to experience Street Fighter IV as it should be - and not on some home console gamepads. Thankfully, the Capcom hardcore had a couple of the arcade sticks ready for the demo, which was made on the Xbox 360.
Answering the call for 'someone who knows how to do a fireball', we stood up to the plate, and for the first time, experienced a sampling of the joy that is Street Fighter IV. Make no mistake, the franchise has a lot to prove in this generation of consoles, with rivals like Soul Calibur and Dead or Alive already out of the door, together with the impending release of Tekken 6...oh, and the long rumoured Killer Instinct 3 (you know we want it, Rare!) However, even with our relatively short stint with the fourth iteration, it's clear to see that Capcom is tapping successfully into a vein of nostalgia and invigorating the franchise. That said, it's probably fair to say it's leaning more towards the former than re-writing the beat-em-up rule book.
The traditionally fast pace of the franchise remains in Street Fighter IV, and is in fact helped further thanks to the new Focus Attack system, which gave a visceral tug-o-war to bouts when it was used. Stopping an onslaught of blows with a well timed focus shot, before taking advantage of a free hit and answering back with a flurry of punches certainly proved compelling. Like any newcomers to a game though, most of the action focused on us pulling off established abilities, enhanced with the added visual clout allowed by the current consoles.
For all its 'local' offerings, something that the Street Fighter hardcore is unlikely to utilise in IV is the online functionality across Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network. Reports from producer Ono-san suggest that lag remains an issue for the game, something that DoA fans will certainly empathise with, although hopefully it will be minimised come release day. Then again, doesn't the real satisfaction of beat-em-ups come from looking at your defeated opponent with a wry smile?
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Game Information
Available On:
PC, 360, PS3
| Release Date: | Players: |
|---|---|
| Out Now | Online |
| Publisher: | Genre: |
| Capcom | Fighting |
| Developer: | PEGi Rating: |
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Added:Mon 28th Feb 2011 20:51, Post No: 69
they cant make no strret fighter movie with out ruining and taking out every cool scene. ken was half japanese and half caucasion and the legend of chunli that [#@!?] who directed the film said that bison and everyone aren't going to where there costumes and gen played by gen come on now, he'd been better playing ken masters. i remember chunli was from china and was chinese how do you get a white girl playing a chinese role. everyone was in shape in the games and the anime. The people from [#@!?] london or wtever the [#@!?] there from ruined mortal kombat 1 and the [#@!?] perv who wriot mk anniahlation just like batman begins was weak and dark knight was weak except the bat motorcycle scene was cool. If they make a sf movie please give fans wt they want. cause we are some fans of sf.
Added:Thu 30th Apr 2009 22:49, Post No: 68
do you not have any commands for the game?
FanyRoch~~:)
Added:Wed 29th Apr 2009 01:21, Post No: 67
WHEN WILL THERE EVER BE A STREET FIGHTER MOVIE THAT IS TRUE TO THE STORY LINE AND CHARACTER MOVES??? Every movie released has left everyone puzzled with questions about the rest of the cast!
CAN SOMEONE STEP IN AND DO THIS CULT CLASSIC VIDEO GAME RIGHT?
Disappointment after disappointment...
it's been done before guys... With the graphics in most action adventure fantasy movies these days can we please get it right!?! Lets turn fantasy into reality!!!
Added:Wed 22nd Apr 2009 10:48, Post No: 66
KRDQJ-67XYD-4FV2V-DW84F-WW92B
Added:Sun 19th Apr 2009 14:30, Post No: 65
How anoying, just tryped all of them in and noe work, they have all been sued but people havent said theyve taken them. *cry*
Added:Sun 19th Apr 2009 14:27, Post No: 64
JPKJR-4GFYX-XG6TX-3CQ38-MG74B is gone
Added:Fri 17th Apr 2009 19:21, Post No: 63
this game at bestsku dot com comes with a free chun li figure.
Added:Sun 12th Apr 2009 17:12, Post No: 62
You know what a good rating for this game actually is? It's a 4.5. Why? That's because even if I was the number one fan of the original Street Fighter back when it was released 22 years ago in the classic arcade market I would still be as open minded as to say that I never want to see it in my face twenty-two years in the future no matter how much I had once liked it back in the day. What I am denoting is that nothing has changed at all since back then, nothing more than a few pretty looking images and character models in testament to what people would expect from the 21st century. But what ever happened to efficiency and competition? Tradition and bias won't ever get anyone anywhere.
Added:Sun 12th Apr 2009 16:56, Post No: 61
Ok so basically all you are saying about Street Fighter IV is an unnecessary briefing of Capcom's 22-year history concerning the series, why seeing 24 original characters return is better than 22, claiming that the whole "focus attack" concept is a seemingly genius mechanic even though its mediocre at best, and the online functionality in IV has a unique play on person vs person fights. So what happened to summarizing sound, graphics, the rest of the gameplay, longevity, and storyline? Someone is being biased while throwing sickingly pretentious words as they review. Just read the review I submittied for it on Gamespot, I try to actually be objective.
Added:Sun 12th Apr 2009 16:40, Post No: 60
Why did you even bring up Leisure Suit Larry? No one ever said anything about it, you must have some special affection for the game that you can't help but try to deny it every day of your life even if it means blaming other people for liking it when they don't. Unfortunately the pendulum of destiny has already rung, so no matter how much you despair over Leisure Suit Larry ringing in your head every day of your life you will become insane over it without stop and eat unleavened bread for 12 consecutive days and nights before spurting your last breath of air in this world. Good luck with your future, I'm glad I didn't get stuck in your situation.