Street Fighter IV mixes both awful and amazing elements

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      (Capcom; PS 3, Xbox 360; rated teen)

      No one saw this game coming. With all the distasteful attempts at re-creating the popular fighting game, we had all hoped that was the end of Street Fighter. Everyone remembers Street Fighter II, one of the most addictive and influential games of the 90s. I remember a local mall having tournaments with the stand-up arcade version. My brother and I played the hell out of that single joystick and six buttons.

      When I took home the new Street Fighter IV, I was reluctant to play it, mainly because I didn’t want it to leave a bad taste in my mouth after so many years of number two feeding me well. Start-up is the same as always; you’ve got arcade mode, practice, versus, and all your options.

      When I started the single-player campaign, I was shocked to see a forced story line (something preferably avoided in fighting games) and worst of all the cheesiest anime cut scenes. It was ridiculous how awful these cut scenes looked. It looked as if Capcom had invited the Pokémon animators over, and before they started drawing Capcom beat them over the head with a two-by-four. After the cut scenes, you enter a really surprisingly good-looking precursor to your fight. So, why didn’t they use these graphics for the cut scenes?

      In-game graphics are great. They are obviously going for a comic-book feel. The flow of the Xbox 360 controller with your player is superb, and all of your favourite moves are still available. This game feels as good as it looks, but with every fighting game comes my fight with boredom. I am assuming that the story is intended to keep people riveted about their next fight. But fans of fighting games don’t want a dumb story, and non-fans of fighting games won’t be persuaded to like them with this lame attempt at a plot.

      There are four new characters that add very little to your experience. All of our favourite characters return—not to mention that most of the Street Fighter II levels have been revamped and look amazing. There will be a slight learning curve when it comes to diehard fans, what with the new layouts on controllers and such. But for newbs it is very easy to pick up and fool around with—though, you won’t know how to pull off the 10-hit combos or special moves. Easy to play and hard to master, this is a perfect example of a great middle-ground video game.

      Comments

      3 Comments

      Derek C

      Apr 24, 2009 at 11:33pm

      Glad to get some insight into this. I can imagine getting some fun out of this, just to make up for all the SF2 I never played, but all my friends did.

      zosh

      Apr 27, 2009 at 4:56pm

      Sometimes the legends should just be left alone to stay pure in our hearts and memories.