
STREET FIGHTER 4 REVIEWS TRIAL
Playing the game will unlock further characters, costumes, taunts, art and movies, with hundreds of items to collect overall, and trial mode works as both a good tutorial and a way to get to grips with a character you haven’t played with much. There’s the standard arcade modes for each characters as well as those that allow you to choose who you fight and where you fight them.

The rest of the game matches the fights themselves in offering plenty of depth and longevity even for eager and skilled players. It makes for a unique and incredibly absorbing look, and it even extends to little clouds of ink bursting out of characters when they take a hit. Capcom has gone with the cartoonish, stylised design on purpose, and evidence of the characters being hand-drawn is purposely scattered all over their over-sized, muscular frames. It truly is a gorgeous experience: characters are animated with stunning fluidity and a healthy sense of individuality as they contort and connect with each other, and it’s easy to see the ludicrous amount of effort that has gone into making the first next-gen version of Street Fighter look so good. The frenetic and action-packed fighting translates well to the graphics, which are imbued with a cartoon style and plenty of neat, attractive touches. As usual, the action is kept on a 2D plane, but the characters and backdrops are fully 3D. These new characters – particluarly El Fuerte and Viper – fit in well with both the Street Fighter 4 philosophy and aesthetic, and quickly feel at home.Īs well as having the fantastic nostalgia factor down to an eighties-styled T and playing brilliantly, Street Fighter 4 is also one of the finest-looking combat games we’ve ever seen. Bison strut their stuff in this new tournament, and other old characters – such as Dan, Sakura and Cammy – also appear.Ĭapcom has also introduced four new fighters for the fourth true incarnation of their game, with tough Frenchman Abel, businesswoman Crimson Viper, chunky Rufus and gastronaut lucha libre star El Fuerte joining the cast. All of the classic characters you remember from the original pair of classic titles are here: Ken, Rye, Blanka, Chun-Li, E. The fantastic gameplay – which offers suitably absorbing depth that will please even the hardened fighter – is complimented by an excellent roster of characters. It’s not a gentle learning curve, but it’s not insurmountable, either – instead, it’s one that can be progressed logically and one that rewards the addictive process of learning, improving and adapting. You begin to use them because you’re ready and can cope with the additional level of complexity they provide, but they’re not essential when you first start playing. It’s also worth noting that, at no point, do the layers of moves – from basic to super attacks – feel hugely daunting. These super-powerful combinations also unleash special cinematics that smash through the 2D plane, and they look fantastic – crammed with light effects and lashings of Street Fighter 4‘s gorgeous and unique art style. Again, it’s another move that can turn the tide of battle and adds another tactical element alongside the frantic fighting. There’s another level of special moves, too, with Super Combos unleashed when you’ve filled up a gauge that grows as you absorb damage.

There’s plenty of depth to the fighting, too – certainly more than in Sony’s premier beat-em-up, Tekken – thanks to the layers of complexity that slice through Street Fighter 4 like strata in rock. Bouts are kinetic, energetic affairs that reflect the near-perfect balance of the characters and their tight, focused and well-conceived movesets, with the action rarely letting up and never becoming boring. Street Fighter veterans will be pleased with the gameplay that Capcom has served up.
STREET FIGHTER 4 REVIEWS SERIES
Fear not, though: the latest Street Fighter game isn’t EX, Turbo or Alpha’s here – Street Fighter 4 simultaneously takes the series back to its roots and re-invents the genre for the better. This diversification led to the fighting came concept becoming confused and diluted, with casual players put off and hardcore players disillusioned. Later titles, though, saw the famous Capcom quality slip: Street Fighter 3 was followed by games that, like many of the other fighting games of the day, offered numerous distractions, gimmicks and sub-titles. Street Fighter 1 and 2 were ground-breaking titles that encompassed everything that was great about the old-school 2D fighter: engrossing and addictive gameplay with hidden depth and fantastic to play with your friends. The decline of the Street Fighter series can be taken as a metaphor for the decline of the fighting game genre following its arcade-driven heyday from the late ’80s to the early ’90s.
