Review from http://bngames.basicallynothing.com
Street Fighter IV is the first true Street Fighter release in nearly
10 years. Celebrating the 15th Anniversary of the series, Capcom has
released this polished JEM onto the Next Gen Scene with Old School
roots. Its been a long time coming, but has Capcom delivered on a
definitive sequel to a classic? Has Capcom waited to long. Read on my
friends, read on…
Story: If you take in consideration all of the sub stories, sub releases, anime, and comic books, the story really is a bit convoluted. For those of you who did NOT pick up the Special Edition, you missed out on the BlueRay/DVD anime movie that sort of explains the plot of Street Fighter IV, but only just. Basically Ken and Ryn still haven’t had their epic battle yet, Ryu is still fighting to control the Dark hado, and well alot of other stuff you’ll need to play through the game for. If you can get your hands on the BlueRay or Anime I would heavily suggest it if you plan on bearing any interest in the extremely convoluted storyline. For better or worse its definitely Street Fighter.
Presentation: This game shines in every sence of the word. Colorful, vibrant, and even more importantly ORIGINAL. There will be a portion of you who do not like the art style, and its obvious if you dont that you have no taste at all if you don’t. If you Absolutely hate the art design, you need to show me a better way that does not involve redrawing high rez sprites. I do admit if your a long time fan it can take some getting used to for a VERY short part of time, but it will grow on you quickly, I guarantee it. My favorite parts of the visuals remain in the little touches. The facial expressions of your foe just before you land an Ultra Combo, the Inky flash when pulling off a Charged Cancel, people in the background responding to Zangief’s Spinning Piledriver when it connects with the floor. The wonderful ending animations, hell even the character intro’s. You can tell a lot of Heart was put into all of these aspects, and if you could ever play anime in motion, this really is the closest it gets. Ultra finishes never get old, and are satisfyingly devastating whether your giving or receiving one.
The most notable issue with the game resides in the Animated Intro’s and End Movies. Im just going to say it, they are aweful. Awful in that crappy Kids WB kinda way, even worse for some of the characters. Each Character has an intro and ending, and neither is usually worth watching. Also almost as bad (And laughable) would be the English Voice acting, though this is forgiven to an extent as you can modify the voice of every character to the original Japanese track after you have completed the “Story” mode with said character. My PS3 configuration is almost all set to all Japanese voice acting, im slowly working on getting my PC version to reflect the same. Sound wise, otherwise, is great. The Music remixes are notably well done, and are well received. the Intro song is a bit annoying, but your not forced to listen to it, you can thankfully skip the intro. The intro movie however is extremely well done, taking what looks to be the 3D character models and shaping a very unique ink/neon art style that Ive never felt has gotten old (Unlike Street Fighter 3: Third Strike’s Into….).
Pc to PS3 comparisons really are not necessary. PC obviously benefits from current hardware and notably looks better overall. The PS3 version in no way is handicapped, however the upscaled 720p resolution vs my Alienware laptop’s 1440×900 native resolution does make a difference. The colors are slightly richer on the PC, and with the added filters that were exclusive to the PC version, you can get a bit more flair out of the package on a higher end rig. One particular note, when testing on 1024×768 resolution the game seems to morph the character models to match the resolution to keep that wide screen aspect ratio, which is important for people on lower end pc’s that can run at true resolution, truly unique.
Gameplay: For the most part however they are nearly identical in everyway. Infact I use my Mad Catz PS3 USB Bluetooth special edition SF4 controller on both versions, and cant tell a single difference mechanically. As far as fighting is concerned, its a delicate balance of Street Fighter II’s timing, with some Street Fighter II fluidity and flair. Ryu and Ken both seem to take many cue’s from Street Fighter III as far as how combo’s play out, but the timing does feel more like Street Fighter II. Capcom had stated II was the target, but many of the Street Fighter III dev’s were on hand for this iteration. Overall it feels just classic enough, with a few of the modern interpretations that I have come to expect. The story mode is just like any other fighting game, fight your way up to your Rival fighter (Which ties into the story, for some in no particular meaningful way) and then the final Boss, Seth. Seth himself is a combination of all the fighters in the game’s techniques. he is also extremely over powered and a pain in the ass on any difficulty to defeat. He spams the teleportation to a degree that’s almost laughable. Beating him becomes a game of chance as your not quite sure when he will teleport and attack with a high combo or low combo, but missing the block can lead into a 12 hit combo which will ruin your day. needless to say unlocking all of the characters is a tedious task that only the dedicated will embark on. Special Unlocks Akuma and Gouken require specifc win conditions along your matches in Story mode, making the task all that more arduous.
Online Play is a win lose situation. Its great you have online, that for the most part is lag free if you have a decent connection, however as the game was made buy japanese developers, a strong emphasis
on player interaction such as coin op type matchmaking, blind select, and a fleshed out group party system are non existent. For those of you who just want to punch online dudes in the face none of what I just wrote matters and or makes any sense. Matchmaking can be a pain in both versions as you will see the “Room is Full” message alot before finding a successful match. As with any online fighter you will also experience alot of people dropping out mid match which is plain chickenshit. In the end its best played locally, where you can put the cheating asshole that just spammed Chun-Li’s kick in a real headlock. In the end its Pure Street Fighter.
Special: Special Edition comes with a BlueRay on PS3 and a DVD on Xbox360 PC. They also came with crappy little statues if your into that sort of thing. A added bonus being a next gen game is the ability to update itself online, and as well add new characters and content which has been rumored. So far you can buy a plethora of extra costumes, which are overpriced.
Conclusion: Its Street Fighter through and through. It has its flaws, but its a solid release on its own. The PC version has its own added value with people whom have the portable power to run it (I love this fact alone). if your a fighting game fan, its a must have.
Street Fighter IV is a ***** out of 5
By: Bobby MajorReview from http://bngames.basicallynothing.com