Top 10 Games of 2009 - 1. Street Fighter IV (PS3, 360, PC)
by transience
I can define most gaming years by one thing. In 2007, I got big into Phoenix Wright because two games came out and I had just played the original in December 2006. 2008 was the year of Mega Man because MM9's announcement got me into playing all the old Mega Man games again. 2004 was lost to Zero Mission. This goes on and on. 2009 was the year I jumped back into fighting games again -- or rather...
I can define most gaming years by one thing. In 2007, I got big into Phoenix Wright because two games came out and I had just played the original in December 2006. 2008 was the year of Mega Man because MM9's announcement got me into playing all the old Mega Man games again. 2004 was lost to Zero Mission. This goes on and on.
2009 was the year I jumped back into fighting games again -- or rather, the year I jumped back into Street Fighter. Thanks to online making fighters viable again, SF4 is the perfect game at a perfect time. It is solid in every single aspect: balance, graphics, and plain old fun. SF4 is really fun. SF4 is fairly simple while having a hell of a lot of depth. You can play it on a very casual level or a very, very technical level. It holds up both ways.
It's not a perfect game - there are flaws there. The biggest one is the sound. SF4 has some of the most generic electronic nonsnse possible, with the rematch music being a four second loop that's incredibly grating. SF2 has classic tunes; SF4 is anything but. When you're hearing these songs for dozens of hours at a time, you really wish they were a bit more memorable. At least they're not annoying, rematch music aside. Some of the combo links are really tough to nail as well. And the online play is still pretty bare-bones, though the actual core game works well. SSF4 looks to fix all of that, so I can't complain about this much.
SF4 -- great game.