PS3Blog.co.za

Super Street Fighter IV Review

Posted on 28. May, 2010 by Freak_c in Games, News, Reviews

If you purchased the first Street Fighter IV then I’m sorry to say that you should have waited for this game rather. But a question should be asked, why didn’t Capcom release this game from the beginning? This is the street fighter that we all know and love. But does it pack the punch?

Not to say that the previous game was terrible, it wasn’t, not at all, but compared to this new ‘super’ version it does come up a bit short. The new version has had the controls tweaked just that little bit more which makes the fighting tighter and crisp, unfortunately while playing the game I could not help shake the feeling that the game would play better with one of those true arcade type controllers as the analogue stick just doesn’t cut it some times. When you do finally manage to pull off one of those super moves you can’t help but glee with satisfaction.

Because every character’s moves are pulled off with similar inputs, it lets you concentrate on how to use them in a fight, minimizing frustration without sacrificing depth. This makes it easy for anyone to pick up the controller and start playing and pulling off some of the moves. Being prepared is also important, which requires getting familiar with each character’s techniques so you know what to look out for.

Some old favourite mini games have returned, the break a car mini game and the barrels game. The car mini game is most enjoyable as you attempt to destroy a car in a set about of time. Unleashing all yours moves on the car and seeing it get destroyed piece by piece, sure does bring out that rebel inside you. The barrel game is alright but fairly easy to accomplish as long as you don’t miss one of the barrels.

There are a total of 35 characters available for you to choose from right from the get go, 10 of these are new additions to the previous Street Fighter. No unlocking required, no battling hundreds of foes to unlock one character they are there ready to be played as soon as you insert the disc.

The other improvements have been made to the online section of this Super game. If you remember, in Street Fighter IV only Ranked and Player matches were available online. The point system in that game was also problematic, because it encouraged players to only use their best fighters in Ranked contests and punished experimentation. Capcom sidestepped that issue in Super Street Fighter IV by implementing two point systems.

You’ll gain Player Points for victories in online contests and lose them when you’re defeated. On top of that, you’ll also be rewarded with Battle Points allocated to a rating for the specific fighter you’re using. So if you’re really good with Rufus but want to check out how Adon works, your Player Point rankings will take a hit should you lose, but your Rufus Battle Point rank won’t be affected as you test out Adon against others. This lets you get a sense of overall skill (Player Points) as well as your best fighter (Battle Points). Both Player and Battle Points are tracked on the game’s online leaderboards, letting you see how you stack up against others and delivering a better ranking experience to players who take their status in the community seriously.

There are two additional modes alongside the ranked matches. Team battles allow for 2v2, 3v3, and 4v4 setups where players take turns beating each other up to see which group has the most talent. There’s also the Endless Battle mode that effectively recreates an arcade experience. Up to eight players can enter into a queue and watch as two of them engage in battle. The winner stays in and moves on to the next person in line, while the loser is kicked to the end of the queue to wait for another turn. The cool part is that everyone can talk to each other the whole time, commenting on the fight, trash talking, or sharing new techniques. With a group of friends this can be a great way to learn new moves and mechanics and foster a friendly, competitive atmosphere.

Be sure to check out the impressive Replay Channel. In this section you’ll be able to browse a huge array of matches from around the community and because the participants’ Battle Point ranks are highlighted next to the characters they’re using, you can get a sense of which matches will be better than others, and can then save them to your hard drive for future viewing. While watching, you can turn on input data, send the match into slow-motion, and turn on the damage numbers to get a better idea of what each player is doing. Unfortunately with my line speed and our horrible internet here in South Africa I wasn’t able to get into games easily and suffered from lag. But the guys with a 4meg line shouldn’t have too much trouble and playing with your friends will be a great experience. A much better improvement from the previous game.

The graphics haven’t had any change from the first Street Fighter but still look great. I really like the cell shading, bright cartoon feel of the game and when you pull off those super moves it really make an impressive impression. The sounds of the game are spot on with great punch, kick and special effects. As for the voice acting it’s well nothing rally to complain about but nothing to write about either.

Conclusion
A great all round fighting game and a great improvement from the previous game. If you have the old one it might be better to sell it and buy this version. Extra fighters, better online, and tweaks to the mechanics, well you can’t go wrong. Capcom sure did make an already great fighting game an even better experience.

8/10

Tags: Review, Super Street Fighter IV