karanboochra
Contributor
Yesterday the crew from ManiaTV’s Arcade show invited me to join them on a trip to the Family Fun Arcade in Granada Hills, CA, one of the few locations in the U.S that has Street Fighter IV! The point of the shoot was to film one of Arcade’s Video Game Report segments, obviously, on SFIV.
SFIV is one of my most anticipated games of all time, and needless to say, I’m a huge fanboy of the series since I grew up playing its predecessors. As a result, I was more than happy to tag along with the Mania crew. The arcade operator was generous enough to turn on free play for the duration of the shoot, which means the crew and I got about 45 minutes to beat the tar out of each other with various characters.
My initial thought about the graphics was that the game simply needs to be seen to be believed. The few videos floating around on the ‘net don’t do it justice–it really is the definition of eye candy. From a hardcore gamer’s perspective, the graphics are pleasing to the eye without getting in the way of the battle, unlike some of the Capcom fighters of previous years (here’s looking at you, Marvel vs. Capcom series).
As you’ve no doubt seen from the videos and would expect from a 3D fighter, the animation is super smooth and the special effects are top notch. But this is just the beginning.
See, Street Fighter IV is a fan service game all the way through–it’s what you would expect if the most rabid and talented fans of Super Street Fighter 2 were given the license and allowed to create the game. Playing it will take you back to the days of being ten or twelve years old, when you could piss away an entire afternoon in versus mode against your brother. That’s exactly what it did for me.
Every move hits the way it’s supposed to, and the game just feels solid, like every Fierce punch has a ton of weight and momentum behind it. It resembles Super Street Fighter II Turbo quite a bit, especially when it comes to defensive option–there aren’t many.
To put it lightly, offense rules the day in SFIV, which is just the way I like it. As many previews have mentioned, there is no air blocking–if you hang ourself out to dry, don’t be surprised when you catch a Dragon Punch to the nads. This fits in with my personal philosophy for fighting games: Keep it simple and it’s more fun.
Uh oh.
In that same vein, I was glad to see that single hits can actually do significant amounts of damage, which is (again) one of the big gripes I had with many of Capcom’s games after SSF2T. Sagat, especially, stuck out as one of the characters that can kill newbies using a small number of moves per round. I didn’t get to play with Zangief, but can only imagine he’s the same way.
The true beauty of the gameplay lies within the Focus system, but I didn’t get a chance to test it out extensively during our playtime. Focus Attacks allow players to absorb a hit while moving forward, opening up a ground game for approaching the enemy. This will make slower characters more viable for new and intermediate players, as well as allow advanced players to cancel out of special moves and directly into Focus Attacks, then into a forward dash. Basically, players will bring a huge offensive arsenal to the table in this game and attempt to bulldoze you–you will have to do the same to them.
In short, Street Fighter IV is everything you can expect of a sequel to Super Street Fighter II Turbo. It keeps, in my opinion, the best features of the original games, while adding even more offensive flavor with Focus Attacks. And of course, everything is covered in a very fresh graphical veneer. All of this comes with a minor caveat: The game is a bit slow and could benefit from a Turbo mode. Maybe next time?
Now that I’ve played, pretty much the only thing I want to do is play it again. This game’s console release can’t come soon enough.
See a few pictures from the video shoot below.
Street Fighter IV hands on impressions
SFIV is one of my most anticipated games of all time, and needless to say, I’m a huge fanboy of the series since I grew up playing its predecessors. As a result, I was more than happy to tag along with the Mania crew. The arcade operator was generous enough to turn on free play for the duration of the shoot, which means the crew and I got about 45 minutes to beat the tar out of each other with various characters.
My initial thought about the graphics was that the game simply needs to be seen to be believed. The few videos floating around on the ‘net don’t do it justice–it really is the definition of eye candy. From a hardcore gamer’s perspective, the graphics are pleasing to the eye without getting in the way of the battle, unlike some of the Capcom fighters of previous years (here’s looking at you, Marvel vs. Capcom series).
As you’ve no doubt seen from the videos and would expect from a 3D fighter, the animation is super smooth and the special effects are top notch. But this is just the beginning.
See, Street Fighter IV is a fan service game all the way through–it’s what you would expect if the most rabid and talented fans of Super Street Fighter 2 were given the license and allowed to create the game. Playing it will take you back to the days of being ten or twelve years old, when you could piss away an entire afternoon in versus mode against your brother. That’s exactly what it did for me.
Every move hits the way it’s supposed to, and the game just feels solid, like every Fierce punch has a ton of weight and momentum behind it. It resembles Super Street Fighter II Turbo quite a bit, especially when it comes to defensive option–there aren’t many.
To put it lightly, offense rules the day in SFIV, which is just the way I like it. As many previews have mentioned, there is no air blocking–if you hang ourself out to dry, don’t be surprised when you catch a Dragon Punch to the nads. This fits in with my personal philosophy for fighting games: Keep it simple and it’s more fun.
Uh oh.
In that same vein, I was glad to see that single hits can actually do significant amounts of damage, which is (again) one of the big gripes I had with many of Capcom’s games after SSF2T. Sagat, especially, stuck out as one of the characters that can kill newbies using a small number of moves per round. I didn’t get to play with Zangief, but can only imagine he’s the same way.
The true beauty of the gameplay lies within the Focus system, but I didn’t get a chance to test it out extensively during our playtime. Focus Attacks allow players to absorb a hit while moving forward, opening up a ground game for approaching the enemy. This will make slower characters more viable for new and intermediate players, as well as allow advanced players to cancel out of special moves and directly into Focus Attacks, then into a forward dash. Basically, players will bring a huge offensive arsenal to the table in this game and attempt to bulldoze you–you will have to do the same to them.
In short, Street Fighter IV is everything you can expect of a sequel to Super Street Fighter II Turbo. It keeps, in my opinion, the best features of the original games, while adding even more offensive flavor with Focus Attacks. And of course, everything is covered in a very fresh graphical veneer. All of this comes with a minor caveat: The game is a bit slow and could benefit from a Turbo mode. Maybe next time?
Now that I’ve played, pretty much the only thing I want to do is play it again. This game’s console release can’t come soon enough.
See a few pictures from the video shoot below.
Street Fighter IV hands on impressions
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