Street Fighter IV Review

Would the real Street Fighter HD, please stand up.

No fighting game has received more publicity, more critical acclaim, or more fan-boy devotion than the Street Fighter series. Embarking on the road less traveled, Capcom has again delivered a winning installment with the release of the epic Street Fighter IV, while celebrating 20 years of the franchise’s history. SFIV maintains the feel of Super Street Fighter II, a game considered to be the definition of greatness, but really focuses on newness. Instead of serving as a modern update of the fighting classic, the game feels like it was built from the ground up. This is the game Street Fighter fans have been waiting for.

The game is broken down into select modes, all familiar to the series. The Arcade Mode is the classic versus battle mode you’ve come to know and love, where you’ll fight a total of 8 different opponents from around the world, including the new and very challenging boss Seth. Prior to your final battle with Seth, you’ll fight against your character’s rival. Rivals will often repeat amongst characters, but they serve as sort of a mini boss before the final battle.
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The Street Fighter IV roster features the usual suspects from the previous installments, as well as some new characters. Many of the new fighters fit in so perfectly with the old challengers, it’s surprising. Abel, a French martial artist, has a past he can’t remember, but will fight to regain his memory. Crimson Viper is also a welcome contender, who uses her electric and flame attacks to weaken her rivals. El Fuerte and Rufus are comical additions that are more fun to play against than to play as.

A new, unique feature to the Arcade Mode is the addition of a real story. A short anime movie clip is played at the beginning and end of each game, focusing on the character you are playing with. This movie clip serves to explain what vested interest the character has in fighting their challengers. The movies are actually entertaining, and a great way to add some depth to the fighting title, or “fightle” as I’m coining, right now.

The Arcade Mode contains 8 difficulty settings to choose from, but I strongly recommend you start with the “Easiest” mode. I really cannot stress how hard this game is, which is one of the only negative things I can say about the game. Even the Street Fighter enthusiast like myself, couldn’t make it far without spending most of my time on the “Easiest” setting.

It will be extremely beneficial to learn as many combo moves as you possibly can, in order to progress through the Arcade Mode, and to dominate in general. You’ll find that simple punches and kicks won’t get you very far outside of the “Easiest” mode.
The game’s Versus Mode features traditional player vs. player combat, player vs. computer, and even a spectator mode where you just watch two computer players duke it out. The Challenge Mode allows you to unlock different game components, such as outfit colors and profile titles.

The Network Battle mode is where you can challenge opponents across the globe. You can take part in a Ranked Match where points are earned depending on your fighting performance. The Player Match battles are just for fun, and not dependent on any points system. A much appreciated new feature of the Network Battle mode is the ability to view a player’s network status, where if a player has a very low Internet signal, you can avoid them like the plague, as it could result in an evident lag in gameplay. In all of my Wi-Fi experiences, each round went off without a hitch. I was able to play several matches without any interruptions, resulting in truly a perfect Wi-Fi experience.

From the Arcade Mode, you can actually change the settings so that when a Network Battle becomes available, it will rip you out of that mode and right into a Wi-Fi fighting match. As soon as your match is over, you’ll be placed right back into the Arcade Mode, and can continue as planned. It’s a great addition, but a little unnecessary. If I want to play a Network Battle, or just Arcade Mode, I can do both easily. I’m not quite sure why one would want this option selected, especially because in my experiences, I was ripped out of the mode 3 times between my 3 rounds of the first stage. Mucho annoyingo.

Graphically, this game is incredible. The characters and stages are flawlessly designed, with bold, bright colors and unique environments. Different in this installment, is that stages are not character specific per say, but many reference old school environments. For instance, there’s a Guile inspired airbase stage, but it’s in Africa. The character fireballs are bright, colorful and mesmerizing. When attacking your opponent, black ink spews out, as if it were blood. It’s hard to describe the beauty of it, but think of it like when Jaws attacks a human, and the blood from the wound slowly begins to disperse through the water.

Despite so much flawlessness, some oddities are included. The opening game’s theme song “Indestructible” sounds more like it’s from the B-side of an O-Town record, a huge step down from the killer soundtrack provided for Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix. However, the rest of the game music, including updated versions of older tracks, is incredible. And while the stages are great, I would have liked to see more. However, with DLC already on the way for new costumes, it is possible that new stages could always become available.

The Game:
If you enjoy the fighting genre, this is a must buy. Not only is this the best fighting game on any next-gen system to date, but it’s a contender for one of the best Street Fighter installments ever. However, it is a shame that the game is shockingly difficult, catering to only the most skilled fighting enthusiasts. Although the game carries an impressive character roster, you do walk away feeling like there just aren’t enough stages. And while the included stages are well designed, more diversity would have been a huge plus.
(9.0/10)

The Time:
You can easily jump in and out of the game, to play as little or as much as you want. There is no save mechanic set up for the Arcade Mode, so if you have to jet before defeating Seth, you’ll lose your progress. You can easily skip through the in game movies, and load times are minimal. Unlocking all the characters can be done within a few hours by tweaking some of the game settings such as the length of each round, and number of rounds.
(10/10)

The Verdict:
Get the game. It’s the best-looking HD game I have seen to date. The gameplay, the different modes and the characters work together to create a perfect fighting experience. Despite Chun-Li’s massive hands, and Ryu’s newly Muppetized face, the game is worth every penny. While successfully carrying its old-school charm into a next-gen world, Capcom impeccably delivers; this is the real Street Fighter HD Remix.

Note: This game was reviewed for the PS3 version of the game. One thing to note is that significant load times were noticed when playing the game. However, if you select the option to “Install game data onto HDD” you’ll notice the load times literally disappear.