It’s hard to believe Street Fighter has been away for almost a decade.

Well, maybe it doesn’t seem all that long. Capcom has been diligent in rehashing the classics in Anthology collections and Online downloadable titles for the past few years, but there hasn’t been an original Street Fighter game since 1999, when Capcom unleashed Street Fighter III: Third Strike to arcades (and shortly thereafter, consoles). While one could argue that the HD Remix of Super Turbo is almost like having a new Street Fighter game, SF4 represents the first new Street Fighter game built from the ground-up in 10 years. Was it worth the wait? Hit the jump and find out!

First off, the game contains all of the fighters from the original releases of Street Fighter II (the 8 fighters plus 4 bosses are all present). On top of that, a few Super Turbo characters make the leap as well as a few from the Street Fighter Alpha series. Rounding off the roster of 26, SF4 includes some new fighters as well. The group is fairly well rounded and contains a good mix of different styles and strategies. The inclusion of a majority of “classic” Street Fighters seems to be a nod to people who haven’t played a Street Fighter game since the early nineties: You can jump right in and have nostalgia kick your fighting reflexes back into gear.

Nostalgia and muscle memory will serve you well, because even though SF4 is rendered in 3D, the game plays similar to classic Street Fighter 2D games. This serves the game well as Capcom never did seem to find their legs in the 3D fighting arena, having a few missteps with the Street Fighter EX series. The game is absolutely stunning with incredible detail and wonderful effects. Attacks have a wonderful glow to them and the new Focus Attack system brings a stylish, comic-like ink flare effect that follows the motion of the attack. It’s nice and brings a hand-drawn feel to the game. Super and Ultra combos still have their over the top effects, and they look better than normal.

With the base mechanics in place from it’s predecessor games, Capcom has added a few twists to the game. The aforementioned Focus Attacks will allow you to absorb a single hit from your opponent. If your attack hits, your opponent will be stunned for a brief period, allowing for a great time to get a few hits in. Also new is the Revenge meter: As you take damage, the meter builds. When it is half filled or more, you can unleash an Ultra combo on your adversary. This is a multi-hit attack that can take as much as half of your opponent’s life away. Most of these attacks and combos feel well balanced between damage and risk of pulling the move (you are left wide open if your attack misses), with few exceptions.

"It's not your fault..." "Not you too man!" Abel and Balrog re-enact a scene from Good Will Hunting

Speaking of balance, the gameplay appears to be very well tuned. The standard fighting game tiering system is at place, with some fighters being better than others, but games never feel as unbalanced as they have been in early SF iterations. A great player with Vega can still beat a good Sagat player, for example. The fighting is smooth and nuanced: SF4 is a game that you can play well knowing the basics, but studying the game and the way attacks work can make you an unstoppable player. It’s good to see a fighting game meritocracy: A skilled player will beat a button masher 99 out of 100 times in this game; an old-school mechanic that has been lost from some recent 3D fighting games.

Sounds great, so what could be wrong? Well, there are a few minor annoyances that add up to keep SF4 from being a Triple-A title. Let’s go back to that fighting roster, shall we? Upon starting the game up, only 16 of the game’s 26 fighters are available. The others are unlocked by playing through the single player game. For a game that is essentially a player-vs-player game, hiding a good chunk of the fighters behind a mandatory single-player experience is inexcusable. What makes it worse is the final boss, the intimidatingly named Seth: an amalgamation of all cheap fighting game bosses, with a mix of all fighter’s moves, the ability to teleport, and a high damage output. Prepare to throw your controller in frustration a few times, or waste a few hours of your life playing single player in easiest mode to get access to the full roster.

Seth, pulling some inane "End Boss in a Fighting Game" bullshit

What’s worse, the multiplayer lobby system is horrible. Finding a ranked game is an excercise in frustration: Hit “Ranked Game” and try “Quick Match”. The game presents you with 3 possible opponents. Select one, and more likely than not, you will get a message that the game is full, no longer available, or you can’t join it (I don’t get that last one…). This boots you back to the menu to pick your match again. Repeat about 20 times until you find a game you can get into. Player match is better, especially if you have a friend to play with. Hopefully, just one friend though, since SF4 will only allow 2 player lobbies. Unfortunate, since HD Remix and the earlier arcade port of SF2 Turbo both allow for “quarter match” lobbies, where up to 8 players can watch a match in progress and “take next”.

Another annoyance is that the game, while it looks causal friendly, is anything but. Some of this comes to the difficulty of performing the moves. The problem here is two-fold: gamers aren’t used to these motions anymore, and the controllers of today’s modern consoles aren’t designed for these types of games (the PS3 pad is better than the 360 pad for this game, but is still inadequate for anything but casual play). The move difficulty had been previously solved by HD Remix, but Capcom instead went with the original move lists. Also, the multi-button throw, focus attack, and arcane commands for super and ultra combos make this a game for the hardcore gamer. Button-mashers should look elsewhere.

Ultimately, your feelings about Street Fighter 4 are going to be dictated by how much you like fighting games and how much work you’re willing to put into learning one. The deep roster, nuanced gameplay, and replayability will give you hours and hours of enjoyment for the time you invest in it. The game is a love letter to a genre many thought dead, but it is obviously still alive. Hopefully, Super Street Fighter 4: Second Wave (tentative, made-up title) will fix all the minor annoyances and expose the true potential of the game. Recommend that everyone who has a remote interest in fighting games try it; even if you haven’t played one in 10 years.

High-Rez: Diverse roster, beautiful graphics, and a deep gameplay system that players will be learning for years.

Low-Rez: Stupid unlocks, semi-broken online player matching, Seth

Verdict: Worth a rental or a purchase

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