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Street Fighter 4
Keepin’ It As Real As Can Be...
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Before we get into the bulk of this you need to understand something. I have LOOOONG had a preference for Mortal Kombat over Street Fighter. Shit, the only reason I learned how to play was because everyone else was. I’m not sure why I liked MK more, exactly. It certainly wasn’t the violence, although that was very cool. I didn’t think it had better fighting mechanics, although it certainly was equal in my opinion. Mortal Kombat just had a feel to it that I liked. I liked the characters, I liked the environments, and I loved the action. I’ve long maintained that to like one more than the other was simply a matter of preference, because to try and argue it on a base mechanical level is far too difficult. Both series have things that the other doesn’t that add to or take away from the experience and both are extremely solid fighting engines.
I will say now, however, that for the first time in my life I’m starting to think that maybe Street Fighter is the superior game. MAYBE. That, for this long time MK fan, is a big step. I don’t know why, it just seems more like real fighting, as ridiculous as that may sound to say about either title. I’m just now starting to be able to understand what I’ve felt ever since I started playing SF2 which is that you build your attack combinations on-the-fly in Street Fighter as opposed to the Mortal Kombat series where you seem to memorize patterns and quickly pull them out in different situations, like a game of chess. When I play Street Fighter I feel like I’m tapping into the primal hunter mode of my brain as opposed to the video game/thinker mode when I play Mortal Kombat.
Enough about the generalities of the two series, let’s talk about what makes SF4 awesome specifically. First of all, the graphics are sublime. Perfect, in fact. They are an awesome mix of the cartoonish nature of the original games with modern 3D graphics. Any given frame of the moving game looks like a pixel drawing. It’s not new technology, but for Street Fighter it couldn’t have been anything else. The presentation of the game is just amazing as well, with the action moving fluidly in and out of 2D to 3D and back. The Ultra Combos especially are a treat every time they happen, even if it’s you getting your ass kicked. The anime sequences are nothing special, but they take me back to the arcade mode of SF2 and seriously, who really cares about the single player story.
I’ve read in some reviews that the game is not friendly enough to newcomers, but I couldn’t disagree more. They not only provide a robust training room that allows you to practice however you like, but they also have a “Trial Mode” in the Challenge menu that allows you to train specifically for each character. This mode allows you to complete a series of trials for each character that starts out as testing their basic unique kicks and punches to eventually having you complete 20+ move combos that end with ultra finishes. Each trial is made specifically for the character chosen so by the time you’ve completed all the Normal and Hard Trial Modes you should be an expert user of that character. I’ve been playing Street Fighter since I was 12 and I had difficulty completing some of the challenges halfway through Normal.
The attention paid to single-player is pretty extensive, definitely more than was needed for my tastes but I’m sure there are plenty who appreciate the different ways to train. Arcade mode is exactly what you’d expect: Pick a character, play through a series of random opponents until you face your rival, and then the fight the main boss, Seth. You not only have the standard arcade mode but you’ve also got Time Trial mode, Survival mode, and the aforementioned Trial mode that is really more of a character specific trainer. Completing these modes opens up titles and icons for multiplayer (more on that later), and finishing the arcade mode in various ways is how you open up characters, even the final Boss, Seth, for play. It’s very interesting how it’s done, as well. You open some characters simply by completing arcade mode with a specific character, where other characters will be opened by completing arcade mode with a specific number of Perfect rounds and Ultra Combo endings. I would say it took me approximately 7-8 hours of play to open up all the characters, which also served as a great introduction and basic training. That’s a pretty sweet deal for your $60, considering a lot of modern single-player games take that long to finish with weak or no multiplayer. After all that work you’ve actually opened up a lot of new characters to play with online, as well. Let’s talk about that!
The online play in SF4, just like in MK vs. DC, is immaculate. Right before writing this review I played probably 20 or so games and I didn’t notice lag in any of them. The matchmaking is not perfect, but I can get a game started in under a minute every attempt. You have to learn the subtleties of the system, and pay attention to which games to avoid because they are in a frozen status, but once you master the Quick Search you can get a random opponent with ease. The game then starts up in less than 10 seconds and returns you right back to the online menu when you’re finished (Assuming you’re playing a Ranked match, otherwise it lets you play the same person again). It works perfectly, and knowing how difficult their task of managing hundreds of thousands of simultaneous challenge requests is I think they’ve done a tremendous job. In time I expect they’ll fix the bug that causes games, or specific players, to enter a halted status and then it will be even better. They’ve also implemented a ranking system similar to what you’ll find in Tetris DS or Mario Kart. In SF4 it’s called “Battle Points” and they are basically your reward for winning ranked matches. You gain a certain number of points relative to the skill of the person that beat you, and they lose points as well. As you get more points you need to win more consistently to not drop in score. It’s a system that a lot of people complain about, but since I don’t take it too seriously I think it’s a nice indication of skill.
The best thing about being thrown back to the main online menu is that you may have opened up new titles or icons in the last match that you’ll want to check out. What are icons and titles you may ask? Just the coolest thing any fighting game has ever had. Your online persona can have one title and one icon at any given time. The icon is like an avatar, a small picture that you’ve chosen to represent yourself, and your title is a small sentence or word that you’ve picked to do the same. There are hundreds of titles and icons to choose from, but they can only be opened up by completing various tasks in the game. So far they seem related to completing Challenge modes and competing online, but I’m sure there is any number of ways to open them up. I’ve put over 14 hours into the game and have only unlocked 18% of the titles and 2% of the icons, so it is a long road to icon and title heaven. When you are scanning for someone to play the only thing you really look at is their icon and their name, and then you get to see their title just before you fight, so these things do actually provide a good deal of uniqueness to who you are online. I love the system and think they’ve done a lot to increase the longevity of their product in implementing it the way they did. |
Graphics
The art style is absolutely perfect for a Street Fighter game. The transition to 3D and back is done amazingly well and if they had gone any other direction it wouldn't have been Street Fighter.
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10.0 |
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Sound
Horrendous music and sub-par voice acting. The in-game music is decent, but the main title music, what you have to listen to while waiting for an online match, sounds like it was done by New Kids On The Block. You can't turn it off, either, you can only make it really quiet.
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7.5 |
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Gameplay
Perfect controls. I was amazed at how well this played on a 360 Analog joystick, something I thought I'd NEVER use for a 2D fighter. I almost think I would prefer this to an arcade stick now, but probably not.
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10.0 |
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Originality
If they had changed much more the hardcore fans would have castrated them. For a new entry to the series this is about as original as it could get. The Ultra Combos are a great new addition, IMO.
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9.5 |
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Interface
Amazing online matchmaking and ranking systems with the icons and titles, it's just too bad that you can't turn the music all the way off otherwise this would have gotten a perfect score. The in-game command list is better than what's in the manual and is easy to access at all times.
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9.0 |
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Fun
I have already put over 15 hours into this game and only had it a few days. I haven't had fun like this since MK vs. DC and I think I'm having a little more, to be honest.
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10.0 |
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Lasting Appeal
I expect I'll still be playing this game online and with friends a decade from now, and it will probably be played competitively for even longer.
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10.0 |
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Overall
With the release of SF4 and MK vs. DC we now have two amazing modern incarnations of the two best fighting series ever created. If you have ever enjoyed Street Fighter in the slightest you absolutely must purchase this latest version.
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9.4 |
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