In just one year, I've invested over 500 hours in Street Fighter 4 .
Playing against strangers and friends in online matches, I've achieved a
respectable 68% win percentage (though maybe that's not something to
brag about to your girlfriend). I can see myself spending just as much
time with Capcom's latest entry in the venerable fighting franchise, Super Street
Fighter 4 , without ever feeling like I'm playing a mere rehash of
the same game.
Super Street Fighter 4 isn't an incremental upgrade, it's something
bigger. A lot bigger. And it will help grow the community that SF4
helped engender a year ago. Stubborn players who refuse to switch from
SF4 to SSF4 will be left behind. Good luck in finding an online SF4
match; the community will soon migrate, leaving nothing but a ghost town
on SF4's PSN and XBL matchmaking servers.
Alpha series, and Street
Fighter 3 , the new characters are inventively constructed, despite
having similar move sets to their past versions. SF3 characters like
Dudley and Ibuki are major threats, each requiring a different strategy
unique to their SF4 iteration. Dudley shines when he's in close range,
aggravating his opponents with a tricky combination of powerful high-low
mix-ups. Ibuki, on the other hand, relies on a deceptive strategy
involving a single knockdown followed by an instant kunai attack from
the air, which can land on either side of the opponent.
Click the image above to check out all Super Street Figher 4 screens.
Super Turbo characters, T. Hawk and Deejay, aren't as execution-heavy
as their SF3 colleagues, but they're both equally as threatening. T.
Hawk's design is akin to Zangief's: hits extremely hard, has high
priority and long-range moves, and is extremely intimidating at
close-range. T. Hawk may not be able to use SF4's signature tenet, the
Focus Attack (a mechanic that cancels a move's animation), on most of
his special moves, but his normal moves and powerful throws compensate
for that weakness. Deejay, in the right hands, is a fighter of many
qualities. He excels at keeping his opponent away through intelligent
zoning (fireballs fired at irregular intervals and his slide), and
possesses a devastatingly simple strategy involving an ambiguous
cross-up jump attack and a leg sweep.
Beyond the new characters, the existing roster receives its share
of tweaks and balance changes (some are nerfs; others, buffs), a faster
Focus Attack, and an extra Ultra Attack -- a powerful attack that can
instantly turn the game in your favor. Balance changes, a monumental
task for any developer, will raise eyebrows within the community. Sagat,
for instance, a Muay Thai fighter with a scar on his chest and an
eyepatch over his eye, was unequivocally considered the strongest
character in SF4 -- so strong that Capcom has considerably toned down
his insane damage output. He's definitely not as intimating as before,
and will probably cause the pool of dedicated Sagat players to shrink
enormously. Other tweaks will make many players happy: Ken, Bison, and
Guile receive the "most improved award," upgraded with better combo
opportunities, faster charge times, or better utility on their moves.
And because of these changes, opposing players must formulate new ways
to deal with their potential opponent's sudden strengths -- a refreshing
way to invigorate an established system.
The King of
Fighter 12 . (The latter made me so upset that I ragequit a match due
to the horrendous lag.)
Click the image above to check out all Super Street Figher 4 screens.
The community has been eagerly waiting for SSF4. Some were so eager,
in fact, that they quit playing the game competitively in anticipation
that the changes brought by SSF4 would create an entirely new game, thus
making their tried and tested strategies obsolete. In a way, they were
right. Some characters (Rufus) remain largely the same, but other
characters (Guile and Ken) will rise on the character ranking ladder
thanks to their noticeable tweaks. And dealing with ten new characters
poses a new set of problems and solutions for players. For the most
part, the balance decisions feel fair, moving the game in the right
direction towards a more level playing field.
Change can be scary, but it's inevitable. So long Street Fighter
4, we'll miss your quirks (see: Ryu's superfireball traps, post-round hits, and Sagat's damage
output). Now, let's welcome Super Street Fighter 4 with open arms.
Originally published on 1UP.com .
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