Street Fighter IV/Super SF IV/SSF IV: Arcade Edition (360/PS3/PC)

[ne0trainer]

Re: Street Fighter IV (360/PS3/PC)

Add Fight Night to that list and we're on the same page. 2009 is the year of beating people's *** on Xbox Live.

Sig-worthy statement.

HD Remix, SFIV, and FNR4 are gonna make this a fun year.

[Flawless]

Re: Street Fighter IV (360/PS3/PC)

Eurogamer Hands-On

Handling wise, Street Fighter IV will be immediately familiar to anyone who's ever pulled off a Shoryuken. Virtually all the Special moves are executed as you'd expect, with the staple charge and half-circle motions and everything in-between, and each character has access to a single, stock Super, and EX Specials, all accessed via the four-tiered Super gauge. Capcom also has a stab at a Rage gauge, here in the guise of the new Revenge gauge. Taking damage fills this meter and when it's over half full it can be used to execute an Ultra. These uber-Specials are usually accessed with the character's standard Super motion, but with three button presses rather than one. As both combatants often have a stocked Ultra as even bouts climax, things remain gritty and intense right to the finish - exactly as they should be in a good mind-games fighter.

If the online play of Street Fighter IV turns out to be as lag-free as the bouts in Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, then fighter fans have good reason to be excited. We haven't got access to that yet, but aside from online play, perhaps the other most-anticipated aspect of Street Fighter IV from the perspective of the fighter hardcore is the chance to get to grips with the new Focus system in the obligatory practice mode, which we have done. It's Street Fighter IV's most crucial aspect in terms of longevity and tournament play - effectively replacing the parrying system from Third Strike.

For a Street Fighter novice the Focus attack is a strike performed by pressing both mediums, and has three levels of charge: reflex, stagger and unblockable. During the Focus charge the player can absorb a single hit from most attacks - still taking the damage but not being stunned out of the Focus attack. Health lost while Focusing will return gradually if follow-up hits are avoided, but will still fill the Revenge gauge as normal.

For a 2D fighter aficionado, however, Focus is exponentially more versatile. It can be used to cancel out of certain Specials at the expense of half your Super gauge, and on top of this the Focus itself can be cancelled with a dash. Losing half your Super sounds bad, but when you consider that Ultras are accessed via a separate gauge, the possibilities open up. Use a Special that launches your opponent into the air, immediately cancel into a Focus and then a forward-dash to avoid any follow-up frames, and then connect your Ultra before they hit the ground - perhaps even cancelling into the Ultra from another attack. The timing and accuracy is precise and will take time to master, but it's worth remembering that those who bothered to learn Street Fighter III's parrying system reaped the benefits despite the apathy it initially attracted.

The beauty of it, of course, is that you don't need to know every intricacy of Street Fighter IV to have fun. Master the basics and you'll be a formidable player in your own right, and should it succeed in holding the average console owner to this, Street Fighter IV will be a crucial step in the future of the 2D fighter on the home market. Many excellent fighters with 2D mechanics, including BlazBlue, Battle Fantasia and the hotly anticipated King of Fighters XII, are keeping the scene alive, but have limited appeal among the wider gaming audience. For a fundamentally 2D fighter, Street Fighter has the same level of prestige as Soul Calibur and Tekken - and the capability of going toe to toe with these 3D fighter juggernauts.

There are many who would complain that Street Fighter is becoming more stagnant, with too many Shotokan clones and little variation in play mechanics, but to us the Street Fighter series represents a continuing refinement of the 2D fighter, with Street Fighter IV perhaps the most accessibly deep Street Fighter ever on this evidence. Complaints of only four new characters and an increasingly samey roster will probably be made, but if you don't want to play as Ryu, then don't! If you're any good, then you should be able to take down a Dragon Punch-spamming scrub with ease anyway. So bear that in mind, because Street Fighter IV in your house is just around the corner, and we've already practiced our trash talk.

[ne0trainer]

Re: Street Fighter IV (360/PS3/PC)

No idea how to embed, so here's a link to a video that shows Dan, Fei-Long, and cammy in action.
Dan vs. Dan:

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3172128

Fei-Long vs Cammy:

http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/23110

Gen Vs Rose:

http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/23111

[Kruza]

Re: Street Fighter IV (360/PS3/PC)

Good looking on the updates, guys. Those are nice movies posted there at 1UP. Keep 'em coming!

Kruza

[eDotd]

Re: Street Fighter IV (360/PS3/PC)

Yes, yes, and hell YES. Can't wait for this.

[Bornindamecca]

Re: Street Fighter IV (360/PS3/PC)

Man, I am going to talk so much crap once this goes down. Ya'll are gonna have to turn your mics off and put me on ignore. Chinatown Arcade HAS COME BACK to Xbox Live!

[frostbyte06]

Re: Street Fighter IV (360/PS3/PC)

Man I hope they do the online lobby system like Dead or Alive did. It would be nice if I could have a party of people playing the game and everybody in online lobby can see the current match going on, while you're waiting your turn to play the winner.

[3rdAnswer]

Re: Street Fighter IV (360/PS3/PC)

[jmood88]

Re: Street Fighter IV (360/PS3/PC)

Already reserved my copy of the Limited Edition.

[Flawless]

Re: Street Fighter IV (360/PS3/PC)

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[Flawless]

Re: Street Fighter IV (360/PS3/PC)

Street Fighter IV "Trial Mode" to Teach and Challenge Alike

"It begins with normal moves, then it goes on to specials, supers, ultras, two-in-one combos, chains into specials, links into specials and then finally, how to put it all together. We teach you what the pros refer to as 'bread-and-butter' combos, as well as focus cancel techniques that are useful to your particular character. So in that way, it's definitely challenging, but in my opinion its a rewarding challenge. You're not just beating your head against the wall, and if you can come out the other side, you'll find that you're really on the path to becoming great at the game."

"Oh yes, it get crazy," laughs Killian. "Most advanced players will probably start to actually fail around level four with most of the characters. I made sure there's some brutal stuff in there, but I'd also consider myself to be in the bottom 10% of competitive players when it comes to executional [sic] skills. That said, if there was anything serious that I couldn't perform in less than ten tries, it was cut immediately. It gets pretty damn hard."

"I mean, it's doable, of course, but you'll see like a cross-up into chain into link into focus cancel and EX attack into ultra combo -- stuff like that."

[Bornindamecca]

Re: Street Fighter IV (360/PS3/PC)

I'm going to be LOST when this game comes out. Nothing makes me more irresponsible than Street Fighter.

[spankdatazz22]

Re: Street Fighter IV (360/PS3/PC)

Street Fighter IV "Trial Mode" to Teach and Challenge Alike

Definitely all I needed to hear to solidify my purchase. I've always liked Street Fighter but was never much good at it beyond SF2. This one looks amazing; love that it will have something of a tutorial mode. Can't wait

[Cyros]

Re: Street Fighter IV (360/PS3/PC)

Definitely all I needed to hear to solidify my purchase. I've always liked Street Fighter but was never much good at it beyond SF2. This one looks amazing; love that it will have something of a tutorial mode. Can't wait

That really sounds good for a newbie or person that just sucks at fighting games like I do.

[LingeringRegime]

Re: Street Fighter IV (360/PS3/PC)

Looks like I will be going broke again. SFIV then Killzone 2. Such is life.