Street Fighter IV

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February 11, 2009

One of the classic fighting franchises has returned! Street Fight makes its return to the gaming world in style with Street Fighter IV!

ST4 comes back with a vengeance and a very unique look. The game plays like all the Street Fighter IV 1classic ST games do in a 2D side scrolling but the characters and the stages are all in 3D! Capcom has also made all the characters look similar to their predecessor versions. Each character has a brush stroke look to their avatar to make look like they could exist on the SNES but yet they are 3D models. ST4 really is a daring attempt to mix the vintage look of the franchise with the new 3D world of fighting games. I am most shocked that its not a true 3D fighting environment like most fighting games are today. I applaud the Capcom crew for trying something different.

What else is new with the franchise? How about new stages! Tons of 3D environment stages that have lots of action in the background to distract your opponent while you kick his butt.

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Street Fighter IV Screenshot2

What about new moves?! New special moves have been created to mix up ST4 including Focus attacks, Super Combos and the ultimate revenge move, the Ultra Combo. Lets dive into these a bit more. The Focus Attack is a huge improvement to the game. The FA allows players to absorb an attack from their opponent and then launch a counter attack back at them. In the first phase of the FA, the player will change their stance so that he can then absorb one attack from his opponent. The second phase is the counter attack and the longer the player holds down their medium punch and kick buttons simultaneously, the more powerful the attack will be. If the buttons are held long enough the attack will cause their opponent to crumble slowly to the ground, allowing the FA player to follow up with a free hit. If the buttons are held for even longer, the FA will become unblockable! The FA isn’t a block mind you, its an absorb/deflection counter move. The original attack from your opponent will still cause damage to you. Any life lost from the original attack will be gained back after you successfully perform a FA. FA’s can also be cancelled and turned into dashes forward or backward. A player can also cancel a Super Combo and turn it into a FA for the cost of some of your SC guage. These new additions opens up lots of new combo possibilities. Capcom wanted to keep the game combo heavy but keep the game more realistic than its predecessors. The analogy of boxing has been used to where you can read your opponent before they make a move and preempt that move with your own. All these changes sounds like tons of fun to me.

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Street Fighter IV Screenshot3

How about the characters in the game? Who’s in? Who’s out?! I’ll tell you who’s in this game…EVERYONE! All your favorites, Ryu, Ken, Guile, Chung-Li, Dhalsim, E. Honda, Zangief, Blanka, Balrog, Vega, Segat and my favorite, M. Bison. Akuma and Gouken return as playable boss characters along with the new end boss, Seth. Wait, you said everyone was in this game! What about all those crazy characters from the tons of Super and Alpha games? Oh you mean, Fei-Long, Cammy White, Dan Hibiki, Gen, Rose and Sakura Kasugano? Yeah their in the game as well. We’ve even got some NEW characters! Abel, a French MMA with amnesia! Gotta love that. Then there is Crimson Viper. She’s an American spy who wants to fight. Rufus sounds like tons of fun as he’s a big fat guy from America who wants to beat Ken to prove he’s the best fighter the country has to offer. Finally, we have a Mexican luchador named El Fuerte (that’s Spanish for “The Strong One”. He also wants to be a gourmet chef. These new characters sound like so much fun. Seth, the other new guy but BOSS of the game is the CEO of SIN. He’s modified himself and therefore he doesn’t look or act human.

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