by: Dameon White

March 02, 2009

As we step into IV, you’ll find that much of what has been changed over the past few incarnations has either been improved or chopped out entirely and the end result is a game that returns to its roots, but brings a fresh coat of paint with it. Of some of those new improvements comes the Focus attack. Focus allows you to charge up a special attack that cannot be blocked, but all of which are only useable at close range. The beauty of Focus is actually two-fold – it stuns the opponent, giving you an extra second to perform another normal attack or launch into a combo and it also absorbs one (count it, ONE) regular attack from an opponent. A well executed Focus can change the tide of a battle rapidly. Key word being ‘well-executed’. Since it can only connect at close range your opponent can simply jump out of the way and since it requires you to charge it for a few seconds they can also try to interrupt it with a few hits. Focus can also be cancelled, which allows you to trick your unworthy foe so that you can lead into other attacks entirely. Want to make them stop blocking? Start charging a Focus and watch them drop the guard and then unleash hell before they connect with a well timed string of combos. There’s nothing more satisfying than playing minds games with people…in a videogame that is.

Adding to the flavor is a two-stage meter, referred to as Super and Ultra. Super meter fills as you land attacks, while Ultra (also known as Revenge) increases as attacks are landed on you. As the meter fills, you will be able to perform more powerful attacks or stronger versions special attacks that you can normally perform (i.e. a standard Hadoken compared to a Double Hadoken or a Flaming Hadoken). You can either wait until the meter fills to perform Super or Ultra moves or use it mid way through to perform EX moves. As you get your ass kicked, though, the Ultra meter fills and just when you can’t take it anymore, you can get some revenge (hence the name of the meter) and unleash an incredibly strong Ultra move. These are over-the-top fancy combos that only require you to execute one command, but will take out easily half or more of an opponent’s health. For most battles, you will only have one opportunity to pull this off, so use it wisely. Also keep in mind, these can be blocked so proper timing is key.

Easily the most noticeable change to this game is easily the design. While it’s not the first time the series has been given a graphical overall, it is definitely the nicest one to date and is quite frankly both original and gorgeous. Graphically, the art style of the game can be best described as a story board come to life or a 2D cartoon that’s had a little 3D added to it. Background detail is superb with virtually no aliasing issues and characters move with fluidity not seen in any previous SF game. Killing someone with a Super or Ultra move ends the round in a very showy display that’s worthy of reminding people that games CAN cause seizures, but is still quite enjoyable to watch every single time. Little details such as facial expressions that show anguish when punched in the gut or slapped in the face also add to the experience and gives the game a bit more life. Characters are also noticeably steroid buff and I’ll admit it takes a little while to get use to, particularly if you’ve played the previous games, but once you do you will appreciate the detail.

While the true beauty of any Street Fighter game has always been with playing against other people (and in this title that would be via Online), Capcom didn’t leave out anything for those that want to kill some time offline either. For online play it’s incredibly easy to pick up and join in ranked matches or create matches with specific match guidelines. There are plenty of things to do in the games’ offline Challenge modes and there is an insane amount of collectibles in the form of displayable online character icons and titles to be had that will take you months to unlock, as they require perform various hidden objectives throughout the game. Arcade mode is also there and each character (all 24) has an intro video, mid-story fight challenge, and ending video that are mostly pretty bad to watch. The AI is no joke though. In fact, the joke’s on you. No, seriously.