By William Bernard
Even casual gamers know of Street Fighter. The game that essentially created the fighting game genre is back once again, this time with the third, and according to Capcom, final revision of the series’ latest iteration. Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition (SSFIV:AE) was released in Japanese arcades last year, and now is finally available for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC, either as a stand-alone or DLC to Super Street Fighter IV. Make no mistake, SSFIV: AE is the definitive release of the game, and if you are a newcomer to the series, the only version to consider getting. Even for long time players, there are enough changes in this version to warrant a closer look, more so if you are somebody interested in following the professional fighting game circuits.
On the surface, SSFIV: AE doesn’t look all too different from its previous iterations, the biggest change of course being the four additional characters to the already large 35 character roster. Yun and Yang, the twins from Street Fighter III, make their appearance, as does Evil Ryu and Oni, a brand new character. Yun and Yang are probably the most unique additions, as both Evil Ryu and Oni draw their move set inspirations from existing characters. That’s not to say that either of them are any interesting, but we’ll get to that in a moment. Yun and Yang are both very offensive focused characters, quickly able to disable their opponents with fast strikes and moves. It can take a while to get used to playing against them, especially online, where they have already become very popular. Evil Ryu plays as a cross between Ryu and Akuma, and while he is similar enough for veteran players to jump into, he’s well balanced enough to stand on his own as well. Oni is more of a cross between Akuma and Gouken, and in the hands of a good player, can be extremely versatile, able to tackle just about anything an opponent would throw at him with specific counters and moves.
Apart from the new fighters, there have also been a plethora of balance tweaks and changes made, much too numerous to list down here. There is definitely a different feeling when playing SSFIV: AE as opposed to vanilla SSFIV. Some changes are quite noticeable, such as the buffs Makoto has received to her speed and damage, but most of these changes are subtle, not enough to notice initially until you’ve put in a few hours of play. All in all, these changes are for the best – the game feels much tighter than it ever has before.
Online play is much the same as it was in Super Street Fighter IV. One nice addition is that Capcom allows you to “downgrade” to playing regular SSFIV if so desired, although this means you are limited to the original 35 character roster and the balance changes made are removed. Still, having this feature allows the community to remain whole, which was one major problem when the upgrade from vanilla SFIV to SSFIV occurred.
For those who are into the competitive market of fighting games, one major addition to is the Replay channel, which allows you to record and watch replays of your own fights, but also track and view replays of other players. This can be extremely entertaining (and educational) for people who like to watch the likes of Justin Wong, Daigo Umehara, and other professional players. There is also a twitter like functionality now that lets you follow and add other people’s replays to your own channel.
There’s really not much more to say about the game except that if you are into fighting games, you HAVE to get Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition. Even if you’re a newcomer to the genre or just want to check out what all the fuss is about, this is the best game to do so with. The game is fun, the character selection diverse, and the community thriving and active. There hasn’t been a better time to get into fighting games than now, and what better way to do it than with the definitive version of the game that revitalized the genre?
Click here to visit Super Street Fighter IV.
[Download the file here Tukko Rating | Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition]
[Tukkolabs]
Tukko Rating | Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition
By William Bernard
Even casual gamers know of Street Fighter. The game that essentially created the fighting game genre is back once again, this time with the third, and according to Capcom, final revision of the series’ latest iteration. Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition (SSFIV:AE) was released in Japanese arcades last year, and now is finally available for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC, either as a stand-alone or DLC to Super Street Fighter IV. Make no mistake, SSFIV: AE is the definitive release of the game, and if you are a newcomer to the series, the only version to consider getting. Even for long time players, there are enough changes in this version to warrant a closer look, more so if you are somebody interested in following the professional fighting game circuits.
Apart from the new fighters, there have also been a plethora of balance tweaks and changes made, much too numerous to list down here. There is definitely a different feeling when playing SSFIV: AE as opposed to vanilla SSFIV. Some changes are quite noticeable, such as the buffs Makoto has received to her speed and damage, but most of these changes are subtle, not enough to notice initially until you’ve put in a few hours of play. All in all, these changes are for the best – the game feels much tighter than it ever has before.
Online play is much the same as it was in Super Street Fighter IV. One nice addition is that Capcom allows you to “downgrade” to playing regular SSFIV if so desired, although this means you are limited to the original 35 character roster and the balance changes made are removed. Still, having this feature allows the community to remain whole, which was one major problem when the upgrade from vanilla SFIV to SSFIV occurred.
There’s really not much more to say about the game except that if you are into fighting games, you HAVE to get Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition. Even if you’re a newcomer to the genre or just want to check out what all the fuss is about, this is the best game to do so with. The game is fun, the character selection diverse, and the community thriving and active. There hasn’t been a better time to get into fighting games than now, and what better way to do it than with the definitive version of the game that revitalized the genre?
Click here to visit Super Street Fighter IV.
[Download the file here Tukko Rating | Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition]
[Tukkolabs]