Product Description

Street Fighter IV brings the legendary fighting series back to its roots by taking the beloved fighting moves and techniques of the original Street Fighter II, and infusing them with Capcom¿s latest advancements in next generation technology to create a truly extraordinary experience that will re-introduce the world to the time-honored art of virtual martial arts. Everything that made the legendary Street Fighter II a hit in the arcades, living rooms and dormitories across the globe has been brought back in Street Fighter IV. Players will be able to play their favorite classic characters, such as Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li and Guile, along with new characters, including Crimson Viper, Abel, El Fuerte, and Rufus. Characters and environments are rendered in stylized 3D, while the game is played in the classic Street Fighter 2D perspective with additional 3D camera flourishes. Six-button controls for the game return, with a host of new special moves and features integrated into the gameplay system. Street Fighter IV brings a brand new fighting game to fans the world over.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #353 in Video Games
• Brand: Capcom
• Model: 34009
• Published on: 2009-02
• Released on: 2009-02-17
• ESRB Rating: Teen
• Platform: PLAYSTATION 3
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .58" h x 6.70" w x 5.71" l, .30 pounds

Features

• 3D environments and characters. Traditional 2D Street Fighter six-button gameplay. Amazing locations never seen before in a Street Fighter game.
• Classic Street Fighter characters re-imagined for a new generation of gamers, including the original cast of Street Fighter II.
• New brawlers: female super-spy Crimson Viper, lucha libre wrestler El Fuerte, mixed martial artist Abel and more!
• New special moves that go beyond any Street Fighter fan¿s wildest imagination, including Focus Attacks, Super Combos, and the revenge-fueled Ultra Combo system.
• New gameplay elements provide challenges for both newcomers as well as the most seasoned Street Fighter pro.

Amazon.com
Street Fighter IV brings the legendary fighting series back to its roots by taking the beloved fighting moves and techniques of the original Street Fighter II, and infusing them with Capcom's latest advancements in next generation technology. The result is a truly extraordinary experience destined to reintroduce players, both familiar with the Street Fighter series and those coming to the game for the first time, to the time-honored art of virtual martial arts.

The old rivalries continue. View larger.

Plenty of bosses to battle. View larger.

New faces to reckon with. View larger.

New Ultra Combo angles. View larger.

What Was Old is New Again
Knowing a good thing when they see it, Capcom has gone to great lengths to ensure that everything that made the legendary Street Fighter II a hit in the arcades, living rooms and dormitories across the globe all those years ago has been brought back in Street Fighter IV, and this naturally starts with the characters. Fans of the franchise, as well as the fighting genre in general, will be happy to know that whether you prefer to stick with the superior abilities of top tier characters or explore the ins and outs of mid to lower level combatants, when it comes time to pick your fighter there is a wide array of choices. Also, not only will players be able to play as and against their favorite classic characters, such as Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Guile, Zangief, Blanka, Sagat, etc., they will also be able to take on new characters. Just a few of these include:

	Abel This young French amnesiac comes from a mixed martial arts and mercenary background and is dedicated to chasing down the remnants of Shadaloo.
	Crimson Viper This tough and beautiful agent assumes a businesslike demeanor, ignoring all emotion and obligation to her fellow man. She wears a high-tech suit filled with deadly gadgetry..
	El Fuerte This fighter divides his time between perfecting his Lucha Libre skills and his cooking abilities, yet surprisingly his indomitable spirit is a match for even the legendary Red Cyclone.
	Rufus This portly fighter has declared himself America's greatest fighter and uses his own brand of Kung Fu in his decidedly one-sided rivalry with Ken for top dog in the States.

In addition, characters and environments are rendered in stylized 3D, while the game is played in the classic Street Fighter 2D perspective with additional 3D camera flourishes. Six-button controls for the game return, with a host of new special moves and features integrated into the gameplay system. Street Fighter IV brings a brand new fighting game to fans the world over.

Key Game Features:

• 3D environments and characters.
• Traditional "2D" Street Fighter six-button gameplay.
• Classic Street Fighter characters re-imagined for a new generation of gamers, including the original cast of Street Fighter II.
• New brawlers: female super-spy Crimson Viper, lucha libre wrestler El Fuerte, mixed martial artist Abel and more.
• New special moves that go beyond any Street Fighter fan's wildest imagination, including Focus Attacks, Super Combos, and the revenge-fueled Ultra Combo system.
• Amazing locations never seen before in a Street Fighter game.
• New gameplay elements provide challenges for both newcomers as well as the most seasoned Street Fighter pro.

New Combat Features: Focus Attacks and Ultra Combos
Although Street Fighter IV is designed to draw heavily from past game features in its franchise history, it does offer some stunning new gameplay options. The first of these are Focus Attacks. These moves allow players to absorb the energy from an attack and quickly counter with their own. Used properly, Focus Attacks allow for tremendous flexibility during combat and are the end result of efforts by the game's development team to evolve combat away from the rigid memorization of set combination patterns, giving players the freedom to be creative against opponents. The other new combat feature are new powered up moves called Ultra Combos. Like standard combos their purpose is to unleash maximum damage on an opponent, but unlike the combos of old, when performed correctly these long strings of punches, kicks and moves result in changes to the in-game camera angle and quick cinematics which illustrate the strength of your skills like never before. Taken together, these two new features herald Street Fighter IV as the new king of the fighter genre and a force to be reckoned with for years to come.

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Customer Reviews

3.5 stars - Good, but DEFINITELY NOT for casual players
If you are intermediate or elite players and love SF II and good at it, then go for it. You can skip my review.

BUT if you are casual players, like me, and you didn't plan on training hard, please read my review and think carefully before buying this game.

Pros:
- Graphics and animations are top-notch.
- If you like SF II, this one goes back to the old formula and add some new tweaks into the battle system.

Cons:
- If you were forced to stick with only a few characters like Ryu or Ken back in your SF II days, that situation is coming back. Ryu, Ken, Sakura are easy enough to master all the moves. Others are useable (means casual players would be able to do some moves, but not all). But for many of them, most of the special moves are impossible for casual players to pull off effectively in the heat of the battle (ie. Vega). And the Ultimate move of some characters (ie. Akuma, Chun Li) are nightmares.

- If you couldn't use the special moves well enough, then casual players might end up with just a few useable character from 25 of them (or half of them, with some practices and a sore left thumb). And you wouldn't stand a chance even against Medium opponents on Arcade mode with the characters you can't use well. Let alone going online to be a sand-bag for those elite players. And $[...] for a game that you could only having fun with less than half of the character rosters, it's the money not very well spent.

- Controls can be too sensitive for casual players to do even some basic moves. For example, a split-second longer can turn command 'UP' into 'UP UP'. When you hold left and then quickly press right, if your left thumb is not precisely hit the RIGHT directional pad, you'd end up with 'DOWN+RIGHT' or 'UP+RIGHT' instead of 'RIGHT'. All these ridiculous sensitivity issues can really be annoying and ruin your moves.

- Practice mode doesn't help much. You can practice with the dummy, but there's no advice or video to show you the timing or even what the moves should look like. You're on your own. All the moves and combos must be done respectively, no skipping. If you get stuck with any move, you can't advance to the next.


This I'm not sure if I'm right or wrong, and it's not pro or con. But the difficulty level seems to be set higher. Medium level can be tough. Even on Easiest, computer can still put up a fight.


In conclusion:
I give this game 3.5 stars. Casual player might want to think hard before paying a full price.

I'm trying not to be nitpicking here. I like the characters and moves. But as a casual player who likes to enjoy ALL, or at least, most of special and ultimate moves of EVERY characters after some amount of trials, without losing my head and my left thumb, I find this game quite frustrating. For me, Marvel VS Capcom, Capcom VS SNK, or Guilty Gear are a lot more fun.

However, elite players may find this game fun and challenging and give it 5 stars, and they're not wrong either.

Someday it might go down to $[...], when that happens, everybody should pick this game up just for the sake of its phenominal graphics alone. But for now, rent it first, see if you're up to the challenge.

Spectacular
Of all the defining video games that I grew up playing, the one that bears the most relevance to me is Street Fighter II. It's what introduced me to fighting games, as well as many others, and still defines what 2-D fighting is today. All these years later, Capcom unleashes Street Fighter IV, which combines all the old school elements you know and love with a glossy, next-gen look and feel; and the end result is one of the absolute best fighting games on the market right now. Very accessible yet deep and complex, Street Fighter IV brings back all twelve warriors from Street Fighter II, and throws in six new ones as well, including a powerful end boss. The first thing you'll notice when powering up the game is that there is some seriously stylish animation and absolutely gorgeous, flowing graphics. In fact, for a 2-D game, the overall presentation is a pure work of art in itself that looks and plays better than most current 3-D fighters. The single-player mode is fun, but the real meat and potatoes of Street Fighter IV lie in the online multiplayer modes, even if it is occasionally laggy. There's also unlockable fan favorite fighters like Akuma, Sakura, Cammy, and even Dan; all of which combines to offer a ton of replay value. All in all, Street Fighter IV is a pure blast that you will enjoy for a good, long time; and is right now the best current fighting game on the market, and it wholeheartedly deserves your attention whether you're a longtime fan of the long running series or a newcomer.

A Dream Came True
I was a teenager when SF2 came out and I spent a lot of time and money playing it in the arcade. Back then having an arcade at home, or being able to play it via a modem was just a dream. Now that dream came true.

First, Street Fighter 4(SF4) is similar to Street Fighter 2(SF2) in terms of gameplay. If you have played SF2 you'll have no problem adapting to this game. On the other hand, some people think that it is kind of a remake of SF2. That's not true. It has much more depth(ex moves, cancels etc.) and more advanced gameplay. It is called SF4 for a reason.

Second, if you are planning to buy this game only for single player (against CPU), I suggest that you rent it first or borrow it from a friend. Also if you are new to Street Fighter, again I advise caution before buying it. Getting the intracacies of this game takes some time. If you want to play it casually, you might get frustrated or bored. But if you put the time to get the basics, and then start playing online you'll get hooked. You'll come across experienced players who'll destroy you, but that only means you can see and learn new tactics which you can't learn by playing against the computer.

About the online play: Be sure to play against people who has at least 3 bars in their connection status, an it will be mostly lag free. Also I found that creating a room and waiting for other players to join is much easier than trying to join other rooms. When I try to join, I get the "unable to join" or "the room is full" messages a lot. However,if I create a room I barely wait more than 15 seconds for someone to show up.


If you enjoyed street fighter before, then there is no reason not to pick this up. Get a Fighting Stick and you have the same addicting arcade experience at home. If you have never played a Street Fighter game before, then buy it if you are willing to put time and effort in it.