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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5024 in Video Games
• Brand: Capcom
• Model: 31060
• Released on: 2009-07-07
• ESRB Rating: Teen
• Platforms: Windows Vista, Windows XP
• Format: CD-ROM
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds

Features

• New gameplay elements provide challenges for both newcomers as well as the most seasoned Street Fighter pro.
• 3D environments and characters, traditional 2D Street Fighter six-button gameplay and 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 including: 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.

Amazon.com 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 gaming 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. Cammy showing FeiLong her stuff. View larger. Sakura treating Chun-Li roughly. 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. Games for Windows LIVE online support. 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. System Requirements: Minimum Specifications: Recommended Specifications: OS: Windows XP SP3 / Vista SP1 Windows XP SP3 / Vista SP1 Processor: Intel Pentium4 2.0GHz or higher Intel Core2Duo 2.0GHz or higher RAM: 1GB RAM or more 2GB RAM or more Disc Drive: 8x DVD ROM or faster 8x DVD ROM or faster Hard Drive: 10GB hard disk space or more 10GB hard disk space or more Video Card: DirectX 9.0c/Shader3.0 or higher compatible, NVIDIA GeForce6600 series, ATI Radeon(TM) X1600 or higher or higher, VRAM :256MB or higher Sound: DirectSound compatible, DirectX 9.0c (or higher) compatible DirectX 9.0c/Shader3.0 or higher compatible, NVIDIA GeForce8600 series or higher, ATI Radeon(TM) X 1900 or higher, VRAM :512MB or higher Sound: DirectSound compatible, DirectX 9.0c (or higher) compatible Input device: Keyboard, mouse and/or gamepad Keyboard, mouse and/or gamepad Other: Internet connection required for online play

Customer Reviews

Good game but Forces users to sign up to microsoft live
SF4 is a great game, for all the reasons noted by other reviewers. But watch out! You CANNOT SAVE unless you sign up for Microsoft Live. Game progress does not save to your computer. If you uninstall MS Live, then the game DOES NOT work. It's a ridiculous setup that leaves no choice; very Microsoft.

A fun installment of a classic series
I'm a big fan of Street Fighter II. I grew up playing the arcade in the grocery store, spending quarter after quarter beating up Chun Li and then being pummeled by the terrifying Blanka. But that was nearly 2 decades ago, and here we are in 2009 with Street Fighter IV for the PC.
Thumbs-up go to...
*Traditional 2-D fighting, with 3-D models and environments
*Classic characters plus a few new ones
*Great button-mashing fun for the causal player
*Focus & combo attacks for the advanced player to master
*Online multiplayer

Thumbs-down go to...
*Windows live account needed to save data
*Poor English voice-acting (you can choose Japanese or English voices)
*CPU controller characters are annoying, using repetitive moves
*Imbalanced A.I. I was beaten by the easiest difficulty and then immediately won a match against the hardest. Very Odd.

Verdict...
The majority of the game is solid. Fans of Street Fighter will like the feel of this one. The in-game graphics are sharp and colorful, and the character models are well fleshed out. Sure they have huge cartoon muscles but who wants to battle it out with a skinny, malnourished Ryu. The animation runs smooth and looks great for all the moves too. The game does includes some anime cut-scenes to tell part of the narrative. The anime doesn't bug me too much, but I would have preferred a more congruent style for the cut-scenes such as the wonderful in-game graphics. Still it's a good game, lots of unlockables, a training mode, and overall satisfying. 4/5 stars.

With a good controller, this game can be a lot of fun
I think it is important to know the reviewer's system specs, because it can easily influence the overall gaming experience of the user. So I'll start with that.

My System Specs:
Vista x64 Ultimate
8GB RAM (2 x 4GB)
8800GT SSC (eVGA)
Soundblaster Xtreme Gamer series
Speakers: Logitech Z-5300e
24" BenQ LCD monitor (Native resolution): 1920 x 1200
Game resolution: 1650 x 1050
Anti-aliasing: 4x
Input: Xbox360 controller

I own two Xbox360 controllers for my PC (I do not own a Xbox360) and I can't afford to buy any more controllers, so I had to stick with it. I know there are more fancy controllers specifically designed for this game, but I'd rather spend that money on another game. Moving on, I'm not sure if anyone else has this issue, but I can't trigger the special moves like I want to. I remember how easy it was to trigger moves on Super Nintendo and so I am gauging the ease of controls against my previous controller. The controls seem a little sensitive... But then again, it may just be a fact that it's my first time playing Street Fighter on a Xbox360 controller.

Graphics are amazing, sound is great, and move clips are so-so (some are cheesy, some are watchable).

The only issue I have is with the controls, so I give it 4 stars.

Oh, and it crashed to desktop one time, but hasn't happened since then. I'm sure there will be a patch in the future. Besides that, it's definitely a keeper!

I have not tried on-line mode yet... I'll do so once I get used to my controller. I know the on-line community can be brutal.