Arnold-KatayevPerhaps the highlight of the show was finally playing Street Fighter IV. Granted, what we played wasn't on a console, but rather the actual arcade cabinets. The cabinets were beautiful, decked out in a white paint scheme, and brought back the memories of our childhoods immediately.
Throw away all of your reservations with Street Fighter IV, because there is no doubt about it, this is one of the best fighting games Capcom, or any other developer, has brought out in years. It stays completely true to the series, by offering 2D gameplay, albeit with 3D fighters. The gameplay is very much like Street Fighter 2 was, and, in fact, much of the same combos from the previous Street Fighter games worked in Street Fighter IV. So if you're an experienced SF vet, you'll feel right at home with Street Fighter IV.
What we loved about SFIV's gameplay is how silky smooth it felt; the game has the smoothness and fluidity of Street Fighter III, with the gameplay of Street Fighter II. Ironically, Street Fighter IV's story actually takes place in between Street Fighter II and III. Because the game is so fluid, it's also extremely responsive; again, we were able to pull off combos immediately. Thanks to all of these gameplay assets, the end result is one extremely addictive game; we didn't want to come off the seats in front of the cab, but plenty of other games had to be covered.
Visually, Street Fighter IV is striking to look at. It's barrage of colors strike the senses in the best possible way. The graphics are extremely vivid and so pretty to look at, especially when the eye-candy stuff comes blazing out. The framerate didn't chug once the entire time, no matter how hectic the action got, also helping to show off just nice the animations are. And the backgrounds, in true Street Fighter fashion, are fascinating, more so than ever before. Bravo, Capcom.
If you were the least bit concerned about how Street Fighter IV would turn out, fear not. Coming from someone who grew up playing Street Fighter II Turbo religiously, and chose to spend his entire flight to Los Angeles (and likely back) playing Street Fighter Alpha 3, Street Fighter IV was amazing. Easily one of the best games I played the entire show.
Related Game(s): Street Fighter IV
