Same old Street Fighter (Street Fighter IV (PS3))

Member Name: Midnight_Walker

Product:	Street Fighter IV (PS3)
Date:	08/06/09 (7 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent graphics, fast paced, fluid combat with great moves.

Disadvantages: Punishing difficulty

I picked up the Street Fighter IV Collector's Edition and was somewhat disappointed with the contents. The 2 figures were nice, but the additional Blu-Ray came in a slipcase, and the 'strategy guide' was in reality little more than a leaflet detailing 3 or 4 moves for the new characters. So unless you really, really want the figures, you may be best off sticking with just the game.

Anyway, onto the most important part - the game. How is it? Well, it's hard. Really, really hard. You think you're good at Street Fighter? Well, you're not, and SFIV will remind you of that fact constantly. It will punish you. It will haunt your dreams. This game knows it's better than you, and it wants you to know that too. Armed with this information, do you still want to play? Of course you do. It's Street Fighter, right?

Difficulty aside, it's a fantastic game. It's fast, it's smooth, and it looks excellent. It's one of those games that's insanely easy to learn but equally difficult to master. However, to me it just feels like Street Fighter II with new faces and very swish graphics. That's no bad thing, of course, Street Fighter II is legendary. I just somehow wish they'd have added a little more. It also feels a little unbalanced; the Ryu/Ken/Sagat style characters have a distinct advantage over the 'charge' characters like Blanka, Guile and Chun Li, and this is especially apparent when fighting Seth, who can teleport behind you at will, meaning that if you've been charging 'back' for a while, you're now charging 'forward', which is useless.

Overall, its still the same Street Fighter we know and love. But it's hard. No, it's harder than that. But it's so good that you'll keep coming back for more.

Summary: You will fail. You will fail a lot. But it's still Street Fighter, and you'll still love it.