Welcome to another edition of For What it’s Worth where bargain titles are examined to see if they really are worth your bottom dollar. Tonight I’m doing something a little out of the ordinary when it comes to this series. I’m actually going to review a newer title. I know some of you are thinking that I’m cheating like I did with the New Super Mario Bros. Wii review but I’m actually not. Even though this is a new game, it is also a bargain title as it was released at half-price.
After the success that Capcom had at reviving the Street Fighter series last year with Street Fighter 4, Capcom later revealed that they would be taking another page out of the classic Street Fighter play-book. They announced that they would be releasing an updated version of the game, Super Street Fighter IV the following year that would sport new characters and features. Some fans of the series became frustrated with this discussion as in this age of DLC; it seems that they could have simply been added to the original game by means of downloadable content, instead of pulling a Street Fighter II and creating several versions of the same game and only providing minor updates each time. It is 2010 not 1992 afterall.
So to save face, Capcom decided to sell the game at half price, even though they felt that it was worth the same as any new game on the market and have even given it the pet name of Street Fighter 4.5.
Is Super Street Fighter IV worthy enough to be its own separate game? Or is it just a glorified DLC?
Story: S.I.N. has put a new plot into motion which involves the creation of new super weapons and the kidnapping and manipulation of the world’s top martial artists. The international crime syndicate Shadowloo is also showing signs of re-emerging and all of this takes place during the International Street Fighter Tournament.
The over all plot is fairly weak, which is the standard for games in the fighting genre but the individual stories of each of the world warriors are actually a lot of fun and are really entertaining.
Graphics & Design: It has the exact same look as the previous incarnation of the series fourth instalment, with maybe a few slight graphical touch-ups and it still looks as awesome as it did a year ago. The 3D character models look fantastic, perfectly capturing the over the top personalities of each fighter and their animation is very fluent. The level backgrounds are simply stunning. It is truly wondrous how the development team was able to capture a solar eclipse, the seas of Japan, the wildlife of an African jungle or even the hectic parking lot of a drive-thru with such beauty. I would go as far as to say that this is one of the sharpest looking 3D (or is it 2.5D?) games on the market.
Sound: The soundtrack has a lot too offer in terms of variety. There are samples of rock, oriental, techno/house music, J/ Euro Pop and so on to represent each of the unique world warriors and their countries of origin. The voice cast is also pretty stellar (for video game standards anyway) and even the announcer is pretty cool.
Gameplay: Super Street Fighter IV follows the same formula used in the original Street Fighter IV. You still have your basic moves, focus attacks that deal out extra damage and your character specific specials, super and ultra combos. All of which are very well animated. Especially the ultra combos since they are basically mini cutscenes. In my mind, they fall into the category of visual art. The super combos work the same way they did in the original. Your character’s super combo gauge is on the bottom of the screen and it will fill up as you continue to deal out damage to your opponent. Once the gauge is full, you will be able to perform a super combo that will take out a nice chunk of your opponent’s life bar. It is also interesting to note that if the super gauge is full and you haven’t used it by the end of the round, then it will remain full in the next round, which really comes in handy for tougher fights. Your ability to perform ultra combos still depends on the revenge gauge. The revenge gauge fills up as you take damage from your opponent. Once the gauge flares up at the bottom of the screen, you will be able to perform an ultra combo that deal out a massive amount of damage to your opponent’s health bar. However, pulling off an ultra combo can be rather tricky considering that you need to be in the right position to pull it off. That and it they tend to have the same button combinations as the super combos. Pulling them off may be tricky but they are not impossible. I recommend trying to do it when you don’t have a full super combo gauge. It is also interesting to not that you can now choose between two different ultra combos for each character. Kinda like in Street Fighter III with the super combos. The difficulty can also be a little misleading at times because even on the easiest difficulty, some rival fights in Story Mode can be incredibly cheap bastards. Ken *cough* Ken *cough* but you can always choose from one of the other 34 paths, so it is all good, even if it is a tad frustrating. Other than that, the game has the same style of gameplay as any classic 2D fighter. Two characters fight from side of the screen to the other until his/her opponent is knocked out. First to win two rounds, wins the fight. It is Street Fighter in its purest form, as it should be.
Extra Features: For the more hardcore players looking for a new challenge in the online scene, they will find all of the competition they can handle with an array of new online modes. These include Ranked Matches, which rates the performances of each player. Endless Battle where players are put onto a play list where the first player fights the second then the winner fights the third and so on, with each loser being moved to the bottom of the list as they wait to fight again. Team Battle divides a group of up to eight players into teams and pits them against each other. There are 3 ways to play in Team Battle which are, two on two, three on three and four on four. There is also the eight-player Tournament mode in which the World Warriors battle for online supremacy. Another neat feature is the ability to share your replays with other gamers as well as the ability to upload theirs via the Replay Channel.
Not only does the game offer up some new online modes not featured in the original release but it also brings back the classic Car Crusher (originally from Final Fight) and Barrel Buster bonus stages from Street Fighter II. Of course they are featured in Arcade Mode but they can also be played separately in the Trial Mode, which also features a set of Challenges for each fighter. The Challenges are basically just a different version of the Practice Mode that requires you to perform certain moves and combos.
Replay Value: Super Street Fighter IV does offer plenty of replay value in terms of both online and offline content. With a solid variety of online features complete with an array of competitive players and up to 35 characters to master, this street fighter won’t be KO’ed anytime soon.
Overall Value: Retail Value- $40
What it’s Worth- $60 (if you don’t have the original)
- A rental (if you do have the original)
The graphics are just as stunning, the music is just as catchy, the characters are as memorable and the gameplay mechanics are as solid as they are in the original release. However, with the addition of ten new characters and a healthy dose of new online features, I would say that this is the superior of the two releases without question. If you don’t have the original, I would say that this is definitely worth the bit of extra money. However, I understand that those who already have the original may not be willing to buy this upgrade which is understandable considering that it could have been released as downloadable content but I think they should at least give it a rent to play as the new characters.
(especially Dudley for he keeps it classy).
Until next time: Happy Hunting!
Next on the Docket: Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations
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