Street Fighter IV

I love Street Fighter. I love the series. When I was in high school nothing was better than going to the arcade and putting my quarter on the machine to indicate that I "had next". Well, after many years Capcom has finally released Street Fighter IV. Would it be a return to the classic speedy arcade roots of Street Fighter II or would it turn into a human chess match full of parries and combos like Street Fighter III?

I'm happy to say that it took what made Street Fighter II great and amplified it by 100%. It's fun again and boy, is it pretty!

Let's start with the new characters. We have Abel, a french MMA specialist with no memory; Rufus, a rotund fighter obsessed with fighting Ken Masters; Crimson Viper, a female spy; and El Fuerte, a luchador who's also a chef. Apparently Viper is now an elite character, capable of a lot, but I haven't seen it yet. She's way too floaty for my tastes. Gouken, Ken and Ryu's trainer is unlockable, but I haven't unlocked him yet.

The original cast of Street Fighter II returns intact. A few people from the Alpha series (Rose, Gen, Sakura, and Dan~!) show up, as well as Fei Long and Cammy from Super Street Fighter II. Balrog seems to play a little bit different, so I've been playing as Zangief and he seems to be working pretty well for me.

The art style is incredible. I've never seen a game this pretty before. It's like watching a watercolor painting in action. When the camera zooms in on Ryu, you can see the pen marks on his neck. This game is a walking ad for HD tv.

The only cons I have with this game involve the difficulty. The final boss, Seth, is impossible on anything harder than easy. Seth may very well be the cheapest character in a video game ever. His moves all take precedence over yours and he moves at twice your speed. He's also a boring Dr. Manhattan ripoff, but that's beside the point. I thought I was really bad at the game, but apparently everyone is having trouble with him.

Online play works very well. I played ten matches and lost 9 of them. That's about par for the course when I play online. People there are incredibly skilled and will wipe the floor with you every chance they get. Oh, and sadly they all play as Ken or Ryu. I played against 5 Kens, 4 Ryus, and an Akuma.

This game gets a huge thumbs up from me. Street Fighter IV is everything I wanted and more. It's fun, quick, and has an amazing learning curve. I'll never be an elite fighter, but I'll win one once in a while. If you want to play, put your quarter up. That's how it works around here.