Street Fighter IV Update (With Lots of Video)
There is no denying that there is a great deal of buzz going around about the upcoming release of Street Fighter IV. Even though some of us long-term fans would have liked the game the feature hand-drawn animations in pure 2D, SF4 looks to maintain much of its heritage in terms of overall style and gameplay.
We have learned a great deal since the games official announcement back in October. Even though I can’t quite keep up the pace of updates that some sites offer, I wanted to post an overview of what we have seen so far via a collection of videos, screenshots, and links.
The Newest Trailer
To get the quickest feel for the game and most of the announced players, take a look at the new AOU 2008 Amusement Expo Trailer (high-def version here):
As you can see, all of the original eight characters from Street Fighter 2 are featured in addition to two new characters, Crimson Viper and Abel. While there hasn’t been an official “announcement” that I have seen so far, both Sagat and Balrog (the Boxer) have also been spotted in the arcade test units and, subsequently, various videos online.
Real Gameplay Video
Considering the use of 3D graphics, I was surprised to see how similar the character animation has been to previous Street Fighter games — primarily Street Fighter 2 and Street Fighter Alpha 3. The trailers show too much zooming in and special angles, but if you look at normal gameplay videos captured by those who have tried the game out, it will look much more familiar to you. Take a look at the video links below to see your favorite characters in action.
- Blanka: Vs Guile, Vs Abel, Vs Dhalsim,
- Chun-Li: Vs. Abel, Vs Ken, Vs Guile
- Dhalsim: Vs Guile, Vs Abel, Vs C Viper
- E. Honda: Vs Guile, Vs Ryu, Vs Zangief
- Guile: Vs Zangief, Vs Blanka, Vs Abel
- Ken: Vs Ryu, Vs C. Viper, Vs Chun-Li
- Ryu: Vs C. Viper, Vs Ken, Vs. Abel
- Zangief: Vs E Honda, Vs Guile, Vs Sagat and Balrog
- Crimson Viper: Vs Ryu, Vs. Blanka, Vs. Ken
- Abel: Vs Guile, Vs Blanka, Vs. Chun Li
- Sagat: Vs. Zangeif
- Balrog: Vs Zangeif
High-Def Screenshots
If you want to see more detail of the graphics, you can take a look at this collection of 720p screenshots of various characters courtesy of GGL Wire on Flickr. (You can also see them in Slideshow Mode)
The Gameplay Engine
We’ve heard a bit about the gameplay engine a bit as well and it will most closely resemble Street Fighter II, but will have Super and Ultra Moves in addition to the new system known as “Saving” or “Revenge”.
As the Wikipedia entry for the game states, “The system features a four-segment “Revenge” gauge that builds up as the character takes damage. A player can use one segment of the gauge in combat by simultaneously pressing both strong punch and strong kick to unleash a special attack that will deal instant damage and render the opponent immobile for a short time. The buttons can also be held down and charged to unleash a devastating unblockable attack at the cost of 3/4s of the full “Revenge” gauge. The gauge can also be used to fuel EX Specials — stronger versions of regular special moves — at the cost of one stock of the gauge. Both the Saving move and EX Specials can be “canceled” by dashing towards the opponent (the move will still be performed and will still do damage however), this dash can again be “canceled” by performing another EX Special or Saving move, this however will require pinpoint timing so that only skilled players may execute this kind of combo.Ono has stated that this system was incorporated in order to shift the emphasis away from combos and toward a more realistic system he has compared to boxing, in which “the skill is in reading your opponent’s move before he starts moving … We haven’t forgotten about combos and linked moves, but saving makes it so that you have to read your opponent.” The system aims to make ground attacks as viable a way of approaching opponents as jumping was in previous games.”
My Impressions So Far
I was rather worried about this game initially due to the original images and videos or Ken and Ryu, but now that I see actual gameplay video without all the zooming and effects, I am much less concerned. The gameplay does seem solid, but I’m still a little disappointed that parries and such are missing, but it will be interesting to see how the Revenge system makes up for it. I like the fact that the overall style and character animation seems like a blend of Street Fighter II and the Alpha series.
What Do You Think?
[poll=4]
Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network or Amazon Associates.
It will be the game that will make me buy a PS3… unless they release a Wii port.
I dunno Racket… It just doesn’t seem like the old Street Fighter I grew to love. It’s one thing to make it 3D… but take away a lot of the features that made the series great? No, no it’s not right. Unfortunately I’ll still buy it, after all it’s still a Street Fighter.
I love the Streetfighter Games, and would buy a flea ridden bucket if it was branded with Street Fighter.
Regarding SF4, I do like the look of it, a lot. It’s 3D but more 2D than things like SFEX, and the animation is absolutely fluid.
I’m excited!
Well, since I’ve seen a trailer of KOF 12 I’m much more excited by the new SNK Playmore title.
This Street Fighter 4 looks too much like a 3D Street Fighter 2 and the newcomers are ugly or escaped from a KOF game.
Definitely not buying an overpowered console to run this title.
I’ll wait and see.
Yeah I have to agree, I am more attracted to hand drawn sprites rather than 3D models. Not enough has been done about HD sprites which is a total shame.
I like the actual 3D work, the muscles in particular are quite nice. They use plenty of colours and it is all very attractive. I feel that some characters…maybe Blanka won’t/doesn’t translate well into 3D.
I just hope they actually include some SF3 characters
I’ll be looking forward to this!
I was hoping for a zooming play field myself… but not like Samurai Showdown crazy. But on that note it looks like it plays true to the Street Fighter series.
well it looks very retro, almost backwater!
looks good but….street fighter looks better on 2d.
At first it looks like a worthy SF-Title, though taking a closer look I don’t like the art-direction, and especially the too fluid animation, it’s all so polished and feels… fake, cheap, too perfect. Much like most other of todays billion-dollar projects, it just doesn’t feel right for a guy who’s used to few-frame-animations and traditional sprite-based visuals.
Seeing that King of Fighters 12 is actually done in most amazing HD-2D, I really question Capcoms choice of bringing out a original SF-title (not some EX-spin off or something) in weird 3D.
HighDef 2D can be done, and should be done ~ especially on titles that defined 2D-greatness like the Street Fighter-saga did.