Lance Blogs About Street Fighter IV

Street Fighter IV and I couldn't be much happier. SF fans waited impatiently but that wait was well worth it.

SF4 is a new take on a great classic. That statemen is not to say it is a repackaged version of a vintage game, something Capcom has been guilty of in recent years. SF's latest installment is a damn good game in it's own right. It has all the traits that made the franchise shine with some new goodies to look forward to.

The first thing one will notice about this SF4 is that all 12 characters in Street Fighter II The World Warrior are all selectable off the bat, bosses included, along with four newcomers. All the fighters benefit from 7th-Gen technology, for you see them rendered in stunning 3D, reediming Capcom from the so-so Street Fighter EX.

Now for the gameplay. The verteran SF player will be very happy to know that SF4 stays true to it's 2D fighter roots despite having 3d graphics. Your returning characters can the same moves pretty much the same way they did in their nostalgic days. The Hadokens. The combo links. Shoot you can even do the cross-ups! To those who are playing SF for the first time, be warned: This is not a fighting game where you simply mash buttons and see instant results. You will get buried by the more skilled players. And you will actually need to get a decent arcade controller just to take your SF game to the next level.

There are new additions the Street Fighter IV. One of them is the Focus Attack, which is done by holding medium punch and mediul kick. You can use it to prevent an hitstun form one hit of an oppenent's attack and/or set up an attack of your own. The other is the Revenge Meter, which is much like a Super Meter but the Revenge Meter fills up only when you take damage. When the Revenge Meter fills to a certain point you can do an Ultra Combo to return the misery to that special someone.

The home version of SF4 has some several modes to keep you busy such as time trails, survival, not forgetting the Vs, online and Arcade Mode. There is also a feature where you can make it so that people can "join-in" while you are playing Arcade Mode and challenge you to an online fight. I turned it on by accident and it can be very annoying when you are trying to unlock characters. I would suggest keeping this feature off untill you unlock everything.

The call for sanctioned competitive play can be heard no matter what part of gaming you follow. Some spot will eventually prefer to host tournaments on the Xbox 360 while others will host on the PlayStation 3. This may force serious players to buy arcade sticks for boths systems, which could get VERY pricey. But if you get some good controllers the first time you should be fine.

With akk that said, Street Fighter IV is a must-have for anyone who has love for the franchise, even from afar. No matter which systyem you have you will get the best Street Fighter experience in years if not the best ever.