Game Reviews

If someone were to walk up to me and ask what fighting game they should buy, my answer would be Super Street Fighter IV. In standard Capcom fashion, the company has updated a celebrated fighter, in this case Street Fighter IV, and added a whole pile of features and playable characters to make a improved product. With a bigger online suite and a bunch of other tweaks, this is the better version of Street Fighter IV, meaning it's one of the best fighters around.

Because Street Fighter IV's mechanics are well known at this point, the question of whether or not you really want to pick this up comes down to the new content it offers. There aren't any major changes to the basic fighting system. There's still the Super Combo Gauge that lets you pull off EX moves and supers. The Revenge Gauge lets you smack opponents with Ultras, of which there are now two per character. These give you more of a reason to go back and test out the original 25-member cast of Street Fighter IV (all included here), because Abel now has a delayable grapple Ultra and Guile can toss a gigantic Sonic HurricaneThe appeal of the game is its masterful blending of accessibility with complexity. Anyone can pick up a controller and enter in the charge moves and quarter/half/full circle motions to initiate special moves. The Focus Attack system introduced in Street Fighter IV is still here, and initiated simply by holding down two buttons. Because this is more of an expansion that an entirely new product there aren't many surprises, but it's still some of the best fighting gameplay around.