Tue 3 Mar 2009
So, after nearly a decade since the last Street Fighter and almost 2 years since it’s announcement, Street Fighter 4 has been released. Being a hardcore Street Fighter fan, I took the day off of work and bought it on day 1. So, was it worth the wait? Did it live up to all of the hype?
Honestly, I hated it for the first 1-2 hours and almost gave up on it then and there. The only thing that kept me playing was the 60$ I had just dropped on it. I was determined to find some enjoyment out of the game, and surprisingly it did grow on me. Yes, the game is fun and, yes, that’s the most important thing in a game, but what irks me is this game could have been epic! Instead, it’s a sloppy but fun fighter that is hard to take seriously. What’s so wrong with it? Read on:
ART DESIGN
2D vs 3D
No, I will not let this go. I’ve mentioned many times since Street Fighter 4 was first announced how I totally disagreed with the decision to use cell-shaded 3D models instead of beautifully hand-drawn high-definition sprites. To me, this was a no brainer decision, sadly Capcom hired someone without a brain to make it. I understand that this was a business decision and that using 3D models and animating them is less expensive, I still feel that Capcom has screwed it’s customers with this decision.
Art Direction Sucks
From the ugly VS screen images to some horrible character models, the art director really deserved to be let go. Although I have to admit that the c0nsole-exclusive characters all looked good, almost every “original” arcade release character was not up to the usually high Capcom standards at all. A big nosed Blanka? A Guile with a stupid shoulder stance that makes him look like a coward? A Ken who could have been He-Man’s younger brother?
Horrible Background Design
Seriously, who decided that badly animated backgrounds were needed? Why are there alligators and cheetahs watching me fight? Fighting next to Lava? Really Capcom, that’s the best your creative talent can come up with? What’s worse, why are the background not character specific? This isn’t a VS game, this is supposed to be a flagship Street Fighter here!
MEDIA
Menu Music
One of the first things I noticed once I put the disc into my PS3 was the “new level of awful” menu music. It’s so bad that my wife asked me to turn off the game on many occasions. What’s worse, it keeps getting stuck in my head!
Animated Cutscenes
The decision to have animated cutscenes was a good one, it’s the implementation that was bad. The cutscenes were ugly, served to highlight a stupid plot, and overall made the game feel cheep. Also, Seth had a shower scene … nuff said really.
STORY
Plot
Fighting games don’t need a plot beyond “there’s a tournament of the best fighters”. It’s good to give characters motivations and ways to relate with each other but the “secret organization” and “cloning the best” story-lines have been overused to the point of being painful. Seriously, having no plot would be far better.
Prequel?
The Street Fighter series already had a prequel (see Street Fighter Alpha) and doesn’t need to keep going backwards. What would have been wrong with the game taking place after the “events” of Street Fighter 3 with older, meaner, better Street Fighters? Why must Capcom go backwards once more instead of forward.
Undead Characters?
For Street Fighter 4, Capcom decided to take a page from Soap Operas and Super Hero Comics and never … let … characters … stay … dead. Yup, Bison’s alive again. Gouken was only “sleeping”. Chun Li’s dad is giving Gen orders. Charlie’s body was never found. What next, Dan’s dad also came back from the dead and decided to have a sex change? Come on Capcom, let dead characters STAY DEAD!
CHARACTERS
New Characters
Out of 4 new characters, we have Abel (who’s great until you realize why he had amnesia and who he really is), C. Viper (who’s decent till you realize she’s cheating), Rufus (who you assume is the joke character until you see El Fuerte), and El Fuerte (See Rufus). Honestly, couldn’t we have had at least 1 good and untarnished new character who’s not a joke, a clone, or a cheat?
Joke Characters
Dan, Rufus, and El Fuerte. Out of 25 characters, 3 are joke characters. And you want me to take the game seriously?
Seth
It sucks when the last character in the game isn’t a character you “love to hate” but one you just simply hate. It sucks when that character is not good, but is broken and really cheap. It sucks when that character is ugly as hell. It sucks when that character is just a clone and so, even if he dies, is surely coming back. Thank God Capcom didn’t make any of those mistakes (heavy dose of sarcasm intended).
No SF3 Characters
Is Capcom so embarrassed by the “Cult Classic” Street Fighter III to not even include a single character introduced in the game? I’m not asking for the entire roster to come back, but come on! So many great characters to choose from such as Alex, Ibuki, Makoto, Yun etc… none?
Gouken is so underwhelming
Gouken trained Ken and Ryu to be who they are. Gouken is the brother and possibly equal of Akuma. Gouken’s moves leave you completly underwhelmed. See the problem?
Bad Alpha Character Choice
Honestly, why bring back Rose and Gen? Wouldn’t those character slots have been better filled with characters people actually love and play?
GAMEPLAY
No Parries
I concede the point that Focus Attacks are cool as well, but I can’t help but mention that I miss my parries. FA’s are just not the same.
1 Super per Character?
Yeah yeah, 1 super plus 1 Ultra that’s basically almost the super but with a few more animations. This is a big step back in my humble opinion.
Only a Raging Demon?
One of the things that made Akuma cool was having a Raging Demon in addition to his regular supers, now both his Super and his Ultra are both Raging Demons. Yes another decision that only takes away from fan favorites.
ONLINE PLAY
Quitting not Penalized?
Seriously, if someone quits in a ranked game, they should lose that game. This should not be up for debate.
Not Anonymous Ranked?
In a ranked game lobby, I can see a player’s name and choose to kick them or otherwise not play that game. Seriously, does that not defy the whole point of having a ranked game to begin with?
Choosing Characters
Nearly all ranked matches start the same way. Opponent either picks Ken, Ryu, or Akuma (which I don’t mind at all since they’ll get they’re butts handed to them if they do) or the opponent waits to see who I choose before selecting their character. Why not make the other player’s choice invisible? Not always, but at least put it in the ranked lobby options for people who are sick of having opponents pick the perfect anti-character.
No Online Lobbies
Street Fighter II HD Remix had it. Street Fighter on XBLA had it. So why doesn’t Street Fighter 4 have it? If I have 2 friends online that I wish to play Street Fighter 4, why can’t we all join a lobby together and take turns pummeling each other? Another “no brainer” option that Capcom failed to implement.
Well that’s about all I can think of right now although I have a nagging feeling I’ve forgotten some points. All in all, the game is still fun and playable, but it does not really live up to the Street Fighter 4 name and could have been a way better product. What do you all think?
Related posts:
- Street Fighter 4 vs Mortal Kombat/DC
- Rufus? Are you kidding me Capcom?
- The Many Faces of Ken (Street Fighter)
- New Street Fighter 4 Character Revealed: Skullomania!
- 15 Street Fighter vs Tekken Matchups!
March 3rd, 2009 at 16:24
i think you shouldn`t complain about undead characters if you think the game shouldn`t have a plot besides the tournament XD
sure the time slot this game occupies is the lamest possible, as an epilogue to street fighter 2 anime (even having the cyborg that observes/copies characters moves and all)but, sf4 is pretty much a sf2 next-gen revival, they wouldn`y risk going “cult” or developing a story they just have no idea where it goes, it think it succeeds in bringing back the sf2 feel, something that – pardon me – sf3 was never capable of, and respecting sf3 on its own merits – it`s a different game and it didn`t sell that well, so, better to comeback to the legend (which has more people interested in if you get my point)
i still agree with a lot of your complains anyway XD
March 3rd, 2009 at 16:38
Hi Osama,
I am very disappointed that you didn’t like SF4. Well the only reason I was thinking of buying a PS3 or XBOX 360 was so I can play SF4. Well according to your “review/critic” I guess I will wait for Street Fighter 5 which hopefully will be out by 2015.
Regards,
You old buddy from TELUS
March 3rd, 2009 at 17:09
@ Hugo:
I understand that Capcom wanted to please more people by making it more similar to SF2, but most of my points could have still been implemented and would have not made it seem more like SF3. I hated a lot of the SF3 characters myself (Twelve, Remy, Gill, etc..) but that doesn’t mean the game had nothing worth keeping. My biggest peeve is the choice of 3D vs 2D and that would have made it even closer to SF2…
@ Chris:
Long time no see buddy
Actually the game is still quite fun and you should still buy it if you know a few people that have it. I was disappointed that it was not a great game but it still is a pretty good one 
March 3rd, 2009 at 17:45
I agree that there’s definite room for improvement, but the only thing I really care about when picking up a SF game is how it plays against another human player. On that point, Capcom succeeded. SF4 is really fun to play against your friends, and it captures well the arcade feeling.
Sure the backgrounds are ugly, the story meaningless and all that, but who cares? Go play something “epic” like MGS4 if you want that. I want to get to the fight as quickly as possible, beat the crap out of the opponent and move quickly to the next fight.
Capcom stated that they wanted to get away from SF3, which makes me sad, but I’ll live with it. FA is no replacement for parries, but I’ll agree with them that SF3 had a very steep learning curve and not at all meant for the casual fighter market.
Regarding character choices, yeah, some of the choices are odd (Gen? Abel? yuck). But I played with Rose in Alpha and like her, so don’t diss her.
C.Viper can be played a bit like Makoto so there’s your SF3 character, and El Fuerte is a weird Guy-type. I loved Guy in alpha (was my best character), but unfortunately he doesn’t play well in this version at all… the characters are too close on screen and therefore he doesn’t have enough room to run around. A shame.
If you take this game for what it is (a pure arcade fighter) then it’s wonderful – one of the best fighters out there. If you start expecting too much out of it though, you’ll be disappointed.
B.
P.S. I 100% agree with Capcom’s choice of seeing the other online player’s character selection. They wanted to make the gameplay as close to the arcade feel as possible, and that sort of thing happens in arcades all the time. Ah the nostalgia.
March 3rd, 2009 at 22:35
sfiv is great, could use better music and the anime is lacking but the gameplay is awesome. I would have sold the game already if there was a parry in it. SF3 was the only SF to have parry and SF3 had the lowest rating of all SF’s where as SF2 had a cult like following which would only make sense to use that as the bases for SFIV.
Gouken is a total beast if you know how to use him. Online I totaly destroy any ken,ryu,akuma with him.
Capcom is releasing a free championship mode download which will fix most of the problems you have with the online mode. They will have tournament brackets where you face opponents with the same general level of bp’s as you.
The only thing I really agree with is the oppenent being able to see who your selecting and trying to counter you with a specific person. I think if they changed that so you can’t see who your oppenent is selecting then this game would be perfect in every way (besides the music and anime) but overall this is by far the best edition to street fighter ever.
They chose not to make another sf3 for a reason and that is because sf3 sucked. They could have thrown 1 or two characters from sf3 in it but that would destroy the story line. The story line takes place between sf2 and sf3 so in order to keep the story line intact then the characters you are crying about will more than likely make a appearence in SF5.
Since I see that you are desperate for a recreation of sf3 I think sf5 would be the one you should wait for but if you are interested in sf in general and like the story to progress into future games and have something to look foward to after this title and generaly liked sf2 then this is a GREAT GAME
March 3rd, 2009 at 22:43
I agree with just about everything posted above by SimplisticStyle. Take this game for what it is and enjoy it. This is the best fighting game to be released for any console in years. Parry sucked and is for the weak enough said. You want to duck and weave and parry then go buy a boxing game. If you want a fast online battle that keeps you coming back for more than street fighter iv is where it’s at. SHOYRUKEN!!
March 4th, 2009 at 13:20
Some of the complaints are petty imo, but the online lobbies are a huge problem at the moment. Even more so than droppers and not losing BP, thats just annoying, i think the online lobbies or lack there of in SFIV is a real step backwards.. Not being able to train with a handful of friends just seems like a real oversight on capcoms part.. Hopefully the Championship Edition DLC will fix this.
I wrote about this on mysite as well to bring attention to the issue:
http://www.iplaywinner.com/news/2009/2/23/attn-capcom-add-quarter-matches-to-street-fighter-4.html
March 4th, 2009 at 14:48
I completely agree with this article (except for the undead characters – the more the better). The lack of supers (especially akuma) the fact the Abel IS alex, the number of joke characters. The abhorrent anime cutscenes. the insane difficulty – I found Seth alright, it’s Honda and Zangieff that I can’t get past easily.
I just don’t like how this is supposed to be the accessible street fighter, yet it’s the most technical one. How many moves require the simultaneous push of how many buttons? Too many! If we don’t consider Street fighter 1, this is by far the worst street fighter to date. also, take a look at the character models when they do close ups – absolutely awful. Low res textures, ugly low poly models – it looks like N64 era 3D.
I’ve been with the franchise for a long time, and i HATE HATE HATE this game. What a waste of money – not fun.
March 4th, 2009 at 17:55
I completely agree with this article as well except for one point, the game is not fun at all. I’ve already sold my copy and have moved on. Sorry Capcom, you’ve just lost a former die-hard street fighter fan.
March 5th, 2009 at 11:40
Well said,
I mostly agree with the article. however, the game as a Street Fighter Game is great enough to get back his huge fan base; it plays well, but it isn’t the game I was expecting it be.
Plus, I found it totally frustrating to get ”auto-grabbed” while performing low attacks with the right trigger or stuff like that. I would hope that the visual would match with the gameplays, but it’s the way the game is.
I guess I’ll wait for another amazing fighting game, I’ll stick with Killzone 2 right now ^^.
March 5th, 2009 at 12:15
I’ve got a SlikStik Fighter, so I’m waiting for the PC version in the hopes that I’ll be able to use it instead of a small controller.
March 5th, 2009 at 13:05
SF4 is good, i hate the childish feel of the game. Like before doing a ultra the characters eye balls(latterly)come out and the stages suck ass. I’m a big fan of music and i hated most of the music in the stages. The music in the online lobby are great tho. *CAPCOM SHOULD KEEP THE FIGHTING AS IT IS RIGHT NOW, AND JUST MAKE IT MORE SERIOUS WITH BETTER MUSIC, STAGES, MENUS, AND PRESENTATION.*
psn- C-YaPro (i play hardcore)
March 5th, 2009 at 13:17
btw its sad to say if i were to line up the sf2 stages and the sf4 stages side by side…the sf2 stages would out shine sf4 =(
March 5th, 2009 at 16:42
Hey I totally agree with you I felt Like I was the only one who thought all of what you said Well spoken my friend If I have to add anything else to the Fire I have to say is addition to the Graphics…. I totally hate how They made the game look like some Def jam Type Thing Extra ulky characters I mean the cell shading is cool But Hey Why not make the Game Look Like Guilty Gear or something But I do give it one thing They were on the job with the gameplay But They Coulda added better people Totally Agree Story should continue and make people older I have drawing s of how they should look If it came to that never submitted it But They Look cool I think you’d love it
March 9th, 2009 at 20:26
Man, I wanted to write up a review of the game, knowing full well that a hate review would be up here before long. I will try my best not to repeat what I said before about how you see the glass half empty or at least you only talk about the empty part especially since I do see you playing this game online A LOT.
In response to your criticism of the game however, I will say this, the other day I got my opponent in a corner with Ryu, I did a jumping hard kick followed by a standing hard punch cancel into an EX hurricane kick, juggle with an EX fireball juggle into an ULTRA ~Yes it works, try it~. And all I can think was STREET FIGHTER IS BACK!!!!!
Do not be fooled by its marketing of this game being for casual gamers or not as hardcore as SF3. I find combos in SF4 HARDER to pull off than in 3, the chains and links are a lot less forgiving. The only lacking thing here are parries, I agree. However the focus attack is so damn deep and hard to master that I can get over parries. I have yet to pull off a proper long combo with a focus attack dash cancel juggle into an ultra.
The gameplay is spot on, would I have liked 2D graphics? Yes I would. Do I think about it while playing? Not at all, I am too busy trying to get that damn Focus attack dash cancel ultra juggle!
About the bad character additions, I challenge you to count the amount of good playable characters in this game versus any other street fighter release (excluding the versus series) and you will find this probably has the most, the only other game that may surpass it is Alpha 3, but then you dont get Gouken (who by the way I Think is just INCREDIBLE in all aspects, very high potential, one of those hard to master but sick when you do type characters). As for bringing some SF3 characters in, I ABSOLUTELY agree, but I have hope that they will do it later, after all they are working on Deejay and T Hawk now…
I love this game, I havent been this excited for a game in a long long time. All true SF fans who actually give it a chance will see, its an instant classic! You remind me of my friend here who was bitching about every screen shot and video he saw, but after he came over and played it, he wouldnt stop asking to come back for more… You may WANT to hate this game, but you cant, no matter how hard you try Osama I know that you cant hate it, and it will continue to grow on you.
PS.. MISS you guys!
March 11th, 2009 at 23:46
Osama….What are you on drugs? Let me guess, you were the kid that got picked on during school and now that you are older, you want to take it out on other people?
Just kidding….
But seriously I think you need to reevaluate your points because:
1. When Capcom decide to go with the 3d look for the characters, the main goal was to get old players back with awe and the new players back with the wow. For new players I mean anyone under 21.
2. The Backgrounds are Beautiful. From Chun-li’s Stage to the Stillery Factory, shot and draw to the last detail. depending on your Console, it comes out beautiful.
3. The Four New Characters each present something we didnt see in a while:”VARIETY”
WOW WHAT A WORD. Capcom actually decides to change it up and people start complaining.
4. Althought I want to throw my control at the wall everytime I play Seth because of his cheat endless combo (which I hope Capcom fixes ASAP)Seth brings something to gaming we havent done in a while. It’s called working for a reward or ending.
So while there are many reasons that I could describe to tell you why I believe SFIV
March 11th, 2009 at 23:47
SAVE THE FIGHTING GAME GENRE, DONT COMPLAIN, SHUT UP AND PLAY
March 12th, 2009 at 01:43
I don’t really see why Rufus and El Fuerte are ‘Joke’ Characters. Sure they are quirky in their own right but I don’t see them as joke characters on the level that I see Dan Hibiki as a joke being that he was made as a parody of Ryo from AoF, I guess you could argue Rufus is to Street Fighter what Bob is to Tekken but I also think (in my opinion, not a fact or anything) that he is perceved as a parody character just because he’s a fast obese guy and that not being the norm, especially in a fighting game they get marked down as a joke character.
As for El Fuerte, he’s a Lucha Libre wrestler who aspires to be a master chef, if he had a serious personality to him I just wouldn’t see him in the same light, but again I think the silly personality suits him. I main Rufus and think he is quite the beast if you can pull of the combos and what not.
Having a look at the rest of your review though, I agree with the earlier post about some of the things being rather petty, But then again who am I to say what is an isn’t aye? it’s all down to preference at the end of the day I guess.
From the talk of parries and what not you sound like an 3S player, I miss the parry system but I noticed it seemed to repel new players from what I have witnessed anyway and the learning curve was really steep, I used to play Hugo on 3S and I remember having to learn from scratch, i played for about 3 years and I still sucked compared to the local meta
.
I like your review though I may not agree with all of it, the game had a lot of hype so I like to see what others gripe’s are with games that seemed to be hyped fenominally by the media, personally i love SF IV, but I am sure there are people out there who see this game as over hyped. The online play can be a pain in the ass sometimes, a lobby system would have been nice but i just set it to accept games whilst i play through arcade mode, which in my experience works faster than actually looking for a game. I gave up on ranked battles as I came across to many droppers, plus I get bored of fighting Ryu/Ken over and over
Anyway I have practically written a life story here, so I will be on my way me thinks but always remember when in doubt, do as Rufus would, blame Ken Masters
March 12th, 2009 at 09:08
@ Everyone: You don’t have to agree and I admit some points are petty, but this post read “What I hate about Street Fighter 4″ not “Unpetty things I hate about Street Fighter 4″. Deal with it
@ Hytham: Miss you too buddy, come back soon I wanna wreck you with my unstoppable Vega!
@ Steve: Rufus is undeniably a joke. Not in the way he plays (which is quite fun) but in his character design. You just have to beat the game with him and judge by the anime cut scenes. El Fuerte’s being a chef is what makes him a joke. He could have been a serious Lucha Libre wrestler, the frying pan just tainted him for me. Dan is just awesome as a joke character so it’s not bad to have jokes, I just feel there are too many of them this time.
@ Philip: I do agree with all your points (especially variety since I wasn’t complaining about the new characters’ gameplay but their character design/stories), I don’t agree about the backgrounds. They range from ugly to just barely ok. To each his own I guess.
March 12th, 2009 at 14:12
You Know what Osama: You are alright with me?any other games or systems you want to talk about hit me up on the PSN at Dakid3482 (playstation 3 lover)
March 12th, 2009 at 17:07
This game was so overrated. It got editor’s choice, are you kidding me? Im so glad I rented it first.
March 12th, 2009 at 17:19
You cant be serious this game is up there for editor’s choice. I mean they brung a classic back!!
With a few hiccups, this game is as good as golden.
Now do they need to send some patches to include championship mode and extra characters….yes…
But besides God of War I and II
What other perfect games are out there?
Dont worry I’ll wait
March 16th, 2009 at 01:36
For me, the game just has nowhere near the same feel or enjoyment as its predecessors. The intro music, horrible cut-scenes, and just what seemed an overall departure from everything I loved about SF as a whole just left me stunned at how over-hyped it is/was. I agree about the backgrounds, too. I fought Honda with the oriental market background, and the very next fight, it’s the same damned background, it’s been darkened and renamed to “abandoned alley” or something?
March 17th, 2009 at 00:52
I agree that the new characters are a joke. C. Viper = lame, Abel = male Cammy, Rufus = if Cammy and Honda had sex, this is what their child would be like, Fuerte = another reinforced stereotype that Street Fighter displays yet again. And Seth, ugh; seriously, do the producers have a thing for partially nude men? Gill, Urien, Seth, and Zangy? But nobody really gives a fuck because they are barely used. The Alpha characters were the only logical choice for SF4 because of it’s SF2 gameplay. For one thing, a lot of the characters in Alpha were FF characters, and Ono had already told us that there were no plans to include FF characters. Gen, Rose, Dan, and Sakura were probably our best choices. Birdie, Adon, Karin, R.Mika, etc etc would be perfect candidates for the SF3 series though. Which also brings us onto the next topic. SF3 characters were deemed as the new gen of Street Fighters. SF4 takes place between 91′ to 97′ or 93′ to 97′, what ever is the official starting point for SF2. A majority of characters in the game were in college or early their 20′s, thus making them 12 to 15 in SF4. Street Fighter will never dumb itself down to have very young children in the game. But I do find it two sided that Capcom wouldn’t add in Dudley, Oro, or Q.
The gameplay is SF4 felt really weird at first. It was a mix of ST mechanics mixed with gameplay elements of 3S. I got used to the system though. Replacing parries with the focus attack was a major put off for me and many experienced players. Since the game returns to it’s projectile-spam-friendly gameplay, it would’ve been nice to have parrying. For example, some characters don’t work well against Gouken because of his fucking hadouken. Personally, I would like to see Cammy get Juni’s mach slide in a update for the game.
I think I go for everybody when I say the stage design is atrocious. Most of the stages are just bland recreations of SF2 stages. What makes it even worse is that they used the worst stages from SF2 to redesign. Chun li’s stage is basically this cluster fuck of stupid chinks being inconsiderate assholes by distracting the fighters. Plus, I didn’t know Blanka’s stage was deep in the jungle, I always thought it was on the bay? A lot of the stages are pretty half assed too, Morning Mist Bay? Really. And to be honest, the background characters are just plain awful. The kids on the overpass stage looks like a bunch of orangutans.
I could not stand the music in this game. It was impossible playing the Overpass or Diner stage without throwing my arcade stick at the wall. Every fan wanted to hear the remix BGM for most characters, but we had to shell out 20 more dollars so we can listen to that. Good thing that this is one of the few games on the PS3 that let’s you play your own music.
Again, this brings me onto another complaint, there are a lot of coding bugs. At certain times, I could not play any music from my XMB, also, my stats have been reset or jumped up to 9999999bp with 1000000 gameplay hours. The online is a lot better than HD remix, but nowhere good as GGPO. I swear to God, you have to play this game with an Ethernet connection otherwise you’ll get fucked up really bad.
Overall, SF4 has some bad attributes to it, but it’s not legitimate enough to make me hate the game, let alone Capcom for letting the fans down on a long awaited sequel. Oh well
March 20th, 2009 at 01:31
Blanka looked like a fucking joke. The stages are horrid… Some are rehashed twice with a night/day cycle. Playing the same god damn 4 or 5 stages is beyond fucking repetitive… Morning Mist Bay was indeed generic… It’s like looking at some reject mortal kombat stage/mixed with killer instinct Jaygo filth.
The music was HORRIBLE!!!! That dude singing in the beginning was hardly apropreit and pussified things to a new level… GIVE US A GOD DAMN METAL SOUND. This isn’t fucking 1997… I don’t care for music that belongs on a 1080 snowboarding video game.
Look up the metal sounding guile’s stage on youtube. Thats how the damn soundtrack should be sounding.
March 20th, 2009 at 11:13
I actually returned SFIV. On top of all that you’ve mentioned, how about the RIDICULOUS priority all the special moves have now? Or the obvious learning curve they put in the game. It’s like SF has become a special move spamfest. Granted, it’s always had it’s spammers, but its just ridiculous how special moves go through almost everything now.
I popped in SF3 after getting tired of how “noob” friendly the game is, and how overly sensitive the controls are and decided I didn’t need it anymore. Turned it in a day after.
Capcom’s really dropping the ball with this, and Resident Evil 5 was another huge disappointment.
March 20th, 2009 at 11:55
Quit crying and just take your damn game back to the store.
March 22nd, 2009 at 22:55
I really can’t believe people are getting so upset about someone’s OPINION of this game. I personally agree with the 3D choice, but I can see why they did what they did, especially with the type of animations they used, like for the ultra combos. I’m a SF2 Fan for life, so I’m always going to want to see BEAUTIFUL 2D sprites. I’m just from that generation, and don’t believe EVERYTHING should be done in 3D. Now, I do think that this a great “middle ground” game that pleases all tastes without pleasing all tastes. I’m not a big fan of the music decisions of SF4 because I think every character should have their own theme(that is one of the main reasons that I loved SF2, the music). I don’t like how you have to fight your rival to even here the great remixes that they have!! That is a huge let down for me. I think it’s a fun game, but would’ve wanted the music done a lot differently. I do however like the lead in that they do to the rival matches(where they do their thing, the music fades in before the match, they square up, and fight on!! I’ve only seen the Ryu and Sagat lead in, so that’s all I know).
I would’ve wanted different stuff, but again, they’re trying to please everyone, new(who I personally think needs to appreciate the older games) and old heads.
March 24th, 2009 at 20:03
Unfortunatly dude, I have to disagree with about 80% of ur views, while stating that ur views are highly arguable with being bold and actually great choices. SF4 happens to be a gift come true to me for a while. I do agree with U on the new characters, but with that said that do bring a HUGE variety to the roster that was unexpected. Never did care too much for parries, always thought they were really overrated, along with the new FOCUS attack aspect, although I do find more appealing than parries. U make valid points on ur behalf, I just don’t agree with all of them. SF4 meets my hype in all cylinders.
March 25th, 2009 at 07:28
Nice article, well written. I agree with you. Characters are too clunky and with a little adjustment could have been looking great.
However I love El Fuerte. Didn’t think I would at the beginning, but I do now.
I suppose that’s part of this game’s charm, your opinions change the further you get into the game.
Bye Osama.
March 28th, 2009 at 15:40
what i dont like is you can not see the person you are fithing record so u could be a rookie playing a master, alson no room lobbys, wtf
March 29th, 2009 at 17:02
i agree with damn near everything you had to say man…especially with the 2d vs 3d thing. in fact, my main gripe with sf4 is it’s graphics.
i always said they should have just called this game “EX 4″ – to which people would argue “sf4 is 3d with 2d fighting, unlike the ex series!” when in reality, that’s exactly what the ex series was [3d graphics with 2d fighting]. but in the end, i somewhat enjoy playing the game, but i’d much rather stick to the og sf games such as 2, 3, and alpha.
and what’s with all the 3s bashing anyway? sf3 is a beautiful fighter. i bet all the cats in here bitching about how parries suck, SUCKED at parrying, and probably found themselves at the receiving end of the stick.
4 is still a decent game, but i’d play 3s over 4 anyday.
March 29th, 2009 at 19:04
SF4 is way overrated and the whole “SF3 is shit because of parrying” flag is just pathetic, don’t listen to those nubs they have a no clue what they are talking about.
They tend to be the jerks who just pick shotokan (or shotokan-like) characters all the time and turtle-spam fireballs all day. They don’t bother spending any time learning new characters just the like the rest of the mass majority.
Most of all SF4 sucks because of the online community not so much the game itself! too many casual shotokan-only nubs who make the game just even more dull and boring.
Even without parrying SF3 is still a lot more better than SFIV period. Granted SF3 is not perfect but SF3 is clearly underrated by sheer ignorance of something new and people not bothering to spend any time with it.
Garou: Mark of the wolves (another underrated fighting games) just pisses all over SF4.
March 30th, 2009 at 03:32
All this about sf4 and not one word about the actual gameplay?
FA’s open up a whole new level of strategy that neither sf2 or 3 has had. Sure you could parry something and perhaps land a super, but the risk/reward ratio was too high.
FA’s can be used offensively and defensively. And are pretty safe too, meaning any body who mindlessly jumps or sticks out a kick might end up eating a FA into super, and if they dont, dash back. With parrys there is too much guess work going on.
Oh and by the way, I assure you Rufus and El fuerte are not joke characters. Rufus being the fastest character in the game, and 2nd longest reach in the whole game and being incredible at rushdown helps him to hold his own against every other character in the game.
Im not bagging out sf3, in fact, i still play it quite alot of GGPO, but it is pretty much a 1 super per character game with only 3 characters being used in high level play.
March 30th, 2009 at 07:24
@ Last Anonymous:
FAs are overrated as well, stop deluding yourself that they revolutionize the genre and thoughts that they (potentially) bring anything new to strategy. In practice they hardly bring anything and are hardly used, even in tournament matches (except for doing (super) cancels which are not new at all). They truth of the matter is they are not fluid to use in a real match.
FAs are just a horrible amalgamation of compromises of other various 2D fighting games to cater to the casual MacDonald’s mass-majority.
Your comment about FAs being “pretty safe” is just ridiculous, they are hardly safe at all (for example try FA’ing with Zangief a few times with someone spamming fireballs at) and they completely discourage heavy defensive tactics and force offensive strategies (Ono even said that himself, it was his intent).
Oh and by the way, Rufus is a ridiculous character and El Fuerte is a pathetic joke, he’s pretty much a useless character.
Yes SF3 has only one super but you have a choice of 3 completely different super arts per character. Almost all the Ultras are just extended versions of the character’s super move so your point is mute.
Playing SF3 on GGPO must suck then because when I play at the arcades I play a much higher variation of different characters from different people, even the obscure characters.
In the same arcades I’m talking about also has SF4 but barely anyone playing it compared to SF3 or the alpha series so that just says it all.
A lot of what makes SF4 comes from SFIII (obviously) and Garou: mark of the wolves (cancelling in SF4 is almost identical to it) which are both superior to SF4 end of story.
March 30th, 2009 at 15:04
???????
March 31st, 2009 at 22:57
I agree with just about all the negative points given here, except for maybe the look of the game excluding the backgrounds, they do look dull and uninteresting. But my major gripes is the actual playability of certain characters and just the cheapness there able to get away with. There’s a lot of detail into pulling great combos and juggles, it’s even a little too difficult with these one frame cancels. Which also strengthens my point, why bother pulling off these complex move cancels when I could just pick Zangief and grab out of just about anything. I mean I just go HK-grab, DP+p-grab, got hit-grab. With the amount of damage he takes off your just about guaranteed to win almost every match. I can go into other characters but this alone is big let down which has just made me put the game back in its case and store at the bottom of the shelf.
April 1st, 2009 at 06:00
If all you do is pick Shotokan characters and Sagat all the time and turtle-spam fireballs all day you deserve to get rapped by Zangief quite frankly. Pick someone different for once ffs.
Which reminds me Sagat is ridiculous in SF4, seriously broken character. Do you realize how much damage he can do compared to Zangief ? you do know he’s top tier, above every other character in SF4.
April 6th, 2009 at 03:35
“sf4_sucks” took the words right out of my mouth…
April 6th, 2009 at 03:36
and so did “sik” – goddamn sf4 special moves with hella priority…
April 7th, 2009 at 11:46
YES! I think I agree with just about everything you said in your article.
The music was AWFUL! I swear I’d rather listen to some1 taking a big nasty diarrhea and hearing their shit fall into the toilet water over n over again than that terrible jpop theme song. Not to mention the bg music during gameplay is very boring and uninspired. Where are the totally badass themes from SF2 or even 3? Im not asking for the exact same tracks here, but something original at the same level of quality and creativity as the previous games. I mean SF3′s and CVS2′s music were awesome. It sounded as if they fired whoever they had working on the music for those titles and highered a completely new staff.
Also MOST of the backgrounds are totally lame. Why the fuck each character couldnt have their own specific BG I’ll never know.
Alpha choices are lame as well. I will never use characters like rose or gen other than to help unlock other characters. After that theres no looking back. Seriously theres so many other awesome characters they coulda chosen….Adon, Charlie, Guy, Birdie, Cody, ROLENTO ffs!! Anybody other than rose or gen!!!!
100% agree with ya again on each character only having 1 ultra(the super doesnt count as 1 imo since its like a basci/stripped down version of the ultra) Each character has 3 back in SF3! 3!!!!
And my biggest complaint, no SF3 series characters! Not 1. What-The-Fuck Capcom!? What the fuck! So many badass characters to choose from in that series! Alex. Hugo(why not add in another grappler besides gief?, and no abel doesnt count….honestly we can have what 5 or 6 shotos but no more than 1 grappler!?) Dudley. Yun, Yang. Remy. Gill. Urien. Elena. Not 1 of them! Instead there are talks they might be releasing deejay and thawk, oh great 2 more useless characters Ill never use!
And 1 last comment on the new characters
Rufus…fucking retarded fatass. Hes the worst sf character Ive ever seen. EVER. His design is terrible
El Furte…hes alright. Not a bad design.
C Viper…..looks like an SNK ripoff. She looks so out of place with the rest of the cast. Does not fit in imo.
and Abel…hes actually the the best one of the new characters. Hes NO ALex, not by a long shot…but hes a worthy addition. Hes a little faggy and emo, but I like his huge arms and his curt angle costume made gave me lulz
April 12th, 2009 at 12:31
surely you all need to get out more? Don’t you? Really? Street Fighter 4 is an awesome remake of a classic game. Yes, the background music may not be the best, anyone tried loading their own in via the PS button? As a games designer i disagree with the ‘half assed models’ complaints, you try animating 2D sprites…. no fun trust me! and also look back at SF Alpha 3 and realize they were not so well animated after all!
Also people need to stop bitching about how hard seth is to beat, and how hard it is to pull off certain moves with certain characters… learn the goddamn fucking game! As a hardcore fan I cleared it on hardest in a week, it aint that hard.
Anyway, to all you that love SF4, good on ya! To those who dont, go play any other current gen fighter and find me a better one…
April 13th, 2009 at 17:53
> surely you all need to get out more? Don’t > you? Really?
Say’s the guy who also makes comment… what are you posting here then? I could say the same to you.
> Street Fighter 4 is an awesome remake of > a classic game.
How about making a constructive argument like against the issues some of us like myself have highlighted instead of just saying it’s good for no reason.
> As a games designer i disagree with the >‘half assed models’ complaints, you try >animating 2D sprites…. no fun trust me! >and also look back at SF Alpha 3 and >realize they were not so well animated >after all!
What does you being a game designer have anything to do with disagreeing. Why bother even mentioning that, It doesn’t make your opinions anymore better than anyone else. Do you even “design” fighting games for that matter because I don’t see any on your Bio on mobygames.com, just one FP/TP shooter and you’re only credited for publishing the game.
No I’m guessing you’re just one of those who played SF2 and little bit of the alpha series and just like the rest of the mass-majority only really love this because of nostalgia and the hype train. You’re most likely the ones who never gave SF3 series a chance because it was to “different” for you to appreciate.
Your comment about 2D vs 3D art aesthetics is a bit ridiculous as well, who exactly mentioned SFA3 as the epitome of 2D fighting game art and/or animation? The whole the alpha series the characters where lacking in the frame count mostly due to hardware constants (i.e. the CPS2 arcade machine which is quite an old machine from the early 90s).
Quite clearly you do not understand why 2D fighting game fans prefer 2D sprite-based graphics & animation, we appreciate traditional hand-drawn art and appreciate the amount of effort it takes to put into those. You need professional & high quality artists. We know it’s cheaper and more efficient to produce 3D models we’re not stupid.
If you want to see the epitome of 2D fighting game art & animation with high frames per character count you should investigate these 2D fighting games:
SF3: Third Strike
Last Blade 1 & 2
Garou: Mark of the wolves
As I mentioned already SFIV cannot compare to these game play wise either and don’t give me that bullshit everyone keeps coming out with that SF3 was only good for parrying because there was/is a lot more to that game than that.
April 17th, 2009 at 20:12
sf4 is awesome…. end of argument
April 20th, 2009 at 22:45
this game is awesome. 2 bad the person that wrote this article has serious women issues.
April 20th, 2009 at 22:58
2 bad u can only hear the original beat of the old school characters by playin’ against theme as your rival. i have 2 be rufus to hear ken’s original theme while im fighting ken as my rival. rufus i said. RUFUS! that guy sux. what the hell is he doing in the game. he dont deserve 2 b under the street fighter name. And oh yeah, the guy that wrote the article above is retarded. he has ADD everyone so dont listen to anything he has to say. street fighter 4 is awesome.
April 20th, 2009 at 23:00
ignore the “e” of the first theme u stupid idiots
April 21st, 2009 at 06:54
I love the internet
April 23rd, 2009 at 03:37
I hope that someone from Capcom follows these threads…
I’ll preface this by saying that i’m one of those guys that grew up playing SF2. After school, I was playing it in the arcade or 7-11. When it came out on SNES, my friends and I would play each other (and their annoying bro’s and sis’s) for hours. The game had a certain magic to it, an appeal that drew kids and young adults alike.
I’ve played (and owned) every subsequent SF game ever made, and each have their merrit and their downside. All are highly playable, decent games. This includes Street Fighter 4 – but with some major conditions.
Just because SF4 is a highly playable, decent fighter, doesn’t make it perfect. Far from it, in fact. For starters, I agree with Osama – the backgrounds are BORING. The music is UNINSPIRED and at times, annoying (theme especially). The art style is more EX then anything, but if it were to be compared to the 2D games, it is closer to the Alpha seris – more on the cartoon side. Is this a bad thing? Depends on what you like, I suppose. I do feel, however, that if Capcom’s intention was to make this game appealing to original SF2 fans, they should have went with either a High-Def 2D art style or a more realistic 3D style.
I want to elaborate on that for a second… SF2 HD Remix was redrawn in 2D, yet the characters (and even the BG’s) lacked a lot of detail. Sure, they were crystal clear, but they didn’t have that gritty realism that the original SF2 was able to convey. SF4 goes for the cell-shaded 3D look, but this tends to eliminate many details as well. Take a look at Virtua Fighter 5. It doesn’t matter if you like the game or not, but graphically, it is what a next generation fighting game should look like. The characters have a certain realism to them, and the backgrounds are quite beautiful and exciting to look at. They are also varied; SF4′s BG’s are redundant – and it’s especially sad that they re-used a few of them during different times of the day / lighting conditions. Neo-Geo games such as Fatal Fury changed the time of day in the BG’s between rounds, almost 3 decades ago…
Anyway, I have a sugestion for Capcom, and I am hoping that most of you agree. I think the old guys who grew up with SF2 will appreciate what I have to say, because as you all know, it’s a different world out there now.
CAPCOM:
First off, if you want to appeal to old school gamers, add some old school elements that remind us of those days. Nostalgia = $$$ guys. Suggestions? Sure, here are a few:
1. Maybe include an online element (and offline as well) that allows the gamer to wonder into various different settings where SF2 used to be. Examples include your run of the mill arcades, convenience stores, outdoor locations (such as tents), and colleges. Sound silly? Stop and think about it… Sony has created ‘Home’ for its PS3, which is very similar to what I am proposing – except mine is more SF-centric. Part of the lure of the original SF2 was walking into almost any public location, and finding the game there – and usually someone to play you. In this ‘online world’ with such amazing 3D rendering techniques, why not add something like this? It’s a perfect way to bring back memories.
2. Don’t mess with the formula too much, it hurts the nostalgia. The original SF2 had a special BG and theme music for every character, which helped to differentiate and distinguish our favorite world warriors. Whey lump them into generic, boring, and random backgrounds? It only serves to displace them.
3. Speaking of BG’s, try making them as realistic as possible. The original SF2 had a certain ‘grit’ about it, but in a good way. This isn’t a series that was built around Saturday morning cartoons, it’s a game about street fighting. You want to appeal to us, try re-creating some of the BG’s, only upgrading them. Also, with all of the storage on discs, create a lot of them. Each character should have a BG that is a remodel of the original only done with the most realistic graphics possible. You won’t achieve this effect with cell-shading. Don’t forget, Capcom, that part of SF2′s major appeal is that it featured some of the most REALISTIC graphics of its day. Try creating some variety as well, it is the spice of life. For example, remodel Ryu’s stage as it was in the original SF2. Render it with different weather conditions and times of day, change these at random every round. Create the inside of the temple, and perhaps the outside lower level of the temple, have these change on a round basis, or perhaps have the character get knocked off at the end of the round to set up the transition with a dragon punch or the like. These are just some of many suggestions, but the central theme is keep it old school in concept but new school in execution.
3. Music and sound effects are a great reminder when it comes to people and their pasts. Instead of creating all new music and sound effects, try re-creating tracks that have something in common with the original ones. Make them bolder, more exciting, but focus on what made those tracks memorable for so many, back in ’91. Oh, and don’t cheap on the sound…hire an orchestra and people who can actually play. This is your flagship game that put you on the map, treat it as such.
4. Character models: Once again, look at Virtua Fighter 5. They are quite stunning. Render them with incredible detail, such as individual movement of clothing, hair, sweat, etc. Apply elemental effects, such as hair matted down by rain, shine off of wet clothes, etc. Make us believe we are the character, as we believed back in the 90′s. (How many of you used to run up to your friends and ‘Shoryuken’ them?)
5. Add an ‘insert coin’ instead of ‘press start’ lol
Anyway, these are but a few of the ideas I have that would have made SF4 the best fighting game of all time (in my opinion). Capcom had stated that they wanted to appeal to us original SF2 guys, and also make it accessable to the newer generation of gamers. I think that some of what I have suggested would make Street Fighter an appealing game for anyone who played it. What about you guys, any thoughts or opinions?
April 23rd, 2009 at 23:45
Old school’s right about all of those points except for number 1′s second life arcade wannabe. If anything, that would bore me to death. As is, all I want is to get to the fighting faster.
The other points are on the money, especially # 5 haha!
April 30th, 2009 at 09:11
OMG, dude you are soo right. This game, in my opinion is a GREAT disappointment compared to the classic SF2
May 4th, 2009 at 03:04
Someone has too much time on their hands, or a bad case of autism…
May 20th, 2009 at 17:23
i have no idea if you’re trolling or not, but man you have such a shallow view on what street fighter 4 is. I’d like to point out how you said fighting games dont need stories and yet u wanted characters to stay dead. If story doesnt matter than why would having characters come back. You sir are a JERK
May 21st, 2009 at 09:11
Yes, true, I am a Jerk, but you sir are borderline illiterate. If the story can be good then so be it, otherwise they’re better off without a story. Now, the fact that there IS a story means that they should stick with it. I never complained about Marvel vs Capcom having 2 versions of the same Wolverine, or Guile and Charlie, at the same time because that game doesn’t have a story. This game does, so the criticism stands.
If I’m going too fast for you let me know, I can post up pictures explaining my points
June 17th, 2009 at 06:28
Is there going to be more street fighters like street fighter 4 alpha or sumink???
July 22nd, 2009 at 15:32
I hve to agree on a few points mentioned.The 4 new characters are pretty much lame.they should have ruffled through the sf3 gallery for characters(i consider to be colourful and spectacular).Now the cutscenes were quite charming but the end result had me scratching my head coz they never revealed the faith of the defeated charcter.Seth is quite cool for an E.L.B (End of Level Boss)but i expected a unique intro and a spectacular defeat.Lastly the ‘seconds of animated endings just didnt make sense as to why the characters embarked in the slugfest.though sf4 is a fun game,it isnt the ‘IT game.
July 29th, 2009 at 04:43
I agree with those points, and I can go further with the points that the gameplay in 3 was the first real push for advancement in the gameplay mechanics. If people want SF2, then Play SF2 or HD! When people talk about how Sf3 didn’t sell well, um… Look at how it was released and marketed. I never even heard or saw of it until years after it came out. I blame that on bad marketing.
Seriously, I am just sick of high roundhouses hitting ducking characters, or someone “cross jumping” in with a move going the opposite direction and getting hit cause their elbow touched the back of my shoulder when they were throwing a jump kick. I also hate seeing MY moves go through my opponent as they start into an “Ultra” and just go through my attack as if it wasn’t there. These are things that were issues in the release of SF2, and still are not fixed? I think there were more moves and combos in 3rd strike than in 4. Hell, I think there were more combos in 2 than 4.
I was so disappointed that I would have returned it after first day of playing if retailers took PC games back at all.
@one of the comments above- Just shut up and play? Thats like saying to never complain about anything so that nothing ever gets fixed! If I could buy SF3 3rd strike on PC, i’d gladly pay 40$ for it right out. Its fine if you like SF4, but I have been playing SF since 2 was first in arcades, and people like me who have paid and played the game for years and years are the people this game was supposed to be for, and they screwed us in favor of jumping on the 3D bandwagon, and in favoring of flash over substance. Ultra… jeez, might as well have called them super EX moves…
The CPU AI is just frustrating. Either they sit there and take hits for no reason, or they aggravatingly counter you with split second precision. I had one match where CPU Blanka actually focus or electroshock counter every move I made. It was on medium, and he was the first character. Thats just retardedly infuriating. Since finding a good connection with anyone seems to be impossible (even though I get GREAT pings with COD:4/5 etc..)and the input is so off if your not hosting, it only leaves CPU opponents to face if your not having friends over that moment. I thought by now, they would have implemented some sort of simulation of someone at the joystick playing against you. Split second charged (supposed to charge anyways) supers and Spinning pile drivers one after another without the CPU even leaving the ground is not fun, its frustrating.
Lastly, I don’t know how this game got so many perfect ratings at all. From the crappy and flawed lag ridden online play, to terrible hit detection and netcode, this is one of the first games that I have considered actually having been paid for better ratings to the editors. More likely, they just didn’t spend much time(deadlines and all), or were not SF veterans. I think capcom gave a BIG middle finger up to the hardcore fans that made the series so successful in the first place.
If only we could get a 3rd strike HD remix…
July 29th, 2009 at 04:52
Oh, I forgot, though I don’t know how…I agree that the theme music of a FIGHTING game, should not sound like its from Nstink…. God its awful….. They should of used Disturbed’s Indestructible. I would of fit better in the atmosphere, and also sounds waaaaay better for kicking ass.
@another comment above about the “Grit” being gone: I agree, its gone super Saturday morning cartoon style… Since when should we be aiming violent games at children?
August 1st, 2009 at 21:29
I’m sorry, but don’t insult the intelligence of ANYONE at capcom if you can’t even spell ‘hired’.
October 5th, 2009 at 15:15
WOW, what a scrub…
March 23rd, 2010 at 18:51
I found SF4 to be much easier to play than SF3 was…..I like it more.
July 23rd, 2010 at 21:19
this entry was proven to be made of FAIL!
July 26th, 2010 at 22:41
@fail: Umm.. nope. SSF4 had a chance to improve itself and become an honest to God good game, instead it’s just a slightly faster second version of SF4. SF3 Online is the best news I’ve heard all year.