One thing that bugs me about the series is that its changes are usually small and unnoticeable; This is no exception...
SUPER Street fighter IV is Capcom's latest update to the fighter, much like Namco's Tekken 5 when they did with Dark Resurrection, SSFIV includes more stages, new characters, and rebalanced gameplay, to get the final feel to the game before moving on, that also means that we may say goodbye to some characters in the franchise as seen in their endings.
This is so that they can move on to "V", if they ever did, and start anew. But like me as a kid, I've always wondered how they will change the gameplay system in the next installment, because a game that gets good as it is has this tendency to be ruined by a change that ruins the game.
Oh, and if Capcom decides to make a side series again like say "Street Fighter Beta", I will go and kill the game designer of the game that scream of "BOLLOCKS!!!" and demand that they make a proper sequel.
OK then, if you ALREADY played Street Fighter IV, then you can expect the same thing with this game only thing is that it has changes (see above).
If not, then, I shall review everything again.
If you're not familiar with the gameplay system, the game basically takes the gameplay mechanics of Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo, with newer implementations. One of them is the "Focus Attack" which gives the game a tactical view of the game, with allowance to cancel to another move with "Focus attack cancel" or the "Hyper Armor" which allows for you to anticipate the movements of your opponents by absorbing one hit. Also added to the system is the "Ultra Combo", a system which helps you in situation, similar to that of a "Desperation Move" back in the ol' days of the King of Fighters.
In this incarnation though, you are given a choice of two ultras, to suit your tactical needs because each would differ than the other in terms of advantage, after lag, attack type and damage.
Graphics is good with the game taking on a contemporary art style and dare I say it, loads and loads of layers of penciling, inking, modeling and many other stuff only art people know. It gives a feel to the game not found much in other fighting games and this to me feels unique because its representation of the hit splash, the fireballs, ki or chi energy has really been welcome to my eyes.
Sound is good... in Japanese, because I find it extremely annoying to hear dub actors instead of serious voice actors to the characters in English. Its like they've picked the actors from the VERY BOTTOM of the freaking barrel. The music is good but they sometimes fail to capture the right moment of atmosphere in the game in some stages while some stages continue to make want to play the game.
Another positive side is that the additions allows for variety in the game, with more reasons to experiment one match-up with the AI, before joining up with your mates for another battle with the same match-up. The Improved multiplayer is also to be looked at as the games multiplayer system has been improved in terms of interface and gameplay.
Overall the game is great, just what fans of the street fighter franchise needs... if one could say that owning two copies of Street Fighter IV will suffice for them. The game is just an update to the game and anyone resisting the change the developers really wanted can just wait for the bargain bin for this one, because despite of all the new additions to the game, it give a rather similar experience, though to me, that may be enough to some.
You are very welcome to get this.
-Readial