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Super Street Fighter IV - Source: Gamefreaks -
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Platform: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PSP
Publisher: Capcom
The Street Fighter series has always had a solid formula. Make a game, then shortly afterwards slap a superlative on the front, make a few incremental improvements, perhaps shoehorn a word like "turbo" into the name somewhere and release it again. The system has been working well for the accounts and marketing department, but gave mixed results to gamers.
Cut to the recent past and Street Fighter 4 is released to practically universal acclaim. So why does Capcom create a new version of an almost perfect game? Well, probably because it's only almost perfect. Super Street Fighter 4 takes the king of fighters and makes it just a little bit better in every way.
Superficially, everything is very similar. Super is Street Fighter IV with some extra pieces. But pretty much every aspect of the game has been tweaked, upgraded or shined up. First and foremost, there are ten new characters to try your fighting hand at. Eight of them come from previous games: Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Alpha and Street Fighter 3. T Hawk, Dee Jay, Adon, Cody, Guy, Dudley, Ibuki and Makoto doubtless all have their own separate fan clubs that will be itching to use their favourites.
The other two characters are new to the series. Juri is a martial artist who can throw things, string together mad combos and counter like a pro. Hakan has been getting the most publicity in the lead up to release because he's a bright red Turkish wrestler who oils himself and squirts opponents from between his legs. All the new characters slot well into the existing line-up without feeling like they've been tacked on.
Exciting tweaks have been made to the original 25 as well, the most obvious change being a new Ultra move for every single one of them. You can now choose from two of the revenge attacks for each character, which gives almost everyone a reliable way to turn the tide of a less than stellar battle. This means that the battles are much more evenly matched no matter who your friend decides to try and cheat with.
Characters like Sagat, who was a terrifying powerhouse of doom in the original, have been toned down a little to even the playing field. Meanwhile, most of the other characters have had minor changes which help to refine an already quite refined system. Guile's moves no longer require a GPS system and degree in neuroscience to pull off. All these minor changes mean that casual players will find it even easier to have a quick blast, while hardcore Street Fighter lunatics will be able to spend thousands more hours learning new strategies and counter-strategies for all the characters.
A welcome change in Super is that all 35 characters are immediately available as soon as you turn on the game. Not having to hike through the arcade mode multiple times to try and unlock Akuma or Cammy is possibly the best improvement of them all. New arenas have also been included, just to round out the package.
The online system has been improved as well, with matchmaking expanded to include lobbies where you can use the new spectator mode to watch your friends' matches. Replays can now be saved any time so you can record your most amazing victories. The quality of connections has remained the same, so getting a four or five bar connection to an opponent will be your best bet to avoid lag. The online match point system has now been split into two values - Players Points and Battle Points. Player Points function as your overall skill ranking, moving up and down as you win and lose matches. Battle Points are for specific characters, meaning if you're really good at using Abel his BP will be high, but lose a lot of matches with other characters and your PP will drop.
Calling Super Street Fighter 4 just an expansion would be selling it short. The new characters and tweaks to existing characters, as well as the improvements to the online systems make it well worth the purchase both for those who've invested years in the original and anyone who hasn't tried it yet.
Rating: 10/10
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