Who among us didn’t express excitement over the release of Street Fighter 4 early last year? It signified the first real Street Fighter sequel since Street Fighter 3 and its respective upgrades (the best being 3rd Strike). SF4 brought with it a new era of fighting with polished, modern graphics, new characters, online matches, and a rock-solid fighting engine. Street Fighter fans rejoiced everywhere as they bashed, crashed, and pummeled faceless opponents from across the Globe into the proverbial sand. This became a turning point for Capcom’s 2D fighter, which most believed would never see a sequel.
Super Street Fighter 4 is an odd-duck of sorts when compared to its older sibling. Surprisingly, single-player mode doesn’t offer anything new. Bad-boy boss Seth from Street Fighter 4 makes his return, but this time he’s playable from the start and doesn’t require to be unlocked. It’s a bit disappointing not to see a different boss filling his shoes this time around. The story hints at the return of Shadowloo, opening the door for future sequels and the return of Bison as potential head honcho.
Like before, defeating single-player will earn you new character colors, character taunts, and special options and features (this time being arranged BGM or having certain characters speak Japanese or English instead of one or the other). Even though single-player hasn’t improved much since SF4, it still offers countless hours of enjoyment just to unlock the small treasures Capcom has buried within.
The extended cast of 10 fighters is also worth the price of admission. SF veterans will cheer with much fanfare to know that Adon, Sagat’s student gone rebel, has made the cut. Final Fight brawlers Cody and Guy have entered the fray (despite also making appearances in the Street Fighter Alpha series). Street Fighter 3 favorites Ibuki, Makoto, and Dudley have also pounded their way into the roster.
From the classic Super Street Fighter II roster we finally see the return of Jamaican great DeeJay and T.Hawk. Rounding out the roster are the new fighters — Juri and Hakan. Juri is a Muai-Tai style fighter with rapid kicks, cart-wheels, and a killer aerial kick. Hakan is an oddity if one was ever seen. This massive wrestler-type fighter carries a large barrel of oil that he coats his body with before each match. His moves consist of belly slides, body squeezes (that send your character darting across the screen), and some of the oddest looking finishing moves ever seen in the SF universe.
Online match-ups happen the same way they did before with your choice of Quick Match, Custom and Create a Match. The biggest change to online play is the Endless Battle feature. You can enter a room of up to 8 players and watch them battle it out in spectator mode. This is a brilliant feature that keeps your adrenaline pumping while you wait for your turn. It also helps educate you on the competition, their play style, and their choice of fighters. Nothing is more exciting than fighting in a packed room of 8 players.
There’s good news for fans who purchased costumes for their characters in the previous SF game. All DLC from the previous SF automatically carries over to SSF4. Capcom had its fans in mind when they implemented this feature.
SSF4 is a brilliant upgrade to Street Fighter 4. It may not improve on the single-player aspect, but it does improve online play. It also balances and tweaks certain characters from SF4 and it also includes a plethora of little extras to keep you coming back for more. You can purchase a copy of SSF4 for only $39.99 for either Xbox 360 or Playstation 3. Buy it. This is everything SF4 should have been and more.
Score: 9 out of 10
Mike ‘STGuy1040’ Pittaro
Platform: Xbox 360 (also available for Playstation 3)
Retail Price: $39.99
Developer: Capcom
