Well folks, I just finished playing another round of Street Fighter IV, and in case you hadn't heard, that game is amazing. When the popular vote, in all its fickle glory, finally swings against it, I will be one of the rabid fans fervently defending its honor.

There is something about stepping into Street Fighter's (or, I suppose any fighting game's) arena that immediately introduces adrenaline to your veins and overwhelming, furious pride to your psyche. The agonizing pause that precedes the announcer's enthusiastic "fight!" seems to last an eternity, especially when you're about to play a match that matters (at least in your mind). Though some of this excitement and hullabaloo remains in online play, to me the only way to truly experience all that Street Fighter has to offer you have to be beside your opponent, hearing their frustrations and their satisfaction after a move is vindicated.

A friend of mine who I regularly step into the virtual ring with and I were talking about how and why Street Fighter goes a little deeper than who can combo what when. It sounds a little absurd, but we determined that playing a few rounds of the game is an excellent way to get to know someone on the most basic level. It begins with which character they choose; for example, an opponent who mains Fei Long or Dhalsim immediately wins my respect. On the flipside, a Sagat or Ken player is someone I am immediately wary of because of the negative connotations associated with said characters that it is hard to not be aware of.

Let it be known, however, that no character choice another player makes will ever make me discount them completely; at least not at first.

The first match against a new player is often awkward and janky, like two strangers meeting for the first time in a crowded bar. As the fights progress, however, the two strangers begin to understand each other more and more; patterns are recognized and blocked, weaknesses spotted and exploited. Eventually the pair, now knowing each other far better than even a few hours of conversation could allow for, engage in a kind of deadly dance, feinting and jabbing, experimenting with new combinations and toss-ups, trying to catch their enemy off-guard.

The best fights, therefore, must occur between two people of comparable intellect, because when one player analyzes the other more fully and can easily predict the kind of modifications he/she will introduce to their library, it becomes a non-contest. When both players are of equal understanding of the game's mechanics and have comparable cognitive abilities, Street Fighter really shines. Those are the matches that can spawn ten, twenty, fifty more to follow.

I type this as my college friends brawl it out in front of me. Not long ago, another Akuma player challenged my own in a kind of grudge match, as we had played some time ago and I had... Well, pulverized him. Since then he had bought his own copy of SFIV and (according to him), trained relentlessly. I picked up the controller confidently and we settled in for a "best of three" extravaganza. The first round yielded a flawless victory for my Akuma, the second was another victory for me, albeit close. The second match yielded a win for my opponent, with me taking only one round. The final match was mine and I left the sticks vindicated, but shaky. In the contest of who-knows-who better, I had just barely snatched up another victory.

Honestly, I'm not sure what the point of this blog was, or if there were multiple, or if there was one at all. Regardless, thanks for reading.

- End Boss.