Super Street Fighter IV

THE WORD 'SUPER' AS NEVER BEEN MORE FITTING!

The fighting genre is indeed back, and kicking butt better then ever. We have 2009's Street Fighter 4 to thank for that as much as any other game out there, and Capcomare following much adored traditions by providing eager fans with an upgraded version in the form of Super Street Fighter 4. But considering this is technically an extended version of last years game, is the 'super' in Super Street Fighter 4 really worth you spending more of your money on? Simple answer, yes.  
 
 While it seems all to easy to prejudge Super Street Fighter 4 as an extended version of the previous years game, you'd actually be making a grave mistake in making such a judgement. For this is more then just the same game with added challengers and new stages to fight at, oh it's much more then that. Not all improvements and changes are visible straight away, some will only truly be noticed by the most skilled of players. But all will be thankful for much of the rebalancing done to numerous characters and moves, and all can benefit from what is now a much more thoughtfully structured game. It comes together to make what is the best fighting game to date.  
 

So what is new to Super Street Fighter 4? Quite a bit actually, ten new challengers make an appearance. These include fighters previously seen in past Street Fighter games such as Adon, Cody, Dee Jay, Dudley, Guy, Ibuki, Makoto and T.Hawk. Two brand new challengers come to the tournament in the form of the odd and rather flexible Juri and the oiled up Turkish wrestler Hakan. These ten new additions to the twenty five fighters found in the original Street Fighter 4 brings the total capacity to an impressive thirty five fighters to choose from, and even better is the fact that all fighters are unlocked from the beginning. Your certain to find a character that suits your style and the new additions are almost perfectly chosen, except for maybe T.Hawk depending on who you ask.  
 
The two new fighters mix in with the current set of fighters perfectly and there is simply no excuse for sticking with the same one or two characters all the time, experimenting brings just rewards. Four new stages make an appearance, these vary from an exciting street scene in India to a rather stunning Solar Eclipse in Africa. They all contain the same impressive level of detail you would expect from a Street Fighter game, as do all the new fighters who continue to carry over the wonderfully artistically airbrushed style of the previous game. Other important additions include the bonus stages of Barrel Basher and Car Wrecker, familiar to those who have ever played past Street Fighter games. But that's not all of the additions and changes Capcom have made.  
 
Visually Street Fighter 4 hasn't dated a day, but you'd probably expect that from a game that was only released last year. Characters and animations still look as sharp and impressive as ever and the music is downright superb, there is a stunning mix of remixed famous Street Fighter tunes throughout that will please any fan young or old. Voice acting for the most part is solid, though there are one or two lacklustre performances from the English voice-overs including a somewhat mellow Dudley performance. Of course you can still choose between the Japanese and English voice-overs for each specific character which is always welcomed. Overall though Super Street Fighter 4 is still one of the most beautiful fighting games out there.  
 
Earlier I mentioned how more thoughtfully structured Super Street Fighter 4 was compared to last years game, technically the game modes are the same as seen previously. You'll still take on Seth in the arcade mode with animated cut scenes specified for each character but it's in the way you unlock new colours, taunts, icons and more that as seen some vast change. Unlike that seen in Street Fighter 4, your now continuously unlocking new additions whatever you do in the game. You can be playing versus with a friend and your always obtaining new colours, new taunts and more often specified to the character your playing. This is a welcomed change, and one that promotes experimenting with new fighters. Your no longer forced to play the arcade mode or any single player content to get the flashy new colours and sweet new taunts when your playing. It's an improvement I greatly appreciated.  
 

Online as seem some wise and much needed improvements to, though sadly it's still far from perfect. A new method of grading players as been used that seems more accurate and precise, not to mention that general online performance seems stronger then I came across in last years title. Lag was less of an issue, and although these changes won't stop you coming across countless Ken's online, it does make the whole experience that much sweeter and will be where most spend much of their time. If maybe your not the greatest Street Fighter player like myself, your sure to get your moneys worth out of the new replay channel that allows you to track down and watch fights taken place online. You can study the methods of those better then you and you can even bring in a friend to chat about a specific battle or style of fighting.   
 
That said despite some slight changes to the trial mode, it would be great if Capcom had a more friendly and accessible tutorial mode in place for those new or struggling with the game and even though practice makes perfect. There is much you won't learn from fighting against the A.I, I hope more is done in educating those unfamiliar with the games methods and skills in future instalments of the franchise. That said I honestly don't think you could find a better fighting game out there at the moment. This is much more then Street Fighter 4 with a few additional characters tagging along, this is Super Street Fighter 4 and that super means a lot more then you might think. Capcom haven't just created a defining Street Fighter game, they've created one of the greatest games in the fighting genres history. A must own for any fighting fan whatever skill you may possess. 
 

SCORE: 5 STARS OUT OF 5. 

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