Critique: Misc.> Video Games.

I'm the first to admit that I'm out of touch with today's video gaming market. Whether it's due to the fact that the games just aren't as rich in playability as they used to be, or I consider women and beer more of a priority than I did in my youth, I don't play as much these days.

Every now and then, however, a game comes a long that attracts my interest. Street Fighter IV is the latest instalment in the Street Fighter franchise, which I have been a fan of ever since the days of the Super Nintendo. I spent a majority of my days competing on the port of Street Fighter II: The World Warrior with my neighbour for a number of months. After various game updates and a number of swollen fingers, we thought we were the best players on the planet.

These days, they have this thing called "online play", which pits you against people who have spent their entire lives playing video games. Once I got my arse handed to me during my first ever match against some dude in Japan, it was then that I realised I wasn't as good at using Ken or Ryu as I once thought I was. Yes, Street Fighter IV was a new game, but the basic mechanics I found were just the same as the earlier versions in the series, which meant I could just pick up and play it as if it was Street Fighter II.

And that's one of the most appealing factors you'll find with this game. Whether or not you've played a Street Fighter game before, you'll find that it's pretty easy to get to grips with the basic move sets here.

Through more experience, you'll start to learn about the new focus attacks each character has to challenge the best. By holding the medium punch and kick buttons together, with the right timing, you'll be able to absorb an opponent's attack and follow up with your own move. You'll start to realise that this is as much about strategy as it is about fighting.

All the familiar characters -- Ryu, Ken, Guile, Chun Li -- are here, with the addition of four brand new and nine unlockable (home consoles only) -- making a whopping twenty-five characters to choose from overall. Each one is very distinctive from the next in their strengths and weaknesses and signature super and ultra combos.

Admittedly, I was a little sceptical about the shift from 2D to 3D visuals at first, but the character models in Street Fighter IV I’m pleased to say look exceptional. With their exaggerated muscles and various facial expressions, each appears just as unique in their appearance as they do in their playability.

The backgrounds are still 2D -- which means this is still a 2D fighting game -- and are just as rich in detail as the characters. Remember the drunken Russians swigging vodka and the Chinese riding bicycles on the busy streets in the old Street Fighter II stages? Well, they're back in similar form this time around for you to have a nosey at in-between K.O.'s.

You have the option to guide your player through the single player mode on various levels of difficulty, familiarise yourself with the combos in the training mode, and develop your techniques further via the challenge mode.

As touched upon earlier, however, online play is where things really start to heat up with Street Fighter IV. You have the opportunity to test your skills in ranked and un-ranked matches with people all over the world in the console versions of the game; the post-release of the championship mode also means that players can now earn grade points and progress through the five levels of tournaments to reach the very best. The replayability is endless.

I have only a few small gripes: The awful R 'n' B title song, the poor animation of the character cut-scenes, and the omittance of any bonus stages. Thankfully, everything else in the game is so brilliantly done that it really isn't worth getting stressed out about these minor points.

Street Fighter IV is a great blend of the old and the new, which will appeal to the original fans of the series and fans of fighting games in general. It's beautiful to look at, and the smoothness of the gameplay and the option to play against various levels of other gamers online means that the game can become very addictive very quickly.

I never did play Street Fighter III and seventeen years may have passed since the last Street Fighter II instalment, but it really does feel as if nothing has changed -- and that's a testament to how good Street Fighter IV is.

The 2D fighting game is here to stay.

(C) Andy Carrington, 2009.