I’ve never been a huge fan of the concept of game “re-releases”, when companies release games at full price with new features I can’t help but wish the full thing could’ve been released from the beginning – especially with the DLC capabilities we have with this generation.
So, unsurprisingly I was a little disheartened when I first heard that Super Street Fighter IV was to be a standalone game rather than a DLC patch; Capcom claimed that changes to the initial system meant that a patch was impossible – not that I’m ever sure what to believe. However, I’ve been keeping an eye on the latest news, to see if it really looks like a worthy purchase.
The first two characters to be announced were T Hawk and DeeJay – after many rumours that these two were to be DLC after being dropped from the original roster, I wasn’t shocked by this – although personally they aren’t the first two I would pick to add to my personal selection. Still, they looked to be converted to the SFIV style well, and I could only wait to hear who would be announced next – supposedly there will be “around 8″ new characters in total, with all of them being unlocked from the start.
More recently, four new characters have been announced – and my jaw dropped when I heard who they were. First we have Guy and Cody, Final Fight stars who have previously appeared in Street Fighter Alpha, as well as Adon, the Muay Thai master, underling to Sagat. These guys are personal favourites from Street Fighter Alpha, and I drooled at the renders of them in SFIV glory.
The last character was to be a brand new character – and looking at Street Fighter’s cast, I really couldn’t imagine how they could create someone new who both fits in, and looks like an interesting addition at the same time. However, they pulled it off, unveiling Juri - a Taekwondo-using femme fatale with a touch of dark energy put into the mix using a cybernetic implant in her eye. Her moves look fluid and fun, and her character looks great.
It’s hard to know whether there will be many - if any- other characters to be announced, the vague suggestion of eight characters not really giving us solid proof, but I hope we’ll see one or two more before – the more characters the better! (Shin Akuma, maybe?)
But of course, there’s going to be more than just an expanded roster. The game is going to feature new additions to the stages and audio, as well as the return of the fun mini-games from Street Fighter II, which involved smashing up cars and other objects using combos for some bonus points. New moves have also been added, and it sounds as though some of the original characters may be getting new Ultra moves – but we’ll have to wait and see.
Naturally, the online mode will be worked on, adding a number of new features, focusing heavily on group play with eight player modes such as Team Battle, and the interesting Endless Battle, which seems to work as a sort of “winner stays on” eight-player rotation mode. A tournament mode is also set to be downloadable, and hopefully this will be free, much like SFIV’s Championship patch.
As a Street Fighter IV owner, I do wonder how much of my previous commitment to SFIV will affect the new version – whether alternate outfits will come as standard in the new edition, and if not – whether DLC will be interchangeable with the new game. I doubt stats will get carried over, but I think there will be a new full set of achievements/trophies to work on for the completionists.
There have been rumours that although people complained that SFIV’s last boss Seth was overly cheap, Capcom actually chose to make him even harder in this new Super edition. According to Seth Killian (the Capcom manager that Seth was actually named after), ”Seth will be even cheaper and more irritating.” However, I find it hard to believe that they would make a character purposely frustrating – surely that can only be a bad mark for the game. Let’s just hope this is more of a wind-up than anything, since Seth is possibly the worst aspect of SFIV. Let’s just hope his AI’s been tweaked in a good way – perhaps with more skill but less strength, or vice versa.
Although the idea of buying SSFIV originally put me off, it really looks as though they’ve added to it nicely. The game is set to be priced cheaper than the original was – going for preorders at $40 in the US (around £25), so it shouldn’t be such a blow to the original owners – and a bargain to those new to the series. Also, it’s been said that owners of SFIV should receive some kind of bonus upon purchasing the new edition, which could be a nice little extra.
Street Fighter IV is a wonderful game, which is easy to pick up and play at any time, whilst always being able to improve and adjust. This new edition looks to add to the original in enough ways to justify the price tag, which I’m sure I’ll get my money’s worth out of – and won’t eat up my HDD space like a large DLC expansion surely would.
Check out this trailer for some clips of the new roster – this is what really sold it to me in the end.
-Leon
