Fine, fine. I sort of plagiarized the title for this blog post from this IGN review of Street Fighter 4. I just thought, Ryan Clements came up with a perfect description for the 4th installment of probably the most influential fighting game franchise of all time (If even mentions Tekken or Virtua Fighter, you are all fools!). After months and months of waiting, the game will finally be released on February 17th!

The part of this review that I immediately looked out for was of course the multiplayer play.

Besides the 3D visuals, Street Fighter IV also sports online play, which will certainly please network-happy gamers looking for more than just the local competition. During my time with Street Fighter IV’s online mode, I found it ran well on both the PS3 and 360, though there were occasional hitches that popped up mid-game. Honestly, casual fans will have no problem playing online, though the hardcore audience will likely stick with local multiplayer, regardless. No matter how good your connection is, there’s never a guarantee that you’re experiencing the exact same battle that your rival is experiencing, which would trouble competitive players. Furthermore, there’s no telling how the game will run online once everyone begins jumping on, but my time with it was quite positive.

So local play is a lot better than online play? I wasn’t just hoping for local play to be better - I was praying that the online version would become unplayable.

Welcome back, 2D Ken and Ryu

Welcome back, 2D Ken and Ryu

I think that if there’s any game that should bring back the gamer to the arcades, Street Fighter 4 would be it. I know I’m reaching too far here given the current state of the economy, but I wish for the game to have the same effect on the gaming industry as when Street Fighter 2 was ported on to the Super Nintendo almost two decades ago. It made everyone want a Super Nintendo yes? Hell, if videogame sales still continue to increase year on year despite the hard times, anything is possible!

Don’t you miss the days when people used to crowd behind an unbeaten joystick wielding Street Fighter warrior in every video arcade? I’m not a joystick type of guy (and I’m not a fan of Emo Dance Rev Tambays in malls), but I do wish video arcades make a comeback from being classified as nothing more than places where cheap plush toys can be picked up by mechanical cranes.

From ALvs