So it turns out that the rumors of Ibuki, Makoto and Dudley joining the Super Street Fighter IV roster were correct all along. This would bring the playable character roster to about 34 or 35, right up there with Tekken, which in its latest incarnation has 40, by my estimation. Of course, if Capcom were to add Birdie, Eagle, Yun and Yang, and several other characters, there’d be more than enough for them to kick-start the real Capcom Fighting All-Stars.

That last one isn’t likely to happen any time soon, but one can dream…Oh, well…there’s always MUGEN…

Category: Video Games
Author: WillyFourEyes
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Tags: dudley (street fighter), ibuki (street fighter), makoto (street fighter), new characters, street fighter

After beating the original Street Fighter arcade game as part of my Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 2 package, I’m fortunate to have played Street Fighter II first (and I’m sure a lot of people have). Say what you will about the toughness of the bosses in SFII, but they’re a cakewalk compared to many of the enemies that you have to fight in the original game. Besides Retsu and Geki, all of the opponents after them are grossly unbalanced, who can hit harder than you and move faster than you (why is Mike able to knock me down with just three punches?). Your special attacks can deal lots of damage to them, but the stiff controls make it hard to execute them with any degree of regularity. Even then, only the Hadoken seems to work at all. It’s not a good thing when copious abuse of save states is a requirement to get past even one round of any given battle. The original Street Fighter definitely shows its age here, and even back then, it wasn’t all that good. It’s best left as a reminder of how far the series has come since then. This one’s only worth 1 star out of 5. Skip it.

Pros: one of the first one-on-one fighting games with special moves
Cons: unbalanced game difficulty, controls that don’t work as they’re supposed to

Category: Video Games
Author: WillyFourEyes
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Tags: 1-star reviews, arcade, capcom, partial reviews, street fighter

Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max has a mode called “Vs. 100 Kumite”, which is pretty much exactly what it says on the tin. You pick a character, and you fight 100 battles until you reach the end. Unlike Survival Mode, the game doesn’t end when you lose. You have to complete all 100 matches with no breaks in-between, and then the credits and results screen shows up. This can lead to hilarious and embarrassing situations where you get the “Congratulations!” notification, only to find out that you were only able to win five or six matches out of the 100 that are thrown at you.

I did my first run-through of this mode with Karin, a character I’ve practiced with a lot on the PlayStation and arcade versions of Street Fighter Alpha 3. My final result: 40 wins, 60 losses. I guess this means that I’m only living up to 40% of my potential as a street fighter. I wouldn’t know for sure, because the difficulty seems to jump around all over the place once you make it to #40 or so. You could face off against a string of opponents who won’t let you get a single hit in, and the next one will fall for the same drop kick-low strong kick combo. It’s strange, but I suppose it works for gamers who can go for long sessions like that without taking a break. It’s probably a good idea to have your PSP plugged in or sufficiently charged up before attempting this mode, because I guarantee you’ll be at it for close to two hours. Good luck.

Category: Video Games
Author: WillyFourEyes
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Tags: karin (street fighter), marathon, psp, street fighter

You knew it was coming: the inevitable Street Fighter IV micro-update. Super Street Fighter IV is coming to PlayStation 3’s and Xbox 360’s sometime in Spring 2010, and it looks like some old favorites are going to be rejoining the fray. I don’t really know yet what’s so “super” about this new incarnation of the Street Fighter series, but there’s a lot of buzz over the returning characters. So far, we’ve heard that Guy and Cody from Final Fight are going to be added to the roster, as are missing Super Street Fighter II characters Dee Jay and T. Hawk and Adon from the original Street Fighter. There’s also a new character, a Korean chick named Juri, but there’s not enough info on her for me to get worked up about.

There’s been a bit of speculation about four more possible returning characters. Someone on the fighting game community website Shoryuken.com posted a rumor that at least three more new characters would be added to the roster, all from Street Fighter III, and they named ninja Ibuki, martial artist Makoto, and British gentleman boxer Dudley as possible candidates. This sounds pretty cool, as the last time we saw any SFIII characters was in the rather forgettable Capcom Fighting Evolution game that was released on PS2 a couple of years ago.

Category: Video Games
Author: WillyFourEyes
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Tags: dudley (street fighter), fighting games, ibuki (street fighter), makoto (street fighter), new characters, rumors, street fighter

It’s taken a while for it to get through to my skull that me and competitive gaming don’t mix very well. My rather pathetic Street Fighter IV (20% win percentage as of today, through 50 matches) and Soul Calibur IV (9% through 24 matches) records state. Eventually I’ll have to do some more serious training if I ever hope to get more mileage out of some of these games beyond the single-player campaigns. I may have a chance with Street Fighter, as I’ve been able to get a few victory-related trophies. Not so much with Soul Calibur, where I’m currently on a six-game losing streak without winning a single round (perhaps I should name my next custom fighter Glass Joe?)

Category: Video Games
Author: WillyFourEyes
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Tags: fighting games, online, soul calibur iv, street fighter