You Ken-not Be Serious
Good news, everyone. Street Fighter IV is to see a PC release. The part of me that wasn't allowed a SNES or Megadrive when I was young is fair excited by this unexpected prospect of console thrills on my pixel-box of choice, while the sniffy PC snob in me is grumpily WTFing. Striving for objectivity, I'm quite pleased. The PC's done much to shake off its perceived stereotypes of late, becoming more omnivore a platform than ever - plugging a 360 or other decent gamepad into it and Spinning Bird Kicking away could well feel entirely natural.
More wibble and some screenshots beneath the cut, for people who like wibble and screenshots.
It's been a while since we had a fighting game, though of course there's no way it can snatch Sumotori Dreams' crown. There's no release date yet, but perhaps we'll have one when this countdown reaches zero. But yeah - excited. I was never particularly good at SF2 - I'm more of a Tekken man - but I have an affection for it unlike any other fighting game. I was the right age at the right time, essentially.
So what to expect from this port, apart from its very evident 2.5D prettiness? Its PS3/360-focus means onlininess is probably a given (though hardcore fighter fans I know claim net lag can't keep up with their madskillz, and so will only indulge in shared-screen play) - let's just hope it's a) not cocking Games For Cocking Windows Cocking Live and b) supports cross-platform play.
Ooh, a flashback - buying the PC version of SFII years and years ago, overjoyed that The Game had finally come to a platform I owned. Then immediately returning it to the shop because it was an awful, sluggish conversion and I couldn't get the sound effects to work.
And I was always a Dhalsim man, in case you're wondering. I quite like playing as him too. BOOM BOOM.
Before the screenshots, here's what's bravely called a 'fact sheet':
Street Fighter IV brings the legendary fighting series back to its roots by taking the beloved fighting moves and techniques of the original Street Fighter II, and infusing them with Capcom's latest advancements in next generation technology to create a truly extraordinary experience that will re-introduce the world to the time-honored art of virtual martial arts.
Everything that made the legendary Street Fighter II a hit in the arcades, living rooms and dormitories across the globe has been brought back in Street Fighter IV. Players will be able to play their favorite classic characters, such as Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li and Guile, along with new characters, including Crimson Viper, Abel, El Fuerte, and Rufus. Characters and environments are rendered in stylized 3D, while the game is played in the classic Street Fighter 2D perspective with additional 3D camera flourishes. Six-button controls for the game return, with a host of new special moves and features integrated into the gameplay system. Street Fighter IV brings a brand new fighting game to fans the world over.
Features:
* 3D environments and characters
* Traditional "2D" Street Fighter six-button gameplay
* Classic Street Fighter characters re-imagined for a new generation of gamers, including the original cast of Street Fighter II
* New brawlers: female super-spy Crimson Viper, lucha libre wrestler El Fuerte, mixed martial artist Abel and more!
* New special moves that go beyond any Street Fighter fan's wildest imagination, including Focus Attacks, Super Combos, and the revenge-fueled Ultra Combo system.
* Amazing locations never seen before in a Street Fighter game
* New gameplay elements provide challenges for both newcomers as well as the most seasoned Street Fighter pro.
