Street Fighter IV

Game Info

Publisher: Capcom

Developer: Capcom

Genre(s): Fighting

Players: 2

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Release Date: February 17, 2009

Summary

Street Fighter IV features a mix of returning favourites such as Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li and Guile along with new characters created exclusively for this game such as Crimson Viper, Abel, El Fuerte, and Rufus. Characters and environments are rendered in high definition 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 input system. Street Fighter IV also incorporates state of the art online match making and worldwide online gameplay. Mixing classic genre-defining game mechanics the franchise is known and loved for with all-new, never-before-seen gameplay systems, Street Fighter IV brings a brand new fighting game to fans the world over. With the inclusion of Capcom's latest advancements in new generation technology, Street Fighter IV promises to deliver an extraordinary experience that will re-introduce the world to the time-honoured art of virtual martial arts. New special moves that go beyond any Street Fighter fan's wildest imagination, including Focus attacks, Super Combos, and the revenged-fueled Ultra Combo system. Classic Street Fighter characters recreated 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 gameplay elements provide new challenges for both newcomers and the most seasoned Street Fighter pro. Online gameplay features, including instantaneous online challenges, versus mode, tournament mode, and world wide online gameplay. [Capcom]

Also On Metacritic

FILM: Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li

Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central GameSpot Guide

Also On The Web: GameSpot Launch Center Kotaku Review Official Website Street Fighter IV Arcade Stick Roundup

What The Critics Said

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What Our Users Said

Vote Now! The average user rating for this game is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 117 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

S R gave it a7:
I just bought this game today, started out on the hardest dificulty level with Zangief and got to the final boss Seth losing about 3 times along the way before I spent an hour trying to beat Seth then quit. The second time I played through all the way to Seth using Zangief again without losing once then beat Seth after about 6 attempts once I realized the spinning clothesline was a good counter to Seth's stupid teleporting whenever he knocks you down. Overall I would say that I like Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max on the Sony PSP better than this game. I haven't played every single version ever (I have only played the original SF2, SSF2 Turbo, and SFA3 on the PSP) but I prefer being able to juggle opponents with basic hits (not just ultra combos) and there is something about the timing in SF4 which is off, I got used to it after about 5 fights but I definitely prefer the timing from the older versions. Maybe if I start working on using the new focus attacks, etc. it will be more fun. Hopefully I will get it together and get internet service for my ps3 so I can start schooling all the Ryu and Ken fanboys with Zangief online, it will be like 1992 in the arcade all over again.

James L. gave it a9:
Street Fighter returns with avengance with a HD makeover. All original SFII characters return with some new fighters, old moves and new. The controls are really responsive and it has a fair learning curve for newcomers and SFII fans alike. Anyone who is looking for a one on one fighting game should purchase this as it is the best fighter to date.

Mark D gave it an8:
This is evolution not revolution. Apart from the obvious new characters, graphics and minor gameplay tweeks Capcom have taken the series back to its roots. Make no mistake though, this is a good thing as the classic nature of SF2 never fades. Some still consider it the best fighter ever. So why have i "only" given this an 8? Well because it's not perfect that's why. The new characters don't seem to have much, erm, character and feel slightly unbalanced. El Fuerte, for example, is especially weak. Abel and C. Viper are decent but seem to lack the X factor that made Ryu, Chun Li et al such iconic games characters. The new Ultra moves are a nightmare to pull off with a normal controller and only seve to frustate. It also seems unfair that you can dominate an opponent only for them to turn the fight back in their favour with an Ultra move that's nearly impossable to dodge. Seth in particular is fond of this little trick (arsehole). There are other little irritations. Yes, i mean the cut scenes and the god awful, inapropiate, Nsync b-side title music. It may sound strange that i'm having a long moan about a game i've a good score to but like others who have posted before me, i feel some of the 10/10 reviews have been OOT and it's important to get some balance.

Ne T gave it a7:
I was expecting a lot more from this game, especially after reading all the reviews. It's far from a bad game, but in my opinion, it was very over hyped. The new characters are cool, and it feels good to play with the classic fighters, but the game doesn't move as fast as I enjoyed it back then. Maybe it's just me, but the controls don't feel very responsive when I input a special move. Sometimes instead of doing my revenge super, I end up just doing a regular super, even if I hit the button that's suppose to be all three kicks or punches. Also, restricting us with only one revenge super and only one watered down normal version of THAT super sucks. (The exception being Dan... and that special is totally useless... ) EX moves are okay and the animations are very nice, but I feel that a lot has been lost in Street Fighter 4... to be perfectly honest, I'd prefer Street Fighter Alpha 3 or 3rd strike over this... Still, good try Capcom. Hope you guys deliver way more with Street Fighter 5.

Lamar N. gave it a6:
Please explain how this game is balanced? All I need to say is this. Sagat, Akuma, Balrog, Zangief, Gouken, Ryu, and Ken. Sagat is ALWAYS overpowered, so there's no explanation needed for that, but you would think that by NOW Capcom would find a way to make him SOMEWHAT balanced. Akuma may have low health, but that doesn't matter when you can hardly touch the bastard. He also can do combos that take half your health and stun you, do you know what that means? It takes 2 combos to kill you. If you get STUNNED after the first one, that's like saying "You're pretty much dead after 1 combo." His ultra and super take way more health than necessary as well. Balrog (Or Mike Byson/Mighty Mother Fucker) is a pure example of what an overpowered hold character would be. His PRIORITY is really high, the damage he deals is pretty deadly, his SPEED is fast, he has frames that let you COMBO after his friggen hold moves giving you NO chance to punish him AFTER he does them (I've tried), he can ZOOM past projectiles (His headbutt goes through projectiles too, but that's not overpowered :B ), so what's NOT overpowered about this guy? He has great reach, strength, power, priority, antiprojectile moves, antiair moves, I mean he's a hold character, but 2 seconds doesn't seem too damn long when he can stay back as long as he likes. Zangief does too much damage with his overpowered Ultra that basically kills you, the range of his grabs are further than before, he has high priority moves, and who the Hell cares if his speed is low when he has the glowing hand of screen hop? He just zooms to you with that hand as if walking was a thing of a past, plus that damn thing does alot of damage, and it's hard to dodge his EX running grab because you'd have to jump over him or something to get past it, you can't just hit him because he'll GRAB you if you get close and attempt it, it won't knock him out of it and he won't lose his health anyhow, plus he's fucking huge so how can you expect to jump over that so easily? Gouken... This is a mix between a combo and shoto character in a way... He has a Fei Long move that's much more powerful, has much more range, is a bit less punishable, and you can't get out of it because you're hit into the friggen air and the other 2 hits hurt you while you're coming down... It's a strong ass juggling combo... His back grab MAY seem useless, but any grab that literally sets you up for a heavy damage ultra doesn't seem so useless after. He can Hadouken wherever he pleases as well. Just have to spam it right. Gouken is a mess for obvious reasons. Whatever the tier list says can kiss my ass because there's a HUGE flaw with it. These guys may be experts of Fighting games, but that doesn't mean they're good with every friggen character on the damned list, that's probably why they suck with Dan so badly, because they don't know how to use him and never even gave him a chance I bet, so if they think Dan sucks, they can suck on my balls and find a REAL Dan player instead of thinking "Hey, I'm an expert, I'm good with just every character automatically." Ryu and Ken: Have you noticed something? Why isn't Shoryuken an anti air move anymore? Anyhow, Ryu is just flatout good with everything. Ken is only good with shoryukens. Ryu has easy fast movements that can combo well, while Ken has some slightly heavier movements that don't combo as well. Anyhow, Ken's shoryuken pisses me off because it takes 1/4th of your God damned health, not to mention his Ultra... There's giving a chance to win and there's giving someone a fucking WIN BUTTON, what are they doing for KEN I wonder, I mean does he even NEED it? Ryu and Ken are both great characters already, but no, they have to give them more than they deserve. Also, Ryu's Super and Ultra are so easy to merge compared to everyone else's that it's not even funny. Let's move on to the SUCKY characters. Fei Long (I LOVE Fei Long, but he sucks compared to other characters) is a character I love and a little hard to figure out... kinda.. Anyhow, his 3 hit combo is very punishable, it does so little damage, you have to TIME the hits right to go past a projectile when BALROG can just go like "Hey, a projectile?" and the projectile hits him going like "Tink" as if it didn't hit him, they nerfed his Chicken Wing that had no range but did around as much damage as Ken's Shoryuken, he has almost no antiprojectile properties, you have to get close to your enemies to use him, I think one of the few things I can say that's good about him is his speed. His speed is great, even the speed of his antiair is great to some extent (Could be a little faster), and then there's that leg grab thing... That thing SHOULD give you a free hit, but it doesn't, I've tested that thing and moves can be blocked, so what if it throws off your opponent? Once they realize it's use, they know you can just block and punish. His friggen jump kick thing is gay too because it can't hop over projectiles and it looks like it should hit overhead, but it doesn't, so it's almost useless except for the fact that it's more unpredictable than some of the other things he has. Gen is a great character... If you take 90 hours on him or something. I mean, he looks like an awesome character, but God damn it do they make it hard to play with him and in the end, is it really even worth all that effort and time? Once people figure out how he works, he'd just become much easier to deal with, I mean, right now Gen's advantage is this, nobody plays him so nobody knows shit about what to do against him. There are people who do play him, however, once people find out that roll's priority is nothing, they'll go like, "Oh, let me just *Kicks Gen*" and Gekiro's timing is sooo anoyying, it has almost no range as an antiair and the timing is horrible when trying to pull it off completely. Capcom must have been like "Hey, let's annoy people more by making Gekiro's timing really really gay." El Fuerte as well is a decent character, but not even that good. You have to time crap so well and once people figure out how he works, just like Gen, he'll fall down to the ground. He's just a character that is a bit unpredictable, but very much punishable. He's complex to use and you have to time crap so well that it's almost not even worth the time and effort, I could have been doing something with that tame wasted on trying to figure someone like out, like being overpowered with Akuma. Some characters are kind of fine, like Guile, Cammy, Abel, Rufus, they seem like characters that are good in the point of being balanced and fair without having something that can win the match without requiring skill. Dan doesn't seem as bad as those losers who don't know how to play him, make him out to be. I have MORE complaints about this game as well. The graphics suck my balls in 9 different dimensions and from the point of view that can look at 3D design and tell if effort was really put into it and not from some noob who goes like "OH! 3D graphics are always better even though I don't know crap and that it takes alot more effort to make 2D graphics, but I'm too ignorant to realize that using a program like 3D studio max is easier than drawing something on paper and making sure that everything is proportioned to the character's size and image. Not to mention the backrounds kinda suck and aren't even that memorable The music is really... What IS that? Is that even FIGHTING music? The badass music in Street Fighter 2 was one of the reasons SF2 was so amazing! I played on Guile's stage and everything just comes out at you while that badass music just keeps on playing and you're feeling the spirit of a fighter or some shit. But THIS is a disgrace to what WAS Street Fighter. I could have made better music with just my bass guitar alone! The storyline is horrible, the voice acting is TERRIBLE and what makes it more flat out obvious is El Fuerte's. I mean, come on, you give the guy a gay introduction, a gay look, a gay voice, a kinda gay fighting style, now a gay storyline? Hasn't he suffered enough? They put too much crap into the Focus Attack though, it's sooo annoying trying to pull off combos based on focus attack dash cancel combos in order to create something worth some form of effort. Was Capcom thinking one day "Hm... Say! Let's take Street Fighter 4 and make it into the most mainstream fighting game ever!" and someone else was probably like "What about the gamers who have stuck with us through and through and actually care about the quality of gaming?" I guess that guy was probably fired... Anyhow, I have played many fighting games and really, I'm so disappointed with Street Fighter 4... You'd think with all the lack of everything else, the gameplay would have made up for it by a LOT. Not to be a "fanboy" or some bull, but King of Fighters 11 had WAY more characters than Street Fighter 4 and it could STILL remain more or just as balanced as SF4. Some newbies that made a game called Akatsuki Blitzkampf that has around 12 characters that is more balanced than SF4. Now, I know 12 characters isn't that much, however, this was their FIRST GAME. Capcom has made ALOT of Fighting games and they still can't keep it that balanced... Anyhow, I really think this game was just made to make money from any person who would play it and don't care about what gamers want as long as money gets into their wallet and everybody's favorite characters are overpowered. The only few upsides of this game is that if you play a character that doesn't suck, the game doesn't seem so unbalanced and even though the game does suck, it's fun.

Daniel H gave it a10:
Through the last 18 years, since the first Street Fighter was launched, Capcom has been polishing the games structure and entertainment value. With this release, Capcom shows us the meaning of perfect balance and speed between gameplay and characters. Street Fighter IV is an absolute must have for fans of this genre and for next-gen console owners as well.

Chaz S gave it a6:
I don't quite understand how this game top scores. Its not a horrible game but it definitely doesn't live up the the Street fighter legacy. What really stung me about this game right off the bat is the horrible intro music. Made it seem like a cheesey knock off game....When are we going to see some Capcom vs marvel for the next gen?

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