Review: Street Fighter IV

Overview

The Street Fighter franchise is one of Capcom's most popular franchises, and in a surprise announcement the franchise will be coming to the App Store. True to their word, it's out for the iPhone and iPod Touch. With such a massive fanbase, I don't doubt the game will succeed. However, does this mobile version provide a good enough experience, or does it fall flat on its feet? Read on to find out.

Features

Street Fighter IV has a roster of eight different characters including Abel, Blanka, Chun Li, Ryu, M. Bison, Guile, Dhalsim, and Ken. The game also includes seven different environments to fight in. There are tons of moves in Street Fighter IV, with Focus Attacks, Super Combos, Ultra Combos, and more. The controls can also be moved around, tweaked in terms of transparency, and you can also unleash special moves with the "SP" button, or manually enter the combo. Head-to-head fighting via a Bluetooth connection has also been included. In addition, a new "Dojo" mode teaches you how to play the game and become a good Street Fighter by giving you tips and a set of objectives with restrictions or requirements that you have to complete against an opponent. Both casual and hardcore gamers can play this alike, since there are four varying levels of difficulty.

The Good

The gameplay mimics arcade machine controls, since you'll have the joystick on the left, with various punch, kick, focus attack, and special attack buttons on the right. You can choose to fight in a Tournament, Free Sparring, Dojo, or Training, and for the first two modes you can select the number of rounds (one, three, five, or seven) in each fight and whether special move assist (the SP button) and Auto Block are enabled or not. You'll fight against various characters with diverse attack styles. Street Fighter IV is definitely a Street Fighter game here: it's not a mini-game like other big name games, but nor is it a revolutionary new interpretation. If you've played a Street Fighter game before, you'll know how it works. The graphics are sprite based, and they're quite good-looking. The screenshots in iTunes don't represent what you really see in game, since sprites caught in a still screenshot normally look out of place. I can assure you that the in-game graphics are better than what you see. The "Dojo" mode is a worthwhile addition for new players, teaching them how to effectively use moves, specials and ultra attacks, as well as create combos with each of the eight characters. You can also unlock a survival mode called "An Endless Battle Royale" mode after completing all of the Dojo missions. The Dojo also gives ratings for how well you do on each exercise, and you'll have to spend some time to get the highest rank, "S," on every single one. The fast loading times and numerous moves and combos are something that I must praise Capcom for. At the most, it takes around 15 seconds for me to select a character and stage, load everything, and start fighting (on a 2nd gen iPod Touch). The list of moves has not diminished either, and doubtless veterans will find their favorite moves in this game, and newcomers will marvel at the choices that they can select from.

The Bad

More characters and environments should definitely be added, since this game currently doesn't have enough content to warrant the premium $10 price point. At the most, I'd value this game at around $5 for the included content, and another $5 just for the "Street Fighter" namesake alone, just like the Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies game that Activision released. In analyzing the value for your money, Street Fighter IV is vastly overpriced for what it currently has. A control scheme utilizing the iPhone and iPod Touch's strengths would also be nice. Gesture-based control schemes are innovative and fit the iPhone and iPod Touch's screen, so they'd work just as well, if not better, than the standard d-pad and button combo. In addition, the screen seems much too cluttered with such a big d-pad in one corner and four big buttons on the other side. Granted, the d-pad allows near-perfect execution of moves, but it's aesthetically ugly and seems ripped straight out of the arcade machines. There's so much innovation possible with a touch screen, but it seems Capcom didn't take the time to add the extra things in. Another thing is that the fighting mechanic is cheap - you can totally abuse some moves and just spam the same combo over and over and you'll be able to win a round. This eliminates a lot of the fun and skill necessary when you hit upon a difficult opponent or challenge. Also, Street Fighter IV's save system is broken. Since this is a mobile game, a working save system is a must since you never know when you'll have to close the game and do something else. Street Fighter IV has a save system, but it doesn't work. If you're in the middle of a tournament and quit the game, it will not save your progress. This is a major flaw and something Capcom should take a serious look at. Lastly, the lack of online multiplayer is extremely disappointing. I was kind of expecting it to be included since this is at the top tier of iPhone and iPod Touch gaming pricing. Online multiplayer is all the rage for Street Fighter games, and it's what the iPhone can excel at. Including it in this one would make up for some of the other missing or broken components of the game.

The Verdict

If you are a hardcore Street Fighter fan, you probably have already purchased this game. For casual fighting gamers and action game fans Street Fighter IV is something you should consider buying if you have $9.99 that you can spare, but the game is far from perfect. Street Fighter IV is a worthwhile purchase and one that has the possibility to capture your attention for a good amount of time. On the other hand, there are many more fun, unique, and innovative games at more affordable price points on the App Store that give much better value for you money. Like stated earlier the game seems to have a larger price for the street fighter name, and not the quality of the game. Keep in mind that the controls seem somewhat awkward at first for new players and that the save game system does not function. If you don't like arcade fighters, then the game will seem like a repetitive button masher. On the whole however, Street Fighter IV is a good attempt by Capcom at a serious foray into the iPhone and iPod Touch gaming market, but there is so much more that it could have been, and many places it can improve on now.

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