Best Moment: I loved unlocking all the characters, and unlocking the secret characters Gon and Dr. Bosconovitch! I also loved playing Tekken Force Mode and Tekken Ball Mode!
When it comes to fighting games, for me, Tekken 3 is king. We've never had a better fighting game before it, or since. I know that might be an opinion you don't agree with, but that's what I think, simple as that! Regardless of if it's the best ever or not, you can't deny the improvement Tekken 3 was over Tekken 2 and Tekken 1. It was... INSANELY better. Everything came together with Tekken 3, the moves were more fluid, the combos were better, the character roster was simply exceptional, the graphics were just beautiful for back in 1998, the bonus features of Tekken Force Mode and Tekken Ball Mode were so much fun and the character endings were simply so much better, overall, than the ones given for Tekken 2. I just love Tekken 3, and sure, looking now it does look a bit dated, but at the time it was just a stunning masterpiece. No fighting game could compare, not Street Fighter, not Mortal Kombat, nothing, back in 1998 could compare. It was truly head above heels above everything that came out before it, and in my opinion, since as well.
Best Moment: Getting your ass handed to you by Bison II - he's nearly indestructible!
Street Fighter isn't my natural fighting game but it's one that I have played over the years. I do prefer Tekken and even Mortal Kombat, but the SF games are tremendous too. I never did play Street Fighter 3, instead I played Street Fighter EX2 Plus. It's a spinoff of the main SF games and for some reason I just loved playing this. I loved playing as Sagat, he was always my go-to character, where as back in the original Street Fighter II days I was always Ryu. I love the Super Combos you can do in the SFEX2+ game, and for me that's what makes this game stand out well against the many, MANY other SF games. But also, going against the secret Bison II boss is an awesome moment, even if it's ridiculously hard to even give him a good fight, nevermind actually beating him! Apparently you can unlock him in SFEX3, although I never did play that entry in the series. Anyway, if you're looking for a good Street Fighter game on the original Playstation, in my opinion, this is the best.
So. Here we are. The Top 10. Well, #10 to #2 anyway. We're almost there. Let's continue! Note: There are possible spoilers in each entry so avoid them if you don't want to ruin any storylines.
#20: Shao Kahn
Other Names: The Emperor Debut Game and Year: Mortal Kombat II (1993) Famous Quote?: "Don't make me laugh!" Other Appearances: Most, if not all, Mortal Kombat games since
[entry info lost, will reput in info at later date] #19: Wario
Other Names: None Debut Game and Year: Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (1992) Famous Quote?: "I'ma gonna win!" - when playing Mario Kart Other Appearances: Most Mario game since, and all Wario spinoff titles
[entry info lost, will reput in info at later date] #18: Krauser
Other Names: Jack Krauser Debut Game and Year: Resident Evil 4 (2005) Famous Quote?: "You may be able to prolong your life, but it's not like you can escape your inevitable death, is it?" - to Leon Other Appearances: Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles
[entry info lost, will reput in info at later date] #17: Catalina
Other Names: Bitch, Crazy Bitch Debut Game and Year: Grand Theft Auto III (2001) Famous Quote?: "Sorry babe, I'm an ambitious girl, and you, you're just small time!" - the beginning of GTA3 Other Appearances: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
[entry info lost, will reput in info at later date] #16: M. Bison
Other Names: Vega, Master Bison, Mighty Bison, Lord Bison Debut Game and Year: Street Fighter II (1991) Famous Quote?: "Anyone who opposes me will be destroyed!" Other Appearances: Practically every Street Fighter game since
[entry info lost, will reput in info at later date] #15: Seymour
Other Names: Maester Seymour, Lord Seymour Debut Game and Year: Final Fantasy X (2001) Famous Quote?: "Your hope ends here! And your meaningless existence with it!" Other Appearances: None
[entry info lost, will reput in info at later date] #14: Calypso
Other Names: William Sparks Debut Game and Year: Twisted Metal (1995) Famous Quote?: "I am Calypso, and I thank you for playing Twisted Metal!" Other Appearances: Every Twisted Metal game since
[entry info lost, will reput in info at later date] #13: Frank Fontaine
Other Names: Atlas Debut Game and Year: Bioshock (2007) Famous Quote?: "...would you kindly?" Other Appearances: None
[entry info lost, will reput in info at later date] #12: Clement
Other Names: Clement Darling Debut Game and Year: The House of the Dead: Overkill (2009) Famous Quote?: "Let me give you some context here boys...I... love... my mother..." Other Appearances: None
[entry info lost, will reput in info at later date] #11: Barthandelus
Other Names: Galenth Dysley Debut Game and Year: Final Fantasy XIII (2009) Famous Quote?: "What else does one do with tools?" Other Appearances: None
[entry info lost, will reput in info at later date]
We’ve reached an important stage of my listing now. It’s Top
20 time. What are my Top 20 favourite Mega Drive games? Keep following to find
out!
#20 – Gain Ground
Released: 1992 (2007 in the UK)
Genre: Action
Rating: ****1/4 stars
Best Moment: Getting to the end of the level with all
characters intact. The game crumbles very quickly if you lose your best
characters.
I only discovered this game recently, on the
Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection actually. I’d never heard of it before
then. To be fair, it was never released in the UK on the console itself, but
has been ported here on compilation games celebrating the Genesis/Mega Drive.
It’s a really good game. It’s hard to describe what the game is about. It’s
actually a little like a video game version of British Bulldog if you’ve played
it, if so you may have an idea where I’m going with this description; you start
off with three characters and you have to get to the end of the level. There
are two ways to do this; first, you can dodge enemies and walk to the exit,
which is usually the hardest way to do it, mainly because you’d have to do this
with every single character. The quickest way to beat a level is to just kill
all enemies on screen. As I said you start off with three characters but you
can recruit more characters by saving them, to do this you have to find them on
the screen and take them to an exit, and in the next level onwards they’ll be
added to your roster. If anyone dies then they have to be saved, otherwise you
permanently lose that character. It’s a really good game Gain Ground, really
worth playing and it’s a tough strategy game in the end but very fun to play. I
don’t know how many people have actually played it, I doubt many, but it’s
really worth your time trust me.
#19 - Street Fighter II: Championship Edition
Released: 1992
Genre: Fighting
Rating: ****1/4 stars
Best Moment: Beating the Bonus stages flawlessly. Always a
good feeling.
How many versions of Street Fighter II was
there? Well the Mega Drive had a few, with this version probably being the
best. I’m not putting more than one version in this list; they’re far too
similar too each other! Street Fighter II’s legacy speaks for itself, it’s
simply the most influential fighting game ever released. I don’t think individually
one single other fighting game can claim it’s made a bigger impact. I’m not
saying it’s the best, but no game in the genre has added to the genre on the
whole more than this game. Street Fighter II is a game you have to experience,
to fully understand its place in video game history. It’s not coincidence that
Street Fighter IV took a lot of inspiration from SF2 to take the game series
back to the top of the mountain. Is Street Fighter II my favourite fighting
game on the Mega Drive? No, you’ll find that out later in this list. But Street
Fighter II is more legendary than it is one of my favourite games, that’s for
sure, but regardless of its placement in this list, I respect the hell out of
this game and Capcom for making it.
#18 – Worms
Released: 1995
Genre: Strategy
Rating: ****1/4 stars
Best Moment: Having to take a very risky and tough shot with
a bazooka, and nailing it spot on.
Ah, the Worms series. It’s amazing to think that
the original Worms game was released on the Mega Drive but it was. I never
played it on the Mega Drive personally but I do know that the Mega Drive
version has zero changes to it to the Playstation copy I had. And what a game
Worms was, back in 1995. Sure, nowadays the Worms formula has improved drastically,
as have the graphics and comedy voices, but let’s not take anything away from
the original game. At the time Worms was unlike any other game out there. A
strategy game with an incredible sense humour, this game could destroy
friendships as the competitive gameplay was so good. Worms on the Mega Drive
surely makes it one of the best games ever released on the console, even if it
was released when the console was dying out.
#17 – Speedball 2
Released: 1990
Genre: Sports
Rating: ****1/4 stars
Best Moment: Scoring after a succession of great passes, either that or heating the ball up and throwing it at the goalie, with the ball ending in the back of the net. Fun times.
I’ve already reviewed this game on this site as part of my Old School Game Reviews, you can read that here. Speedball 2 was a truly terrific game. Sure, it may not be a real sport, but it’s still a sports game, and I rate it as one of the best sports games ever made. A mixture of rugby, handball and hockey, Speedball wasn’t that popular unfortunately, but it’s definitely playable, even today I play this game. It’s quite difficult but a heck of a lot of fun, frenetic fun that is. I love this game, and can’t recommend you play it enough.
#16 – Super Monaco GP
Released: 1990 (1991 in the UK) Genre: Racing Rating: ****1/4 stars Best Moment: Just sticking to your gameplan, racing hard and fast yet accurate, and finishing in first place, naturally.
Technically I suppose the second game was superior and I may have rated it quite low at #32 but I just prefer the first game in nearly every way. I love World Championship Mode. I love starting in the Minrae (which is based on the Minardi F1 car), changing constructors and ending up in the Madonna car (based on the McLaren). I love racing on my favourite tracks (some being Great Britain, France and Italy). I also love and hate the second season of World Championship Mode, when you’re the defending champion and G. Ceara (based on the great Ayrton Senna) joins the season having taken the first season out and getting your arse whooped by him and struggling to reclaim your title. I just have so many personal memories of this game, all great, and it’ll forever be my favourite F1 game ever. There may be many technically better games, graphics or controls, but I’ll doubt I’ll ever find a game I’ll enjoy more based on Formula 1 racing.
#15 – Shining Force II
Released: 1993 (1994 in the UK) Genre: RPG Rating: ****1/2 stars Best Moment: Just assembling your party and kicking arse in general. It’s just a brilliant RPG.
I feel bad that Shining Force II is so low on this list as it’s truly an epic RPG. There weren’t many RPGs on the Mega Drive (only the Shining Force and Phantasy Star games are really worthy of any mention in honesty) but Shining Force is not only the best RPG series on the console, but one of my favourite RPG series of all time. I truly love Shining Force, the stories are decent enough but it’s the strategy and turned based RPG system that truly sets it apart from other RPGs. It gets the formula totally spot on and I just love playing the games. If you’ve never experienced Shining Force, seriously, get an emulator or get the Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection and play the two Shining Force games. You won’t regret it.
#14 – Streets of Rage
Released: 1991 Genre: Beat ‘em Up Rating: ****1/2 stars Best Moment: Honestly? The first level. The whole of it. The
music is just so fricking awesome, topped off by the just as good boss theme.
The level, while naturally the easiest, has excellent flow to it and it’s
probably one of my favourite ‘first levels’ of all time.
I’ve already reviewed this game on this site as part of my
Old School Game Reviews, you can read that here. The original Streets of Rage
was just so good, ridiculously good even, for back in 1991. Sure, there were
Beat ‘em Ups before it that made an impact, but I think Streets of Rage truly
lifted the genre to new levels never seen before, and in honesty, not seen
since. And this game started it all off. And the formula was improved further
for the sequel, but this game, the first in the series, was and still is, one
of the best Mega Drive games of all time.
#13 – Dr Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine
Released: 1993 (1994 in the UK)
Genre: Puzzle
Rating: ****1/2 stars
Best Moment: Quite simply, getting an absolutely humongous
combo and piling a load of clear beans on your opponent’s grid, rendering them
almost incapable of making a comeback.
Man, I love this game. I’d possibly rate it as
my favourite puzzle game ever, although that’s another list for another day. Is
it the most original puzzle game ever made? Of course not. In fact, it’s a
version of a video game series popular in Japan called Puyo Puyo, marketed for
Western audiences. It has some of the same music, the same style of game in
nearly every way, the only difference is the addition of Dr Robotnik and some
other characters associated with Sonic. So it’s actually a ripoff. But do I
care? No, not at all, I love this game, I’ve spent hours and hours playing this
game; I’ve probably put more time into this puzzle game than all other puzzle
games combined. It’s just a really fun game, and I’ll never play a better
puzzle game ever, in my opinion.
#12 - Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master
Released: 1993
Genre: Action
Rating: ****1/2 stars
Best Moment: I just love running at ninjas and taking out my sword and slicing them silly. It’s a simple technique but it’s a hella fun.
You know, I played The Revenge of Shinobi as part of my Mega 6 collection, that I mentioned earlier. I always said to myself, why didn’t they ever make a sequel to that Shinobi game? I never knew this game existed for years later, not to mention that they actually made a sequel for the Mega Drive itself. The second Shinobi game was released on the Sega Game Gear, but this third entry was put back on the Mega Drive as the Game Gear was a flop. Shinobi III was brilliant. It took everything that made the original Revenge of Shinobi a success and added so much more. The action in this game, is just awesome. It blows most games out of the water for the amount of moves and techniques available in an action game. And you really do feel like a badass ninja playing this game. Shinobi III is just simply, one of the best Mega Drive games of all time. You really should experience it if you haven’t before.
#11 – Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
Released: 1996 Genre: Fighting Rating: ****1/2 stars Best Moment: The moment when you finally kick Shao Kahn’s ass; Mortal Kombat is a very hard game at times and Shao Kahn is a worthy final battle, and when you finally defeat him it’s a huge sigh of relief and joy.
In honesty, I never played the original Mortal Kombat III. Nor did I play Mortal Kombat II until many years later. UMK3 is THE fighting game for the Mega Drive in my opinion. 24 characters in one fighting game... I’m pretty sure that was unprecedented in 1996. Naturally now we have bigger rosters, but for a Mega Drive game, to have so many characters all with different movesets and personalities... it was just epic. I honestly rate UMK3 as one of my favourite fighting games ever, it’s definitely my favourite Mortal Kombat game, and for me, it’s definitely the best fighting game on the Mega Drive. Even more so than Street Fighter 2.
If you don’t lose your head over the difficulty, Super Meat
Boy is an awesome homage to retro 2D platformers.
Super Meat Boy was released sixteen months ago on the Xbox
360 Live Arcade and was produced by Team Meat. It’s also seen releases on the
PC, the Mac and on Linux since. It’s a 2D platform game and pays homage to the
old school genre in general, particularly Super Mario.
Super Meat Boy is the sequel to an online Flash game called
Meat Boy. Meat Boy was released on cult gaming and humour website Newgrounds three and a half years ago. Newgrounds is a website where many animated videos and flash
games are posted. Meat Boy was a huge success on there and had over 8 million
hits on all internet media. It was then decided that the success of Meat Boy
could possibly be found on console gaming, so for the next two years hard
negotiating, contracts and production were made to release Super Meat Boy. Team
Meat contact all three major console gaming companies. Sony were not
interested, and Microsoft showed a little interest. The most interest came from
Nintendo. Microsoft made a large surge in the end for interest in the game, and
a nice contract was made for the release on the Xbox 360 Arcade. Due to
contractual obligations, it was to be released on the Xbox 360 first and lots
of blood, sweat and tears went into the game, as well as a lack of sleeping
hours to get it released on time. So much effort went into the game in the end
that the game ended up being too big for Nintendo’s WiiWare, so they had to
pull out, as Nintendo were not interested in a physical release for the game.
So it ended up out of the three consoles, to be Xbox exclusive, and has since
met major critical and commercial acclaim. I’m sure Sony regret their lack of
interest now.
This is not going to end well...
Super Meat Boy follows a very simple story line. You play as
Meat Boy, a red square with pixels for eyes and a very animate mouth, and small
limbs. His girlfriend, Bandage Girl has been kidnapped by the main antagonist, Dr.
Fetus. It’s such a simple storyline and the creators are emphatic on this, due
to it being a strong homage of the simple storylines in the late eighties video
gaming, particularly Super Mario. There’s no extended plot really, you as Meat
Boy follow Dr. Fetus through over 300 levels to try and save the girlfriend, Bandage
Girl. No further plot is needed either.
The game itself as mentioned earlier is a 2D platform game.
To finish one of the 300+ levels, you start off at the far left of the level
and have to make it to the end of the level, where Bandage Girl is waiting. You
control Meat Boy and run and jump your way through obstacles to reach her, only
for Dr. Fetus to take Bandage Girl to the next level. The game is split into 20
levels for the most part, “chapters” as they call them, where at the end you’ll
have a Boss level where you have to once again either find Bandage Girl at the
end of the level, or more often than not, run away from the boss themselves.
Minor story continuation is usually shown between each “chapter” you visit.
Meat Boy himself is a square piece of meat. It sounds quite
disgusting, and it is in theory, but the fact that the game is in 2D means
nothing is really shown, the game is for the most part probably a 12+; the game
itself shows very little that’s graphic or unsuitable for children but there
are small references here and there that aren’t suitable. For instance Dr.
Fetus quite often likes to stick his middle fingers up at the screen or Meat
Boy, but those subtle things aside it would probably class as suitable for
children in honesty. Due to the fact that Meat Boy is a piece of meat, whenever
he runs, small trails of blood follow him everywhere he goes, once again it
sounds quite horrible but it’s all pixelated and is fine once you get over the
initial observation. Whenever he runs or moves, small squishy sounds follow
him, to emphasise the piece of meat that he is as well. This paragraph is here
to tell you that yes, these things are present and if it offends you not to
show your children if you have any, that’s understandable, but for the most
part it’s absolutely fine for children, if they don’t understand these things.
To control Meat Boy, you use the D-pad like always, and that
lets you move Meat Boy left or right on the screen. To jump, you press the “A”
button, and you can also jump off walls, multiple times, so you can jump from
wall to wall to wall if you’re in a short space. You can also run by holding
the “X” button while you move. To jump across large spaces you have to hold the
“A” button while jumping. It’s very simple really.
The intro to Super Meat Boy is homage to Street Fighter. If you play the game you'll know what I mean.
But what makes the controls so amazing is how tight
everything comes together. Have you ever played “Super Mario” back in the day,
and the controls were hard to get your head around when first playing? There’s
none of that while playing Super Meat Boy. The controls are incredibly tight;
when you stop moving, Meat Boy stops moving. If you time everything correctly,
you’ll jump, skid, run and drag against the wall (hold the D-pad direction
against the wall to drag) as you are supposed to. The controls in essence, are
what bring everything in Super Meat Boy together.
Because the controls are so tight, that usually means
everything you do on Meat Boy is to your touch. There’s no blaming the game for
bugs or the controls being poor. It’s your fault. And that’s quite frustrating
in some ways. Why? Because this game is hard. It’s very hard. It’s really
really hard! Team Meat worked very hard on making this game fun to play, but
also challenging. There are over 300 levels in this game, but completing the
first 40 is in some ways a challenge. But this game is a game of trial and
error, you’re supposed to die, and die a lot, to be able to beat the level.
Dying is only half the fun, because once you beat a level in Meat Boy,
especially later on, it’s some achievement. You have unlimited lives, and the
levels are short, and this equation makes for a fun yet frustrating game. You
have to time things to an absolute tee (as I said, if you don’t, it’s your
fault) to beat levels, especially later on
The levels for the most part take around half a minute to
complete, but to beat each level it usually can take a lot longer. But don’t
let this put you off, as I said, it’s difficult but the fact that you can try
again and again instantly means you get a second go straight away. It’s the
trial and error part of Super Meat Boy that makes it fun. If you were to
flawlessly play Super Meat Boy it would be boring, trust me. Also, you don’t
have to play the levels in order. They are however, as mentioned earlier, split
into “chapters”, and to unlock the next “chapter” you’ll have to beat the boss
in the previous one, and to unlock the boss of that chapter you have to beat a
certain amount of levels. But if you get stuck and frustrated on a certain
level, you can skip it, temporarily anyway, and come back to it another time.
There’s other ways to play Super Meat Boy. If you complete
each level exceptionally quickly, you get an A+ stamping on the level. Doing
this means you also unlock the “Dark World” version of the level. The “Dark
World” version of the level is an even harder variation of the original level,
meaning the difficulty of the level is increased even further! The “Dark World”
levels are usually in design the same as the original level, but certain
elements are usually added to increase the difficulty; either more obstacles
are put in place to avoid, or certain platforms are shorter or not there at
all, making the level harder to cross.
The boss battles are exceptionally challenging, but in a fun 'trial and error' way.
There are other characters to play as in Super Meat Boy, but
all require unlocking. Most characters are unlocked by collecting plasters.
Plasters are found on certain levels, usually in a difficult-to-reach section
of the level, and the idea is to collect this plaster on the level and complete
the level at the same time. Collecting a certain amount of plasters unlocks
characters individually. All the characters bring something to the table; Gish
plays almost identically to Meat Boy although he’s slower, but the main thing
he can do well is stick to walls with exceptional grip, making him perfect for
the levels in the game that are hard in this department. Jill has horns on her
head and can stick to ceilings, while Tim can’t run at all but can turn back
time three seconds, in case you do a mistake or fail to get a bandage or a key
in the level.
Not all characters are unlocked by collecting plasters. Some
are unlocked by finding warp zones on selected levels. Warp zones are great;
they’re usually the same game but even more retro than the style the game is
in. They’re usually thee levels of a much more pixelated version of the game,
usually harder to complete and worse yet, you only get three lives rather than
the unlimited lives you get in the main games. Beating certain warp zones
unlock characters, and some even pit you as the character you’re about to
unlock, rather than Meat Boy.
The game’s soundtrack is great. It’s not exceptional in
terms of its quality, but it’s not supposed to be, the music is there simply to
support the game, not to overshadow it. The music is often atmospheric to the
level’s that are being played, and there’s also a lot of retro style music,
especially for the warp zones. The sounds are also great, as mentioned, the
squelches that are heard when Meat Boy runs or dies are perfect, and the guy
who does the emphatic shouting of certain events (like “Super Meat Boy!” and “Warp
Zone”, similar to the Street Fighter guy) are great too.
Overall Super Meat Boy is well worth every penny if
you like retro games, it does the old 8-bit and 16-bit games of old complete
justice. If you don’t lose your head over the difficulty, it’s well worth your
time. I’d recommend you try the demo out, which is quite fleshy in itself and
if you like that, get the full game. Just remember that the game is made for
you to fail before you succeed, which is the way games were made in the
eighties anyway. So if you don’t lose your head over the difficulty, Super Meat
Boy is an awesome homage to retro 2D platformers and well worth a punt if you
like Xbox Live Arcade games.
Rating: ****1/4 stars
For the latest updates on my work, 'like' me on Facebook here!
Super Street Fighter IV isn’t a fancy new game with new modes. It’s
exactly what it says on the tin, an absolutely brilliant fighting game.
Super Street Fighter IV was released in April 2010, and is
an update on Capcom’s incredibly successful “Street Fighter IV”, released in
2009. This isn’t merely a refinement; it’s a true upgrade in every way.
Apparently the initial idea was to get this sorted out as downloadable content,
but there was too much work and the update would have been so big it was easier
just to release it as a formal game. To make gamers who bought the original
feel less ripped off, it was made available at two thirds the price; £25 was
the launch price in the UK.
So what was added or changed in this game? Visually, the
easiest change is that there are ten characters added to the roster. Eight of
these characters are remodelled from older games, including T.Hawk from Super
Street Fighter II, Guy from Final Fight, a spinoff of the Street Fighter series
in the early nineties, and Dudley from Street Fighter III.
The two new characters are Juri, a female Taekwondo fighter
from South Korea, who’s small and nimble. In contrast, the other character is
the very bizarre Hakan from Turkey, who has red skin and is a large oil
wrestler. He covers his entire body in oil and slips around the floor and jumps
on his opponents.
Ladies, say what you want about pregnancy and periods but, being kicked in the googlies really hurts. A lot.
Other changes to the game are welcome; like the addition of
a second Ultra Combo. If you’re not familiar to the ‘Combo’ abilities in the
Street Fighter series, there are two bars at the bottom of your screen that
fill up. The first is the Super Combo which is filled up slowly based on how
much damage you deal to your opponent. The second is the Ultra Combo, your
character’s strongest move, which fills up when you are receiving damage. When
a round in Street Fighter is finished your Ultra Combo resets, while your Super
Combo gauge is carried on into the second round. Having the ability to choose
one of two Ultra Combos in Super Street Fighter IV is a great addition as these
moves are the often the coolest looking in the game and adds a personal touch
when you’re playing online, as people can choose different combos.
Speaking of playing online, while there was an online option
in the original Street Fighter IV, there is a large quantity of different ways
of playing online this time around. There is “Team Battle”, where you and three
more people take on another four people online, there is “Endless Battle” for
up to eight players where the winner stays on in a 1 on 1 fight and the other possible
seven rotate and take in turns, while the other possible six watch. As a free
patch piece of downloadable content, later in the year Capcom released an
online “Tournament” mode, where it’s possible to play up to eight players in a
bracketed knockout game where the winners stay on to form a Semi Final, and
then a Final. Finally, you can save replays of your fights and let people watch
them all over the world, and vice versa. The large array of online modes is
absolutely fantastic, and it’s arguably the most varied online selection in any
fighting game so far.
Other subtle changes since “Street Fighter IV” are the
improved anime cinematics for each character in the storyline “Arcade” mode,
and some of the moves have had tweaks in damage. These tweaks are subtle, like
Ryu’s infamous “Shoryuken” is now a two-hit move rather than a single punch.
Capcom didn’t have to do these tweaks, yet it shows how much effort has been
put into making this game the most complete version of Street Fighter
available.
Unfortunately, there has been a some removals, to make room
for some new additions, namely “Time Attack” and “Survival” mode which the
latter for me is one of my favourite game modes in any fighting game. But in
its place is the revival of the legendary “Bonus Stages” from Street Fighter
II. After a few fights in “Arcade” mode you can take part in the first bonus
stage, which is your character attempting to break a car with their fighting
moves. The second bonus stage is towards the end of the “Arcade” mode where the
character attempts to break barrels falling from above. The nostalgia is
definitely there for those who have played the classic Street Fighter II
released twenty years ago.
Akuma kicks a lot of ass but he can't break a barrel? Tut tut.
Fighting in this game is as crisp as it ever has been; the
controls are very similar to all the other entries in the series with there
being six attack options, three for punches and three for kicks. These three
options per set of limbs vary in power and speed; the hardest hitting punch is
the slowest yet the quickest kick is the weakest. The D-pad works in eight
directions, similar to the older styled games where moving your character on
the left of the screen to the right makes them walk, pressing left makes them
walk backwards, pressing the up button makes them jump on the spot and down
makes them crouch. Pressing D-pad diagonal up-left makes them jump forward and
so on. It’s a very simple concept; it hasn’t really changed since Street
Fighter II twenty years ago but then it doesn’t need to. This foundation is
what makes Super Street Fighter IV so great.
The difficulty levels on this game are perfect; ranging from
Easiest to Hardest you can choose your own skill level to play to, and they do
a good job of varying the difficulty fairly. You should be able to beat Easiest
if you are competent to play the actual game, and the Normal difficulty
provides you with some difficult matches later on in “Arcade” mode. In the end
the difficulty naturally leans more towards difficult rather than easy, but
there are plenty of room here for people who are new to the series. If there
are any problems playing the game, the “Training” and “Challenge” modes are
perfect for those players. “Training” mode allows you to test your character on
an AI character without worrying about your health bar depleting. “Challenge”
mode lets you individually work on each character’s moves. Another tweak to
“Super Street Fighter IV” is the option to skip certain character moves in
favour of the more difficult ones later on the list; in the original Street
Fighter IV you had to do each move in turn, without any option to choose a
later move in the list.
I spoke of “Arcade” mode a little earlier but if you are
unfamiliar with Street Fighter then here’s a description of the main game mode
available. “Arcade” allows you to choose a character and it gives you an intro
to why this particular character is taking part in this fighting tournament. As
stated earlier the cinematics are anime, and look really good. After a few
fights as stated you have the option of the first bonus stage, after a few more
you have the option of the second bonus stage. The penultimate battle in the
game is against your rival. Your rival is a character associated with the
character you have chosen, for instance Ryu and Sagat have a long term rivalry and
this is evident in Ryu’s game.
As mentioned before the anime cinematics look great and work
with the design of the game but the graphics in general are absolutely
gorgeous. Taking an artistic approach, the intro movie puts emphasis on the
fact that this game is fictional yet rich at the same time. Capcom haven’t used
the new generation of video gaming to be as realistic as possible, but instead
use them as a platform to use art as a video game medium. The result simply
means that this game stands out more than most other video games, even the
fighting games. The Ultra Combos look brilliant as well, and nothing looks
better than Ryu’s “Shin Shoryuken”, especially when the camera closes in on Ryu
hitting an uppercut straight on the jaw and the character’s pain animation is
shown. So much care has been put into the visuals in Super Street Fighter IV
and it’s just fantastic. The fighting takes place in many different venues,
some reminiscent from older games in the series, like a busy street and a
jungle. Once again great care has been put in the backgrounds and they are good
to look at if you’re not concentrating on the action itself.
The Ultra Combos look 'ultra' impressive in Super Street Fighter IV close up.
On a personal note, my favourite fighting game series of all
time is the “Tekken” series so it’s natural for me to compare this to Tekken.
And it pains me to say it, but in nearly every department, Super Street Fighter
IV trumps “Tekken 6”. The online modes are just excellent, there’s such a
strong selection of options available when you want to take on people around
the world that is in comparison to the single option available in “Tekken 6”.
Also while there is lag when you play online once in a while, it pales in
comparison to Namco’s prime fighting game. It’s the comparison between the
online modes available in both games where you really see the true qualities of
Super Street Fighter IV shine; it’s just simply the best online experience thus
far in a fighting game.
Overall, Super Street Fighter IV is the most up to date
fighting experience around. And the best thing about Capcom’s most complete
fighting game is that they have gone back in time to find their motivation to
make such a great title. A lot of games are trying to be new, try to complicate
things and try to be something their not. Super Street Fighter IV is the complete
opposite of that, it’s a fighting game, pure and simple. You have your fighting
game, your many different characters (35 in total now) with their range of
movesets, you have your “Arcade” mode where you can complete the game and learn
about the background of your character and you have your options to take on
other players offline and online. That’s what this game is and it’s what a
fighting game should be. There’s no new fancy game modes, or new ways of
playing the game, bar online. Online aside, the only things that have changed
since the classic game released twenty years ago is that there are Super and
Ultra Combos, other characters and significantly improved graphics. Super
Street Fighter IV brings the game series full circle and is exactly what it
says on the tin, an absolutely brilliant fighting game.
Rating: ****1/4 stars
For the latest updates on my work, 'like' me on Facebook here!
When it comes to fighting games, for me, Tekken 3 is king. We've never had a better fighting game before it, or since. I know that might be an opinion you don't agree with, but that's what I think, simple as that!
