This battle is about to explode, FIGHT!

Capcom has always had a history of creating a worldwide mass appeal with its strong porfolio of videogame releases including Resident Evil, Mega Man, and of course, Street Fighter II. Recently, Kenji Inafune spoke with 1up reflecting on how SFIV, the latest entry in a series that already established a strong userbase in Japan, North America and Europe “carries more weight than even Capcom”. While the title is currently circulating throughout arcades here and abroad, Capcom’s growth and existence is expanding. Inafune pointed out that how SFIV was a title he was thrilled to make. If the overall fanbase reaction is any indication, the reality of SFIV is a welcome addition fighting enthusiasts have been waiting for.

My E3 2008 report acknowledged my poor judgment toward SFIV prior to even playing the game. Big mistake, I know; though when you’re a diehard vet, it’s often difficult to welcome new ideas. Unlike the upcoming trip I am planning to Tokyo Game Action (or TGA, for short), visiting Chinatown Fair was more of an informal social visit that gave me an opportunity to relive my well-documented obsession with Capcom’s latest arcade release.

Due to tight budgeting, the arcade tech (Henry Cen) decided to construct his own custom cabinet to house the SFIV board. The craftmanship was quite exceptional, considering the amount of time and effort required. I would have loved to present more pics beyond those already circulated throughout the net but the crowd level made that impossible. Although I arrived relatively early in the afternoon, there were at least three dozen eager challengers awaiting their turn to play. As we expressed in last week’s article, participants are required to put their name on a waiting list in order to keep the traffic flow fair and organized. It took me about a half hour before I’d have my chance to play, so I spent most of my time playing the local players in Street Fighter Alpha 3.

Staying true to my roots, Chun Li was used for the duration of my visit. The first match went fairly quickly using basic combat techniques and a few Ultra finishes. After my second bout, the competition didn’t seem quite as eager to step up, which I found strange seeing as I wasn’t doing anything abusive. There was one particular set against a Sim player which went down to the wire (and still won), however no one had been videotaping the event. Alas, all I have are my memories.

It seemed that most of the players who were accustomed to playing SF3: Third Strike or Super SF2 Turbo were still attempting to pick up some of SFIV’s new combat mechanics such as the Focus Attacks. I am sure that we’ll start to see more players endeavor to further exploit the potential of this mechanic along with EX-cancelling as more player matches from some of Japanese top talents become more available via YouTube.

Nearly everyone opted to play with the classic SFII cast like Guile, Blanka, Ryu and Ken instead of taking a shot at the new challengers.  However every so often, someone would pick Rufus or El Fuerte just for kicks. It wasn’t until Justin Wong finally arrived that I witnessed first-hand just how impressive this character truly is. His fighting style resembles a blend of Sean and Alex’s attacks. Abel appears to be an effective offensive character due to his grappler attacks and ability to roll/poke with minimal resistance. The best thing I appreciate about the character is that his combat motions don’t require 360 rotations, which I am not particularly skilled with.

Justin also demonstrated a few “tricks” with Chun including her new command kick sequence which starts off with her slightly stepping back with a mid-range kick, then launching her opponent in the air and the finisher is a homage to her Super Turbo aerial kick attack. It does a decent amount of damage, but seems like an attack you should use sparingly or during offensive jump-in attacks. When asked if Chun was as formidable as her Third Strike counterpart, Justin noted that she’s upper mid-tier due to the fact she lacks a solid set of anti-air techniques. Her Ultra appears to be the only thing that can effectively intimidate projectile-based characters and should be carefully exexcuted since it does close to no chip damage and leaves her open if the attack doesn’t fully connect.

I also had a chance to see ALL the boss characters in action, sans Gouken and Akuma of course. Sagat, Bison and Balrog look like they’re more formidable than ever; not too sure about Vega just yet. This should delight a lot of veterans who are looking forward to playing with their all-time favorites again and putting some hurt on the competition.

The amount of excitement and appeal for SFIV for isn’t going to die anytime soon. In fact, I expect the level of interest will be further heightened by the upcoming console and PC releases next year. Add in the fact Capcom has plans to introduce several community-demand favorites including Cammy, downloadable content, unprecendented mutliplayer support, and tons of unconfirmed surprirses, SFIV is going to take the title’s dominant iconic global presence to a whole new level.