Welcome back to the long-awaited return of the Doctor's Prognosis! I've been very busy with school and work. I finished two well-done short films which I plan to post on here in the future so keep a look out for that.
Well for the time I was gone there was some drama on this website due to the whole Jeff Gerstmann fiasco. Some people are leaving this site as a result. I plan to stay but have just opened an account with Gametrailers.com so add me on there if you want. I plan to post my article/blog on there too.
Anyway on to other things!
First I wanted to quickly go over some games I finished recently. Sonic Rush was a great game and I highly recommend it. It has the fun fast gameplay of older Sonic games but also feels fresh thanks to some gameplay elements.
I also recommend Bleach: The Blade of Fate for the DS for Bleach and fighting game fans alike. It is a simple but deep game and its online play doesn't hurt either. You can enjoy it even with no knowledge of Bleach but you will definitely enjoy it more if you do. The audio quality of this game is amazing including voice overs from the show and a great intro featuring music from the program. Big thumbs up.
Now onto some news on Street Fighter IV!
Well many of you have probably seen the trailer by now and some screenshots but I just obtained a copy of EGM with some really nice info that I haven't seen anywhere else yet. So of course I will share it :)
This new iteration takes place after Street Fighter II but before Street Fighter III so there may be characters from both. However, the producer Yoshinori Ono, mentioned that he wants to put in as many SF2 characters as possible. This is to ensure that they attract as many gamers as possible. After all, it was the most popular SF game ever and they don't want to deny any gamer their particular favorite. So far, the only confirmed characters are Ryu, Ken, Chun Li, and Dhalsim. more SF2 characters are expected and new characters are guaranteed. Some SF3 characters have a good chance as well.
The first thing you will notice about the game is that it is now in 3D. It does not look like Tekken or Virtua Fighter which look more photorealistic. Ono wants the game to look more like a painting come to life. However the game still plays in traditional 2D with the familiar 6-button layout. They wanted to make sure anyone could pick up and play it even if you haven't touched SF games since SF2.
Ono made the point that this time around they will focus more on being aggressive as opposed to defensive. As a result, they took the parry system out. Another reason is that it is quite a difficult system to master and they didn't want players to be scared off by that system since it may be very new to them if they never played SF3.
Other things taken out or not showing up are Alpha counters, tech rolls, custom combos, air blocking, and air fireballs.
A few brand new things are being introduced to the fighting system along with some older gameplay mechanics: supers, ultras, taunts, throws, quick get-up, saving, and EX specials.
One big new gameplay mechanic is the Saving system. The Saving system introduces a new Revenge Gauge that fills up as you take damage. This meter is segmented into four parts. You simply press strong punch and kick at the same time to use up one segment of the bar in order to perform a move that gives out good damage and renders you invincible for a moment.
You can also hold down the buttons you press to use up three segments instead and perform a hard-hitting, invincible, and unblockable attack.
Furthermore, the Revenge Gauge can be used to perform EX specials. These are similar to the SF3 moves where you can perform suped up special attacks by pressing two punch or kick buttons instead of one in order to do more damage. This leads to an agressive combo system where you can perform a simple saving attack followed by a cancel (performed by dashing forward or backward in the middle of the attack). The cancel will still hurt the opponent so you can "cancel the cancel" by performing an EX special followed by another cancel and then another EX special. Timing must be precise of course so experts will have fun with this system trying to figure out what the best way to juggle opponents will be.
Next up is the super move system. Ono hasn't decided yet how to handle it. Whether it will be multiple supers per character, only one super, or if you can choose which one before the match, it has not been decided yet. However, what will be implemented is a new Ultra move. This attack will take the entire Super meter and at least one segment of the Revenge Gauge. This move is executed like a super but you must press two punch or kicks buttons instead of just one. Your character will then execute a barrage of punches, kicks, and special moves. The attack will be very cinematic during this time so the camera becomes dynamic showing zooms, pans, and multiple angles.
Not too much more information is available beyond that. Online play is confirmed and Ono wants to have the game ported to as many platforms as possible (including the DS). One other nice little tidbit was that Ono hinted that the mystical Shen Long may finally make an appearance after all this time.
My prognosis is that Street Fighter IV definitely has the potential to be a big hit. It is too soon to tell how good it will be but the information available shows that a lot of thought is being put into this project. Personally, I am not too fond of the inclusion of "as many SF2 characters as possible." I don't want it to feel like SF2.5 as opposed to a true sequel. After all, Street Fighter EX was basically SF2 with new characters and new gameplay systems. Why is this any different?
Anyway, I hope I am wrong and I hope it feels like a true sequel. Either way, I am excited to see and hear more on this sequel. I really hope it turns out well because I have always been a fan of the series and I was one of the few that liked SF3.
Anyway, now onto the Cosplayer of the Blog!
And the winner is....
Ming Na Wen as Chun Li! The movie sucked but at least Ming Na looked good in the outfit.
That's all for today. Thanks for dropping by. I will try to post more blogs now that I'm almost done with finals. Look for my short films soon. Hopefully a review on Mario Galaxy will be up too. See you next time!