Street Fighter IV: The World Worrier
SF4, the latest in a genre, and often child-hood defining series, delivers a heavy one-two-three blow of adrenaline, frenetic combat, and anuerism inducing frustration. It's gorgeous to look at, although you'll seldom have the time to sit back and admire the animation and backgrounds until you're playing 'winner stays on', and it's just as fluid to play. I can't, however, bestow any superlatives on the much-lauded beat 'em up, because there are flaws. Some serious, some not so, but let's dispel the hype firstly shall we?
Getting down to the nitty gritty, as t'were, takes a moments reflection. There are plenty of peripheral issues, niceties and features that surround the core fighting mechanic, but it is ultimately, (un)like a boxer with a face only a mother could love and barely two brain-cells to rub together, the fighting that counts.
The combo system is tight as ever, with special moves relying on strength of punch/kick to vary the moveset and animation, and the super/ultra combos utilising the left triggers/bumpers. For the most part, Capcom have kept the super moves simple, throwing in the odd 'hold' button presses to mix things up. However, without the benefit of a stick (i'm talking Hori not a cane to punish your erstwhile street fighting colleagues with) the button presses, especially in tight spots, can be infuriatingly inconsistent.
However, the counter system works like a charm. If you can drag your peepers away from the plethora of toned posteriors, you can execute a counter, which will absorb damage and confer it to you upon successfully clattering your opponent. Counters can be charged to a level of block-breaking brutality, but at the mercy or subsequent, faster attacks that negate your counter altogether. All told, it's a lovely risk-reward scenario that adds a good deal of depth to proceedings. (more so than say, an empty swimming-pool level, which, having parenthesised it, would actually be quite cool) It also means, no matter how consistent your pummeling, you have recourse to turn the tides of battle.
(Hope all this talk of flowing and water isn't making your bladder ache)
Ultimately, this game deserves judgment based on how it plays with friends/arch-rivals/archfiends. It's frustrating, put it that way. Balance plays a large part in this, or lack thereof. Forgive me my obtusity for not mastering every single play-style and character before positing this, but some characters are just better than other characters. I hate to rely on anecdotal evidence, but the fact seems to be, whomever you are playing can interrupt your grinning winning streak simply by reverting to Sagat, doing a few heavy kicks, and then over-powering you with the sheer manliness of his chest scar. Characters other than Ken, Ryu and Sagat seem to be exaggerations of a certain play style, be it ranged, up close or combo driven. This means that apart from in the hands of an exceptionally skilled brawler, the holy trinity of Shoryuken, Hadouken and....the hurricane kick thing are by far the most effective movesets. Not even El Fuerte's insanely cool cooking penchant can turn a Hadouken into a flambe'd fillet of veal. By that i mean, he can't counter stuff very good like.
To summate: SF4 is a worthy addition, probably the best of the series, but best played in short doses should you want to avoid game-rage, and the entirely real possibility of starting up your own street (living room) fight. In such an eventuality, take it from me, a failed shoryuken will be punished mercilessly.
Danndandandandandandan