Satisfaction when pulling off a difficult combo, competitive multiplayer and many new additions make this a great sequel
The meat of the game is the same as last time and luckily not drastically changed. The arcade mode's anime sequences still are kind of uninteresting and the combat is still easy to get into for beginners and can get ridiculously strategic for experts. There are a couple of tweaks now to even out the balance of the game though like a two hit shoryuken and a weaker fire shot. Also every character now gets a second ultra move. A welcome return also, is the barrel and car smashing bonus stages returning from Super Street Fighter 2.
The great thing about this game is that you can always get better. The training mode helps you and the challenges can help get a feel for a character and how he/she plays. I found myself being awful in the beginning but eventually mastering certain combos and moves. No combos in this game are not like ones where you just mash buttons. You actually have to time it perfectly in a small window of opportunity and you have to have the right timing and the right punch and everything is must be correct. When you pull off one of those it is so satisfying to know you got better. Even if you do not practice and learn strategies the game is still fun to play against friends but others online will crush you if you don't keep up.
Super Street Fighter IV really is most fun when played against someone else as this is a very competitive game at heart. Luckliy, the online is much better now being tweaked with new modes like endless mode and team battles. Also a welcome new addition is player points, which accumulates from wins, and battle points, gained from winning with a certain character. Now rankings can be shown through either one now making it easier to know who's better with a certain character or overall. A cool new feature too is a replay feature. You can record battles fought online and keep record as you get better or just a record of some of your best and favorite matches. You can watch replays of other players too. That way you can learn and get better even more if you want to. The whole experience of training and getting better really is a satisfying one.
If you're into unlocking then there are endless costumes for each character and taunts for each character. For online modes, you can unlock a ludicrous amount of icons and titles for yourself. They are all unlocked from doing easy tasks like beating arcade on any difficulty to ridiculously hard tasks that while unlock titles or icons that will show how good you are. If you are a completionist of collecting, it will take a while to unlock them all.
In addition to the old roster of characters, there are 10 new ones, 2 of which are completely new, making the total new roster 35. Now all the characters are unlocked from the start of the game and require nothing to unlock them, unlike the prequel to this game where you, for example, had to beat a arcade on a harder difficulty while having a bunch of perfect rounds, including Seth who seemed pretty cheap (feels a lot less cheap now). This might be good for you if you did not want to unlock characters like me who actually never ended up unlocking characters like Gouken in Street Fighter IV because I was not too good. Some however may be disappointed and actually enjoy the satisfaction in unlocking a character.
The visuals are still looking awesome. Graphics look really cool. The stages are alive and have their own personalities from people jumping about and cheering, to a solar eclipse happening. Everything is smooth and well animated and there never is a drop in frame rate. Characters have their own neat little animations that liven them up and give them unique features and personalities. Everything is done without a hitch and looks beautiful and great. The music is still the cool too. The same cool techno sounds that matches how the fights go well. It helps keep up the tempo while
Super Street Fighter IV is a great game The game is easy enough to get into if you never played before and can get ridiculously strategic. There are always new combos and things to learn. Maybe from training mode, challenges, by watching the experts' replays, and maybe by playing online against others. The sense of satisfaction you get when you pull off a difficult combo with hard timing is a great feeling. The competitiveness is unrivaled and makes for one of the best multiplayer modes out there. If you have never played before, this is a wonderful time to get this game. If you bought Street Fighter IV, it might not be worth it to buy it but it depends on how much you liked the first one. Capcom made it an easier choice by having it have a MSRP of $39.99 though.