Collider goes to an early Capcom E3 Event

After playing Street Fighter 3: Third Strike, my love for Street Fighter 2 waned a bit. Purely on its own merits, the parry system used in Third Strike elevates it not only above any other game in the Street Fighter series, but it also stands as the finest 2D fighting game ever created. So, when I heard that Street Fighter IV buried the parry system, I was a bit worried. The new “focus attack” system remedies this by re-imagining the parry for a slightly less (and I’m sure I’ll eat these words in two years) hardcore audience. In Third Strike, the player performs a parry by tapping forward on the joystick at the moment before an attack lands; this negates all damage from the attack and gives the player on defense an attack of opportunity. It takes a ton of practice to perfect, but, after getting acclimated to the system, there really is no turning back. For the “focus attack” system, Capcom seems to be dulling the reaction time that the technique requires, and, rather than forcing the defensive player to initiate his/her own post-parry offensive, the focus system (screw the quotation marks) comes loaded with its own attack. That is probably way more information than most people care to read, but I’m writing this for the fans. With that in mind, fans want to know about how some of the new characters play. But, first, how is the game?

There has yet to be a good 3D Street Fighter; do not even mention the EX series, because it was complete and utter garbage – period. When Street Fighter IV was announced as a 3D game, there was a brief uproar in the ranks. Nobody wants sidestepping, Virtua Fighter (which is the best 3D fighter – true story) style gameplay in Street Fighter. So, when Capcom announced that it would be more like 2.5D (3D on a 2D plane), a sigh of relief resonated throughout the message board ranks;Street Fighter IV plays like a 2D fighter in 3D. The characters respond with the same speed and precision that is to be expected from the series’ 2D entries, and the gameplay feels like a comfortable middle ground between Street Fighter 2 and 3. Since my favorite Third Strike character – Dudley - was not available, I defaulted to Ken. This game really nails this character’s essence, and that is no easy feat in 3D. Ken plays fast, loose, and anyone familiar with his Third Strike version will feel entirely at home with the new rendition. This is amazing because, once again, Street Fighter, is not supposed to be good in 3D, yet, somehow, Capcom is making it work. The hit detection seems dead on and all Ken’s cross-ups are still present.

Easily, the coolest new character is Crimson Viper. Her ability to get around the screen quickly – in addition to her augmented super-jump and interesting move-cancel opportunities – makes her a refreshing character to play. Rufus, a character that I genuinely did not expect to care for, may be the first person that I choose to focus on when the game releases. A strange mix of Third Strike’s, Yun and Dhalsim, Rufus is an obese, mind-bogglingly agile character.

The version that I played was a finished arcade cabinet, but, upon asking about what new characters were still coming (or, if there even were any), I was told that there could be some new ones added to the arcade version. Catching onto this, and asking for clarification on why he makes the distinction between arcade and console, the only answer he gives is a smile. I don’t think Capcom is done surprising fans just yet. I will reveal who this individual is in an upcoming article, but, if you are familiar with what the name “S-Kill” means, you may want to check back in the future.