Street Fighter IV

"This isn't just a prettier SFII - it's the absolute king of fighting games.  Kikizo.com
"Street Fighter IV is not just a top notch next-gen version of Street Fighter, it is in essence what Capcom always wanted the Street Fighter franchise to be.  Thomas McDermott, DarkZero.com

IGN.com 9 of 10
Fighting game fans that don't have access to a Japanese arcade have been waiting for Street Fighter IV for a long time. Capcom's high-profile fighter continues a nearly twenty year tradition and many gamers -- especially long-time fans -- have been intensely curious as to how the game will play and what it will do for the legendary series. The good news is that Street Fighter IV is an outstanding title and one of the most enjoyable fighting games I've ever played. Capcom has managed to strip away the baggage that has accumulated around the series over the years and returned to the franchise's roots. The result is a game that plays very much like a purified, simple fighter -- but with several modern enhancements to enrich the combat. If you've been playing Street Fighter for years, this game will feel like an old friend. If you're completely new to the scene, Street Fighter IV is a great place to start...Street Fighter has traditionally been a game focused on one-on-one combat on a 2D plane. Over the years, the roster has evolved and various tweaks have been made to the formula, but the core components remain to this day. Street Fighter IV lets you select a character and square off against another warrior in the ring. Each character has a variety of normal attacks and Special Moves to take advantage of, but the actual gameplay boils down to a balance between raw physical skill and the mind games that play out between players...Street Fighter IV is a fantastic game overall and Capcom should be commended for designing a game that can work on so many levels by appealing to both casual and hardcore players. I'll admit that when I first heard I was reviewing Street Fighter IV, I wasn't terribly excited. I suppose I just didn't think much of it. But as I played and experimented with each character, fighting a variety of the IGN folks and learning something new with every match, I realized just how irrevocably deep fighting games -- and Street Fighter games in particular -- really are. I encourage everyone to give Street Fighter IV a try, even if you're relatively new to the fighting game scene. There's so much depth to the gameplay that you'll be rewarded long after your purchase...And with that, I'll leave you with the mandatory... Hadoken! - Ryan Clements