Quick Street Fighter IV Hands-on Impressions
Street Fighter IV is playable. Today, the wait at the AOU arcade show hit 90 minutes to play the game hit 90 minutes. Keep in mind: This is on the business day. So, what's it like? Kotaku buddy Jean Snow was at AOU today and checked it out — even winning a perfect battle. Briefly, Jean tells us:
Controls were what you would expect from the game, nice and tight. But the graphics, oh man, they look soooooo nice! The backgrounds are incredibly detailed. If you look at them, you noticed all sorts of nice things. Like some letters were falling off a sign after a big attack. The entire game is an absolutely stunning package. You play on a widescreen high-res screen, and all the characters were beautifully rendered. Even the chest hair on the wrestler guy Zangief looked nice! It's one of the most beautiful, complete fighters I've seen. Ever.Look for more in-depth impressions when we get hands on with the game at GDC.
[Thanks, Jean!]
9:00 PM on Fri Feb 15 2008
by Brian Ashcraft



View: AU Comments (0) | US Comments (46 comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this entry.
Shin-Kaiser (et al): I have a PS3 and a Wii, and my friends/Girlfriend make fun of the fact that there are tons of prettier games out but i spend 90% of my time playing "old stuff", i.e. Street Fighter. I'm pretty much giddy at the thought of SFIV, and finally being able to play online.
Is there a big SF contingent on Kotaku? I used to think i was pretty good- not EVO/Daigo good, but solid enough to hold my own. But alas, i'm not as good as i used to be.
BigSteve
Stuper stoked to shoryuken my way through this one.
RedFive
@Shin-Kaiser: Come play SF3 on XBL with me. I've got like 7,000 wins :) Haven't been playing too much lately though, because of VF5.
n8n8baby
@JohnnytheFuture: You are lame. Don't play this game. You'll only encourage them to change SF further.
RemyDuvalle
@Witzbold:
Don't you mean "He" kinda looks like Angelina Jolie now in game?
And abou SFIV.
Want.
Now.
KofreZ Portuguese do it better!
@RonJeremy4Pres: Public day is today. Yesterday was business / press only
Witzbold
I take it this was totally open to the public considering that wait? Sounds like it, but sometimes these things aren't. This reminds me of WAY back in the day when I went to the CES in Chicago and saw the original SFII for Super Nintendo being demoed before it's release. That was nuts. The lines weren't 90 minutes long, but I remembered that the game was just a bunch of naked chips that wouldn't fit in a regular SNES cartridge was what was sticking out of the SNES system. Apparently, they shrunk the chips or whatever down, but at the time I think people were impressed cuz it was like one of the largest games on a home system...like 16 megs :)
RonJeremy4Pres
@Absent Blue:
Depends a lot really. Just because someone forgot or doesn't remember someone's name doesn't mean he's not capable of giving his impression on it.That's what it is, HIS impression on the game.
Doesn't it also seem like a good thing? If for some unseen reason Jean doesn't play fighters but was intrigued by SF4, doesn't it mean the game is doing it's job? From what I understand, the producer wanted to get more players hooked as opposed to just the hardcore vets who parry like crazy. (they're awesome btw).
God! Totally hyped for this game since they first announced it! SFII was one of the major reasons I got hooked into videogames! That and Galaga...
excaliburps
Don't care about the graphics ... it'd be nice to know how it plays different than ST/3s. I hope to hear more of that in the near future.
GhaleonUnlimited
@Shin-Kaiser: I go to the arcade to play fighters (mostly CvS2 nowadays) almost every other weekend.
darthmole12
@Strangelove: In Japan, for fighting games they use head-to-head cabinets almost exclusively. Two machines setup back-to-back, a separate screen and stick per player. If they release it in the US, they will almost definitely have an american cabinet setup as well.
darthmole12
That review lost credibility when Zangief became "wrestler guy"
How can you "expect from the game" when you don't even know the characters that have been around longer than you've been employed?
Absent Blue
Why is there only one joystick setup per screen? Is multiplayer between machines like Sega Rally or something? Is it because it's still somewhat of a beta version? I'm confused.
Strangelove
FACT: "the wrestler guy" is short for Zangief.
Avd. Det nya spraket.
Anyway, yay for grfx...and chest hair.
Krellie
@JohnnytheFuture: u JohnnyBlaze?
I've never played 2D fighters hardcore, but I'm excited to get into them.
still loving soul calibur
i.roboto
This actually looked much better than I had anticipated. It animates nicely, (sans Ryu's crouching roundhouse). I am sure that it will get heavy play regardless of whether it is good or not, but from the looks of it, it may deliver. Hopefully the games' draw will persist, which I am pretty skeptical about seeing as great fighting games like VF5 and KOF IX and Guilty Gear Accent Core did poorly in the US. Maybe the presentation will be enough to keep casual players engaged longer and the game play is balanced and innovative enough to keep old-schoolers interested. It would really be great to have a large, active SF community/ player base again.
SNK-Jorge
@ ZekeSulastin:
Opps*blush* thanks for pointing that out. Thats what I get trying to type with the PS3 pad, LOL.
ShinobiFist(PSN-XBL)
You only had to wait an hour and a half to play the game for 90 minutes? That's awesome! Usually they only let you play a round or two.
ScratchFury
Aww, why do I hafta be all the way up North in Iwate when all this cool stuff is going on down South...
Oh well, guess I can wait 'til it's released and make a quick trip down to Akiba.
HellaBAD
@miraimatt:
Hey Matt. He knows who Zangief is, this was from a super quick conversation over IM, m'kay? Stop busting his balls, before I bust yours.
Brian Ashcraft
Seriously, can we get some impressions from someone who knows who Zangief is? Even my girlfriend knows who Zangief is...
miraimatt
Nice... chest hair?... alright, I'm sold.
MelodyKitn
@ShinobiFist(PSN-XBL): Spectacle? I believe the word you are looking for is "skeptical" ...
ZekeSulastin
@ Japhei:
You have one of those Taito arcade cabinets? Because the arcade they're using looks very similar to the Tatio ones. Besides that, I'm still very spectacle about this game. The engine needs a little more explaining, so I could understand how this game actually plays. I'm still not sold on the whole "Revenge" and "Saving" system yet. The "Focus" meter is one of them as well. Anyway, the coming months will eventually resolve the doubt have about SF IV, hopefully.
ShinobiFist(PSN-XBL)
This game looks magnificent.
I cannot wait to have it in my Arcade cabinet.
Japhei
Ohohooh! For once I don't slap myself for getting hyped.
The hype over this game is well deserved!
There's no posters with delusive hints, no masterchief on a mug, or an endless number of teasers and commercials, to take the attention away from the game.
There's just the rock solid game hard on to sell itself.
Snes days nostalgia building up...
Malmer
I'm an avid streetfighter fan, I still play all of them regulary to this day, I haven't met anyone on Kotaku who could say the same.
With that in mind, from what I can see of it is that it plays exactly the same, as the 'old skool' series. Nothing seems to have changed much, except the graphics that is.
Shin-Kaiser
@Brian Ashcraft: When was the last time he played SF..i kid, i kid.
Corny jokes aside, sure hope he's right about the controls.
doctorwily
@Brian Ashcraft: Gotcha! With the "wrestler guy" comment I couldn't help but wonder... Hopefully tomorrow we'll get some decent resolution videos and see for ourselves what he was so excited about.
Grave
@Grave:
He has played SF. This is just super quick, two minute impressions I got from him via IM. Nothing more, nothing less!
Brian Ashcraft
Only fighting games I ever liked was Street Fighter, Soul Calibur, Tekken, Dead or Alive, and Super Smash Bros.
I have a good feeling this will be addicting.
SpineShanker
I saw a gameplay footage from AOU08 and it relly looked kinda "meh". It seens that the ones who are anticipating this game more are the casual fighting game fans. I was much more excited about KOF XII trailer, wich looked really beaultiful and extremely well animated, than the SFIV gameplay.
Lider
Awesome, thanks for the quick impressions. Now if Kotaku ends up sharing the same thoughts once you guys play it I have a feeling all the people who previously ragged on the graphics will adopt your opinions and start praising its visual style.
UmeShoryu
@Shiryu: Yeah... personally, I'm hoping for more impressions from people who've actually played SF soon. But I'm glad to know that Wrestler Guy's chest hair is doing okay.
Grave
Dude the new guy was totally awesome. Also Viper is cool too. She kinda looks like Angelina Jolie now in game.
The game itself feels very old school its nice. Great graphics and animations too.
Witzbold
"Today, the wait at the AOU arcade show hit 90 minutes to play the game hit 90 minutes."
come again?
Manny
"Wrestler Guy"? Zangief is proud of this new american name!
Shiryu
I was never any good at 2D fighters, but hearing statements like these gets me hyped!
p.s. I love me some Soul Calibur.
JohnnytheFuture
ditto
thisbeatisbadass
can't wait
blehh
@ShinobiFist(PSN-XBL):
No but I have 2 Sega JVS style cabinets and have owned Type X systems in the past. They are compatible with the Sega Naomi I/O.
They have options for 4:3 or 16:9 display. I will be running on a Naomi universal with 30 inch VGA.
Japhei
The visuals for me are a bonus. As long as the game plays well, then it's all good!
I wonder if Capcom will rope in another Final Fight character. Seeing as Alpha got 4 and III got 1.
Random J
I'm nuts about the visuals, but it's nice to know it's not all flash.
PsycheDiver
i want this game so much
bersnake
@Lider:
What the hell is a casual fighting game fan?
Sintariot
meh
slappyMCslappy