RSS Feeds
fighting
First Hands-on With Street Fighter IV's Sakura
Posted by Brian Crecente at 1:30 PM on October 11, 2008
I finally got a chance to check out Street Fighter IV on the Xbox 360 today. More importantly, though, I got to the booth early enough to play a match as both Akuma and Sakura.
I've had plenty of time to play Street Fighter IV both in arcades and at shows, but I'm still blown away with the game's seamless blending of 2D and 3D in an aesthetic that polishes the look of characters I've grown so accustomed to.
I'm typically a Ryu or Ken when I play SF, but Akuma is close enough to their move set that I've played around with him over the years as well. This new Akuma maintains the tattered look of previous versions of the character delivering relatively fast, relatively powerful blasts as he hops around the screen. His moves seem to have remain unchanged, which makes him a great middle option for those of us who tend to cycle between Ken and Ryu when they play.
I've never been a fan of Sakura in the past, but that's certainly going to change. Ignoring the pleated-skirt physics built into her character design which seem to be geared toward maximum up-skirts and panty peekaboos, ignoring the fact that Sakura's look has drifted from a very disturbing sexy 16-year-old to a slightly less disturbing, and barely legal, hottie Sakura's a straight-up bad-ass.
The budding teen pulls off fireballs (think Street Fighter Alpha) effortlessly, laying out backup attacks as the shimmering globes float lazily across the screen. Her uppercuts remain some of the longest reaching in the game and her spinning leg attack seems to be a cross of the hurricane kick and the spinning bird kick. Another attack in Sakura's arsenal appears to be a head stomp or mid-air grab that I never actually connected with. Its starts with a lunging hop toward the other character, feet first. Her Ultra starts with a split kick, knocks the character in the air and then wraps up with a two-footed stomp into the ground.
Add to all of that sizzle and speed a mini-skirt and a suspiciously large category of attacks that get her legs above her head and you've got one of my new favourite characters.
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
dunetiger reads kotaku, seems pleased
Posted 3:16 PM 11/10/08
Sakura - now with less Asian. :(
Does nobody love brown eyes anymore?
dunetiger reads kotaku, seems pleased
Robotube
Posted 3:12 PM 11/10/08
Define "globes".
Robotube
procrasturbate
Posted 3:06 PM 11/10/08
@procrasturbate: damn you guys playing this game! i live in Puerto Rico and there's no cabinet in sight. hope you guys are having a blast for all of us!
procrasturbate
procrasturbate
Posted 3:04 PM 11/10/08
yo crecente, she always had the headstomp.
procrasturbate
maraxusofk
Posted 3:02 PM 11/10/08
well i havnet gotten a chance to play sakura seriously, but heres the info i have on gouki in comparison to sf3 (i personally thinks he sux now)
demon flip kick and dive kick are alot slower now. no more sj dive kick pressure strings (u can but it wont be as effective as before). air fireballs are also ALOT slower now. u cant zone as well wit them as before but u can still use it on someone's wakeup to force them into a neutral position. gouki loses his 222 2 punch ground super, and loses the air super fireball. he gets 2 demons as super and a ultra. the ultra is the shin goku statsu shink akuma uses (does about 60-70% dmg) while his super does around 30%. he also gets ex atks. his lifebar is still short as hell, so a dive kick->hp->spin atk combo from rufus will do about half life. for me worse of all f-mp is now slow (boo no more free overhead atk)
overall i think akuma is alot weaker than before, but thats my nub opinion. ill wait until next year's sbo to further decide.
maraxusofk
Weirdwolf
Posted 3:01 PM 11/10/08
Oh, missed opportunity!
You should have lead with,
"We've popped our Sakura cherry!"
Weirdwolf
Gwynna
Posted 2:58 PM 11/10/08
@Brian Crecente: Fair enough. Those are much nicer rez than the ones in Famitsu anyways.
Just out of curiosity, did you try the PS3 version as well? I found that the controller made a fairly big difference.
..err...I've been dis-vowelled? whattinthe?
Gwynna
lucasreis
Posted 2:57 PM 11/10/08
I think they should have revamped her look a little more. Maybe making her hair a little longer, trading a little piece of cloth maybe, I don't know, it just doesn't sit right in the Street Fighter 2.5 universe to me. But she is a very cool character nonetheless.
lucasreis
XdragonSB
Posted 2:55 PM 11/10/08
She looks like a guy!
XdragonSB
hageshiku
Posted 2:53 PM 11/10/08
what the, what happened to cammy? last i checked she was the first home version character confirmed. was sakura even announced?
hageshiku
Brian Crecente
Posted 2:48 PM 11/10/08
@Gwynna: Yes Capcom was all over that.
Brian Crecente
Gwynna
Posted 2:47 PM 11/10/08
Smn bt m t scnnng ll ths xcllnt scrnshts frm ystrdys Fmts s ;-)
nd ws gnn d tht fr my blg t, dmnt!
Bt yh, trd Skr n Thrsdy t th shw. Sh plyd rlly wll. ts dffclt t xpln, bt thy mngd t vlv hr nd stll kp hr fmlr t th sm tm.
n fct, thts gd tgln fr SF 4 - Fmlr vltn.
ctlly n... ts nt ngrsh ngh...
Gwynna
e1salvador
Posted 2:43 PM 11/10/08
Hell Yes!!! Sakura!!!! I'm going to pick up a fighting stick for my 360 for this game.
e1salvador
cornunderscore2x
Posted 2:38 PM 11/10/08
I really wanna see Shun Goku Satsu in action after the awesomeness that is the new trailer (at the very end).
cornunderscore2x
Killa_Charlie
Posted 2:38 PM 11/10/08
She was 14? DAMN.
Killa_Charlie
RykinPoe
Posted 3:30 PM 11/10/08
I haven't played much Street Fighter post Super SF2 but in the few I have played I have liked Sakura (mostly in Capcom vs SNK I think, and oh how wonderful it would be to have a new version of that with graphics like these).
Still wonder where the heck SF2HD is though?
RykinPoe
Nawara_Ven
Posted 3:30 PM 11/10/08
Cuteness to balance out the fugly angry man. Careful, if they put in another hottie female character, Capcom will have to put even more hideous men in the game. It's all about balance!
Nawara_Ven
Gwynna
Posted 3:29 PM 11/10/08
@procrasturbate: Yes but theres a stomp in this version which is a part of her ultra move combo. It's very, very cool. I love the camera work they are doing with this game - angle changes and whatnot.
Gwynna
eastx
Posted 3:29 PM 11/10/08
I'm glad Sakura has joined the series proper. SF4 just looks better and better. (Hope she doesn't have man hands like Chun li though!)
eastx
Lezard
Posted 3:24 PM 11/10/08
Crecente certainly spends a great deal of time fixating on Sakura's age and panties, doesn't he?
I'm actually pretty happy that they've put Sakura in the game. She was always a favorite of mine, for her move set and the fact that she has never, ever tried to put on even a faux bad-ass attitude and is, in general, a lot of fun to play.
Lezard
Hostile
Posted 4:03 PM 11/10/08
Ryu and Ken are similar enough, Akuma and Sakura didn't need to be there. I guess Sakura plays a little differently though.
Hostile
shrek187
Posted 3:58 PM 11/10/08
Good, I always thought Sakura was the hottest Street Fighter Character out there, Better than Chun-Li or Cammy. Yeah better than them. IMO
shrek187
R1ZE
Posted 3:57 PM 11/10/08
Woulda preferred Ibuki. Doesn't look like we're gonna get any SF3 characters in...
I also thought they shoulda gave Bison the boot, put Balrog (the second command) in his suit and gave him his powers, and replaced him with Dudley.
Progression!
R1ZE
procrasturbate
Posted 3:52 PM 11/10/08
@Gwynna: Damn!
Didn't know that, sorry Crecente. :)
procrasturbate
UrineSane
Posted 3:45 PM 11/10/08
Best girl possible!
UrineSane
Witzbold
Posted 3:43 PM 11/10/08
I would have been happy if her hair was just a slightly bit longer.
Witzbold
shouryuuken
Posted 3:43 PM 11/10/08
looks awes.
shouryuuken
Flowen
Posted 4:21 PM 11/10/08
Glad she still has her AMAZING shoryuken, I mean...come on. It arcs forward. Its used to be so broken, wonder exactly how good it is now. Any word on weather or not she can still make massive hadoukens at the expense of range?
I'm assuming akuma still has his mid-air hadoukens.
So many of them in this game.
Kotaku needs a resident fighting game expert to report on the wonderful details. Just throwing that out there.
Ryu, Ken, Akuma, Sakura, Gouken, AND DAN!(!!!)
Flowen
excaliburps
Posted 5:21 PM 11/10/08
Awesome. Seeing as Cammy is semi-confirmed and Capcom saying that they don't want any characters as part of any DLC they're planning up. I guess we can expect 1-2 more characters added to the home versions before they're released.
Doubt they'll anyone from SFIII in. They could get more from the Alpha series...Rolento anyone?
I still haven't played this! I've yet to come across an arcade with a cabinet. Woe is me! I've been looking for one since last month!
excaliburps
Karoshi
Posted 5:07 PM 11/10/08
Does Akuma still take damage like a wet paper bag?
THESE ARE THE THINGS THAT ARE IMPORTANT.
Karoshi
ChiChi_BBQ
Posted 5:40 PM 11/10/08
Sakura's barely legalness is the main appeal. I think Ryu would be pleased, but he will not show it, for he is... the man.
ChiChi_BBQ
Trekka
Posted 5:38 PM 11/10/08
Every time I see "Sakura" I think Sakura Sena, then I mentally high five myself for being a fan of at least one porn star. I'm savvy like that.
Trekka
IceColdEskimo
Posted 5:58 PM 11/10/08
@maraxusofk: SF3 is for pros, they made this one a LOT more casual friendly
IceColdEskimo
ShikiMSHTS
Posted 6:09 PM 11/10/08
@shrek187:
Why is it strange to think that? I whole heartedly agree with that~
Also, they're BLOOMERS D:
ShikiMSHTS
eastx
Posted 6:08 PM 11/10/08
@Trekka: Well she is hot. Good job.
eastx
Mike's Stalker
Posted 6:34 PM 11/10/08
As much as I love hearing Sakura is back, she looks like more of a guy with the short hair. Would be super nice if it was longer.
Mike's Stalker
Taiyz
Posted 6:29 PM 11/10/08
@Killa_Charlie: 16 in all her previous appearances, as far as I know. I don't know the timeline so I couldn't tell you how old she should be in SF4.
Taiyz
wana10
Posted 7:02 PM 11/10/08
@dunetiger reads kotaku, seems pleased: i'm not sure what you're talking about...the first pic isn't very clear but if you look at the instruction card pic she definitely has brown eyes.
wana10
mrplow8
Posted 6:47 PM 11/10/08
@R1ZE:
I remember reading that SF4 takes place in between SF2 and SF3, so I guess that's why they don't have any SF3 characters.
mrplow8
wana10
Posted 7:11 PM 11/10/08
@R1ZE: except for the fact that dudley was a gentlemen who fought with honor(and a need to get his father's car back), not some shadaloo thug...
unless you meant put dudley in the game but not tie him to shadaloo, in which case i'm all for it!
wana10
Gospel X
Posted 7:10 PM 11/10/08
@Weirdwolf: Brilliant. Sadly, you were probably too clever for everyone else.
Gospel X
astidcrisse
Posted 7:37 PM 11/10/08
I'm still wondering why they went with the overboard art style change... from Sf to SF2, ok, SF2 to SF2T and SSF2, all the characters still looked like themselves... but they are all so different in SF4
astidcrisse
peacefulpony
Posted 7:28 PM 11/10/08
Kirsten Kreuk should of played Sakura, not Horse Legs.
peacefulpony
Frologic
Posted 7:25 PM 11/10/08
Sakura is my baby mama.
Frologic
R1ZE
Posted 8:00 PM 11/10/08
I just meant replace Balrog with Dudley as the boxer archetype, not in his position in Shadaloo
R1ZE
Foxstar Sixtail
Posted 7:59 PM 11/10/08
@Mike's Stalker:That's her intent. She does her hair to look like Ryu.
Foxstar Sixtail
Foxstar Sixtail
Posted 7:57 PM 11/10/08
@ColdFury:I think even Capcom of Japan doesn't try to pretend there's any sort of continuity any more.
I love the Mega Man X jabs, because X is indeed even worse when it comes to continuity.
Foxstar Sixtail
ColdFury
Posted 7:51 PM 11/10/08
@Taiyz: Timeline? Continuity? From a Capcom game?
HAHHAHAHA
Sorry, too many Megaman games will do that to you.
Seriously, though, the timeline is beyond hope at this point, I think. You have Alpha, which took place... maybe twice? (Like Alpha 1 & Alpha 3 were seperate events, but 2 was overlapped by 3?), and then the Super Street Fighter II Turbo: Champion blah blah blah... and then SF 3, in all its various impacts?
And then you have 4, which turns back the clock on 3, seemingly, and ignores it altogether.
And then add Sakura, who was there for Alpha 2/3, but not for SF2 or 3, but is now in 4.
Save us, holographic Dr. Light!
"X... in this time of great war and terror, I hoped such a weapon would never be needed. Let us hope that the time for such a thing fades, and never returns."
*You got... PLOT HOLE!*
ColdFury
arstal
Posted 9:13 PM 11/10/08
@IceColdEskimo: @IceColdEskimo:
SF3 was designed for the hardcores, SF4 was designed for a more casual audience. Games designed purely for pros tend to do poorly, unless it's Virtua Fighter.
Anyone remember Anarchy in the Nippon?
arstal
Honeyman
Posted 9:48 PM 11/10/08
It's nice that more characters are being added but they do need to move away from the Ryu/Ken derivative characters already. We'll see what they come up with but can you imagine if the original 4 new characters for SFIV were all Ryu/Ken derivatives? Sheesh!
Honeyman
lucasreis
Posted 11:23 PM 11/10/08
I agree with every single person in here requesting for SF3 characters. SF3 has some of the most awesome characters ever and yet they don't give a damn about them...
And if this is between SF2 and SF3 it does make sense if one of the characters appear before the SF3 era, why not?
lucasreis
Humpski
Posted 12:20 AM 12/10/08
Why why why?!
"We're gonna add more characters! You'll get Akuma, Gouken and Sakura yay!"
They all play the same!
I frickin' hate shoto scrubs. You can tell that when people only use Ryu and Ken etc, that they played the game a few times in the 90's and then were done with it, never learning to play other characters and only giving each new iteration of the game a small play, again using Ryu and Ken.
Humpski
jayntampa
Posted 12:27 AM 12/10/08
Sakura may have a similar move-set to Ryu/Ken, but she plays quite differently. Plus, she has a pretty unique backstory. She's pretty much a fighting prodigy. She learned to fight simply by watching Ryu fight! I do actully like my characters to have a story.
Sakura has been my favorite character in SF, ever since SFA2 ... however, it seems like the home version is going to have a fantastic variety of characters. Besides Cammy, which I'm sure we'll get, I would like to see Makoto, Ibuki, or Elena.
We've got a huge variety of male fighters, a couple more female one's would be nice ... so, my vote would be for Cammy and one from SFIII.
jayntampa
Lezard
Posted 2:39 AM 12/10/08
@Humpski: How in the world do they play the same? Yes, they're all based around Ryu/Ken's special attacks, but Akuma, Sakura, and Dan are all about as different as could be otherwise. Akuma is known for aerial fireball attacks and stronger attacks at the expense of taking more damage. Sakura's like her variant of the hurricane kick and shoryuken don't behave like Ryu's or Kens, and she has some pretty unique moves of her own.
And Dan? Dan is Dan. He will always be a goofy, taunt-happy doofus with only a mere fraction of Ryu and Ken's attack strength. Also, I love his blatant disregard for martial arts fashion sense.
And we can't really say how Gouken plays specifically since he's never actually been in a game before.
Seriously, if you're whining that all of those characters play the same, you haven't spent enough time actually playing the games to tell the differences between them.
Lezard
JohnnyH87
Posted 2:49 AM 12/10/08
I'm so happy she's in the game.^^
I was really disappointed when I didn't see her in the list of playable characters that was released a while ago.
JohnnyH87
TheWaffle
Posted 4:09 AM 12/10/08
@Killa_Charlie: Take a seat. Right over there.
TheWaffle
Chiriko57
Posted 11:31 AM 12/10/08
Yup. Sakura deserved to be in SF4.
Oh, and by the way: they're not panties; they're GYM SHORTS.
Chiriko57
dunetiger reads kotaku, seems pleased
Posted 11:07 PM 12/10/08
@wana10:
They look green to me. But surely you don't think she looks like a Japanese (former) student, do you?
dunetiger reads kotaku, seems pleased
SachitaCater
Posted 10:54 AM 12/10/08
is it me or do u guys sound like this is the first time playing Gouki before? cause Gouki is definately in the current SF4 arcade, his just a hidden character, just go all the way to the top left (forgot who it was) and up one more time and it should be gouki
SachitaCater
CapAmerica
Posted 2:49 PM 11/10/08
Dude keep these up! Review more of the characters. I was mostly a Chun-Li guy but then I move towards Ryu in Alpha 3 max? ( not sure it was a remake of the Dreamcast one on the psp) But since then I have played the special anniversary collection(for the Xbox) and use Ibuki. Also what is the word on Ibuki and Makoto?
CapAmerica
iplaywinner
Posted 3:24 PM 11/10/08
@maraxusofk:
How can you say he sucks when the game has only been out for like 2 months?
We have a couple Akuma players out here who are very solid. He can combo into some pretty ridiculous stuff even off of a c.short now. He's not as bad as you make him out to be. Keep in mind there arent parries in this game either so you dont have to worry about a random parry into a combo that takes nearly half of your life.
iplaywinner
lucifer_goosifer
Posted 6:10 PM 13/10/08
Her hairstyle consists out of neatly arranged brown banana peels? Is that a Japanese thing?
lucifer_goosifer
MechaJebus
Posted 3:58 PM 15/10/08
Yes!! I love Sakura. :)
MechaJebus
Yosumi2000
Posted 2:54 PM 15/10/08
Sakura is definately the shit.....great set of moves and my favorite character.
Yosumi2000