Catch up on the characters in Street Fighter IV with this compilation trailer from Capcom.
Street Fighter IV is a 2008 fighting game produced by Capcom. It is the first numbered Street Fighter game released by Capcom for the arcades since 1999. The coin-operated arcade game was released in Japan on July 18, 2008 with North American arcades importing the machines by August.[7] The console versions for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 are currently scheduled to be released on February 12, 2009 in Japan, February 17 in North America, and February 20 in Europe.[3] A Windows version will follow during the second quarter of 2009.
While Street Fighter IV features models and backgrounds rendered in 3D, the gameplay remains on a traditional 2D plane. Producer Yoshinori Ono has stated that he wanted to keep the game closer to Street Fighter II. A new system called "Focus Attacks" ("Saving Attack" for the Japanese version) has been introduced, as well as Ultra moves. The traditional six-button control scheme returns, with new features and special moves integrated into the input system, mixing classic gameplay with additional innovations.[8]
The game has a very similar feel to Super Street Fighter II Turbo, but also has several features from Street Fighter III 3rd Strike.[9] Pressing both light attack buttons is still for throwing, and both heavy attack buttons are for the personal action or taunts. Both medium attack buttons are for the focus strike. Dashes and quick standing are also in the game. C.Viper is the only character who can perform a high jump.[9]
It was intended that bonus rounds such as the car-smashing stage from earlier Street Fighter games would return. Ono later stated that the bonus stages would not be in the arcade game, citing the reason to be that the time players spend on bonus stages takes money from arcade operators.[10][11]
[edit] Visuals
The characters and environments in the game are rendered as 3D models with polygons, similar to the Street Fighter EX sub-series Capcom produced with Arika, but use a stylized effect to give them a hand-drawn look,[8] with visual effects accented with calligraphic strokes, ink smudges and ink sprays during the fights. The art director and character designer is Daigo Ikeno, previously worked on Street Fighter III 3rd Strike.[12]
[edit] Focus Attacks
Focus Attacks, known as "Saving System" in the Japanese version,[13] is a new system that is being introduced in Street Fighter IV. The focus attack is a move that allows the player to absorb an attack and launch a counter attack, and it is performed by pressing the medium punch and kick buttons simultaneously. There are two phases to the attack. In the first phase, the player will shift into a new stance, at which point he is able to absorb one attack from the opponent. The second phase is the counter attack. The longer the player holds down the medium punch and kick buttons the more powerful the attack will be. If the buttons are held for long enough the attack will cause the opponent to crumple slowly to the ground, allowing the player to follow up with a free hit. If the buttons are held for longer still the focus attack will become unblockable. Attacks that were absorbed during the first phase of the focus attack still cause damage to the player; however, life lost from the opponent's attack will be gained back afterward. In addition, during the first phase of the focus attack the player may perform a dash either forward or backward to cancel the focus attack. Finally, at the cost of half the super combo gauge, many special moves can be canceled into a focus attack. By executing a focus attack during the special move, the animation of the move will be cut short and go instantly into the focus attack animation. This allows players with precise timing to cancel special moves into focus attacks, and in turn cancel focus attacks into the forward dash, resulting in new combo possibilities. If a special move is blocked by the opponent, the new system allows players to cancel the blocked move with a focus attack, and then cancel the focus attack by dashing backward safely away from the opponent.
Ono has stated that this system was incorporated in order to shift the emphasis away from combos and toward a more realistic system he has compared to boxing, in which "the skill is in reading your opponent's move before he or she starts moving ... We haven't forgotten about combos and linked moves, but focus makes it so that you have to read your opponent."[14] The system aims to make ground attacks as viable a way of approaching opponents as jumping was in previous games.[14] The focus system is a core part of Street Fighter IV's gameplay.
Ultra Combos
Crimson Viper executing her Burst Time Ultra Combo on Guile
In addition to powered up versions of special moves introduced in previous Street Fighter games such as Super Combos and EX Special Moves, the game also introduces a new type of powered-up special move officially dubbed the Ultra Combo. Ultra Combos are long and cinematic moves featuring a lengthy combination of punches, kicks and other moves. Just as there is a Super Combo gauge, there is also an Ultra Combo gauge (officially known as the "Revenge Gauge"), but whereas the Super gauge fills as the player hits an opponent, the Revenge Gauge fills when one takes damage from the opponent. Along with the Super Combos, Ultra Combos are one of the only times the camera breaks from its normal fixed position to show a more dynamic, cinematic view of the gameplay.
Arcade roster
Chronologically set between the Street Fighter II series and the Street Fighter III series, the playable character roster of the arcade version includes the cast of the original Street Fighter II (all twelve characters, including the four Shadaloo Grand Masters), and four new characters. Akuma from Super Street Fighter II Turbo also appears as a hidden playable character, as well as a secret opponent. Additionally, the game includes two CPU-only characters: Seth as the game's standard final boss, and Gouken as a secret opponent, for a total of 19 characters.
Returning characters in the arcade version
Returning characters in the arcade version
Character ↓ Japanese voice actor ↓ English voice actor ↓
Ryu Hiroki Takahashi Kyle Hebert
Ken Yūji Kishi Reuben Langdon
Chun-Li Fumiko Orikasa Laura Bailey
E. Honda Yoshikazu Nagano
Blanka Yūji Ueda
Zangief Kenta Miyake
Guile Hiroki Yasumoto Travis Willingham
Dhalsim Daisuke Egawa Christopher Bevins
Balrog (M. Bison in Japan) Satoshi Tsuruoka
Vega (Balrog in Japan) Junichi Suwabe Doug Erholtz
Sagat Daisuke Endou
M. Bison (Vega in Japan) Norio Wakamoto
New characters
Character ↓ Japanese voice actor ↓ English voice actor ↓
Abel Kenji Takahashi
Crimson Viper Mie Sonozaki Michelle Ruff
Rufus Wataru Hatano Christopher Corey Smith
El Fuerte Daisuke Ono J. B. Blanc
* Abel, a French mixed martial artist. He is described as an amnesiac, a "man with no past" looking to defeat surviving members of Shadaloo.[16]
* Crimson Viper, a female American spy wearing sunglasses, leather gloves and a form-fitting suit.[16]
* Rufus, a Kung Fu fighter with a rather rotund appearance who seeks to fight Ken to prove himself as the best fighter in the United States.
* El Fuerte (Spanish for "The Strong One"), a Mexican luchador and aspiring gourmet chef.[17]
Bosses and hidden characters
Character ↓ Japanese voice actor ↓ English voice actor ↓
Seth Akio Ohtsuka Michael McConnohie
Akuma (Gouki in Japan) Taketora
Gouken Tōru Ōkawa
* Seth, also known as "The Puppet Master", is the new boss character. He is the Chief Executive Officer of S.I.N., the weapons division of Shadaloo. His body has been modified using advanced technology. His Special Moves are techniques used by other characters.[18]
* Akuma, a recurring hidden character appears in the arcade version as a secret final boss in the single-player mode[19][20], as well as a secret time-release playable character available.[21]
* Gouken, Ryu and Ken's sensei and the elder brother of Akuma, appears in the arcade version as a secret computer-controlled challenger in the end of the single-player mode, making his debut as a fighter in the Street Fighter series.
Street Fighter IV Character Trailer From Capcom
Catch up on the characters in Street Fighter IV with this compilation trailer from Capcom.
Street Fighter IV is a 2008 fighting game produced by Capcom. It is the first numbered Street Fighter game released by Capcom for the arcades since 1999. The coin-operated arcade game was released...
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