Street Fighter IV, The General Consensus

Street Fighter IV has finally hit the streets and reviews are pouring in. Considering the fact that there is huge expectation for this game since it is very much part of most of our childhood(at least for those that grew up in the late 80's and 90's), there is a lot of pressure from fans to Capcom to avoid changing to much of the formula.

Anticipation has been fever pitched and the final verdict for many is that, it is electrifying! It is without a doubt Street Fighter IV elicits the same old feelings of its arcade predecessor with its fast and brutal fights. Play a match in an arcade and watch as a flock of spectators gather around and you put your money(or honor) on the line.

Capcom has successfully managed to keep the spirit of Street Fighter and IV evokes lots of nostalgia of the past glory days. It is however not without any new additions. New fighters, a new 3D engine, new focus attack will allow you to unleash a powerful super attack. But most importantly while staying refreshingly new, it is very old school in its fundamental gameplay.

The Eurogamer review summarises it well by saying:

The result is the very best re-imagining of classic videogaming yet seen, no less than the definitive Street Fighter, a game which makes the previous entries in the series seem like mere echoes. The character designs, popped into polygons for the first time since the mediocre EX spin-offs, at last feel at home in 3D. In the animation and the detailed and dynamic facial expressions, Capcom captures Chun-Li's fluid grace, Ken's ballsy American disposition, Ryu's hard-hitting but dour demeanour and Dan's hopeless fanboyism with a new clarity. These are the characters as they were always meant to be seen - at an unerring 60 frames per second, the camera tilting and shifting to provide dramatic angles, time slowing to fully capture every eye-popping combo and Ultra finishing move.

The reviews

Eurogamer 10/10
StrategyInformer 9/10
IGN 9.3/10
Video Gamer 9/10
Games Radar 10/10
CVG 9.5/10
Gamespy 4.5/5
Giantbomb 5/5
1up A
Gametrailers 9.2/10