Two fighters facing one another in a time honored test of strength, endurance, and skill has long been a staple of the movie and gaming industry. “Raging Bull”, “Rocky”, “Mortal “Kombat” and “Street Fighter” have become part of the lexicon, and have even spawned into multiple media formats which include movies and games.
The latest trend has been the cross-over where gamers have enjoyed pitting DC and Mortal Kombat characters against one another as well as Marvel versus Capcom characters. Thankfully the grandmasters, Street Fighters and Tekken, have combined to create a martial arts tour de force, complete with favorite characters, dazzling moves, power ups, and unrelenting action.
Tag team is a big part of the game as players can switch between members of their team when one is not doing so well, or when a special skillset is desired. The Gem and Pandora boost is a great way to increase your skill sets: attack, defense, speed, vitality, assist, and cross gauge can be added. Cross gauge allows players to link super moves into one devastating straight on attack. Nothing will drive your opponent crazier then coming back from the edge of defeat to an array of well-placed combos that leaves them on the floor.
It was such a delight to see the beloved Street Fighter characters as well as the Tekken clan be joined by some special guests, but the real joy for me was being able to mix up players from both franchises on my team and to not have to learn a new control scheme. The developers wisely used a control scheme that was very familiar to fans of both franchises so you could really hit the ground running and not have to spend time learning a collection of new commands. There are also numerous other modes and features for those who like online play such as Briefing Room where players can train up, a Scramble Mode which featured an all-out 4 person battle royale, and many more.
Graphically the game is solid and while it will not set new standards for graphics, there is not much to fault and the sound takes you into the heart of the action and brings back fond memories of playing the original Street Fighters on your Super Nintendo.
Some may say that the game is basically a fighting game that blends the franchises but does not offer the next generation leap that people may have expected. There is a basic limitation to fighting games in that, beyond graphics, sound, and moves, there is only so much you can do, as the core of the game is 2-4 people squaring off and beating the stuffing out of one another.
Capcom is to be commended in my opinion as they have pushed the current fighting game model to the limits and have added a few nice twists that will serve them well for future games.
The PC version of the game is fast and ultra smooth. I would strongly suggest using a gamepad as this is the best way to get into the action. On a Windows 7 system, it shines with a flury of colors and motion. Even though it is a conole port, it has taken advantage of stronger CPU and graphic card abilities of high end systems to push the action to the next level.
4 stars out of 5.
