Capcom's Seth Killian offered to let me play against him as a way to show off their latest, Super Street Fighter IV.
"Screw you," I said. "I'm not playing against you!"
I think he got where I was coming from. He watched me play Tatsunoko earlier. Yeah. So instead, he had me jump up and down and move around so he could kick my ass to show off some of the new moves and features of this follow-up to Street Fighter IV.
Killian told me that he was originally "a little concerned that it would be crappy," but it seems that Capcom pulled it out in the end, as SSFIV was looking pretty sharp. As good as it is, it's still Street Fighter IV. Killian told it straight, saying that if you didn't like SFIV, you're not going to like this one. Makes sense. That being said, I think I'm going to like this one better.
There's new characters, new supers, new stages, and a whole bunch of other crap that would have taken up too much of Seth's workday to go over. Instead, we went over several things, and I pulled together some highlights for you.
You should see this "Solar Eclipse" stage. It's freakin' weird. As you'd guess, day turns to dark quickly in the background, but this turns out to be the least notable aspect of the stage. Animals like giraffes, hippos, zebras and more seem to watch on as you fight. Round 2 comes along, and all of the sudden the hippos are up in your face, reacting to your battle. Even funnier is little meerkats that scamper around the grounds. They'll go as far as to mock you and your opponent, re-enacting your moves and deaths. Hilarious stuff, Capcom.
In this stage I got to see some of the new additions to the move lineup. Guy has crazy new grabs that look like they're going to piss me off later. He also has a taunt that you have to see to believe. He does this full-on, intricate ninja finger thingy. Capcom has put insane detail into this game.
Viper also has some new moves, including an insane ultra combo. She takes you to the air, then straight back to the ground, shocking you on the way down, exposing your skeleton through your body. On the ground, she rides you like a skateboard. What a bitch.
I told Killian that Capcom must have had Modern Warfare 2 on the brain when I saw the new Construction Zone stage. There's no snipers in this one, though. There is a huge Mayor Mike Haggar statue on top of a building off in the distance. There's also a ton of crazed construction workers that make better spectators than anything else.
It was on this stage that I saw Zangief's new Ultra, which I am told is pretty difficult to land. It's called the "Siberian Blizzard," and it's a sight to see. I won't ruin it, but when you do see it, look for the faces of the opponents in the headlock he puts on them. Great expressions.
I also saw Cody in action. He does his thing, throwing rocks and tornadoes all while dodging projectiles. He's a dick character for dick players. I think I'll use him often. Speaking of dick players, Cody can knife it up just like the old days. He'll pick up a knife on the ground that he can stab his opponents with. It does blocking damage on par with blocked fireball damage. In hand. Watch out for Cody.
I'm sure you've heard the other stuff already. There's going to be online lobbies, team play, cool new modes and more. You can beat up cars again. A new replay channel will let you record and share (show off) matches. Capcom even teased about an upcoming DLC announcement which they promised would be exciting.
Super Street Fighter IV is looking good, folks. No worries here. See you online this spring.
Contest:
11:00 AM on 01.11.2010
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Still pondering that one.
Anyways I'm pretty excited to play this game. I was before plating SFIV but after playing it (and reaffirming how much I suck) I'm ready to give SSFIV a go.
I don't think anyone's surprised here. I'm only playing SSF4 because it'll help out the fighting game world, and new characters.
plus when stupid shit like DP>FADC>Ultra is still bound, I don't see why people would consider liking SSF4.
He's the Community Manager at Capcom.
Seth Killian is a ex tourney SFII player who works for capcom and basically our "inside man" when it comes to the capcom fighters.
Dale, I understand you're new to all this, but no offense, these previews should go to people who know shit about the game.
You also described Viper's Ultra backwards... ._.
See, I thought that! It's obviously Syberian Blizzard, right?
Well what about the new Mecha-Zangief skin! He's a CYBORG. Get it?!
I bet he was sulking later :(
I've been playing Mech-Zangief in Marvel Vs. Capcom while some people here were in diapers!
Maybe Dale was just being clever :p
Now I'm glad I did. Can't wait for this one.
He's also the dude the shitty SF4 boss was named after, Seth.
I'm not assuming anything, the article itself shows that you're not too well informed about the game. The Ultras you try to describe or "not spoil" were revealed officially quite a while ago.
I did appreciate your description of Guy and his new stuff though.
Uh, MW2 must have had Final Fight in mind.
*still waiting for a Dudley announcement*
What? Tatsunoko? You played Tatsunoko? Where's Dtoid's CES coverage of Tatsunoko vs Capcom? It's only out in like two weeks, omg my head is going to explode! *laughs*
Stop with the raging already. If you have a problem with who wrote the article or have any doubts, pm them or write a letter to dtoid, don't start flappin your lips and making yourself look like a fool.
Also, he is talking about what went on there, not about what was somewhat revealed a week ago. Like a week is FOREVER ago anyways.
@ Shael
Failed Army of Darkness reference is fail.
As for the rest of you, if "botching" coverage is reporting on something you've seen but someone else hasn't, then we'll have to shut down the Internet for you
Still a day 1. ;)
Where's rab when you need him?
Day. Fucking. One.
Street Fighter is worth a purchase of such gate-busting speed, no matter what version we're discussing. Guy will bring the new jack swing, and Honda's new Ultra looks straight beastly.
I don't blame you specifically(unlike previous commentors) though, because I have never seen a Blog/Gaming site/Community ever, ever post a story about a fighting game where they either;
A) Challenged the Presenter or
B) Seemed to be intimately familiar with either the game or genre.
C) The poster/writer wasn't self-depricating about their skill level.
Do you think its because 'fighters' are seen (and often described) as 'brawlers' and therefore are regarded as mindless button smashers the likes of which will never win an award because they aren't industry-changing, thinking-man's Art(insert gratuitous Ico, Bioshock, and other Citizen-Kane-of-videogame candidates here)? I can't recall the last time a fighting game was nominated for GoTY, much less actually won that award(Fighting GoTY doesn't count).
I don't mean to rant, this outrage over you getting a few details wrong(videogames are serious business, dontchaknow) has got me pondering the bigger questions about the industry.
As for me, I dug the new(to me) info, the Solar Eclipse stage sounds fun.
Considering Dale is a RPG/music guy in the first place, I'm not hating on the fact he stepped out his usual boundary of SMT/Atlus goodies/Game music forte to actually write this bit.
Except for that, all good news. But I really hope some more female characters(Karin R.Mika and maybe a remix for Juni/Juli or some new girls for SF) And a pack with some SF3 characters eheh.
But, every character gained at least one new move or not?
After one of his ultras he even says "jeez man...you suck" just like every asshole that sends u a message the one time they beat u in championship mode online. He says to Guy in his intro " I guess I'm fighting alone now" to suggest that Guy has become weak and hasn't got into any fights since the FF days.