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.
