Ready Up were invited to Capcoms’ London HQ for a hands-on preview of the next installment in the seminal Street Fighter series. Who else could we send but our very own little beat-um-up champ Shaz. Here are her thoughts on this hotly anticipated title.

Now Iā€™d like you to think about how long itā€™s been since youā€™ve taken a trip to the arcade. A VERY long time ago eh? I could certainly say the same myself, weā€™ve played Time Crisis 3 to death, then thereā€™s that one crazy performer putting everybody to shame on DDR and itā€™s just impossible to get more those 500 tokens for that silly pencil case let alone that swanky HD TV on top prize. Seen them, done them, not got the pencil case. However ladies and gentlemen an old itch returning and soon youā€™ll be drawn back to the world of loose change.

Dare I say it? Damn it, I will. The crown of all beat-em-ups is making it’s righteous return in the form of Capcomsā€™ ultimate glory, ā€œStreet Fighter IV!ā€ Old Skool is back and itā€™s time to settle the score with your rivals. But let me get one thing straight, you can’t consider yourself a gamer unless you can Hadoken, right?

So earlier this month I dropped into Capcom HQ for an exclusive HANDS ON preview of SFIV! Such a big relief to know that old treasures arenā€™t left forgotten forever. Reacquainting myself with the arcade control panel I didnā€˜t realise how much I had underestimated it. Since my childhood I had relied a lot on the D-pad from the SNES & Sega Megadrive to Playstation 1 & 2. I’m ashamed to admit that I put in a pretty poor performance at the start but it didnā€™t take long to break out of being shy with the arcade stick. Soon maneuvering quarter circles became second nature again. Ken progressed from jumping like a silly nutter to loading the opponent with raging Shoryuken. Happiness took over and I set about re-discovering my favourite moves and traditional cheap strategies among the familiar character roster.

Our fighting heroes have come back in a brilliant art style, theyā€™re more alive in 3D but are still respectful cartoons. You could recall the ink work being similar to Okami. Simple and effective Capcom are certainly creating their own direction in gaming art. Character exaggeration is a must for Capcom and Zangief still looks impressively intimidating as a muscle monster! Our Guile could do with taller hair though, heā€™s no big deal without his outstanding brush head.

However not only are we greeted by our regulars, SFIV brings some new challengers to the scene, those revealed at this time are Crimson Viper, Abel and most recently, El Fuerte. Unfortunately El Fuerte wasnā€™t in the current build so all we know at the moment of him is heā€™s a Mexican Luchador who loves cooking!

Crimson looks to have been modeled after Angelina Jolie, with a touch of SNK about her. A unique character among the roster sheā€™s beneficial to the cautious players and works wonders with counter strikes. Anyone that can master her can pretty much finish a match without having to move more than a few steps from their starting spot. Her mid air sweeping kicks defend well against incoming attacks and with ground pounding moves she can tackle opponents from variable distances.

Abel isnā€™t my usual type of fighter as I find him sluggish but those who know how to use Zangief will find Abel a lighter, more agile version of the wrestler. Equipped with mixed martial arts heā€™s got a fair few variable attack sequences. Itā€™s quite dangerous if you get packed in by his strings of punches, kicks, elbows and throws. Once he catches you, you can expect to get brutally thrown about like a sack of potatoes!

Thereā€™s more balance to the game play with the new mode called, ā€œRevengeā€. So anyone whoā€™s having to put up with a lot of beating and blocking itā€™s not all for nothing. Every hit landed on you charges up your revenge meter and when itā€™s ready you can unleash a super combo. A chance to turn the tables around, watch the camera zoom in close and enjoy the sweet cinematic action play out.

I seriously cannot find any major haunts with the game and as long as we donā€™t see the return of Fei-Long I can forgive all the horrendous Street Fighter training given to me by my older brother! Iā€™m ultimately psyched for SFIV and I’m crossing my fingers in the hope of a home console release. In fact, letā€™s bring back the other golden oldies such as Darkstalkers, Rival Schools and even the cute realms of Pocket Fighters!
Casting old fears aside itā€™s nowhere close to the nightmare that was EX Plus Alpha. Capcom have done an awesome job with it so far, fast impacts, cool cut scenes, slick artwork, angry announcer, chain combo delights, thereā€™s a big tick for nostalgia. Brushed in 3D but remaining loyal as a 2D fighter, just how we like it! Tekken can piss off with itā€™s simplistic play, true hardcore blistering skill is Street Fighter and anyone who says different shall taste my spinning bird kicks!

Ready Up would like to thank Leo and Capcom for giving us the opportunity to get our hands on Street Fighter IV and we’re happy to say that we can’t wait for more! Leo, you have the address to post the final arcade cabinet to, right?