Street Fighter IV, The inside word (Part 2)

So here we continue our Q&A with Capcom’s Leo Tan. Check out Part 1 if you missed it.

Be sure to enter our excellent RetroGT prize draw, details below.

Are Capcom planing any downloadable content? What kind of content can we expect?

Leo: Probably! We’re not ready to talk about that, though. First things first, let’s get the game out the door. The AMAZING game, I might add, that is brilliant in its own right before any additional content is added.

Abel, he looks pretty awesome. Discuss.

Leo: Oh man. Let’s start with how his name is technically pronounced. In the game we’re saying it like ‘Abbel’. Most people will call him ‘Able’ though. I predict a split where people who say it properly berate those who don’t. For the record, we officially don’t mind how you say his name 🙂 The important thing is you play as him, at least a bit. He is, as the kids would say, ‘sick’. His basic overhead mixup from his Change of Direction move is phenomenal. He can combo into it from almost anything. When he’s not pressuring you to block correctly he’s making you afraid to block with his command grab, which is the easiest thing in the world to tick into after a jab. He has strong cross-up options, he can close distance safe from Focus reversals with his Wheel Kick and he has a roll. His Ultra goes through projectiles. He can launch with crouching HP and then Ultra like it’s nothing. He has stupidly stylish combos involving launching, cancelling the launch into a roll and then command-grabbing people out of the air. He is the perfect blend of panic-inducing rushdown, stylish play and strong defensive options. And he wears little shorts.

I’ve heard whispers of a training mode, please tell me this isn’t just a standard practice mode with a brain dead dummy.

Leo: We do of course have the regular training mode, which you can have with a brain dead dummy; or the CPU controlling; or as we usually play, another human controlling them. Actually, two-player training is a huge part of our routine, because we’re more interested in learning everything rather than finding out who’s the best (not me). But! We do have the Challenge mode, which is not a training mode as such, but if completed will teach you a significant amount about your preferred character. Be prepared to be tested to your absolute limit in that.

So we’ll be making our final stand against Seth this time around. What kind of cheap boss tactics can we expect? He doesn’t resurrect himself does he?

Leo: He is so cheap. I don’t even really want to say how cheap. We don’t know exactly how cheap yet, but we know that’s balanced by him being dizzied easily in vs play and not having much health. But he doesn’t come back to life after you smash him into the ground. Which, to be fair, we’ve done quite a lot. He’s possibly the least cheap Street Fighter boss yet, but I don’t think that’s saying anything. Expect him to possibly be banned in tournaments after we hear how much the Japanese players hate him. But don’t worry about him ruining the game in single player. My advice is to make sure that when he’s open (which is quite a lot) you have the capability to punish him HARD with combos.

And lastly, can you give us a hard core solid gold tip for bashing our friends’ heads in?

Don’t be afraid to play cheap. There’s nothing in the game that isn’t fair, or escapable. The most important thing is to be able to change your game on the fly. Don’t just jump in like a lunatic. Stay low, dash in and throw. Or dash in and jab and then throw. Or dash in and jab twice and throw. Or if you do jump in, sometimes throw instead of attacking. And learn the combos. Justin Wong, the US’s strongest player, told me execution is the primary decider of a match between roughly-equal players so don’t neglect the Training mode. Or the Challenge mode.

Street Fighter IV launches in the UK on Febuary 20th for PS3 and Xbox 360. To get you in the mood we are giving away TWO excellent Street Fighter T-Shirts thanks to our friends over at RetroGT. To enter just send us a quick email and you will be entered into the prize draw! Easy.

HADOUKEN!