The much awaited update was released last week as DLC with 12 additions to the already sizeable roster. The Street Fighter side of things consist of characters mostly from the Street Fighter Alpha series and Street Fighter III. The Tekken side has six fighters who are a mix of old and new from the original Tekken to Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion. From Street Fighter we have: Sakura, Guy, Cody, Blanka, Dudley but most interestingly Elena as the former five are all lifted from Super Street Fighter IV with very similar move-sets but Elena hasn’t been seen since Street Fighter III and is one of the most unique characters in any Street Fighter game as she only uses kicks and fights in a Capoeira style. The Tekken side also introduces a Capoeira student, Christie, along with her we can play as: Jack-X, Lei, Alisa, Bryan and Lars.
Lars instantly struck me as a very playable and interesting character. Being not too well-versed in Tekken what I have really liked about the Tekken side of things is the variation in fighting styles which apparently Tekken is well-known and well-respected for representing. He strikes me in SFxT as Tekken’s answer to Guy – and what an answer it is. What he lacks in speed and ariel dominance (comparitively, he’s pretty fast) he makes up for with strength, strong ground game, quick strong normals and lots of variation in his special moves. This allows you to react to what the opponent is doing and his moves are kind of like Lili’s in this regard. His EX Silent Entry, for example, ends with a wall-bounce allowing you to switch out your character whilst continuing the combo with relative ease. Like my favourites from the Tekken side he has lots of options that allow you to react mid-combo which is so much fun. Also he gets bonus points for looking like Stryder.
Then we have Bryan and Jack-X. I lump them together for no other reason than they are no nonsense man-mountains who like to smash things that get too close. Interestingly, though, unlike other grapplers like Zangief they have moves that hurt from more places than directly in-front of them. Jack-X (Jack Cross) can pull out a close, mid or far range ground attack that comes out fast enough to be effective and Bryan has a super fast Super Art that is effective from anywhere on the screen and has far reaching normal attacks as well as a decent dash, making him surprisingly versatile. His maniacal laugh when pulling off his Super is worth trying just for the laughs.
Alisa and Lei are for those of us who like experimenting with unique moves and characters. Each require a distinct approach to a fight and have enough variations and stances to experiment with. Lei translates really well to 2D and his stances switch up his game well whereas Alisa has a mode where her hands are replaced with chainsaws, all but negating her kicks but providing lots of damage from her punches. Both are designed to reward players willing to put time into experimenting and exploring the game’s mechanics.
The last of the Tekken side is Christie who, as mentioned previously and along with Street Fighter’s Elena, fights using the momentum/psychological/dance based combat of Capoeira. It’s a difficult style to get in to and Elena is definitely the more accessible of the two as she has decent range (especially her sweep), her normal moves seem to work very well in most situations and she can close-in on her opponent from a fair distance. Christie, though, seems to like getting in to stances such as headstands that provide a very unorthodox but effective means of doing damage. The problem with this for new players is that if you make a mistake, you leave yourself open to huge damage – which isn’t anything new to SFxT but for Christie it is easier to do, especially if you don’t know her well. Use with caution.
All in all the Tekken characters are very interesting, varied and just a hell of a lot of fun to play. Just like any good fighting game there are characters that are fun to just pick up and mess around with but there are also ones that might fit your style better than others. Comparatively the Street Fighter characters are known quantities but this is inevitable as, unlike the Tekken characters, they haven’t lost a dimension on their way to this game and because they haven’t changed much they are more familiar in this context. I think most fans of Street Fighter just want these new characters playable in this game – and now they are. Blanka is still chaotic, Cody still hits like a truck and Dudley is still as fast and strong as he is dapper. The best thing about having these fighters in this game is you can use the same character you know well in a different way; as part of a team.
There is a new story mode for each new pairing which is a great reason to play some Arcade Mode and, in so doing, practice with those pairings and see their unique endings. Capcom have done really well in creating this unique world separate from the respective series’ complex story lines. The unique world is just an excuse for some fantastic fun, huge combos and brilliant Super Arts and, adding this totally optional but compelling addition to an already huge cast of characters that span years of fighting game evolution, is just the kind of fan service the internet-connected consoles make possible.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7EFBSx0U0A[/youtube]
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