"In order for the fighting genre to grow, it is important that the genre becomes more accessible, so a wider audience can become familiar with and enjoy fighting games," notes the supplemental information sheet packaged with our preview copy of Street Fighter X Tekken. Absolutely goddamn right, Capcom. But is a game that merges two exotic, much iterated-upon fighting rosters really the game to roundhouse kick-off your play for the mainstream? And how exactly does expanding the fighting community gel with one of the other dictates on the info sheet, the one about "creating a game that has the complexity and depth for hardcore fans to enjoy"?
While it makes a dazzling first impression thanks to Street Fighter IV's gorgeous engine, all slashing brushwork and flaming colours, Street Fighter X Tekken is less cohesive than its presentation implies: a flurry of fascinating yet occasionally worrisome new modes and features, designed to get motors running all across the player spectrum. Thankfully, the two franchise's polarising styles appear to strike sparks in all the right ways, though veterans of the Iron Fist Tournaments may feel a tad short-changed.
Those who struggled to master Tekken's winding chains of face button inputs will be pleased to know that many signature moves have been compressed into classic Street Fighter specials. Capcom's big concessions to Namco are the extended aerial juggles, which, given the timely intervention of a tag team partner, make it possible to string together truly outrageous beatdowns.
Launchers trigger a character switch, otherwise known as a Cross Assault, allowing you to mix and match Namco or Capcom-branded schools of grievous bodily harm - the game freeze-frames and zooms to give you time to mentally switch styles. You can launch your opponent from cold by pressing medium and heavy punch simultaneously, or take an on-going combo up a level by dishing out two heavy attacks in succession.
Both Tekken and Street Fighter's contributions to the (currently announced) 34 character line-up favour mainstays over wackier outsiders. Tekken brings along Kazuya, Nina, Paul and Heihachi, while Street Fighter leads with Ryu, Chun Li and Guile plus exotic splashes in the form of Poison and Hugo. While the Tekken cast have been revised extensively, Street Fighter's lot handle much as they do in Street Fighter IV. There's at least one major change, though: EX Specials and Supers can now be performed by charging regular specials. Got a few milliseconds spare? Hold the button to over-clock your Hadoken into a match-ending meteor.
8 comments so far...
hujiki on 13 Feb '12 said:
Damn these games are starting to get boring, like try something else out, New IP... New adventure.. etc...
All you guys seem to do is make the same game over and over again but add a few extras like this one will have tekken characters.. the next on have DC characters.....
Maverick_McCool on 13 Feb '12 said:
Bit like Cod then eh?
Personally I'm looking forward to this , I find fighting games to be an excellent stress relief at the end of a crappy day , speaking of which , if anyone wants to go a few rounds on SSFIV my tag is MaverickMcCool , also MvC3 as I could really use some tips with that as I keep getting my ass handed to me! I don't use a fight stick so go easy on me!
msbhvn on 13 Feb '12 said:
I'm going to pass on this one, as I hate Tekken and there'll be an updated edition that's cheaper after six months anyway.
Maverick_McCool on 13 Feb '12 said:
To be honest msbhvn , that's what stops this being a new purchase , It'll be a rental upon release , preowned when it's cheaper and traded in for the "Ultimate hyper extreme alpha champion" edition at Christmas.
msbhvn on 13 Feb '12 said:
Despite the constant updated versions, there is less and less single player content with each "new" Capcom fighting game. I played Street Fighter IV for a good six months, unlocking all the characters, costume colours and playing the challenge modes. Super Street Fighter IV got boring after about three weeks, because there was only Arcade and Trial modes. Arcade Edition, I've played a few times. It's still fun, being Street Fighter after all, but there's nothing there for me because I don't play online and bar the four new characters, it's exactly the same game.
Marvel vs. Capcom 3 felt unfinished to me, plus it has the most infuriating cheating bastard of a boss there's ever been in a fighting game, worse even than I-No in Guilty Gear XX Weird Symbol edition. I traded it in a while back.
I'm not paying full price for Ultimate MvC3, so that'll either be a dirt cheap from Amazon or pre-owned purchase. If there's no significant single player modes in SFxT, I'm going the same way on that. If they can't be bothered with single player, Capcom don't deserve my money anymore.
SidTheSloth on 13 Feb '12 said:
Adding tekken to a game evokes the same response from me as adding mushrooms to a pizza, initial disgust followed by immediate anger and sense of loss at what could have been...
Capcom seriously need to have a word with themselves... I'd consider myself a long term fan of theirs but my disdain for their rehash & remake strategy is almost equal to my hatred of seth!
Haven't picked up MvC yet, was going to buy it when they announced the (seemingly inevitable) ultimate version which irritated me so much i'm waiting till it drops to £10 territory on principle
Maverick_McCool on 14 Feb '12 said:
msbhvn , if your not online or have a permanent fight partner , no 1 on 1 fighter is worth more than a rental at best , the games are designed for competitive play be it in an arcade , online or whatever , now don't get me wrong , I think they are making a huge mistake in not having some kind of substantial single player content for a console release as I think it is the only way to attract a new audience as well as enticing people like yourself , with no online , to have a more long term interest in this type of game.
Sadly , the developers don't seem to give a toss about guys like you , who want a fighter with a bit more substance to it for offline play , instead they spend their time building in a dumbed down version of the fighting engine to entice the newbies , yeah 'cos that'll work
Oh , and I love mushrooms on Pizza Sid , I think you meant to say pineapple.
SidTheSloth on 14 Feb '12 said:
Not sure i can even bring myself to read your posts after that revelation, let alone reply!
Seriously though, asking me to eat either combination is like asking whether i want to eat a turd or drink some p*ss... Pizzas are for meat and the occasional guest onion/pepper!
Looking past your dreadful admission, sadly i think you're right about fighters, the offline modes become weaker with every iteration. Online gives them an easy way to seemingly ignore the enemy AI or at least not spend as much time as they used to. I know i always bring him up but Seth for me is a complete cop-out. Should we design a new badass end character with devestating (bison-esque) moveset? Nah, lets just make a big angry bald smurf and give him everyone else' moves, that should save a few days/quid!