Forget about Soul Calibur IV, don't even bother with Tekken 6 and ignore anything that comes from Tecmo. Street Fighter IV is an outstanding fighter that plays almost exactly like Street Fighter II, but spices things up with a stylish presentation and exquisite graphics. Capcom took everything we love about the series and enhanced it for the masses, producing one of the most enjoyable and addictive brawlers we've played in years. It's that good.

While the game's inspired by Street Fighter II, you've never know it from beautiful shots like this. Click on image for more screenshots.

It all starts with the basic Street Fighter II foundation. Instead of making a sequel with too many new characters (ala Street Fighter III), Capcom chose to re-energize SFII. This means you'll see the original World Warriors (Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Blanka, E. Honda, Zangief, Guile, Dhalsim, Balrog, Vega, M. Bison and Sagat), plus the following new characters: the sexy babe Crimson Viper, the hard-hitting Abel, the Mexican wrestler El Fuerte and the obese Rufus. In addition, loose rumors point to the developers including four more familiar faces from past Street Fighter games in the upcoming Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions.

Capcom's decision to stick with the original cast has everything to do with making SFIV palatable to a wide audience. It hopes that consumers who used to play Street Fighter II will return and immediately pick up old moves. With that said, the game isn't cheap or "casual" by any means, and experts will be able to pick off newcomers with relative ease. That's because the game plays like classic Street Fighter II, despite its 3-D graphics. In fact, Capcom went back and retooled the combat so that the game plays in 2-D, and boy, does it feel sweet. The controls (we played the arcade version) are great, as we easily blasted opponents with Ryu's Shoryuken uppercut and Hadouken fireball. As the sexy Chun-Li, we executed her signature Hyakuretsu Kyaku, balancing on one of her muscular legs and jabbing enemies with a series of kicks. Blanka shocks people with his electrical attacks and E. Honda keeps them at bay with his hand slaps. The six-button Combat is vicious and exhilarating.

It also looks phenomenal. Capcom's artists did masterful work translating the characters to 3-D. This is a game built to take advantage of advanced arcade hardware and the most powerful consoles. Characters change facial expressions as the action unfolds, so you'll see Ryu lower his eyebrows and scream when he goes for an attack, or watch his eyes bulge as he takes a punch to his breadbasket. Furthermore, the animations look excellent (moving clothes and hair, musculature) and the backgrounds are without question the best of the series. Chun-Li's marketplace is alive with people going about their business, cars are hopping (courtesy of hydraulics) in front of the local burger joint and tropical forest comes alive with animals and flowing water.

Then you have the cut scenes. Capcom put a ton of work into making this the most stylish Street Fighter game in history, delivering several eye-popping videos. We've all seen the original, with Ken and Ryu doing battle, but there's also a watercolor one featuring Chun-Li, as well as a battle between Guile and Abel, done to resemble a sand portrait. Not only will the console editions include these movies, but also anime style endings for each character.

Our praise notwithstanding, Capcom faces tremendous pressure to release the Street Fighter game its fans deserve. Due to limited play time, we weren't able to explore the Focus Attacks, Super Combos and Ultra Combo System, and because we played the arcade version, there was no way to test the Xbox 360/PS3/PC online play. This is made worse by the fact that the arcade game will see limited release in the U.S., thanks to the decline of arcades. That means we won't get our hands on it until E3 this July, and that may or may not include the console editions. Either way, we need more Street Fighter IV. Capcom has thus far achieved the sequel we desperately wanted, and the sooner this game kicks its way into our livings rooms, the better.

Related Links

Street Fighter IV Xbox 360 Game Guide

Street Fighter IV PS3 Game Guide