Super Street Fighter IV review

Little stuff that adds up

Remember the car-crushing bonus stage from the original Street Fighter II? And the barrels? Yeah, those were cool, right? Well, they’re back, and like a lot of things from the ‘90s they’re best left to a decade when we all had less discerning tastes. Now they feel like interruptions to the main arcade mode fights, and honestly aren’t that fun at all. Thankfully you can turn them off entirely – it’s just weird that Capcom’s touting the bonus stages in all the marketing, like they’re a big deal. They are not.

Above: “We should probably add bonus stages back in!” “I guess?” 

Time Trials and Survivor modes are gone. It’s possible you had your fill of both in SFIV, but then again, there are 10 new characters and maybe some of us are interested in playing some offline battles other than arcade mode. They were already in the first game, why not toss ‘em in again?

And uh, that’s kind of it. There’s barely anything to complain about at all. The fact I have to dig deep and whine about modes and optional bonus stages shows just how solid Super SFIV really is. And to really sweeten the deal, there’s a brand new (and free) tournament mode coming in June that’ll further push the online experience into a community-driven fever.

Is it better than?

Street Fighter IV? Yes. There’s more everything at a lower price, so it goes without saying that this is the superior edition. However, Super SFIV isn’t the revolution that IV was – it’s just more of the same. That’s why it gets a slightly lower score. The online modes don’t mingle either, so you might as well buy Super SFIV.


Tekken 6? Pretty different experiences, but we think so. Were there lines for Tekken 6? Did the gaming universe go ape-shit over Tekken 6? The answer is “Um, no,” and that’s because Tekken 6 was more of the same in a far more boring way. Still a fine title, just not up to SFIV levels of reinvention or refinement.

BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger? We say yes, if only because SFIV and thus Super SFIV are easier for anyone to hop in and play. BlazBlue is arguably a prettier spectacle and home to an outstanding online experience, but it’s just not going to catch on like the World Warriors due to its incredibly dense, “you have to master this shit” experience. Seriously hardcore players may disagree with us on that one.

Just for you, Metacritic!

It’s last year’s top-rated game remixed with 10 new fighters and fantastic new online modes, all at a lower price. That’s an incredible deal no matter how you slice it, so if you were somehow on the fence about this whole Street Fighter thing, succumb and find out why everyone’s in love all over again.

Apr 26, 2010