Street Fighter IV @ Comic-Con '08
I just got back from preview night (living in San Diego certainly has a couple advantages), and my brother and I got a chance to duke it out in the upcoming fighter!
I'm a Street Fighter nut. Seriously. Nearly every avatar I've ever used, on any site, has been of either Ryu or Ken. Every gamer has a game he or she is addicted to, mine has always been the Street Fighter series. When I was younger I would develop blisters on my thumbs from throwing so many hadokens. I mastered the shoryuken before any of my friends did... yep, I was hardcore.
So it was without hesitation when I placed myself in a 30min line for Street Fighter IV. My brother and I reflected on all the great times we've had with the series while in line, but once we sat down at our respective arcade cabinets, it was business time. We were allowed two matches (totaling six rounds), along with two more matches with Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix. We ended up splitting our matches, no clear victor arose.
First off, Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix is glorious. Best word I can use to describe it. It's the game I fell in love with so many years ago, just much prettier, and running at a silky smooth pace impossible on 16-bit consoles.
Secondly, I'm now cautiously optimistic about Street Fighter IV. Forget worrying about 3D elements, the game is pure 2D at heart, just where the series belongs. Still, the game felt like it lacked the depth of Street Fighter III. Of course, I played the game for a mere 10 minutes? I've yet to learn about the complexities of the game, so my strategy for playing it tonight consisted of constant hadokens and mini-combos. And worth mentioning is the timing of special moves. The game definitely feels a bit different from games past, yet I had the hang of things by my third round. I'm not too concerned.
All in all I had a great time. I got to meet Jerry Holkins & Mike Krahulik for the second year in a row, Brian Azzerello made a personal sketch for me, and I got to spend sometime with various up and coming games that I'm interested in.
If only they'd require people to wear deodorant to get in...
