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Underground > Games & Gameplay >

Street Fighter IV

14:36 / 19.02.09

I haven't had the opportunity to play it very much, but I was able to head on down to Gamestop and grab a copy of SFIV for PS3 earlier this week. I have a refundable deposit in with a different retailer to see if I can get my hands on the standard edition Mad Catz arcade stick as well, but I'm not holding my breath.

I basically stuck to the arcade mode to brush up on my moves with Ryu, Ken and Chun-Li. I did get to play a friend for a few rounds and play someone over the network. Network play was a little laggy at first, but ended up being pretty smooth overall.

So far the game is everything I expected it to be. I'm happy that Capcom maintained the smooth, frame-by-frame, 2D style in this 3D fighter. I'd really prefer an arcade stick for obvious reasons, but the Dualshock 3 does a decent job of communicating my intentions.

I'll have more impressions as I get a chance to play it. Has anyone had the opportunity to sit down with it and give it a whirl?

One other tidbit, it looks like Europe will finally be getting SSFIIHD this week on PSN.

foot long subbacultcha

15:40 / 19.02.09

I've just ordered it for the XBOX360 after having reached an intermediate level of HD Turbo, which became quite fun online, even on the crappy controller.

Will likely provide feedback after I've given it a good go (If I can get enough time off Fallout 3 and RealLife!)

15:54 / 19.02.09

My copy arrived today, but I've not had a crack on it yet. The thought of having to play it with a stick for the time being - my Fightpad hasn't arrived - is putting me off.

Just a word of warning about those sticks, though: it turns out that they're not anything like as high quality as Mad Catz have been claiming, with SF-nerds going apeshit about poor build and more serious faults (certain directional inputs not registering, being the main one).

19:32 / 19.02.09

I've read similar accounts, though this report is saying that the number of defective sticks is actually fairly low at this time. Guess time will tell.

If not a Mad Catz stick, what would be your choice if you were looking for a arcade stick? A Hori Real Arcade Pro 3?

18:02 / 20.02.09

I'm not really the right person to ask, as I'm not a stick player. The first fighters I got into in a big way were the Saturn conversions of Virtua Fighter, VF2 and all the Capcom games, and I learned how to play them on a pad. I've attempted to move across to sticks since, but it's horribly frustrating, having to relearn how to play something that you were previously decent at.

Iirc, the HRAP is usually the stick of choice for those who play fighters heavily.

Er, kind of. The real hardcore build their own, or buy a Hori stick and modify it to meet their own requirements. You've got to be a fairly obsessed to go that far.

I got a Mad Catz FightPad today and, well, it's a bit of a mixed bag. Not bad if you don't mind having to dig out yr toolkit and pull it to pieces right from the off in order to get it working properly.

That's not exactly a ringing endorsement, though.

admiral sausage

14:48 / 23.02.09

Just picked it up today, surprisingly OK to play using the standard pad, the HK and HP are both on the right shoulder buttons. so its not as bad as the old SNES pad I used to play it on. I've seen it running on a few stands in shops over the weekend, and all of the people having a go have been in their 30's like me, nostalgia ! Love the graphics, especially the characters faces when they're on the receiving end of a special move. I kind of like the arcade mode, where you can be challenged as you play through the one player game, however the interruptions can get a bit annoying.

As for getting a stick, its completely the wrong time, most places are sold out of the mad katz sticks, and if they are selling them they are a crazy price, I'm going to wait a month or so then look on ebay and get a Hori. The old 360 hori sticks, the ones released for soul calibur (I think) were about £40 a few months ago. Whilst I'm waiting I might get my stick for my old xbox, and have been tempted to buy a cheap 360 controller and gut the old stick with the insides of the new one.

foot long subbacultcha

15:35 / 23.02.09

I'd love some insight on how to get a decent stick. I actually bought a madcatz tournament edition stick "now" off ebay and have had the seller "dispute" the deal with me and the idea of paying more than £100 extra to try a different seller is inflation gone wrong. I'm quite confused as to how a game like this can be realeased to such hype without a matching supply of peripherals.

admiral sausage

15:39 / 23.02.09

Keep an eye on ebay, they should be cheaper after the hype dies down in a month or so.

foot long subbacultcha

08:31 / 25.02.09

So a few hours in and it's a lot of fun, and also a little daunting for a player like me who wants to master ALL the moves NOW! It is accessible. It is simple to play. But to play effectively at the level people are playing online is difficult. This goes for any game, really, it's just that SF4 is quite deceptive in that regard when almost the entire game is wide open. The key clue is in the trial mode where you're given hints at what is available in a character's repertoire. I'm struggling to advance very far in this. Some of these cancelling combos are very difficult to pull off (I get the feeling that they're only possible if you make use of button depressing rather than pressing and that it isn't just a case of blaming the xbox xontroller) in a free play sandpit let alone in competition! Still. want. arcade. stick.

20:27 / 27.02.09

Capcom need to remove Ken from the SF franchise asap. My experience with the online mode can largely be summed up by a friend's flow chart here. Unfortunately, Ken's so unbalanced that pulling that kind of shit works.

23:25 / 28.02.09

I was able to snag a Mad Catz fight stick earlier this week at a local FYE. They only had a standard stick for each console. A $10 pre-order on SFIV's release date helped me secure it. Got lucky.

Not that I had the option to purchase it there, but I had a hard time justifying the cost of a tournament edition stick. If I really get into fighting game scene again, I could always pony up later on down the line.

I've been sticking to arcade battles so I can get used to the new kit and the game. The stick works pretty well and has a good feel to it, though it's evident that it's not of arcade quality manufacture.

Hopefully I'll be able to work out the rustiness over the next few w/e's and get some good online matches going. Tonight's my first free night to sit down and play, though Nobi Nobi Boy is calling to me a bit too.

13:31 / 07.03.09

So assuming they ever become affordable again, what's trash and what's not in the world of 360 sticks? Not looking for TE; semi-willing to crack a soldering iron out.

19:16 / 09.03.09

The Hori EX2 is decent and affordable. Or *was* affordable - its price has shot up since SFIV appeared on the scene, but I got mine just after VF5 came out and Gamestation were selling them for £20.

Anything else other than the SFIV sticks, I suspect you're looking at importing, which doesn't come cheap.

admiral sausage

16:59 / 24.03.09

I got I got my Hori EX2 a few weeks ago, off ebay, thankfully didnt pay too much over the odds. Ive found it much easier to play with, and I can actually pull off the ultra moves now I can hit all the punch or kick buttons at once. In singe player I'm doing OK on the normal setting and only used easy for a little while whilst I got used to the controls, I’m finding Seth to be a really frustrating opponent. I'm currently working on unlocking all of the characters, only got 3 so far, getting Akuma and Gouken loooks like fun.

Upon buying this game I thought that my hard earned, old school street fighter 2 skill would mean that I'd rule online, unfortunately it turns out that I'm completely rubbish. Online I'm finding (as Randy said) that approx 60% of people play as Ken, who is a pain in the ass to beat due to his overwhelming dragon punch. Now ive got an arcade stick I’m actually winning the occasional match, instead of getting my ass handed to me by some 12 year old (did that sentence sound dodgy ?) If anyone wants to beat me up my gamer tag is (unsurprisingly ) Admiral Sausage.

admiral sausage

10:42 / 06.04.09

I'm now finding the XBL live battle custom searches very annoying, most results are unplayable or full. Allowing people to interrupt arcade matches are usually 1 round Ken mashers.

10:01 / 09.04.09

Create your own player matches. Ranked matches are vile, but in player matches you can trip over some really fun people and player matches have the added bonus of allowing you to keep playing against the same person, if you both decide to keep the session alive.

admiral sausage

16:28 / 09.04.09

Apparently in the "The Championship Mode expansion" tidies up the matching system.

Anyone bought any of the new costumes, I cant bring myself to, I'd be happy to play the game and unlock them but paying takes the piss in a big way.

http://kotaku.com/5147226/capcom-catalogs-street-figher-ivs-many-downloadables

21:08 / 10.04.09

Capcom's strategy for premium downloadable content has been pretty shady for a while - see also the Mega Man 9 and Resi 5 episodes.

foot long subbacultcha

15:59 / 29.04.09

Madcatz sticks are available!

16:24 / 29.04.09

And Marvel vs Capcom 2 is on the way as well. King of Fighters too. This is looking like the year of beat-em-ups.

16:36 / 29.04.09

KoF XII and BlazBlue are really the two to look for - KoF because it finally sees SNK updating their visuals, BlazBlue because it's the spritual sequel to Guilty Gear, which can only be a good thing.

Really, this is the year when older styles of game become respected and, possibly, popular again (The Dark Spire, a DS RPG based on Wizardry, is hugely popular on GameFAQs right now). Also when 2D is finally recognised as being a worthwhile visual style once more. See also the surprising influx of shmup conversions on the 360 - Deathsmiles has just come out in Japan and Cave made the hardcore shmupping community explode when they revealed that Mushihimesama Futari will be hitting the console later on in the year.

It's a good time to be an old videogamer.

Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram on XBLA today, too!

admiral sausage

16:08 / 02.05.09

KOF looks amazing ! Its a shame that my old Xbox versions of Marvel Vs Capcom and SF3 wont work on my 360.

Still finding Championship mode as annoying as XBL matches, not quite the Tournament mode I was hoping for.

admiral sausage

19:10 / 03.05.09

I guess thats because its a championship mode, not a tournament mode.... the clues in the name. Silly sausage.