PC Gamer - October 2011

Say goodnight, Oni.

Hadouken 2: Electric Boogaloo.

Even hippos can appreciate the beauty of a Shoryuken.

PRIZE FIGHTER

Stomach kick, or human shoe?

SUPER STREET FIGHTER IV: ARCADE EDITION
is a pugilist’s paradise by Lucas Sullivan

What is it? A one-on-one arcade-style fighter Influenced by Street Fighter II, BlazBlue Play it on 2.4GHz dual-core CPU, 3GB RAM, GeForce 8800/ Radeon HD 4870 Alternatively Street Fighter IV (93%) Copy protection Games for Windows Live

Need to know

What separates the great fighting games from the shallow, button- mashing brawls? It’s the underlying strategy—the intricate dance of anticipating your opponent’s next move and choosing your own fireball or uppercut to counter it. That’s where Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition is in a class of its own—it’s built upon the excellent foundation of 2009’s Street Fighter IV, but fine-tuned into its own unique stand-alone experience. While there are few other fighting games on the PC, there’s nothing on consoles to rival this game’s balance and wildly diverse cast either.

Though SSF4AE shares much of
its gameplay with SF4, this version’s
worlds ahead in terms of depth and
strategy. Besides the bevy of new
characters— 14 freshmen fighters
increase the total roster to 39—eve-
ryone’s been rebalanced: Sagat’s no
longer an unfair powerhouse, push-
overs like Guile got some much-
needed love, and the option to
choose between two flashy Ultra
comeback moves for each character
lets you adapt to an opponent’s
strengths without benching your
favorite fighter.

Enter the Dragon Punch

AE features the same crisp art style as SF4, blending vibrant colors with a brushstroke aesthetic. In the audio department, fireballs and uppercuts have a satisfyingly heavy crack to them, and the music got me suitably amped-up during bouts. To the delight of purist nutjobs like myself, the options include the ability to switch between English and Japanese voiceovers at will.

As with almost any fighting game,
the acceptable AI can only keep you
entertained for so long; the most
satisfying brawls are always between
human opponents. If you don’t have
a second gamepad or Games for
Windows Live friends to spar with,
AE ’s robust matchmaking gets you
into an online game in a jiff, and
supports tournaments and team-
battles as well. Besides fighting, you
can spectate pro-level players using
the improved replay system, or hone
your most damaging combos in
helpful training modes. There are
some hiccups, though—playing
against someone with a slower
internet connection resulted in the
most frustrating, lag-tastic match of
my life.