TGS 2008: Street Fighter IV

Not only was I lucky enough to get my hands on some of the Street Fighter IV arcade machines scattered around Tokyo, but today I managed to play the Xbox 360 version at TGS. I didn't notice any key differences between the two versions, perhaps the arcade was a little faster and less smooth. Both versions are HD and they both look great and had no content differences as far as I could ascertain (note: I can't read Japanese, though, so there could be some minor variances). Fans of the series will be pleased to know that of course Ken and Ryu's Hadouken and other moves are present, as well as all the other famous moves in the series. I found it harder to pull of the moves than on my SNES pad, but that's likely due to lack of practice. There is also a 'super' bar along the bottom of the screen, which seems to build up to some kind of special. Unfortunately the instructions are in Japanese so I cannot confirm exactly what the super bar does, but I can confirm that its there and that it's split into four or five sections.

Whilst playing today, my opponent managed to pull off an amazing counter move, where the action went into slow motion and ultra damage was dealt. I later found out that even a simple hadouken can function as one of these counters. The graphics are great, with a subtle 3D comicy feel to them. The style of the graphics makes fireballs and the like look far greater than photorealistic attempts may have looked. Additionally, I found the new French character Abel extremely playable (an all-rounder type), and El Fuerte to be a considerable foe (seriously powerful fat bastard). I can also say that Rufus and C.Viper look good, alas I have been unable to play with or against new characters Gouken or Seth. M.Bison returns to form, although he is called Vega in Japan. His teleporting abilities appear to have been enhanced, making him a right bugger to hit. Overall, the presentation is superb, the frame rate was high throughout and I can't wait to get more time with the game, preferably with menus I can understand.