Street Fighter IV's Ultras Are Impressive Even When Stripped Down

What did the five fingers say to the face?!

While the dramatic camera angles of the Street Fighter IV series' Ultra Combos offer the most visually engaging aspects of the games' 2.5D style, the effect would suffer greatly if the characters' animations were lacking. Thanks to Youtube user moo422, we can check out every Ultra from the Ultra SFIV iteration of the game in a fixed perspective. The end result reveals that many of these moves are impressive even without additional cinematics.

This is Chun-Li's Hosenka, wherein a wealth of devastating kicks are delivered with the utmost grace.

With the Psycho Punisher, M. Bison punches people right in their freaking souls.

Ryu's Metsu Shoryuken has proven to be an excellent home remedy for double chins.

These aren't the best quality gifs in the world, but I'm sure you get the idea. With a cast of 44 characters in USFIV — all of which have two unique Ultra Combos — there are plenty of excellent animations to be found. Even those that aren't quite as fluid without their intended camera angles at least offer an interesting "behind the scenes" look into how the characters are moved along the traditional 2D plane. Some of the more ambitious Ultras have them teleporting all over the place. Check out Guy's Bushin Muso Renge for example:

Profound Can O' Whoop Ass.

The appeal of seeing the Ultra Combos stripped of so much of their cinematic impact might be fairly niche, but I find it fascinating. The Street Fighter IV series still looks pretty good despite having been around for 6 years now, and these stylish animations play an integral part in that. I'm very happy to see that there's a lot more to them than smoke and mirrors.

If you'd like to check out the rest of the moves in all their glory, behold the wonder of Youtube embedding:

I'm Chris Keating, and I make a mean batch of pancakes. For more, be sure to keep an eye on my Twitter & Facebook profiles!