Charlie Nash Is A Total Badass In Street Fighter V!

This is his happy face.

The fine folks at Capcom Unity have just released a new Street Fighter V gameplay trailer! This time, the previously teased character Charlie Nash gets the spotlight. Though formerly deceased in the series' storyline, clearly nefarious means have brought forth his resurrection.

No longer the heroic sort fans grew to love during the 1990s' Street Fighter Alpha series, Nash now comes across as a villainous badass. The corresponding gameplay looks quite promising. His classic moves have returned alongside some slick new tricks. The trailer is quite effective in making him look like an absolute powerhouse.

Street Fighter V Might Be For Younger Audiences? So What?!

Eww, kid stuff.

In a recent interview, Street Fighter V producer Yoshinori Ono mentioned hoping the title would bring younger players into the series. The statement pretty much ended there, but it still managed to spark several discussions online. Some have had a sense of respectable back and forth, with various viewpoints and overall grounded opinions being shared. Of course, there were also overly-reactionary responses that assume the quote means the game might be "aimed towards kids."

Mortal Kombat X's Gameplay Continues To Impress

Princess Kitana from MK X's latest gameplay trailer

Even from the earliest glimpses at E3 2014, I thought Mortal Kombat X looked like a promising progression for the franchise. My last real MK experiences were with the clunkier PlayStation 2 era games like Deadly Alliance, none of which really did it for me. I find the faster paced 2.5D approach of the upcoming installment much more appealing. MK X has only looked better with each new reveal.

Perhaps I'm being too easily swayed by the editing, but the latest trailer featuring Kung Lao and Princess Kitana has some of the best looking Mortal Kombat gameplay I've ever seen. If you look past the goofy story bits and ridiculously violent Fatality teases, the characters appear to have tons of maneuverability with a decent sense of momentum in tow. Feel free to check out the footage below if you're curious:

Revenge & Noodles: Street Fighter V Is A Great Mix of Intensity & Fun

She has style. She has grace.

As the Capcom Cup 2014 Ultra Street Fighter IV tournament (wherein sixteen of the year's most successful players from the "Capcom Pro Tour" circuit faced off) drew to a close, series producer Yoshinori Ono took the stage to make several announcements. Of note, he mentioned that the Street Fighter V development team has paid close attention to the feedback and analysis generated by the gameplay trailer from last week's PlayStation Experience event. Even so, there were no major confirmations regarding fan-driven topics such as a possible Guard Crush or other features.

Despite not wanting to reveal too much, the event closed with the first publicly played match of Street Fighter V. Popular SF player Mike Ross and Capcom USA's "Combofiend" took control of Ryu and Chun-Li, giving us a solid extended look at the gameplay. Lifebars, EX Meters of varying lengths, and the new Revenge Meter (which likely works similarly to the Ultra Combo Meter from SFIV) were in full display alongside fun new reveals like humorously interactive stage elements. After Ryu knocks Chun-Li into a wall at the end of a round, a bowl of noodles falls onto her head and stays there when the fight picks back up.

You want some screenshots? Have some screenshots:

Street Fighter V Gameplay Trailer: There's Something For Everyone

Chun-Li's work-in-progress match intro from Street Fighter V.

Okay, the obvious joke response to the post title is unfortunately "except for Xbox One owners." Let's look beyond that for a second.

Following up the lovingly crafted announcement trailer, Capcom released an extended glimpse at early gameplay from the upcoming Street Fighter V during this weekend's PlayStation Experience event. While there's still a lot of work to be done, the game already shows immense potential. There are glimpses of mechanics both new and old, and the speculation is already in full swing. Check out the video below!

Street Fighter V's Announcement Trailer Is A Giant Love Letter

An early look at Ryu from SFV.

In the early hours of December 5, 2014, the announcement trailer for Street Fighter V was leaked early over Youtube and various social media platforms. While there's plenty to talk about regarding the corresponding news, I'm much more taken with the video's composition. There would have been plenty of buzz even over a few seconds of cinematics and a logo, but whomever put this together took a much more involved and loving approach.

While it does contain brief glimpses of new gameplay and availability info, Street Fighter V's announcement trailer shares the spotlight with footage of the franchise's previous titles, fan artists, collectors, cosplayers, and competitive scene. SF might be a household name, but it's still a bit niche in the grand scheme. While I'd love to see it become even bigger, I'm glad to see those in charge of producing and promoting the series putting forth so much effort in honoring its past and the passionate existing fanbase.

Update: You can check out the trailer yourself below:

Street Fighter 3 "Daigo Parry" Re-created At Moment 37 Reloaded

Tech Bonus, Tech Bonus, Tech Bonus

This weekend in Fighting Games Land, the "Moment 37 Reloaded" event was all the rage. 2014 marks the ten year anniversary of the most famous chunk of competitive Street Fighter play: "Evo Moment #37" from the Evolution 2004 Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike tournament. For those unfamiliar, this refers to a match where Daigo Umehara (playing Ken) parried a Houyoku Sen Super Art from Justin Wong's Chun-Li in full. The move would have killed Umehara from chip damage even if he'd chosen to block. He seamlessly switched to a jumping parry near the end, setting up a combo that won the round.

Don't watch this with headphones.

Reignite Neo Geo Pocket Color Nostalgia With Pocket Rumble!

Pre-Alpha Pocket Rumble Gameplay.

Cardboard Robot Games' Pocket Rumble is a proposed 2D fighting game that homages the beautifully nostalgic style of handheld Neo Geo Pocket Color fighters and offers accessible, strategy centric gameplay. It can be difficult to jump into more established titles these days given their strict execution requirements and wide skill gaps between beginner and advanced players. Even something like Ultra Street Fighter IV can make for an alienating experience when someone new to the series hops into the shark infested waters of online battle. Pocket Rumble addresses this issue head on.

All Final Smashes Are Not Created Equal (Super Smash Bros 4)

This is my boomstick!

While Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS' visuals are bolstered by a dazzling array of stages, the Final Smash moves of each character bring the wow-factor to the forefront. Even four-player games can leave friends waiting for a turn, and a little cinematic flair keeps watching from the sidelines a lot more interesting. The chaos that unfolds during the likes of the Giga Bowser transformation or Ness' PK Starstorm keeps up the hype for all involved.

Even so, I quickly noticed that said hype levels are a bit inconsistent among each character's Final Smash. They all have a bit of "cool factor," but some of them really go above and beyond. Perhaps there's some character bias involved, but not all of them leave me wanting to shout "best thing EVER" levels of hyperbole from the rooftops. No, that's pretty much exclusive to Mega Man's Mega Legends move.

Super Smash Bros. FanArt Frenzy!

Smashy smashy.

Hey now. Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS was finally released in North America and Europe today! I can't play it just yet, but I'm stoked that it's finally here. Between watching frantic early gameplay and admiring the wide variety of awesome stages, I felt inspired to check out the inevitable onslaught of new Smash fanart. Let's look through some examples!

From Karl Fan: Lucina from Fire Emblem.

Super Smash Bros. For 3DS Has A Great Assortment Of Stages

Little Mac and Marth duking it out at Prism Tower.

Despite not being able to get my hands on it just yet, I've been looking forward to Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS far too much to ignore the onslaught of gameplay footage that's been coming in. I've even been lurking about in various Twitch streams to take in as much of an early look as I can. I'm loving what I've seen thus far, and I feel like I already have a nice sense of the game from a presentational standpoint.

With fighters, I think it's easier to take in all of the little details as a third party observer. I've actually found myself focusing on the scenery almost as much as the crazy slugfests taking place in the foreground. If you're interested, here's a collection of gameplay shots that show off a nice chunk of the game's stages:

Battlefield

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.

Marvel vs. Capcom's Attack Names Would Be Pretty Weird In Comics

Can't we all just get along?

With Marvel vs. Capcom: Origins on sale for just over $3, it was clear that there was no better time to finally make the purchase. This compilation of the original Marvel vs. Capcom and Marvel Super Heroes is a wonderful journey through mid to late 1990s arcade nostalgia. Of course, the anime style attack names shouted by the characters throughout each match comprise one of the first quirks you're reacquainted with as you begin battling your way to either Thanos or Onslaught. Just as Street Fighter gameplay is riddled with cries of "Hadoken" and "Shoryuken," Capcom's Marvel based fighters assault your ears with the likes of "Berseker Barrage," "Charging Star," and "Spider Sting!"

Hearing all of this again made me imagine how bizarre (and cluttered) mid-battle dialogue would become if comic books followed the same convention. I took to Photoshop to see what it might look like. Behold:

The Latest Samurai Shodown Footage is a Horrible, Horrible Tease

Samurai Slot Machine

I've always considered Samurai Shodown to be one of SNK's coolest franchises. I remember thinking the original game was just about the best thing I'd ever seen when I was a kid. While it was ultimately eclipsed by Soul Calibur in the sword based fighting game department, Shodown is of undeniable importance to the genre as a whole.

Unfortunately, SNK Playmore's last attempt at keeping the franchise relevant didn't pan out. 2008 saw the release of Samurai Shodown Sen, a negatively reviewed 3D fighter that generally flew under the radar. Regardless, I'd love to see them give it another shot.

Something along the lines of Street Fighter IV or the Xbox One Killer Instinct that uses stylized 3D character models on a traditional 2D plane would probably work wonderfully. In fact, there's a recent bit of CG rendered Samurai Shodown footage that gives us brief glimpses of exactly that. When viewed out of context, it looks pretty promising. You can check it out below:

Captain Falcon Looks Great So Far in the New Super Smash Bros.

As handsome a devil as you'll ever see.

Everyone reading this likely already knows that Nintendo has just confirmed Lucina, Robin, and Captain Falcon for the upcoming Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U. I'm unfortunately not as familiar with the Fire Emblem cast, so Captain Falcon does a bit more for me in the excitement department. If you haven't checked out the reveal trailer somehow, it's definitely worth watching:

Evo 2014 Fighting Game Tournament Day 3: Highlights & Wrap-Up

Rose from Ultra Street Fighter IV.

July 13th brought us the final day of the Evo 2014 fighting game tournament. With the grand finals for BlazBlue, Killer Instinct, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, and Ultra Street Fighter all lined up, it goes without saying that there was an absolute barrage of intense matches on display. Here are a few key highlights:

The day kicked off with the BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma finals. Garireo (with Litchi) ultimately defeated Dogura (with Azrael) after a difficult climb out of the losers bracket. If fighting games have taught us anything, it's to never give up!

Katsuhiro Harada Goes Through Wth Evo 2014 Tekken 7 Announcement

Tekken: the loveliest of family tales

Tekken project leader Katsuhiro Harada took the stage at Evo 2014 alongside designer Michael Murray to do a bit of damage control over the Tekken 7 announcement leak. Based on Harada's statements, the reveal was actually meant to take place at a later date (perhaps at this year's San Diego Comic-Con.) He handled the situation gracefully however, even joking that perhaps Street Fighter producer Yoshinori Ono was behind the leak. Despite whatever plans may have been in place before, the following announcement trailer was shown:

Tekken 7 Announcement Leak Diminished its Potential Excitement

King of the Iron Leak

While it was quickly taken down, AOL leaked a news video meant to reveal Tekken 7 earlier today. It's assumed this may have been meant to coincide with a special announcement at the Evo 2014 fighting game tournament, but the gun was jumped somehow.

Evo 2014 Smash Bros Stream Chat Goes Wild for Reggie Fils-Aime

Oh, hello.

In a nice surprise, the Super Smash Bros. Melee finals at the Evo 2014 fighting game tournament were introduced by a video from Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime. I'm pretty sure it was a heartfelt message thanking the Smash community for supporting the series for so long, but I have to admit I was pretty distracted by the Twitch chat going absolutely insane at the mere sight of the guy:

Fighting Game First World Problems (Evo 2014)

A good friend of mine just invited me to hang out for the first time in a while. I'd love to take him up on that, but it's the last day of the Evo 2014 fighting game tournament! The final matches for BlazBlue, Killer Instinct, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, and Ultra Street Fighter IV are all taking place, and I should try to watch as much of them as I can if I'm going to continue covering the event here on Castle Geek-Skull.

With that, a new First World Problem arises:

Sigh. Life is so cruel.

The end. These italic words aren't part of the post at all. Shh. If you enjoyed this silliness, be sure to watch out for more via my Twitter & Facebook profiles!