Street Fighter V might be right around the corner, but the crazy costume packs for its predecessor are far from over. Available now for every platform under the sun, the Ultra Street Fighter IV Horror Costume DLC packs have to be my favorite add-on yet. For your viewing pleasure, I've taken the time to highlight some of the best new outfits below. Let's get freaky.
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.
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."
I couldn't find the time to play everything I wanted, but I definitely had some good times with video games this year. As 2015 looms on the horizon, there's no better occasion to look back on some of the titles I enjoyed the most. Due to what I'm sure must be extremely popular demand, I've compiled 14 of my personal gaming highlights of 2014 below! Let's get to it.
Disclaimer: Forgive me if I leave off something you found amazing; I promise I'm going to get around to catching up!
Mega Man's Final Smash from Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U is pure bliss. I'm a huge fan of the Blue Bomber, so you can imagine how bummed I've been that he hasn't gotten the best treatment in recent years. His inclusion in the latest SSB did a lot to heal those wounds.
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:
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!
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:
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.
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.
In a recent edition of "Boss Rage," Youtube gamer Maximilian took on the DLC Evil Ryu and Oni battle from Asura's Wrath. As the fight with Oni drew to a close, he threw Stan Bush and Vince DiCola's "Dare" from the Transformers: The Movie soundtrack over the action. Despite its synth-fueled 1980's cheesiness, the song actually manages to fit the game quite well:
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!
As you might expect, the second day of Evo 2014 was filled with many hours of fantastic high-level fighting game matches. There was even a bit of upcoming game news sprinkled in! The whole event can be a lot to take in, so let's look at a handful of highlights:
Super Street Fighter II Turbo proved yet again that it still has some life left. The match above is the 3 on 3 "X-Mania USA" grand final featuring Team M3 versus Team Japan 2. There was some solid play here, especially from Mao: a Vega player with a personality the size of the moon. Like many, I still absolutely adore this game, and it does the heart good to see it get a bit more time in the spotlight.
After the evening's final Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 matches, Evo 2014 Day 2 finished with a screening of Chubby Boy Films' short film Matador, an origin story for Street Fighter II boss character Vega (or Balrog if you prefer the original Japanese name.) If such things interest you, a Youtube upload is already available:
The first day of Evo 2014 is now behind us, and among its highlights were a ton of exciting Ultra Street Fighter IV matches. Interestingly, many of the game's most well renown top players were eliminated earlier than most would have predicted. Examples include:
Momochi (Ken) eliminating Dieminion (Guile)
In honor of the Evolution 2014 fighting game tournament (taking place this weekend, July 11-13), it seemed appropriate to showcase characters from some of its featured games in the latest edition of FanArt Frenzy. No need for flowery, silly text up front — let's just jump right in!
This gorgeous illustration of Jin Kazama from the Tekken series comes from DeviantArt's istdog.
In another adventure through the Youtube vortex, I came across an incredibly fun Ultra Street Fighter IV match featuring Hugo vs Zangief from a semi-recent "Wednesday Night Fights" event. Ch-check it out:
It's an unpopular stance that was widely dismissed, but I've already gone on about the importance of single player modes in fighting games. We're not all in a town with a competitive scene, and many of us lack the time for serious practice. Should those of us in that situation just bow out of playing fighters altogether?
Of course not! While single player focused features like Street Fighter Alpha 3's World Tour Mode and Dramatic Battle are becoming rarer these days, there's still some fun to be had. The new SF4 update Ultra Street Fighter IV is no exception. Look no further than Maximilian's Oni "Boss Rage" video!
I've only barely begun my vicarious E3 2014 experience. After watching some actual coverage, the new Dead Rising 3 DLC (hilariously titled Super Ultra Dead Rising 3 Arcade Remix Hyper Edition EX Plus Alpha) is the first reveal to truly jump out at me. If you're a fan of pretty much any Capcom franchise, there's probably something in there for you. It's freaking beautiful. Behold:
From jiangshi Rufus to Aztec deity Blanka and all sorts of madness between, the Street Fighter IV series has had its fair share of crazy alternate character costumes. Based on the new Ultra Street Fighter IV Pre-Order costume trailer, it looks like that trend has remained fully intact:
With a new teaser trailer and several juicy bits of info from Famitsu magazine, the mystery surrounding the upcoming Ace Attorney prequel (Dai Gyakuten Saiban: The Adventures of Naruhodou Ryuunosuke) is finally beginning to clear. The game's story will take place in Japan's Meiji era (between 1868 and 1912) and is set to star Phoenix Wright ancestor Naruhodou Ryuunosuke, as well as judicial assistant Susato Mikotoba. Franchise creator Shu Takumi told Famitsu that this will kick off a new series (known thus far as The Great Ace Attorney), and that the initial title will be "quite different" from the existing Ace Attorney games.
