Obviously, I gotta comment about this recent announcement. It’s hard to say what I think about it. Cuz really, all we have so far is a logo. We don’t even know if it’s going to be 2D or 3D. We can’t assume that the teaser video is any indication on how the game will look or play. Personally, I hope it’s 2D. I’ll probably have a better idea of what to expect when we get to see how Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix turns out.

So I refer to an entry I wrote five years ago for what I’d personally like to see:

This is another copy and paste from a post I made in a message board. Someone posed the question of what we’d like to see if they made a Street Fighter IV. I figure that the reason why so many new games suck is because game companies like Capcom are hiding in online message boards asking players what they want…and the majority of people who answer are ignorant fanboy sheep who only want the same stupid crap game after game. (That’s how we got the sadly uninventive games like Marvel Vs. Capcom 2.) So, here’s my two cents… I hope Capcom listens.

GAMEPLAY

The most important part of the game! In terms of the fighting engine, I’d like to see something along the lines of a combination of SFZ3 and CvsSNK2 (even though a lot of people may say they’re almost the same) with maybe the ability to aerial rave a la XMvsSF. I say XMvsSF because that’s when I think that particular feature was at it’s peak… MvsC2 was WAY too exaggerated for my tastes. The Street Fighter 3 engine didn’t impress me much…especially by having to choose only one kind of hyper combo move. Little things like maybe a side step move (like the ones in Real Bout) or a dash attack (like Pocket Fighter) would be nice touches too, I think.

[edit: On second thought, I could do without aerial raves. Juggles are perfectly fine by me in terms of keeping an opponent in the air. If there is to be any air combos, keep it limited, like in Melty Blood. Also, I've come to appreciate Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike in the past couple years, including it's Super Arts systems.]

GRAPHICS

I liked SF3′s high-res sprites and animation frame rate. I thought the animation slowed down the action a lot, though. Maybe something like Ken and Ryu’s sprites from CvsSNK would be cool. I think Capcom should snag up more of SNK’s old animators… Keep backgrounds in 3D cuz I think that’s been working well in MvsC2 and CvsSNK2. Though I think they need to really improve on the 3D effects for hits, special moves, etc.

[edit: Now that we've seen what the talented folks at Udon can do, I'd love to see fully hi-def renders of the characters and backgrounds. At the very least, bring it up to Guilty Gear X's level.]

SOUND

First of all, quit changing voice actors!! Especially Cammy! She’s had a different voice for every game she’s been in! The music in the past few games has only been so-so in my book. The last time I heard music that I thought was really appropriate for the game was MvsC. SF3 and CvsSNK 1& 2 had pretty cool music, but I can only take so much techno and hip-hop. Maybe get some electric guitar in there, man! (Anyone hear the remixed soundtrack to SFA on Sega Saturn? Adon’s theme is my favorite mix!)

[edit: I still believe that while techno and hip-hop tracks work well for a fighting game, what would be great is more diversity. After listening to music from Guilty Gear XX and Final Fantasy: Advent Children, there's a definite place for heavy metal guitar in a Street Fighter game. Maybe even some opera, for an epic battle feel. And instead of having each character having a theme, I've come to prefer the theme music being associated with the stages.]

CHARACTERS & STORY

50+ characters may work in a tag team game like the Versus series, but when it’s one-on-one, I don’t think the roster should exceed 30. We also need to get further into the future, I think. Keep Ryu, Ken, and a few classic characters (I’d pick Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Delta Red Cammy, Guile, Guy, Sakura, Ibuki, Yun & Yang, or Sean…maybe Zangief or Blanka) but show their age. (The future Vega in Cannon Spike was pretty cool too.) Give them some new moves to have mastered and omit a couple older ones. I like how they’ve split Ken and Ryu into their own identities by Ryu mastering the fireball while Ken forcuses on the shoryuken and hurricane kick. Let’s keep up with that, eh? For an end fighter, I’d like to see a very old M. Bison still in command of Shadowloo as a sub-boss. But have his successor be the final boss. A fighter with skill and psycho power far beyond what anyone’s seen before. Mid-bosses in SFZ3 really kept a story focused in the game, which I really liked…

[edit: I've always wanted to see an adult Sakura in a future Street Fighter. I always pictured that she'd become like Makoto. And some characters shouldn't be aged too much, since I'd set the new game only about 5 years after SFIII. SFII characters would look a bit older, but any characters from Alpha would show at least 10 years worth of aging.]

MISC.

Other than that, I’m not sure… Keeping the Bonus Rounds sounds cool. To me, a cool announcer has a great influence on the thrill of the game. The announcers in SFZ3 and CvsSNK2 made me feel like I was actually in the game! Especially the tournament atmosphere portrayed in CvsSNK2. If there’s a home port, I’d almost suggest a memory card slot (or slots for different consoles) so that a player can bring custom characters from home. But then, that kind of thing has never done well.

[edit: That last part was under the assumption that this would be an arcade game first. But most likely it will be console-only. I miss the arcade scene...may it rest in peace.]

My final point and message to Capcom would be to listen to the players. Not just all the fanboys here in the game message boards that keep asking for the same crap (DON’T MAKE MvC3, FOR THE LOVE OF CHRIST!) even if they are the biggest chunk of the market. You’ll be able to keep old hard-core serious fans if you keep things innovative. It also will help draw in new players that before had no interest in the games. I know it costs more to come up with new stuff as opposed to recycling sprites and engines like they have been in the last several games, but I heartily believe that the investment will be worth it…

What concerns me is not the announcement (because I am excited), but rather the inevitable explosion of fanboy speculation. Floods of frankly stupid expectations and suggestions. Demanding something along the lines of Marvel Vs Capcom 3: 50+ playable characters, choosing up to 5 characters at once, multiple assists and special meters, air combos that go on forever… All the junk that made the Versus series eventually suck.

I do have some amendments, though. First, after seeing what the talented folks at Udon can do, I’d love to see hi-def rendered 2D characters. 3D cell-shaded characters on a 2D playing field might work, since we’ve seen it done impressively in The Rumble Fish 2. Especially if cel-shading gets to the level that The Simpsons Game is sporting. Backgrounds can be either 2D or 3D, really. I’ve always wanted to see an adult Sakura; seeing where her martial arts training eventually led her. I’m confident that David Sirlin will have some kind of hand in the gameplay, so I do have faith that it won’t turn to shit.

Supposedly it’s due to come out in a year, but I kinda wish they’d take a year and a half, maybe two years to really fine-tune it and make it look good. But then I don’t know how far into development they already are. It could be that they’ve been working on it for a year so far and kept it a tight secret. It could also be that they’ve made this announcement and now it’s time to get started! Much like Super-Turbo HD, I won’t really have an opinion until I see more of it in action…

This entry was posted on Friday, October 19th, 2007 at 10:19 am and is filed under Games, Street Fighter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.