Ultra Street Fighter IV (PS3/Xbox 360/PC)

Ultra Street Fighter 4 has finally landed on both the PS3 and the Xbox 360, although it is only available through digital download for now. The fifth installment of the Street Fighter 4 series, Ultra Street Fighter 4 comes to homes full of balance changes, five new fighters, and some modes previously unavailable. 

The new updated roster and balance changes bring in a fresh breath to both the casual, and competitive scenes. Imported from Street Fighter X Tekken, Elena, Rolento, Poison, and Hugo join the fray. These fighters have had their movesets and play style adjusted for the Street Fighter 4 engine, and have translated very well into the overall metagame. Elena comes in with her high/low mix-ups, Rolento has his control game, Poison arrives with some interesting offensive capabilities, and Hugo, the Hammer Mountain himself, comes to body slam his opponents into the dirt. 

The fifth character, Decapre, is a completely new character and has never been in any Street Fighter game. At first glance, Decapre just looks like Cammy with a mask, but that is where the similarities end. Sporting a charge moveset, this character has the makings of a great choice for both veteran and beginner players alike. Her normal moves provide great block strings and moves like her teleport move, which has different angles and ending moves depending on which input is used, is great for putting on the pressure. 

Along with the new fighters, USF4 also brings some nice additions to the overall game. Apart from the expected balance changes, the Ultra Combo Double was added to the game. One can now choose between Ultra Combo 1, 2, or the brand new Ultra Combo Double. This Ultra Combo Double gives the player access to both of their fighter's Ultra Combos during a match, bringing the utility of both Ultra Combo moves at the cost of reduced damage. 

Another addition, one can now use a red Focus Attack in this iteration of Street Fighter 4. The red Focus Attack costs special meter to use, and is a buffed version of the regular Focus Attack that can also be used to focus cancel, at the cost of 3 of the special meter bars. The red focus attack dash cancel, or red FADC, can add to combos, making some approaches much safer, as well as making setups for Ultra Combos easier on certain if not most of the cast. The final, and most useful addition, delayed standing, is where many will not see the results at first. By simply holding down and both the light punch and kick buttons, your character will be on the ground for a few extra seconds. This is a godsend to many players that dabble in multiplayer, as the mind games are not just being played on the surface, but extends to the wake up game as well. 

Capcom did not stop with just adding characters and some new techniques, but also added features that many fans were asking for. Now you can enter training mode while searching for ranked and player matches, as well as making a training mode lobby with another player online. Endless and Team Battle lobbies have been given a major rework, and now function much smoother than before. One addition no one saw coming, one can now select which edition of a character they would wish to play, offline of course. Ever wanted to see if Vanilla Street Fighter 4 Sagat was better than Arcade Edition Yun? Well now you can with edition select.

Overall, this game pulled out all the stops to satisfy its player base's multiplayer hunger. Better online play, new mechanics, more characters, additional stages, and edition select sound good. but where this update falls short is in bringing in new players. Veterans and even players that casually played the previous versions will definitely enjoy and appreciate all the new details, but all of these improvements will not be bringing in anyone that has never played these games. Putting the obvious aside, this version is a must have for any fan of the game, hardcore or not. All of the reworks and additions will keep even the most casual player wanting more, and will make improving much easier thanks to online training. Hardcore fans can enjoy all the new balance changes, and the new match-up possibilities will have you playing all night long, for a well deserved 9/10.

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