We'll spare you the suspense: Street Fighter IV will feature fully-3D graphics, but gameplay will be purely 2D, retaining the feel of the classic non-EX Street Fighter titles.
Now that you can breathe again, we'll let you know that 1UP has scored the first exclusive details on Street Fighter IV. The first publicized screenshot (above, and taken from the in-game engine) confirms the unique art direction for the sequel, as first hinted upon in the teaser trailer. 1UP reports that Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li and Dhalsim are all returning to the series, although a more complete character roster has not yet been revealed.
Gameplay-wise, it's classic Street Fighter, utilizing a six-button control scheme while introducing new moves, features, and locations to the repertoire. No word yet on which platforms the game is headed to, although we can certainly hazard a few guesses. Even more details on Capcom's latest fighter will be revealed in the January 2008 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, so keep your eyes peeled on the news stands.
Reader Comments (127)
Posted: Dec 6th 2007 12:41PM Wonderflex said
Online? Street Fighter is a frames game, I'm not so sure it will be online.
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Posted: Dec 6th 2007 12:44PM (Unverified) said
Attention: tools above me. Reply is for replying to the original commentor - not for getting your comment near the top. No one cares about you anyways. Not even your mom. Thank you. Good day.
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Posted: Dec 6th 2007 6:15AM (Unverified) said
ONE OF THE GREATEST IMAGES I'VE SEEN...WELL IN A LONG TIME!
Capcom appears to have reinvented the 2D Fighter and I say. IT'S ABOUT FREAKIN TIME! Just like Capcom did in 92 with SFII. They're doing it again in 2008. I predict future fighters will start to copy this new 2D engine style. I'm so looking forward to this I could cry.
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Capcom appears to have reinvented the 2D Fighter and I say. IT'S ABOUT FREAKIN TIME! Just like Capcom did in 92 with SFII. They're doing it again in 2008. I predict future fighters will start to copy this new 2D engine style. I'm so looking forward to this I could cry.
Posted: Dec 6th 2007 8:33AM (Unverified) said
Ummmmm, I really hate to be the person to break this to you. What Capcom is doing here has been effectionately referred to as 2.5D in the past. 3D world, 2D gameplay.
And I really don't thinkthis will start some new revolution in fighting games. After all, this idea has been toyed with many times in the past. Most recently with King of Fighters (Sorry, Guilty Gear 3 doesn't count... it's a brawler).
I mean, I'm hopeful for a good SF game as much as anyone else but King of Fighters 2006 is essentially KOF with 3D characters.
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And I really don't thinkthis will start some new revolution in fighting games. After all, this idea has been toyed with many times in the past. Most recently with King of Fighters (Sorry, Guilty Gear 3 doesn't count... it's a brawler).
I mean, I'm hopeful for a good SF game as much as anyone else but King of Fighters 2006 is essentially KOF with 3D characters.
Posted: Dec 6th 2007 9:51AM falcomadol said
This single image has proven to me that Capcom "gets it" in terms of attempting to retain the artistic vision of the series though.
KOF's 2.5D incarnations have no appeal to me (and I'm a guy who has every KOF on MVS along with every Fatal Fury, and every Art of Fighting...)
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KOF's 2.5D incarnations have no appeal to me (and I'm a guy who has every KOF on MVS along with every Fatal Fury, and every Art of Fighting...)
Posted: Dec 6th 2007 6:24AM (Unverified) said
That looks really freaking cool! Way to go Capcom!
Now just make another Mega Man game and I'll truly love you again. And not another "X" or "Battle Network" game. Make it Mega Man 10.....or 9. I'm not sure if Rockman & Bass counts as 9.
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Now just make another Mega Man game and I'll truly love you again. And not another "X" or "Battle Network" game. Make it Mega Man 10.....or 9. I'm not sure if Rockman & Bass counts as 9.
Posted: Dec 6th 2007 6:27AM (Unverified) said
*Rockman & Forte/Mega Man & Bass
I mixed the American name with the Japanese one.
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I mixed the American name with the Japanese one.
Posted: Dec 6th 2007 6:50AM (Unverified) said
They should continue the Rockman/Forte saga. Reinvent the sprites and just go until they run out of numbers for the sequels.
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Posted: Dec 6th 2007 10:53AM (Unverified) said
"megaman 10 came out on the SNES,"
You're joking, right?
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You're joking, right?
Posted: Dec 6th 2007 11:39AM (Unverified) said
You seriously need to get Megaman:Powered up! for the PSP,its so damn wicked.Maverik Hunter X was sweet,I know those are remakes but hell those are the best remakes of all time.
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Posted: Dec 6th 2007 11:56AM (Unverified) said
Er... don't know where you're getting your information from, but the "Megaman 10" game you're referring to on the SNES is actually Megaman 7. Megaman 1-6 was on the NES. Megaman 8 is on the PSONE. There is no 10, and there isn't even a 9. (That's going by numerical order and not taking in the Megaman and Bass etc)
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Posted: Dec 6th 2007 8:26AM (Unverified) said
It was? I could have sworn Melty Blood, Arcana Heart, Guilty Gear, or several other 2D fighters were the last hold outs on 2D fighters.
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Posted: Dec 6th 2007 1:29PM (Unverified) said
Me too, I wanted HD hand drawn 2D characters..oh well.
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Posted: Dec 6th 2007 6:31AM (Unverified) said
Is that a Hadouken in your pants or are you just happy to see me?
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Posted: Dec 6th 2007 9:04AM (Unverified) said
There's defiantly something going on in his pants, by the look on his face I'm going for Hadoukun.
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Posted: Dec 6th 2007 6:43AM CaptainHairy said
Thank you, Robo-Jebus, for your blessing this day, ye have brought us news of true Street Fighter gameplay in a 2.5D env... wait, you mean this is Joystiq and not Robo-Jebus?
Well, whatever. Cheers anywho.
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Well, whatever. Cheers anywho.
Posted: Dec 6th 2007 7:51AM (Unverified) said
You make it sound like this game is trying to look like Gears of War. I look at that picture and I see literally Street Fighter in 3d, not too realistic but not too cartoony/animeish/Alpha, just like 2 and 3.
Street Fighter 2 HD is all the sprite enthusiasts need. Otherwise, 1995 is -> That way.
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Street Fighter 2 HD is all the sprite enthusiasts need. Otherwise, 1995 is -> That way.
Posted: Dec 6th 2007 7:58AM (Unverified) said
Apparently you people have misunderstood. I'm sighing because the game is in 2D and not fully blown 3D fighting like Virtua Fighter,Soul Calibur,Tekken,ect.
This just in; Capcom including free Pizza Hut cupons and VHS tapes of Wayne's World with game purchase.
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This just in; Capcom including free Pizza Hut cupons and VHS tapes of Wayne's World with game purchase.
Posted: Dec 6th 2007 8:07AM Vegeta has a ps3 said
I'm sorry but 2d is better than 3d in every way.
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Posted: Dec 6th 2007 8:13AM (Unverified) said
@ Vegeta: Well, I think in terms of "dimensions," 3D is actually 1 better than 2D.
That's right. I went there.
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That's right. I went there.
Posted: Dec 6th 2007 8:53AM (Unverified) said
There is absolutely zero reason for Capcom to throw the baby out with the bathwater in Street Fighter's gameplay.
Giving the game 3d graphics is a concession to modern graphic tastes, in which 2d games today have a hard time catching a break on the friggin DS.
However there is no reason for Capcom to try to ape Tekken and Virtua Fighter, becoming the imitator instead of the leader. Tekken and Virtual Fighter fans would look down their nose at the game and Street Fighter fans would reject the game for slighting them.
It is much smarter to build upon 2 and 3 and guarantee the business of the series' installed fanbase(which will blow away Virtua Fighter's pathetic sales, BTW), rather than appeal to people who want Street Fighter to stop being Street Fighter.
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Giving the game 3d graphics is a concession to modern graphic tastes, in which 2d games today have a hard time catching a break on the friggin DS.
However there is no reason for Capcom to try to ape Tekken and Virtua Fighter, becoming the imitator instead of the leader. Tekken and Virtual Fighter fans would look down their nose at the game and Street Fighter fans would reject the game for slighting them.
It is much smarter to build upon 2 and 3 and guarantee the business of the series' installed fanbase(which will blow away Virtua Fighter's pathetic sales, BTW), rather than appeal to people who want Street Fighter to stop being Street Fighter.
Posted: Dec 6th 2007 10:00AM falcomadol said
I don't think that changing graphics techniques necessarily means that there will be a corresponding gameplay sacrifice though.
It's something that we're just going to have to wait and see as it emerges later.
SF2 didn't change it's core gameplay when it went from CPS to CPS-2 and SF3 didn't radically change the gameplay when they moved to CPS-3, nor did it change when they put SFA/Z3 on NAOMI.
Capcom has a good track record of starting a new series when they want to make significant gameplay changes (with the exception of the bastard EX games), so you have Rival Schools United by Fate and Power Stone in that solidly 3d realm. I don't believe that they're going to make the EX mistake again in the main Street Fighter franchise.
This change is IMHO more likely to be equivalent to the artistic style change from SF2 to SFA/Z. We don't need to be freaking out just yet.
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It's something that we're just going to have to wait and see as it emerges later.
SF2 didn't change it's core gameplay when it went from CPS to CPS-2 and SF3 didn't radically change the gameplay when they moved to CPS-3, nor did it change when they put SFA/Z3 on NAOMI.
Capcom has a good track record of starting a new series when they want to make significant gameplay changes (with the exception of the bastard EX games), so you have Rival Schools United by Fate and Power Stone in that solidly 3d realm. I don't believe that they're going to make the EX mistake again in the main Street Fighter franchise.
This change is IMHO more likely to be equivalent to the artistic style change from SF2 to SFA/Z. We don't need to be freaking out just yet.
Posted: Dec 6th 2007 5:20PM bm111 said
"Rival Schools is the perfect example of how Street Fighter could be successfully done in 3D."
The graphics are still 3D, they look like complete crap compared to something like SF3. That's the whole issue. There's this ONE franchise left with some great potential for beautiful 2D animation (which will always look superior to 3D animation IMO), and they just have to kill it. They just have to make it 3D, because EVERYTHING HAS TO BE 3D DON'T YOU GET IT, EVERYTHING EVERYTHING EVERYTHING!
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The graphics are still 3D, they look like complete crap compared to something like SF3. That's the whole issue. There's this ONE franchise left with some great potential for beautiful 2D animation (which will always look superior to 3D animation IMO), and they just have to kill it. They just have to make it 3D, because EVERYTHING HAS TO BE 3D DON'T YOU GET IT, EVERYTHING EVERYTHING EVERYTHING!
Posted: Dec 6th 2007 7:00AM (Unverified) said
noooooooo
give me sprites ;_____;
To be honest I'm a bit of a fanboy when it comes to sprites....
Looks like its back to Melty Blood and Guilty Gear for my 2D sprite-ness~
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give me sprites ;_____;
To be honest I'm a bit of a fanboy when it comes to sprites....
Looks like its back to Melty Blood and Guilty Gear for my 2D sprite-ness~
Posted: Dec 6th 2007 7:02AM (Unverified) said
Forgot to mention, even if it isn't 2D anymore that screenshot is quite awesome and it does look pretty
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Posted: Dec 6th 2007 7:19AM velocitystrike said
Just saw this on Kotaku - far too many "package" comments...
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