Super Street Fighter IV's final boss being made even tougher to beat
by Ben Gilbert 
{ Oct 20th 2009 at 11:00PM } 
After Capcom's Seth Killian spoke with Kotaku earlier today regarding the unbelievably cheap final boss (can you tell we're bitter?), we shot an email to him to make sure he hadn't misspoke when he said, "Seth will be even cheaper and more irritating." Killian clarified his statement for us, saying, "[SSFIV producer Yoshinori] Ono himself promised that Seth would be even more challenging ... 'cheaper' and 'more irritating' are premature since the AI isn't finished but he isn't going to be a pushover."
When we wrote back, terrified that we'd never get to play the game's entire cast of characters, he reassured us that, "All characters are unlocked to start." We'll be getting our hands on SSFIV later this week and hopefully we'll get to find out just how much more difficult Seth is becoming.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
lnternetjesus @ Oct 20th 2009 11:02PM
Capcom is anti-consumer they deserve to be boycotted.
Freakwincy42 @ Oct 20th 2009 11:25PM
You're thinking of Activision. I'm sick of Capcom, too, tho.
SpyderTaco (PSN: Ar4chNova89) @ Oct 20th 2009 11:33PM
lnternetjesus is anti-knowledge they deserve to be down-voted.
thatguy @ Oct 21st 2009 12:45AM
the boss is so cheap lol
iam mean literaly its like pre played
i bee hiting him and it cut and i appear in his arm torwing me around like wtf?
Morisato @ Oct 21st 2009 4:18AM
Seth in SFIV is actually not all that hard. The first time I played him, he was tough, but once you realize that he's just a program, all it takes is figuring out how your character can take advantage of his programming flaws.
For example, I use C.Viper and on the hardest difficulty, all you need to do is wait in the crouching block position until he does that spin kick at you. Once he does that, just spam LP thunder knuckle and you'll constantly get him no matter what he tries to do.
Now, as a counter example, I also use El Fuerte and on a human player, you can easily win with a good mix up of slides, front slams, back slams, and throws, but vs Seth as a program, he will ALWAYS know what you're going to do... the best way to down Seth as El Fuerte is to wait until he jumps in at you (which he will do constantly) and counter it.
deaftly (PSN,LIVE,STEAM) @ Oct 21st 2009 9:17AM
Pretty soon the internet kiddies won't have anymore companies to boycott by next year at this rate. Idiots.
Prof. Von Manifest of the Clan McCloud (PSN: Manifest37) @ Oct 21st 2009 11:20AM
I as well had a hard time with Seth on my maiden fight with him, but weeks later I no longer spent 2 hours trying to beat him.
I don't remember where I read this, but the best way to beat him is to invoke Sweepfest '09!! You have to be close enough to sweep but not so close that he can easily grab you.
That's the surefire way to defeat him with characters you may not be so good with, but when it comes to your go-to fighter, you have no excuse.
Prof. Von Manifest of the Clan McCloud (PSN: Manifest37) @ Oct 21st 2009 11:23AM
That & I place matches to 1 round & 30 seconds!
Sarge @ Oct 21st 2009 11:33AM
Oh, he's hard, alright. But as stated above, he gets a bit easier once you figure out the AI flaws. The easiest thing to do is play a spacing game and bait him into the crouching Dhalsim-stretch punch. Wide open for jump kick / foot sweep. It's still tough to execute, and you have to have a good knowledge of evasive tactics should you break this pattern, but it should enable pretty much any character to win.
I'm not sure I like the idea of this guy being even cheaper, though. There are clearly times where even in his current incarnation, you get CPU-assisted compensation. Or at least pro-level ability to pull moves. That spinning piledriver makes you want to scream sometimes.
Seishino @ Oct 21st 2009 12:57PM
If the only way to beat a character is to exploit AI flaws, that character is poorly constructed. And Seth is a pretty generic and forgettable final boss design anyway, whose only memorable quality is the degree that his cheapness makes you hate the developers.
I'm glad to see that he's getting some attention from the development team. The optimist in me hopes this will result in a better rounded version of the character. As it is, he's by far the least compelling character, and the only character I'd advocate removing for SSFIV.
Mistah @ Oct 21st 2009 10:22PM
I still have yet to unlock all the characters in Street Fighter IV, for the simple fact that is so redundant to do. Thank god all characters are unlocked at the start.
TypeF @ Oct 21st 2009 12:17AM
There's a way to beat seth easy without being hurt. Every fighting game has a way to beat the last boss because they are program to do the same bullshit moves over and over again. All you need to do is knock him down once and get close to him before he gets up and then when he's about to get up like 1 sec after you jump over he will automatly do a uppercut punch or his special and you just low kick knock him out or grab his ass and just loop it over and over again lol. If you have trouble just look at youtube how is done XD
TriniBreds @ Oct 21st 2009 12:27AM
Seth was cheap when the game just came out... But now that I've been playing for a while and actually using SFIV tactics. . . SETH is a CUPCAKE. . . I play arcade mode on hard all the time...
But if anyone is "STILL" having problems with Seth the CPU then you prolly won't have any chance what so ever against an actual SETH player
Misfit Toy @ Oct 21st 2009 9:37AM
Agreed. The thought of playing through all the characters only to get to a cheap end boss. Well, needless to say I don't have half of the characters unlocked. Even on easy it is ridiculous.
Mistah @ Oct 21st 2009 10:31PM
It isn't that it's hard, but it's boring. I don't want to play arcade mode with characters I don't have fun with just to get all the characters in the game. I don't buy fighting games to go through arcade mode over and over again; I buy it to play against other players.
This is a problem I had with Guitar Hero and Rock Band; you had to go through the story mode to get every song, which can be time consuming and boring if you just want to pick up the game and pop it in to play with friends. And thankfully, the developers fixed that by making all songs at the start.
PR0F3TA (PSN - PROPHETA) @ Oct 20th 2009 11:06PM
i remember for the longest i wanted to get this game but something always stopped me from getting it money, bills, school, ect... now i just keep thinking, thank God
WINterfang ( Now with the power to piss you off ) @ Oct 20th 2009 11:06PM
No boss is tougher than Geese on the First Fatal Fury.
Special Agent Steve @ Oct 20th 2009 11:08PM
Hardest boss I ever played... COD4MW Mile High Club on Veteran.
Shattercross @ Oct 20th 2009 11:15PM
I don't know Igniz was damn near impossible in Kof 2001.
willooi (XBL & PSN: willooi) @ Oct 20th 2009 11:22PM
My favourite hardest boss was The End in MGS3. Bloody incredible battle that was, just trying to find the bastard.
Hakaisou @ Oct 20th 2009 11:25PM
How have you people completely forgotten the king of cheap, Gill?
Famed for having an automatic super art that RESTORED ALL HIS HEALTH AFTER YOU BEAT HIM IN A ROUND!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!
WINterfang ( Now with the power to piss you off ) @ Oct 20th 2009 11:28PM
If you hit Gill hard enough while he is recovering it will stop it for regaining full health but yeah Igniz was a bitch, Also Eggman from Sonic 2. ( the one after MechaSonic)
Alton Brown [ XBL: LordToastington] @ Oct 20th 2009 11:36PM
You guys seem to be forgetting the final boss in the first Dragon Warrior.
Alton Brown [ XBL: LordToastington] @ Oct 20th 2009 11:37PM
The Yellow Devil in the first Mega Man was a doucebag.
nighttime @ Oct 20th 2009 11:40PM
really? geese was easy, I was 12 at the time too.
The hardest boss for me, so far, is the final egg man boss battle in Sonic Adventures DC.
Sly @ Oct 20th 2009 11:48PM
yeah, the end was a crazy boss battle. some of the bosses in destroy all humans! 2 also pissed me off royally. then genesis and sephiroth from crisis core were pretty cheap.
WREturns (Please buy and rate my iPhone game, Shape Tapper!) @ Oct 20th 2009 11:56PM
Robocop 3 for the SNES was the hardest game of all time.
PR0F3TA (PSN - PROPHETA) @ Oct 20th 2009 11:59PM
did someone say toughest boss ever?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nscP9QpXoFM
i'd have zero patience for a boss like that
brad77 @ Oct 21st 2009 12:46AM
Holy shit, PR0F3TA. That was insane.
Captain Planet [Planeteer | Power of Captain Planet] @ Oct 21st 2009 12:51AM
Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese...
Wayne Campbell @ Oct 21st 2009 12:59AM
First boss in Heavy Nova. That game was terrible.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VlfPZ-LUA4
Chow @ Oct 21st 2009 1:45AM
It might be the way I play the game, but Magneto in Capcom's Children of the Atom was one of the hardest bosses I've ever encountered. Another good contender is Megalomania I-No.
captainprotonx @ Oct 21st 2009 9:16AM
@ Wayne Campbell
I thought I was the only dude on this planet to play and beat that game.
"Terrible" wasn't in my vocabulary when I was 13 and high on Genesis power.
Papa Midnight @ Oct 21st 2009 10:17AM
@Haka: I was about to say the same thing. If there was ever a boss in history who was a true pain in the ass, it was Gill.
zero2dash @ Oct 21st 2009 10:19AM
You can say that about practically any SNK boss (especially if it's a KOF game). Omega Rugal, Goenitz, Orochi, Krizalid, etc.
Pick any SNK boss vs. Seth. Seth runs home crying like a little school boy who just had his lunch money stolen while being given an atomic wedgie.
Seth isn't hard. Gill is the only boss Capcom has come up with that was hard, because he's SNK in nature. He counters practically every move and everything he does, from a normal special to a Short Kick has a preposterous amount of priority.
Ashraam @ Oct 21st 2009 10:31AM
@ PR0F3TA:
Sweet Jesus. Even if you manage to beat that boss, the final laugh is on you. Congratulations, you have epilepsy!
Blank-Mage @ Oct 21st 2009 10:43AM
What's-Her-Name from Jedi Academy on Jedi Knight difficulty. She deflects anything that isn't a lightsaber, and if you get close enough to USE the lightsaber, she dices you. And she heals when you're over a certain distance.
yyr @ Oct 21st 2009 6:41PM
@ anyone who liked the video PR0F3TA linked to:
http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-br-49-en-15-mushihimesama-70-3cq6.html
You can order that game (Mushihime-sama Futari) for your 360 right now. It's coming out next month. It will be region free. That is all. =)
THE HEAVY @ Oct 20th 2009 11:10PM
Dare we say this boss is SUPER hard?
Special Agent Steve @ Oct 20th 2009 11:12PM
He sure is a fighter...
Sly @ Oct 20th 2009 11:13PM
on the street.
Mr.ESC @ Oct 20th 2009 11:27PM
*sigh
IV
WINterfang ( Now with the power to piss you off ) @ Oct 20th 2009 11:32PM
That was great, Upvotes all around.
Special Agent Steve @ Oct 20th 2009 11:32PM
*spacebar*
Ross @ Oct 20th 2009 11:12PM
Bought the first Street Fighter IV with enthusiasm...Capcom just ensured I'm not buying the second...period. I was on the fence about Super SF4 but this just ran a truck into the fence throwing me 50 feet backwards onto the not buy side.
MC Double Def DP @ Oct 20th 2009 11:18PM
You play the Street Fighter series for the CPU boss fights?
Meh @ Oct 21st 2009 10:42AM
I do.
shane86 @ Oct 20th 2009 11:12PM
Worst boss ever, more cheap than difficult.
uncle jesse @ Oct 21st 2009 8:59AM
Agreed. And his name is Seth. The boss' name... is Seth. It makes it very easy to hate him without even fighting him when you see a picture of him and know his name is Seth.
Papa Midnight @ Oct 21st 2009 10:21AM
Gill would punk Seth all day long.