Ultra Street Fighter IV: fists-on with the newest additions to Capcom’s cast

http://media.edge-online.com/wp-cont...Fighter-IV.jpgPublisher: Capcom Developer: TBC Format: PS3, PC, 360 Origin: Japan Release: June (360, PS3); August (PC)

Yoshinori Ono, Street Fighter IV’s grinning mascot producer, is off the project – as is, more worryingly, Dimps, the fighting-game specialist team set up by series creator Takashi Nishiyama to handle the development of each of iteration of Street Fighter IV to date. Capcom is unwilling to disclose the company working in its place, but whatever studio it is will benefit from a supremely balanced foundation on which to build this, the final update in Capcom’s flagship fighting series. Five new fighters – the fifth of whom is still yet to be revealed – bring the roster to 44 characters, the largest in the series’ history. Two new online modes, a handful of new stages and a host of re-rebalancing tweaks for the established cast aim to make this the perfectly balanced package, if such a thing were actually possible.Three fundamental changes provide the greatest threat to that balance. The Red Focus Attack is a new, more powerful move available to every character. It can absorb multiple hits, instead of the single attack of the standard Focus. The cost for the additional defensive capacity is two blocks of special meter, but when any Red Focus Attack causes an opponent to crumple to the floor, giving every character in the game a way of comboing into Ultra, it’s a price worth paying.Then there’s Delayed Wakeup, which lets you stay on the floor a little longer after a knockdown to put your opponent off their rhythm. It’s primarily designed to nerf characters like Cammy, Akuma and Ibuki who are at their most effective when an opponent is getting up off the ground, but making it a universal mechanic risks hurting those of the cast who need all the help they can get.

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