GAMING
Critical Gamer reviews the
games reviews
* Format: Xbox 360 (version reviewed), PS3, PC, PS Vita * Unleashed: March 9, 2012 (Xbox 360, PS3), May 11 (PC), Autumn (PS Vita) * Publisher: Capcom * Developer: Capcom * Players: 1-4
The Street Fighter and Tekken uni- verses have entered into unholy matrimony with Capcom’s Street Fighter X Tekken. Capcom is wear- ing the trousers here, so SFIV’s lovely hand-drawn-style art is re- a 2D plane. Does that mean that Tekken is little more than a trophy wife?
One of the most important issues for fans of either series is the char- acter roster – which may prove to be a point of contention. 38 play- able characters (the Vita version will have 12 more) isn’t an overly gener- ous number when you consider the huge amount of characters already generated by both franchises. Make no mistake, iconic characters such as Ryu, King, Paul Phoenix, Chun Li, Yoshimitsu, M. Bison, and many more are included. When you realise characters such as Devil Jin, Honda, Jack and Blanka (the last however, you may start to halluci- nate. What’s that coming over the hill, is it DLC? Street Fighter fans will, for the most familiar. Characters retain the same moves and commands, with a few additions or tweaks. As with Cap-
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team format; 2v2 here. Only one character needs to be defeated in order for a round to be lost howev- er, which means deciding when to tag your partner is more important than ever. While some Tekken characters use Street Fighter-style direction/button inputs, many rely on little more than combos of normal attacks. Simi- larly, Tekken fans unfamiliar with their reliance on special moves and sweeping directional inputs initially daunting. Although most moves for Tekken characters can be used with a familiar four button setup, to get the most out of the surprisingly deep combat you will have to take the plunge into the scary world of six – or even eight – button controls. As for somebody not familiar with either franchise who’s just looking for a good beat ‘em up, well… let’s hope they’re quick learners. Fortu- nately, there are a series of helpful and easy to understand tutorial modes. works is the game’s insistence on using ‘gems’. Potentially offensive to purists, each character can take up to three gems into battle, each of which offers a bonus; automatic throw escapes, temporary strength boost, easier special activation, and much more. Most gems re- quire certain conditions to be met in order to activate, and some carry
a handicap to counterbalance the about the gems system is that if you wish to customise your gem setup, you must do so for each of the 38 characters individually. Game speed is fast without being ridiculously so, which is just as well – you can’t tinker with it. In general, bringing a Tekken character to a Street Fight may seem like bringing have projectile attacks. Kudos to Capcom for balancing the game superbly however; this is only an enced players.
Nobody plays beat ‘em ups for deep and thrilling stories but, none- theless, SFXT’s storytelling can’t help but disappoint. Loosely writ- plained, the stories won’t keep you coming back for more. The smooth combat and various character combinations will do that. It’s overwhelmingly a Street Fighter game, but with Tekken characters. Perhaps not terribly surprising, but the inclusion of another franchise’s characters has injected new life into the series. Will it convert Tekken fans who never liked Street Fighter? Don’t know-Ken! Er, that is, no.
written by Critical Gamer’s Luke Kemp
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