Consider yourself a serious fighting game fan? The third iteration of Capcom’s best-selling Super Street Fighter IV brawler is now ready for action.

• 

  Gannett

  Consider yourself a serious fighting game fan? The third iteration of Capcom’s best-selling ‘Super Street Fighter IV’ brawler is now ready for action.

Gannett

Consider yourself a serious fighting game fan? The third iteration of Capcom’s best-selling ‘Super Street Fighter IV’ brawler is now ready for action.

Called Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition, this definitive version adds new fighters, better balancing between them and a few online features not found in its predecessors, such as viewing and sharing replays.

Specifically, along with the 2D fighting action — which pits two unique characters against one another in a handful of arenas — this new disc features 39 characters, including four new ones: Hong King twins Yun and Yang (first introduced in Street Fighter III), the tough-as-nails Oni and Evil Ryu.

In case you haven’t played past games, don’t expect to simply “button-mash” your way through Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition. There’s quite a bit of depth to master here, including multiple kicks, punches, special moves, blocks and chained combos — per character. The single-player game against computer-controlled opponents will sharpen your offensive and defensive skills before you play against someone on the same television (or computer) or venture online for head-to-head play or tournaments. Even seasoned players will find it won’t be a cakewalk to win matches (best two out of three), as you move up the ranks.

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The game plays the same on all three platforms, but the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 version might be more comfortable than a PC because of their controllers (unless you have a gamepad for your computer). If the Xbox 360 version is any indication, controls are tight and responsive, and of you like, buttons can be reprogrammed to your liking. Alternatively, you can pick up a licensed Street Fighter controller to make it feel like you’re in the arcades thanks to its authentic joysticks and multiple buttons.

So, is the game worth the cash? Yes, assuming of course you enjoy fighting games and don’t own a previous version of Super Street Fighter IV. If you do, just download one of the updates rather than buying it again on a disc for $40: a free update is available for the new characters, while beefier $15 update offers online matchmaking options to connect with other Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition players.

The new characters will be a treat for longtime Street Fighter fans. Plus, the balancing issues discussed (and debated) in online forums are addressed in this version. Those who like to play online will find a new Replay Follower (follow up to five separate player replays) and you can now distribute your recorded replays to up to 50 players. On a related note, the new Elite Channel lets you watch replays from elite players who have a rating of 3000PP or higher.

What’s more, the first downloadable content (DLC) pack for Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition is now available now via Xbox Live Marketplace, PlayStation Network for PlayStation 3 and Games for Windows Live Marketplace. Starting at $4.99, this DLC features eight new costume additions for the four new characters and is compatible with both the digitally upgraded versions and retail copies of the game.

Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition

Platform: Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3, PC

Genre: Fighting

Developer: Capcom

Publisher: Capcom

Website: streetfighter.com

Price: $39.99

Rating: “Mature”

Score: 3.0 stars (out of 4)

Contact Saltzman atC1tech@gannett.com

Posted

Twisted Pixel’s frat boy style humour is definitely an acquired taste (or at least it requires an acquired skill to ignore it) but their games do have some of the best production values of any downloadable game and they obviously have a great love for old school arcade gaming.

Ahead of The Maw and Comic Jumper the original ‘Splosion Man is probably their best game. As is obvious from the title (a reference to Pac-Man sequel Ms. Pac-Man) this follow-up features a new female protagonist and… well not a lot else that’s different to be honest.

Previously you were controlling an exploding stick man, this time you’re controlling an exploding stick woman with a bow on her head. The fact that she’s escaping from a laboratory tells you all you need to know about the plot, as she runs about like an overexcited Looney Tunes character.

An apt comparison given one too many detentions leave her looking like Daffy Duck after smoking an exploding cigar. Apart from exploding three times in a row you have no other abilities, but the mileage the game manages to get out of this apparently self-destructive superpower is impressive.

The game’s essentially a 2D platformer and at first the primary use of the explosions is solely as a means to propel yourself through the air. There’s also a lot of wall-jumping and other old school tricks of the trade.

Later levels are more puzzle-based and there’s some inventive use of gaming stalwarts such as the exploding barrel. There are some new ideas too, with a number of chase sequences where you grind along rails. The most significant addition though is Donkey Kong style cannons that can shoot you across a level, although there are a few different types and they’re not clearly distinguished visually.

The separate co-operative mode for up to four people also returns in expanded form, as you use each other’s explosions to get around.

But there are still some noticeable schoolboy errors, with stodgy controls and often frustratingly sparse use of checkpoints. The level design also seems less organic than last time, with lots of impossible-to-guess deaths that can only be avoided by rote learning.

The graphics are even better and more varied than last time though, and well up to the standards of most retail games – if there were any cartoon style 2D platformers to compare it to on the Xbox 360.

The game’s greatest asset is its humour, but it’s inconsistent no matter how attuned you are too it – although if you find beards to be intrinsically funny you’ll enjoy yourself more than most. The live action cut scenes, something that Twisted Pixel have been experimenting with more and more each game, are particularly inspired but a lot of the more incidental stuff is where the misses start to outweigh the hits.

There’s a worrying air of casual sexism about the whole game, from the main character’s obsession with shoes and shopping – to a strange jibe about ‘cheating’ if you want to skip a level. Ms. Splosion Man herself is a likeable sort though, with some fun animation and the habit of singing random Spice Girls lyrics as she goes.

But much like its star’s musical repartee the game does run out of ideas long before its otherwise generous running time is up, which was a failing with the original too and does little to really justify this sequel.

It’s fairly cheap though – the concept of 1200 Microsoft Points as standard for new games seems to have largely disappeared of late – and as unrefined and, arguably, unnecessary as this sequel may be it’s still far more interesting than anything retail games have offered up in the last few weeks.

In Short: Not a sequel that seemed desperately necessary, and it’s arguable if the end result is any real improvement, but still an enjoyable – if quickly disposable – download.

Pros: The basic concepts aren’t quite as original as they were but they’re still exploited well. Decent co-op. Some of the cut scenes are genuinely hilarious.

Cons: Runs out of ideas (and clichés) well before the end. Inconsistent platforming and checkpoints. Worryingly sexist at times.

Score: 6/10

Formats: Xbox Live Arcade

Price: 800 Microsoft Points/£6.80

Publisher: Microsoft Studios

Developer: Twisted Pixel Games

Release Date: 13th July 2011

Age Rating: 12

Thoughts? Email
gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk
or leave a comment below

This year the panel picked through 100 titles to settle on these 10, the PAX 10. Some might look familiar if you keep an eye on the indie scene, or saw this year’s Indie Game Challenge.

Word Fighter (iOS Android) – Feel Every Yummy – A one-on-one word battling game that mixes rules from popular word games like Boggle and Scrabble and wraps them around a competitive fighting environment. Think “Street Fighter” meets “Words with Friends”, or word games mashed together with “Super Puzzle Fighter”.

Antichamber (PC) – Alexander Bruce – Journey through the depths within a non-Euclidean labyrinth where geometry and space follow unfamiliar rules, and many obstacles are a matter of perception. Players must create, destroy and manipulate matter in this mind-bending psychological exploration game.

Atom Zombie Smasher (PC, Mac, Linux) – Blendo Games – The zombie apocalypse is upon us! Take strategic command of mercenary forces to conduct massive rescue operations using military forces such as snipers, artillery crews, and orbital bombardments to hold back the undead while the civilians escape.

Fez (XBLA) – Polytron – Guide Gomez, a 2D creature, on a voyage of discovery into the mysterious third dimension. Change his perspective and look at the world in a different way.

Jamestown: Legend of the Lost Colony (PC) – Final Form Games – A neo-classical top-down shooter for up to 4 players set on 17th-century British Colonial Mars with a new twist on the genre. There are no shared pools of health or lives; so long as any player survives, the team can be brought back from death.

Snapshot (PC) – Retro Affect – Pic, a robot camera, can actually absorb objects into photographs, removing them from existence! By pasting pictures back into the world, captured objects – everything from doors, light, even copies of yourself – can be used to solve puzzles.

Solar 2 (PC) – Murudai – In this open-world, sandbox game set in an infinite abstract universe, players are the planets. Play constructively: grow your system, nurture life and attack enemy life in huge battles. Play destructively: crash into objects and cause chaos, use orbiting objects like wrecking balls and steal planets.

Splatters (PC) – SpikySnail – You play as a group of semi-suicidal, liquid filled Splatters that get their kicks by igniting in colourful confetti bombs of liquid. Crash into spikes, ride the slides, Air-Strike into bombs or do just any stunt-combo you can think of. With every new manoeuvre learned, each show becomes more spectacular.

Vanessa Saint-Pierre Delacroix Her Nightmare (PC) – Bad Pilcrow – Standing between Vanessa and freedom are platforming mechanics. The twist? Her two-dimensional world lies on the surface of a three-dimensional cube, and players must rotate each face to find clever solutions to a wide variety of problems.

A Flipping Good Time (PC) – Digipen Institute of Technology – Players will have a flipping good time in this fast-paced free-flowing 2D platformer as they flip and fly through an expansive underground world using the fluid nature of gravity to avoid hazardous terrain.

The PAX 10

Both bands are nominated for best ‘MOJO Best Album’, with Arcade Fire also nominated for ‘Best Live Act’.

MOJO’s editor-in-chief Phil Alexander said: ”It’s been a tremendous year for emerging talent and this category confirms that. The MOJO Breakthrough category has a great pedigree when it comes to previous winners with the likes of Corinne Bailey Rae, Seasick Steve and The Low Anthem picking up this award.

“It’s no exaggeration to say that all five nominees would be worthy recipients. At MOJO, we love them all.”

Rumer, Miles Kane, Josh T Pearson, Villagers and The Vaccines have been nominated in the ‘MOJO Breakthrough Act’ category.

The ceremony will take place in Central London on July 21.

Original Story: A rating for Limbo popped up on the Korean rating board’s website earlier today, having been requested by Sony Computer Entertainment Korea. That would suggest the game is likely headed to the PlayStation 3 at some point in the relatively near future.

The Playdead-developed game first came out on Xbox 360 last July as a part of Microsoft’s Summer of Arcade promotion. Prior to that, an ESRB rating for PC and PS3 versions of the game was found, contradicting previous announcements that it would be an XBLA exclusive. Playdead later said it was a mistake and that no PS3 or PC versions would be coming; that’s likely because the game was published by Microsoft. Perhaps now that almost a year has passed by, the developer is free to move it to other platforms — hopefully a PC version will be coming alongside the PS3 one.

Limbo stood out because of its unique black-and-white art style and characters who are presented as silhouettes. It’s a 2D platform/puzzle game that ended up doing very well — it was the best-selling Summer of Arcade game “by a long stretch,” and judging by their first week of availability only, it was the second best-selling XBLA game of 2010.

Fans of Limbo can look forward to Playdead’s new game, which is said to be a new IP and “if you liked Limbo, it’ll definitely be for you.”

Source: GameSetWatch

Relaxnews

Monday, 27 June 2011

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Arcade Fire, ‘Scenes from the Suburbs’

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4.5 out of 5

Game Rant’s William Case reviews Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition

Let’s be clear at the very beginning: unless you’re a competitive Street Fighter IV player or have yet to pick up one of the installments in the high-quality fighter, then the content the additional Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition probably isn’t something that you need to immediately seek out.

That said, adding an additional four characters (and bringing the final roster to a overwhelming 39), along with fixing balance issues and tweaks, the downloadable Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition is a fantastic addition for the keen eye and sharp finger. The add-on is the cherry on top of an already perfect sundae.

Looking primarily at the new characters, and what they bring to the roster, the biggest change would arguably have to be Evil Ryu. A blend of Ryu and Akuma bathed in dark flames and angst, he’s a fearsome blend of shoryukens and teleportation. Unable to throw Akuma’s air fireballs, Evil Ryu instead comes with a lunging axe kick, which can travel nearly half the screen when boosted with an EX. A fairly imposing fighter, especially when using his dive-kick or Ultra fireball, he will be a big favorite during online matches, and will likely replace many of the Ryu players.

Returning from their stint in Street Fighter III, Yun and Yang get an HD upgrade, though not to the full extent that they could have. Yun easily has the best screen movement, with a flurry of swift punches and spinning shoulder charges (which will also help avoid missles in a pinch). Yang is just as speedy, bolstering an invulnerable dash and a forward roll that transition into a rising kick. Both character’s attacks seem slightly underpowered, yet don’t let that fool you: their ability to string together combos will make them as fearsome opponents – as any top-tier character (as long as someone knows how to tap into it).

Though the character that stole the show is Oni, who enters the stage looking like a beefed up Dragonball Z character (hair and all). Oni really has the whole package; a spinning hurricane kick that rivals Ken’s, two types of fireballs that will either hit multiple times or charge up for distance, and that’s not even scratching the surface. In the air, Oni is almost untouchable as he is deadly. Sporting a ground smash special that stuns his opponent, his ability to dash midair, and use the Raging Demon mid-air (though hitting only opponents in air), Oni is versatile.

In fact, when it’s all broken down on paper Oni may be the most original of the character sets to come out of the additional Super Street Fighter IV Arcade content. That’s not exactly a bad thing, but it will potentially cause an issue when playing online or with friends, where Oni’s will pop up like weeds everywhere – until further balancing has gone through.

And that will need to happen. While the addition did a great job at refining the hit boxes and lag times between the already established characters, the new additions will still need some work to be done down the line. It’s nothing new, and of course competitors will make sure Evil Ryu and Yun go through their paces, but it may cause some initial problems.

Updated online section is another nice change in the addition – specifically the Replay Channel and filtering. Now, players will be able to check out the battles of top-ranked fighters, while also adding them to your channel. The function is streamlined and thus far, actually effective. Plus, Capcom realized that not everyone would have the Arcade addition, so filtering has been enabled, giving you the option to look for players with, without, or combined for an even mixing.

Unless you’re a player that is in it for the latest in Street Fighter action, that pays attention to the minute stat changes, or plays in weekend tournaments, you can hold-off on the Arcade Edition. Capcom did announce that they would be releasing the game in stores as well, giving you plenty of time to wait it out. Yet if you feel compelled to purchase, it’s worth every penny for the hardcore fighter.

Super Street Fighter Arcade Edition is currently available for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC later this year

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In the UK, one of the major music prizes is the Mercury Prize, awarded to one single album out of a large pool of nominees. The most recent winner was The XX, another independent group, for the debut record. But this surprised no one, as that record was a strong force in British music, young kids hitting a synthesis of rock and dance that England feeds on. Across the Atlantic, Fucked Up were the big winners of Canada’s analogous Polaris Prize in 2009. A punk rock band from Toronto, they certainly live far from the mainstream in terms of both sales and visibility. But was their win really a confirmation of their musical superiority? After all, their singer, Pink Eyes, is an enormous man who is always shirtless at shows, who always beats himself in the forehead with a microphone until he bleeds. He’s had a stint as a talking head on Fox News. He is, quite literally, an outsize personality, and, unknown or otherwise, the public loves a spectacle.

This year, Arcade Fire are nominated for the prize and surely are favorites to win. Neil Young is the prize’s other big name, with some mid-size acts like Destroyer and Stars mixed in. This being the long list, there are a few long shot groups like Braids and Young Galaxy, bands loved by blogs and sometimes critics who slog through SXSW, log their vans with many miles. Curiously, though, Toronto’s The Weeknd is also nominated, for his mixtape, House of Balloons. Undoubtedly on his way to a greater popularity, the RB singer’s mixtape is a great, adventurous, if not somewhat uneven release, with many meandering moments and some great ones too buried. Which is exactly what a first release should be. The mixtape was released online only, nonchalantly uploaded to file sharing services with no press push and a dearth of information. All of the attention stirred has been based solely on promise out of the gate. The Weeknd may plausibly some day reign as mainstream king, but that enormity is still many moons away, the way he clearly wants it. So why nominate House of Balloons? Surely it’s received more love than, say, fellow nominee Doug Paisley’s gorgeous folk album, but that’s a complete thought, presented as such. House of Balloons is only an inkling. So what does it mean that it was nominated for a nation’s prize? Has the mainstream dipped so far below the surface that there is no distinction? Or are the decision makers simply doing better, dirtier work? Or worse—should they continue to anoint already chosen kings and let the business of the underground continue unmolested? As frustrated fans bemoaning the unknown Arcade Fire’s Grammy win know, the given of rewarding stardom is clearly eroding. And, conjointly, so is stardom itself.