iPhone Game Review: Street Fighter IV

  As a long time fan of fighting games on the consoles such as: Mortal Kombat, Tekken, and of course Street Fighter. I was somewhat hesitant to try out the iPhone/iPod Touch port of 'Street Fighter IV'. And to be fair, I have yet ton play this game on the console as well. Literally, the iPhone verism is my first hands-on experience with this title. And let me say up format, it does not disappoint.

I have a hard time purchasing apps from the App Store that cost more than $3 or $4 dollars. But after reading good things about this app, I couldn't hold out any longer. Even at $9.99 from the App Store, I knew I'd have to check it out.  After starting up the app I was immediately blown away by the awesome intro scene. The artistic flare it showcases is simply amazing. The sound is great, and I am loving the "stylized" type of graphics the devs went with for this title.

Ok, first things first. The sound is spectacular, the themes are catchy and the fighting sound effects are dead on with the actions. The in-game graphics are definitely impressive. The gameplay graphics carry over the "stylized", cartoon type graphics that the opening scene shows off. Personally, a lot of games are going for a realistic look; however, games like Street Fighter need to keep the originality by staying unrealistic. And they have definitely pulled that off here.

Second item to cover is controls. The game is played via an onscreen game pad. The buttons are semi-transparent by default and can be adjusted even more in the options menu. The controls can hang some, but that is to be expected. Controls aren't always air tight on console fighters either. Some of that may be my iPod Touch, it is a little behind on updates or possibly the fact that it is a 2nd generation model. Anyways, it plays just fine. And the game is currently optimized for iOS 4.

With plenty of game modes and characters to play as, I don't for see this title getting old anytime soon. A lot of games for the iPhone/iPod Touch have limited replay quality. But I have found myself jamming away at this title and having fun that is reminiscent of the good old days playing my friend's Sega Genesis during a Street Fighter 2 marathon.

The fighters returning to this title are your maim staples of the Street Fighter ga,es over the years. Including Ken, Ryu, Chun Li, Cammy, Blanka, M. Bison and several more. The game features a practice mode, single player campaign, and even Bluetooth multiplayer. It would have been nice to have the capability to play against other people via a wifi network connection, but hey; beggars can't be choosers, right? :)

Overall, this is a great title from the App Store. A little pricier than my usual app purchases, but I'm definitely happy with it. If you own an iDevice and love a good fighting title, check this one out!

App Store Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/street-fighter-iv/id354655665?mt=8
Cost: $9.99
Rating: 5 out of 5.

 *Screen captures taken during play on my 2nd Generation iPod Touch.