I remember way back when the Street Fighter franchise started up and my buddies and I fed the machines at the arcade our quarters by the handful. One of the best things to ever happen was console versions of the game thought they were never quite the same since they didn’t have all the buttion in the right places. This resulted in the fighter pads, strange little devices you had to find a solid surface for but overall gave you the arcade experience on your games that used all the buttons. I wonder how many wound up gathering dust after interest in the games began to wane. They are still around as are the Street Fighter games. My questions is how playable is it without one of those pads?
I should probably discuss the game before I get into the gameplay. This game is steeped in a very rich tradition of playstyles, graphics and storylines and it doesn’t fail now. This is technically a revamping of Street Fighter IV but it is done so well that it can be considered a sequel since it has new characters, tweaks to play and and updated feel to it. To put it simply it maintains tradition while updating and expanding. There isn’t much more you can ask from the game. It is well done and fits the Street Fighter family.
I got lucky that I got to play the game on OnLive for the review because that means I got the opportunity to play it solely using the keyboard, then afterwards using a controller with the wireless controller and the micro console. First I tried it out on the keyboard where every button that would be used on a fighting pad had a corresponding assignment on the keyboard so that combos you would remember from the gamepad could be quickly and easily mastered. The lack of control stick caused a bit of a learning curve but I got used to that well enough. The only real problem came in when I started getting my butt handed to me I would sometimes start buttons mashing and let me tell you, you can do some pretty painful and confusing things if you start button mashing, miss your keys and start hitting dozens of hotkeys a second. Luckily I have a sense of humor and sense of my system otherwise I could see that melting some folks down. Heck I didn’t know there was a hotkey for some of the stuff I did. I just had to stop and start laughing.
As you can see I don’t take gaming overly serious. at least not these kind of fighting games. I think I am a challenging player at these type of fighter games, but there are plenty of better players. Occasional wins and shouts of fun and laughter are my key to them. It brings up one quick point I want to make, if you are practicing the game make sure you are not in spectator mode or visible to online players in another way. Not only will they learn your techniques you prefer, but sharks will fish for easier prey and on some systems you may get jeered for not immediately playing someone. It happened to me a lot.
Now the nice thing about OnLive is they also have a micro-console that allows you to not just experience your game on the PC but also on the console as well. There are some definite extras on an OnLive controller such as the ability to record brag clips, play them back, then post them on the internet for others to see but when it comes down to actual playing if you are familiar with an XBox controller or a PC controller then you have the general idea and feel for the console controller and you can pick it up and start playing in no time. For the most part you are ok if you button mash as long as you avoid the brag controls.
Last Call:
This game is just as fun to play on the PC or console as it is with a fighting pad. If you have a fighting pad already around or plan to play the game competitively then you make want to go fighting pad. Otherwise you can get it on OnLive and play it as PC and console and have tons of fun. If you aren’t sure just go to http://www.onlive.com/promote then you can give it a shot for free and decide for yourself.
