To start, I am a casual player in the fighting genre, and bought this game as part of a bundle completely on a whim. Basically, Humble Bundle released the Capcom Arcade Classics and Fighter Pack, and I decided to give it a try. This bundle included various versions of Street Fighter 2 and 3 (arcade and console), Ultra Street Fighter IV, and Street Fighter V Championship edition. I just played street fighter V, tried a bit of the old arcades games, and place the rest of the bundle into my backlog. Anyway, now that I decided to finally give this game a try, what are my thoughts?

Regarding online play. This game is old. It has been replaced by SF V, which in turn, has been replaced by SF VI. The player base has moved onto the next game twice. I didn't buy this game for competitive (or even online) play, so, I will only describe it (and not review it). In terms of online options, it seems to be as varied as SF V. First, it does supports ranked battles, but I am guessing that there isn't enough players for rankings to work well. Second, it supports an "endless" battles option, which I assume is just casual battles. Additionally, it also supports team and tournament battles (but I didn't try them).

Regarding the optimization. This game is much better optimized than Street Fighter V. Period. It runs at over 100 FPS, using default configurations (on a low end machine). Street Fighter V runs in slow motion on the same machine, and has to use much lower configurations to run properly. I understand that SF IV is an older game, and hence, designed for older machines, but what the heck was added to SF V to require the very large boost in requirements? This game run better, looks better, and even battle better, than SF V for the same machine. Heck, it even starts quicker, as it doesn't have to connect to the Capcom Fighting Network.

Regarding the issues... First, there isn't a tutorial. This is not a major issue, as the tutorial for SF V was pretty short and simple. Second, there isn't a story mode. While the story mode of SF V was pretty short (less than 5 hours total), it did give some incentive for beginners to play around, before doing training and going online. This would have been a "nice to have" feature. And finally, I couldn't get this game to run in full screen mode (not a big deal though).

About the game modes ... Arcade Mode. This mode is the basic/classic battle mode. Interestingly, it is much better done than SF V. There is an introduction for this mode. The second player can jump in at any time. And it can even take an online battle request. Overall, it's much better than the arcade mode of SF V. Also, there is an versus mode. I am not sure why this mode was included, as the arcade mode allows a second player to jump in at any time. I guess it can be used for parties, where your friends can just setup and play, instead of jumping in and out of arcade mode.

Challenge Mode. SF IV challenge mode is much simpler than the SF V challenge mode. Street Fighter V has five different options -- Trial, Demonstration, Missions, Extra Battle, and Survivor. Street Fighter IV only have a trail option. It is available for both the original and the Ultra version of SF IV. Additionally, as you play the arcade mode, it will also unlock the Car Crusher and Barrel Buster challenges too.

The trail challenge mode is somewhat like a tutorial. Basically, the trials are for moves, that is either a special move, or when chained together, produces nice combos. They are available for all characters, as each character has different moves. For each trial, you are given the names of the moves to perform (and performing it passes the trial). The issue with this mode is a lack of a "teaching" element. You are given the names of the moves (and the inputs for them) -- and that's it. You are responsible for practicing until you can accomplish the special move or combo. You are given little feedback whether each move is perform correctly, no details for the timing, and/or details on what you are doing wrong. There is also no details on positioning, as sometimes, it is hard to make contact with each move in the combo.

Regarding in-game currency. Basically, Street Fighter IV does *not* have in-game currency. This is really great. With SF V, you have to earn in-game currency from the story mode, and then, grind out more currency with weekly missions. This last part may take some time, as the items to purchase may get expensive. Or you can purchase the currency from the online store. Street Fighter IV does not have an online store. It's actually pretty nice. You simply play the game, and unlock stuff along the way -- without monetization getting in the way.

Overall, I do recommend this game, but not if you are looking for competitive (or even just online) play. It's a fun game, with fun characters, and includes a few challenges/modes to keep you interested. Most of all, it is much better optimized (for more satisfying battles) than SF V. On the other hand, if you have higher end hardware, SF V may be a better budget option, due to the inclusion of more modes (challenges and story). Regardless, I really enjoyed playing this game, and is leaning towards it more than SF V for some aspects. I had only planned to have SF V available for friends (when they come over), but considering the satisfying battles, I may also include SF IV too. To better judge, I may just flip/flop playing the different variants of Street Fighter, to see which game works best for which mood. For now, basically, this game is recommended, especially when on sale.

Its a big doo doo

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