Street Fighter 4: Dedicated Post-Release Impression Thread

[wip3outguy7]

I won 38 rounds straight yesterday and did not lose. Took on all comers no selective matching. I am a total fanboy but once again I am average AT BEST at Street Fighter games in general.

You may be better than you think.

What we commonly forget is that a lot of us grew up with these games and have a firm grasp on the basic knowledge and understanding of how they work. Even if you weren't "of age" when SFII was king in the arcades and on consoles but have been playing it over the years while the 2D fighting genre was largely ignored - you are leaps above the rest of the competition.

I have a feeling a lot of people playing online (no experience first hand, myself) are casual gamers who bought into the hype and picked up SFIV. It's the next Guitar Hero to them. The closest experience they have probably ever had to a 2D style fighter is Soul Calibur or Tekken. And we all know how well that translates into Street Fighter. Most of these guys can barely roll off a hadouken, much less time a combo or focus attack.

That said, the competition is going to be generally weak for months to come. The SF series is liberally filled with "tough love". You learn the system and become a better player or you get frustrated and remain a scrub or walk away from it entirely.

[IcKy99]

I won 38 rounds straight yesterday and did not lose. Took on all comers no selective matching. I am a total fanboy but once again I am average AT BEST at Street Fighter games in general.

You may be better than you think.

What we commonly forget is that a lot of us grew up with these games and have a firm grasp on the basic knowledge and understanding of how they work. Even if you weren't "of age" when SFII was king in the arcades and on consoles but have been playing it over the years while the 2D fighting genre was largely ignored - you are leaps above the rest of the competition.

I have a feeling a lot of people playing online (no experience first hand, myself) are casual gamers who bought into the hype and picked up SFIV. It's the next Guitar Hero to them. The closest experience they have probably ever had to a 2D style fighter is Soul Calibur or Tekken. And we all know how well that translates into Street Fighter. Most of these guys can barely roll off a hadouken, much less time a combo or focus attack.

That said, the competition is going to be generally weak for months to come. The SF series is liberally filled with "tough love". You learn the system and become a better player or you get frustrated and remain a scrub or walk away from it entirely.

good this means ill get more wins in, hopefully keep my winning streak going.

[wip3outguy7]

I just thought of something else.

Most of the really good Street Fighter players probably won't be playing online. Most of them already have a circle of known good players to play against in person. Why would they waste their time with a possibly laggy experience against a bunch of scrubs?

[gradualmeltdown]

yeah, I think you are completely right. I just wish they were online because this is the chance for me to play them. I'm hoping the tournament system will create better matches. The matchmaking system in this game could be its downfall but they can fix it.

[Kevman]

I won 38 rounds straight yesterday and did not lose. Took on all comers no selective matching. I am a total fanboy but once again I am average AT BEST at Street Fighter games in general.

You may be better than you think.

What we commonly forget is that a lot of us grew up with these games and have a firm grasp on the basic knowledge and understanding of how they work. Even if you weren't "of age" when SFII was king in the arcades and on consoles but have been playing it over the years while the 2D fighting genre was largely ignored - you are leaps above the rest of the competition.

I have a feeling a lot of people playing online (no experience first hand, myself) are casual gamers who bought into the hype and picked up SFIV. It's the next Guitar Hero to them. The closest experience they have probably ever had to a 2D style fighter is Soul Calibur or Tekken. And we all know how well that translates into Street Fighter. Most of these guys can barely roll off a hadouken, much less time a combo or focus attack.

That said, the competition is going to be generally weak for months to come. The SF series is liberally filled with "tough love". You learn the system and become a better player or you get frustrated and remain a scrub or walk away from it entirely.

Let's hope I learn the system soon though. So far I can't even beat seth on easiest difficulty (unless I use someone I've been playing with). I'm almost at the point where I'm going to quit ad go back to SF2.

[the7k]

So, I'm guessing the matchmaking isn't so much matchmaking as it is randomly throwing people together?

This is one of the things I hate about so many fighters online. They give no indication whatsoever as to the player's skill level. Are you fighting a scrub or a pro? No idea, and as such, no way to be sure you'll have a good match. It'll either be an easy victory or an agonizing defeat.

In MGO, (Not a fighter, but an example of doing matchmaking right) joining a random game would make sure that everyone you fought with was at around the same skill level as you, give or take a couple of levels. Why is it so hard for other games to do this as well?

[Note]

Meltdown, you set the filter status in the request options to 'more skilled', and are still getting scrubs? What character do you use?

I've randomly picked up Sakura in this game, but I've lost a few close matches. Still need to get down some better strats against charge characters, especially an XBL friends Balrog and Dhalsim ... roughed me up yesterday.

I'm also interested in Abel. I think he'd be fun to play against all the Shotos online. I used Cammy in HD remix, maybe I'll revert back to her eventually too.

[gradualmeltdown]

It sucks, for some reason I can't get anyone to join that way. I finally ran into a few wrecking balls and made a few friends that way. I have formally had my ass handed to me by Fei Long and a few Viper players!

I use Sagat and Sakura. Sagat is just a god damn beast, and Sakura's focus attack range is sickening. Just love playin stupid shoto players with her! Now that I've seen Viper played well she is my new focus. She can really overwhelm anyone who hasn't seen her best.

[Note]

Nice to see another Sakura player here! I'd like to tap into your strategies (if you don't mind). What's your general approach for Shotos and charges?

For shoto scrubs online, I usually I try to j.HK > c.HP > H.Shouken. I'm still getting down the j.HK > c.HP > EX Tatsu combo, my timing on the last move is too slow. But I think it could be a real killer if I get it down, the juggling abilities at the end is sick.

Every once in a while I like to just do H.Shouken from a distance, because the range is so good they never see it coming. Dashing full force towards 'em, hopping over a fireball and throwing out that combo above can be fun too.

I think I may play too agressive at times, which has caused me losses against better players. Do you turtle at all with Sakura?

[gradualmeltdown]

Agro is good in SF4 and especially with Sakura. To be honest with you I don't really drop many combo's with her. I mostly use her long range fierce Shoryuken to take advantage of missed low kicks by the opponent. Once I'm in I often Focus cancel the last hit of the Shoryuken so that I don't get hit on the way down. Whats more evil is that if you time it right the opponent will recover directly into an unblockable focus attack.

Generally I've never used more than 3-5 hit combo's in SF4. My strategy with most players is to widdle down the opponent using standard moves with high priority and zone them. Once they feel threatened when their lifebar is growing lower and lower I just wait for them to do something stupid. Then I unleash on them some speacial tech on them.