Tongue in Cheek Video Game Review of Super Street Fighter IV

1. Friends suggest we play a fighting game.

2. Everyone gets charged into an adrenaline/testosterone kick.

3. Friends will demonstrate their video game martial arts expertise while onlookers like myself ooh and ah as the melee plays out on the screen.

4. One friend hands me the controller despite knowing full well that I am terrible at fighting games.

5. My opponent's precise execution of combos face off against my third degree black belt in random button mashing fu.

6. No matter who wins, I want to go back to watching people duke it out on the screen.

The 2009 fighting game smash Street Fighter IV whipped me into a fighting game frenzy. Well, more like it allowed me to get whipped by pretty much every friend/stranger/anonymous online trash talker I played against since I never bothered to practice my fighting game style beyond mash controller against head. I like watching the visual spectacle of the perfectly executed combo or the perfectly executed combo getting canceled and countered by a skilled player, but I am one of those video game players who also likes to spend his time playing various video games when I am not busy going to conventions or kissing girls on the lips.

Back to Street Fighter IV. Capcom determined that one year was long enough of a shelf life for its fighting game so now it churned out Super Street Fighter IV (SSFIV) to the raving masses of fighting game fans everywhere. At first glance SSFIV looks exactly like its predecessor with its beautiful combos, colorful scenery, classic favorite & new characters, and completely forgettable story involving each character. Story is never really the strong point of fighting games. No matter the background of the character, the chapter of every story boils down to "There fighter, kick ass."

The tacked on 10 more characters-8 classics, 2 new- and return of classic bonus stages feel like SSFIV could instead be downloadable content worth a few dollars. Churning out a "new" game out of them and charging $40 generates more buzz and profit, which reveals the black heart of the gaming industry who is in the business for the money-a statement as shocking as saying a dog barks. But then my fighting game friends tell me of the tweaks in the fighting mechanics to provide more balance among characters that requires new programming and whatnot so that it becomes a new game. I suppose that it is a valid point, but it still does not change why my favorite fighter Dan Hibiki is as effective of a fighter as a wet nap is effective against a forest fire.

Online features of SSFIV including team battling and endless battling-each with up to 8 players-are nice. There is also downloadable content for new costumes and other ancillary items for the obsessive collector. My favorite new feature is the Replay Channel that allows players to record and share battles online for people to watch, admire, learn, and-since the Internet is pretty much a breeding ground for this-ridicule anonymously. But I still prefer having my friends gather around the living room and being able to physically see the opponent I am fighting. That way after I lose to the same cheap-ass combo for the forty-third hyper millionth time, I can walk up to my opponent and smack him across the face with the game controller. Now THAT is video game fighting.

The bottom line of this review is simple. If you liked Street Fighter IV, chances are you already bought Super Street Fighter IV, practiced with your favorite character long enough to the point you can perform ultra combos in your sleep, and are probably beating the crap out each other right now. People who are not fighting game fans could care less about this game.

Super Street Fighter IV sells for $39.99 for both the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3. This review is based on the XBox 360 since I could not find anyone nearby who had it on the PS3.