Ultra Street Fighter IV – First Look

Capcom is well known for their ability to keep a franchise going by releasing new updates instead of direct sequels. Street Fighter II had a multitude of updated versions, including but not limited to Street Fighter II Turbo, Super Street Fighter II, and Super Street Fighter II Turbo. Capcom reinvigorated the fighting game scene when it released Street Fighter IV in 2009, and has since updated the game with Super Street Fighter IV, Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition, and Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition 2012. Now we’re getting at least one more update to SF4 with Ultra Street Fighter IV, set to hit the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC in early 2014.

The main draw of the new update is that it will feature five new characters. Four of the characters will be making the jump from Street Fighter x Tekken, including Hugo, Poison, Elena, and Rolento. Meanwhile, the fifth will be an existing Capcom character that has yet to appear in a fighting game title. However, Capcom representatives have stated that the character is very much related to the Street Fighter universe, so we’ll have to wait and see.

In addition to the new characters, six stages will be added that originated in Street Fighter x Tekken. They include Cosmic Elevator, Half Pipe, Jurassic Era Research Facility, Mad Gear Hideout, Blast Furnace and Pitstop 109. However, while it may seem as though Capcom is just using SFxTekken assets to improve Street Fighter IV, we’ve been assured that this is far more than a simple copy and paste job. The characters and stages making the jump from the crossover title are being completely revamped for Ultra Street Fighter IV. Of course, we still expect the characters to feature all of their trademark special moves, but it’s unlikely they’ll play exactly the same.

It won’t just be the SFxTekken characters that get a fresh new coat of paint, as Capcom is listening to community feedback to make balancing adjustments to every character in Ultra Street Fighter IV. Both the US and Japanese websites have been an intricate part of the rebalancing in Ultra SF4. The goal is to make the weaker characters much improved, while making smaller adjustments to the stronger characters. If all goes well, we’ll be seeing a much wider variety of characters played in tournaments and online. However, if some of the changes seem to be too much, Capcom will continue to adjust them between now and the release of the update.

If you already own a previous version of Street Fighter IV, you’ll be able to get the Ultra upgrade for a mere $14.99. If you haven’t taken the plunge yet, the full version will run you $39.99 and includes over $40 worth of DLC. In another ray of hope, Capcom stated that the current plan is to release the PC version alongside the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the update. This is great news for PC owners who have had to wait quite a while for previous Street Fighter titles following their console release.

Capcom has released a few specific adjustments for almost every character, but with Ultra not scheduled to release until early next year, don’t get too attached to anything you’ve read about specific character changes. There’s still a good chance that some of those changes will not make it into the new update, and you’ll probably see even more changes than what you’ve heard. We’re also hoping to get more info on the unknown fifth character within the coming months. Stay tuned to Prima Games for more information on the Street Fighter update!