Street Fighter IV Trailer: Just Smoke and Mirrors
By now the trailer for Street Fighter IV has a committed percentage of the gaming population frothing at the mouth like sugar-crazed toddlers, as such looming announcements always do. But the trailer casts a lingering shadow of doubt over the forthcoming contribution to the long-running series, and tells us a great deal about how much Capcom has changed as an outward-looking company since the release of the last game in the series, Street Fighter III: Third Strike.
As a SF maniac, I have watched the trailer a few hundred times now, though this doesn't reveal my psychosis as much as the daily and frequent returns to the dusty corner of youtube currently hosting Britney Spears' Gimme More official video. Don't judge me!
Read on after the jump...
So...catchy...must...play...perhaps...download. Like Britney's recent antics, I am not sure if what I see in this trailer is an account of something real, or a publicity stunt meant to join the dots between Capcom's other recent works and their long-standing SF property. The SFIV trailer raised a number of questions about what the actual game will look like, while at the same time providing us with a spectacle that draws clearly on the inky meanderings of Okami, and the fight choreography of the Street Fighter: Animated Movie (my most coveted VHS). The movement seems at times to draw from the key chopsocky exchanges in that movie, between Ryu and his various enemies, and likewise Ken, and then maps them together in an ambiguous and whimsical scene full of suggestion and promise. Okami has been Capcom's definitive release in recent years, and it makes sense that they would deploy that trademark inky graphic to amplify the instantly recognisable ruby-red headband of Ryu and pitch black eyebrows of Ken.
If the game is intended for release in full 3D, then I hope that they draw valuable lessons from the development and critical reception of the EX series. I dont think though, with Udon's HD incarnation on the horizon line, that this is will be the case. I think (and will eat my karate gi if wrong) that Capcom will reprise their trademark aesthetic and make another 2D fighter to set the bar that little bit higher.
That being said, the question of the trailer becomes all the more interesting. I like this strategy, veiling SF in mystery keeps the likes of me awake at night. Dreaming of unforseen characters and the streaming blue shadow of super special combos, I am excited and troubled all at the same time. As Ryu and Ken are revisited in Udon's HD retromania, we see them here in new smoky glory. The recent Capcom softography is coming together as a discernable brand it seems, the trailing smoke created by Amaterasu no doubt weaving between the world warrior's legs. White Wolf as hidden SFIV character perhaps?
SuperSpecialDavey
Posted to Hot Stuff, Video Games on 21 October 2007
· Comments (4)
Other stuff like this: 2D, 3D, Ammy, Capcom, Okami, Street Fighter VI, Udon
its a damn teaser trailer! it makes their stock go up! its just like movie teaser trailers that you see a year before the movie comes out.
Like i said, it better be 2-D. I'll not be playing it otherwise.
As for the Street Fighter anime movie, get thee to Best Buy and get the DVD so you can watch the real version (that is, the Japanese version). It's like a hojillion times better than the atrocious dub.
My guess is that it'll be a Viewtiful Joe-esq thing where the action occurs on a 2-D plane but most things are drawn with cell-shaded polys. I've been wanting them to do that for years though, so maybe it's just wishful thinking...
I will be shocked if it is in 2-D. It's Time Street Fighter entered the ranks of the current fighting games and it just won't be able to do that unless it recieves a massive overhaul. How much more can 2-D fighters offer the gaming community?