As a fan of Street Fighter since the golden days of SF2 on the Arcades, I was awaiting this with mixed feelings. With Capcom’s ability to milk their flagship fighter is this just another cash-in attempt of is it really something worth considering?
With the success of SF4 to revive the series and the appeal of Tekken’s characters this could be an excellent combo or absolute disaster. The Vita version is absolutely packed with options, numerous modes, matchmaking, 
galleries and videos to unlock, and the new gem system all provide you with a number of reasons to keep playing. The vast array of characters (38 core and another 12 downloadable and 5 exclusive to the PS3/Vita) means that there should be something for every fighting fan.
So I started in the training to see how the controls would work for the Vita with the inclusion of the touch screens. I was a little worried about the analogue stick as trying to pull off SF special moves can be a somewhat heavy handed approach. As a player of Sakura, Ryu and Guile, it coped well with all the dragon punches and half-moon kicks that were thrown at it, although it doesn’t completely leave you at ease over the durability of the stick. The training starts off slowly and allows you to learn the basics of the controls but for those of us who like to think that we can hold our own (offline! *cough*) this was a bit tedious and was soon closed down to start the game properly. It becomes very obvious that this is an online game as the arcade system is set up by default to be interrupted if it locates a human player to pit you against. This means that you can be half way through a game v’s the CPU and suddenly a new challenger has arrived. (I actually won my first online game this way! *woo*).
For the brief time I played the arcade mode it did seem a little thin and it’s fair to say the emphasis is on the online match making, which it does very well. With 
either the PS3 or Vita version you can play against all players regardless of platform and you wouldn’t know the difference. In the online games that I played I didn’t notice any lag or problems to make me think that the opponent wasn’t sat next to me and we were playing on a PS3.
One of the biggest issues I found was that the Vita actually isn’t physically big enough to grasp properly (I have found this with most games). It leaves you with cramps in your hands very quickly due to how it has to be held to make use of the sticks, buttons and touch screens. It was this that made me want to put it down quicker than the game becoming boring or any other reason to interrupt my playing. As a fighting game this is great, good value in that you get 2 different games in one and with a very good matchmaking system.
Is it worth £40? No, but then no Vita game is worth that. Is it worth getting? Yes if you are a fan of fighters but it certainly is an essential buy. It is one of the better games on the Vita but that really doesn’t say much at the moment as there are very few games available for the system.
Plus Points:
- PS3/Vita integration – everything you buy as DLC works for both versions (should you feel the need for both).
- Huge array of characters combined well together.
- Excellent matchmaking system
- Some nice gimmicks with AR and Near.
- Cross-platform saved games.
Minus Points:
- Makes you weary of the strength of the Vita Analogue Sticks.
- Nothing new – seen it all before with the latest SF and Tekken games.
- Expensive.
- Unless you are a die-hard fan, it’s very repetitive.
Verdict: Try it!
Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.
You must be logged in to post a comment.