Street Fighter X Tekken - Thoughts and Comments

To fighting game players, a crossover game between Street Fighter and Tekken is never going to happen. Both of these games are fighting games, but they fall in two different subcategories of the genre. Street Fighter is a 2D fighting game, meaning the characters only move in a 2-dimensional plane. On the other hand, Tekken is a 3D fighting game. As the name suggests, the characters in Tekken can move freely in a 3-dimensional plane where they can do sidesteps. These games play very much differently to even consider creating a crossover game with these two franchises.

However, in San Diego Comic-Con 2010, Yoshinori Ono, the producer of Street Fighter IV, announced Street Fighter X Tekken. The game was finally released in early March 2012, to many fighting gamers' anticipation. Two of the biggest fighting game franchises going against each other is now a reality.

I've played the game for more than a week. Now I'm just going to give my thoughts on two aspects of the game - gameplay and visuals.

Gameplay

Just by looking at the game, you can tell that it's a rehashed version of the SFIV engine. The way the characters move, the character models, and the whole feel of the game it's basically a SFIV game with some changes in the metagame and move properties.

Like in Marvel vs. Capcom 3, the "magic series" move is included in the game. It's a chain combo where you chain a low attack into a medium attack, then into a high attack, then finally into a launcher move. Capcom's crossover games always had this chain combo but it got really easy to do when MVC3 dropped.

Good thing about it is it allows for less strict execution of combos, especially for beginners and casual players. That means more people would be able to get into the game and learn simple tag combos much easier. On the other hand, the magic series combo certainly dumbed down the metagame. Most of the matches I've played and saw were just poking for a low attack to chain into the magic series. I know it's only been a month since the game's release and there will be more high-level play as time goes by.

Anti-airs seem to have been nerfed as well. Most anti-airs get stuffed or trades with jump-ins. But looking at the frame data, some of the usual anti-air moves from SFIV had its invincibility removed. I don't know why Capcom did that though. Furthermore, Tekken characters seem to have a problem with cross-ups and anti-airs. I don't blame Capcom for that though. Tekken does NOT have anti-airs and cross-ups. But still they have made a good transition into a 2D plane.

The frequent time-outs in matches is also an issue. Take Street Fighter IV, an already defensive game, then add a tag partner that heals life off-screen, then you've got a more time-consuming game. I don't believe it's the damage, since most of the cast have 40% - 50% damage combos. As a result, it makes the game pretty boring at times.

Visuals

The game's aesthetics is probably what I dislike the most. The main problem for me is the colors. I don't know what the art department was thinking when they were making this game but the colors are just so oversaturated.

The visual effects in the game (e.g. Hadoukens, hit sparks, etc.) are overdone. They spark even more than in Street Fighter IV. Furthermore, when the gems are activated, the colors get even worse. It doesn't help that there's also a lot happening in the background of the stages. I don't blame Capcom for showing off their technological prowess by adding in a lot of movement and characters in the background, but it's distracting to the player.

The menu screens aren't that great either. They reused the menu from SFIV, which is actually a good thing since it is easy to navigate the menu. However, again the colors are just a pain to the eyes.

In conclusion, this game is a fun to play casually and for the novelty of Street Fighter and Tekken characters clashing together. But in the long run, I don't see the appeal of it. I know there are people out there who like this game, but it's just not my cup of tea.