PC
PlayStation 3
XBox 360
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Product Features

Genre
Fighting
Publisher
Capcom
Release Date
July 02, 2014
Available Platforms
PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, XBox 360, XBox 360

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Street Fighter X Tekken

Street Fighter X Tekken Street Fighter X Tekken will make history as fighters from these two bastions of the fighting genre come together for the very first time. Utilising the same technology that powered Street Fighter IV & Super Street Fighter IV, Tekken characters such as Kazuya Mishima and Nina Williams will make the transition into the Street Fighter universe having been re-imagined using the much loved art style of these seminal titles - while retaining their unique characteristics and signature moves as they go head to head with classic brawlers from the Street Fighter franchise in what promises to be the ultimate match up. As in Street Fighter IV, gameplay will feature fully realised 3D character models battling for domination in both new and familiar highly detailed 2D environments...

  • Dave Wallace March 14, 2012 PS3
    ****

    Franchise crossovers have become big business for video games lately. A few months ago, we saw the third instalment of the hugely-successful 'Marvel vs Capcom' series; the cast of Mortal Kombat recently threw down the gauntlet with the heroes and villains of the DC Comics Universe; and even Mario and Sonic have put aside their rivalry in recent years to collaborate on a hit series of Olympic-themed games.

    The latest big clash of franchises is Capcom's "Street Fighter X Tekken" (that 'X' stands for 'cross', rather than 'ex', by the way), a game that smooshes together two of the gaming world's most successful one-on-one beat-em-up series, giving players the chance to experience the kind of match-ups between different characters that until now they could only dream of.

    Coming to this game as a fan of Street Fighter - rather than Tekken, which I usually find a bit slow and clunky compared to its faster, more colourful cousin - I was initially worried that the fun of the Street Fighter games could be lost by trying to integrate the series with the slightly more grounded, realistic tone of the Tekken series. However, those fears were unfounded. Not only does 'Street Fighter X Tekken' maintain the 2-D gameplay of Street Fighter, but it also drags Tekken's characters kicking and screaming into the cartoony world of Ryu, Ken and their brethren, ensuring that the game is as fast-moving and packed with elaborate special moves as the recent Street Fighter IV.

    In fact, this game seems to have taken a lot of inspiration from Street Fighter IV, whether it's the textured three-dimensional character models that still manage to capture the vibrancy and cartoonish quality of the old Street Fighter sprites, or the fighting mechanics and sound effects that will be familiar from the Street Fighter franchise's most recent outing.

    (Those of you who are bigger fans of Tekken than Street Fighter can rest easy - there's apparently a second crossover game on the way that takes a different tack, and incorporates the SF characters into a more Tekken-oriented world).

    With a cast of tens of characters, a novelty factor that's underpinned by a comforting sense of familiarity, and some new innovations to keep longtime fans of the franchises guessing - such as the 'cross' attacks - this is a game that comes close to satisfying the mile-high expectations that beat-em-up fans had for the crossover.

    Close, but not quite there.

    Because for all of the fun that players will get out of this game, there are a few niggles that stop it from being perfect.

    Firstly, there's a slight sense that what should have been a very simple and straightforward game has been over-complicated in some respects. As a fan of old-school fighters, I'm now used to conventions such as multiple power bars and tag-team fighting dynamics - but Capcom goes further than that here, providing a 'gem' system that allows you to tip the balance of fights by customising your characters with various power-up abilities. It just feels unnecessary to me, and renders the game more complicated rather than more complex.

    I also found myself disappointed with some of the compromises that have been made in terms of mixing the fighting mechanics of the two franchises - such as the 'juggling' attacks that come from Tekken - but I guess I can't expect the game to be dominated by Street Fighter all the way.

    Also (and I haven't verified this for myself yet), there have been reports that the online multiplayer is still glitchy at the moment, with slow loading times and missing sound effects. As someone who prefers to play against someone in the same room, this won't bother me, but some multiplayer fans might want to wait until Capcom have smoothed out the bugs before lining up an evening of online play.

    More irritating than these minor complaints, however, is the recent revelation that the version of Street Fighter X Tekken that you'll buy from your retailer isn't really the "full" version: Capcom have not only prepared a huge batch of downloadable content (or DLC) - including a host of new characters - but they've also included it on the very disc that you'll be buying, making it unlockable only if you pay a premium on top of the purchase price to "download" it from the Playstation Store.

    DLC is something that I have mixed feelings about in general (if the programmers want it included in the game, why can't they put it on the disc from the start?), but the fact that Capcom have already prepared it and coded it onto the disc without allowing you to access it seems like a step too far.

    As ever, it seems that those who want the full package without having to pay for extra DLC on top of the purchase price will probably do better to wait for the inevitable "super" edition in a few months time, which will doubtless have the DLC readily available. Who knows, perhaps Capcom will learn from the other minor missteps it made in this first version of the game and deliver a more perfect playing experience next time around.

    And if the company decides to continue this particular crossover franchise with further entries, maybe they can find some way to grant my wish and include the casts of Mortal Kombat and Soul Calibur in there too. Then we'd have a REAL fight on our hands...