Well, you might have heard Ultra Street Fighter IV is going to come out this summer, as it will extend an already deep fighting system and roster. The Red Focus attacks are pretty interesting and the additional use of both Ultra attacks (thus the name of the new edition) instead of picking them will develop a new twist. Combofiend of Capcom-unity shared a bunch of pertinent info including balances, nerfs, buffs, etc on the blog here. The roster will also grow to 44 playable characters by adding five more: Elena, Rolento, Hugo, Poison, and the last to be mentioned (probably sometime in the middle of March at the fighting game tournament, Final Round).
I think it’s okay to revert into fanboy-ism every once in a while; ya know, getting excited over a favorite game to imagine the possibilities, and nothing gets the blood flowing like a new character. I grew up loving everything Capcom, as Street Fighter II was the seminal franchise that sparked the most passion for me. Playing “Guess Who” and uncovering clues of who is always a treat for me. Plus, the internet is the perfect space for an adult who no longer has the school ground to conversate about it. I have seen everything from Cammy clones from the comic book to one of Sakura’s school friends to Hakan’s wife. In essence, nobody knows.
What we do know thus far:
-The new fighter will be a female character that has been in the Street Fighter comic books
-She appears within the Street Fighter world but has yet to be playable until now
-Out of the 6.5 billion people on the interwebs, only four people guessed her identity correctly
-Yoshinori Ono has said she is “speedy”, a “nuisance”, and “probably nobody will be happy with it” via an Eventhubs interview
In true DB N fashion, I am going to going to ignore useless things like logic and truth to tell you who really ought to make an appearance. I mean, a fighting game is like a party that characters are invited to and you want to see your favorites there, right? Even though what I have posted beneath this intro is impossible for their various reasons, it’s still a shame they won’t make any final cuts. So, without further ado, let’s do this!
Ultra Street Fighter IV Should Really Include:
Alex Street Fighter III series
What is there not to love about the Street Fighter III? You get fluid animations, jazzy fat nasty background music, intense parry system, and a whole slew of new characters thrown in the mix. One such character became a de facto face of this new incarnation and Alex was it. You can’t help but think Abel borrows from Alex, but Alex is more “RRRAAAHH”. I can’t necessarily translate what “RRRAAAHH” is. The French say “Je ne sais quoi” when they cannot find a tangible word to describe something. So, since I can’t speak French and Abel can…maybe that’s what makes Abel a better wrestler over Alex. Maybe.
It’s a damn shame Alex hasn’t been given much form of leeway to translate into many recent fighters up to this point. The only other fighting games he has cameo’d in was Capcom Fighting Evolution, sadly that game was badly executed and failed commercially; the other was Tatsunoku vs Capcom but you had to own a Wii to play it. C’mon, he wrassles, grabs, throws, and he was an imposing dude. On top of all that, his natural rival would be Hugo. Oh, well.
Why wasn’t this player included in USFIV: Capcom is stupid? [My quick-jerk reaction] Well, probably not stupid. However, they seem to be stubborn with the inclusion of a nucleus of characters while totally leaving gems on the shelf to collect dust. Hopefully, we will see Alex somewhere again like possibly in Namco’s Tekken vs Street Fighter (if that ever gets made).
Asura Asura’s Wrath
Okay, I know what you’re thinking: Asura was never in a fighting game. It wouldn’t be the first time Capcom ported characters into a Street Fighter title from a non-fighting game. Final Fight was a side scrolling beat’em-up from the late 80’s (which oddly enough was going to be called Street Fighter II initially) that featured a couple of current favorites like Cody and Guy as well as newcomers Poison, Rolento, and Hugo. If they did it once then why not again. He seems pissed off enough to fight S.I.N. and would easily fit in with the God characters such as Oni and Akuma. It’s hard to forget the charming section of Asura’s Wrath where he fought Ryu, so, why not do it for reals. Not to mention, the Udon art would be amazing.
Why wasn’t this player included in USFIV: Despite not being of the Street Fighter world, Asura would be lucky to get a sequel…much less a character spot in Street Fighter. He would be cool to see in a Marvel game though.
Charlie Street Fighter Alpha series
I know, I know. Guile has a Charlie costume and they are the same character. Or it seems that way. Charlie is still very much distinguishable and of his own persona, fighting style, and moves. The makers of Ultra should give Guile the crescent downward moon kick Charlie had as an homage at the very least. When it comes down to it, Charlie is Guile’s Ken.
He was a perfect compliment to Guile unlike Remy; the bastardized sonic boom-flash kick character who was made for the flashy SFIII: Third Strike. The problem for the usage of Charlie is because Guile’s main motivation to fight as a world warrior comes from his death by the hands of Bison. But hey, we live in the future now and can’t we just give him 6 Million Dollar Man surgery? It works for all of those hags on the “Real Housewives” shows.
Why wasn’t this player included in USFIV: There is a whole death element that might prevent his appearance. What about a Mecha Shadow Charlie? Just imagine lazer eyes, android arms, sonic fire booms,…..
Ingrid Capcom Fighting Evolution
Finally, a female makes this list but who the hell is she? Her name is Ingrid and the only life she had in a fighting game was Capcom Fighting Evolution. She was going to be used in a 3D Capcom collaboration fighting game (Capcom All-Stars) in the mid 2000’s, but once that project was scrapped they must’ve threw her in trash bin as well. I will be the first to admit that I haven’t read a lick of the Street Fighter comic books and she may have popped up; however, I doubt it. Regardless, she did fight along them once. Ya know, a friend of a friend sort of a thing.
A new set of characters is the perfect time to go dumpster diving and she could have very well been a decent fit. Ingrid is Capcom’s version of Athena of the King of Fighters because of her mystical moveset whilst donning schoolgirl characteristics and youth. Wait, is the use of magic taboo in a Street Fighter game? Rose. Dhalsim seems fine with the hot curry that magically shoots fire from his belly. If Ryu can throw a blue ball of fire-energy without articulating what force allows it to happen, we can use the creative license for Ingrid’s abilities too.
Why wasn’t this player included in USFIV: Ingrid is currently lost in Capcom’s character dumpster fire hidden beneath the heroine from Dino Crisis, Proto Man, and R. Mika. There isn’t enough magic in this world to retrieve her from the abyss of that bin.
That pretty much sums it up. The inner fanboy would love to see Q make a damn appearance sometime. Some other successful yet under-utilized characters would be Maki, Eagle, Sodom, and Birdie as well, but all I am doing is lamenting to the cloud at this point. I will admit that Capcom has definitely undertaken quite a process by adding more and more pieces to an already set table; expanding the field of possibilities on the battlefield by introducing brand new characters while roping in favorites from the past is more than admirable.
Check out the trailer below for more detailed insight on what Ultra Street Fighter IV will offer. The new additions to the fighting system is fairly dandy as I think this will grow the series overall. The online is improved for Team Battle, all of the current costumes will be available by purchasing the hard copy disc, and the option to upgrade your current version is given at an affordable price. At the end of the day, this whole thing is a business and I am a happy customer that’s willing to fork over the dough. Even if it’s for a couple of extra characters.