Actually, I have to admit my point of view towards fighting games was rather sceptical. Not only because a majority of adversaries simply beat me by Whack-A-Moling their controller, but also because of the primitive nature of fighting-games in total. Two preconceptions Street Fighter IV nips in the bud. Fighting-games fans really looked forward to the game's release, and only now I'm starting to realise why.

Capcom stays loyal to the SF franchise, causing lots of nostalgia. Next to the known characters - from Ryu to Bison, from Ken to Chun Li - there is the artistic, but still mature drawing style and the nicely balanced - how could it not be - 2D-gameplay. All of this in original 3D-arenas with their own subtle influences on the soundtrack. Compared to the console versions the PC version brings a way higher resolution, a good solid framerate and 3 different shaders: ink, watercolor en posterization. At first the soundtrack was kind of irritating, but I've learned to appreciate it while playing, the more the better I guess. The only thing Capcom forgot is that most PC's come with a keyboard... In my opinion - unless you are a piano virtuoso - you're better off with a decent gamepad or arcade stick.

I would advise non experienced Street Fighter-gamers to pick out their favorite troublemaker and head straight to the Trail-part of the Challenge mode. It's a tutorial-like challenge that teaches you to master a character, starting from simple attacks to 1000-fists-combos. The Trail is of course different for every character, adapted to its special abilities.

As soon as you manage to handle the basic attacks of your hunk of muscles it's time to seriously kick some ass in the single- and multiplayer. You have the choice to bash into the classical arcade mode with its slapstick manga storyline - not my cup of tea - or kick out your friend's teeth or your cpu's chips in the versus-mode. The arcade mode stands for targeted gaming towards the unlockable new characters and meanwhile perpetuate your name on the online leaderboards, if you play above difficulty level medium that is. Another practical thing about the arcade, especially when replaying the game with a different character, is the variability of the time limit and the number of rounds.

For you veterans - or naturals of course - there is next to the rather difficult challenges or the 'hardest' arcade a simply brand-new gameplay. The main additions are the focus attack and two handy meters. The first one, the focus attack, is for defense as well as offensive a very useful ability. Second you have the EX-power-meter. It's a 'super combo meter' that charges with every punch that lands, and - once filled of course - makes the super attacks possible. When seriously being hit the revenge meter, an 'ultra combo meter' rises to channel your frustration right between your opponent's eyes. Exciting matches guaranteed!
Seen as the multiplayer is crowded with dedicated gamers, Capcom also developed a very useful training mode. Pick your opponent and choose its artificial intelligence - literally from dummy to pro-karate-kungfu-wrestler - and its reactions to your attacks. Not satisfied? Crawl into your opponent's skin, record a combo or some special attacks and get back to your own lean mean fighting machine to counter or avoid your 'own' recorded attacks.