The Warring States of NPF - Street Fighter IV

With only one more month to go until the glory that is SFIV hits consoles, I figured it was time to get the NPF hype train going again.

How does this play like? Classic SF? 3rd Strike?
Playwise the game is said to fall inbetween 3s and Super Turbo. Most of the major system mechanics like EX moves, dashes, super cancels, quick getups and two-button throws from 3s are in, but the game still has the focus on SF2-style spacing, zoning, making good use of your normals and mindgames. It also has the brand new Saving/Focus attack, which I'll get into later. You've got two other bars, your super bar which is split into four sections and your Ultra meter which comes in two sections. You all should know how a super meter is filled by now. However, the Ultra meter ONLY fills when taking damage, either normally, through a Focus Attack or an armour move. It also empties between rounds, so use it when you can. EX moves take up one portion of your super bar.

Who's in this time?
Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Guile, Blanka, Zangief, Dhalsim, E.Honda, Balrog, Vega, Sagat, M.Bison, Akuma, Abel, C.Viper, El Fuerte, Rufus, Seth, Gouken, Fei-Long, Cammy, Sakura, Rose, Dan, Gen.

A mix of the old guard and new blood here. As for the new characters, Abel's got a rekka he can use for mixups, with the EX versions having armour on them, his combos can lead to knockdowns or deadly reset mixups, has an ultra that can go through fireballs, and a command throw. Viper is said to be a difficult character to use, but with weird mixups, the ability to super jump cancel her ground pound move into other air specials, and some of her moves can be faked too. El Fuerte is supposed to be the fastest character with a lot of ways to get around, a command dash with different followups and a difficult to do loop. Rufus is a very basic beginner character, fast, safe and based on straight rushdown.

What about this focus attack?
Hitting MP+MK produces a Saving Attack, aka a Focus Attack, that at the basic level acts as a sort of parry and attack melded together. It's got 3 levels.

Level 1, activated by just pressing MP+MK, absorbs one hit and does an attack. The life you lose from this can regenerate provided you don't get hit again or block an attack. All levels will only absorb one attack, so if you Focus Attack a fast multihitting move, expect to get hit anyway. The attack from Level 1 acts as a normal hit, expect on counter hit which causes a crumple. Level 2 triggers by holding MP+MK for any length of time but releasing before the move is fully charged. The Level 2 attack always crumples. If blocked, it'll lead to heavy block stun and advantage for you. Level 3 is achieved by holding MP+MK and not letting go before the attack goes off. This is unblockable.

You can dash-cancel a Focus Attack, which gives it a lot of uses and uses no meter. You can also cancel attacks into an FA, which costs two portions of your super bar. Dash-cancelling it has uses such as faking the opponent or for combos if you score a counter or Level 2 FA hit. Cancelling an attack into an FA can be used to make an attack safer, or for even more combos. For example, Ryu can do a Shoryuken, cancel it into a Focus Attack, dash-cancel that FA and then do his ultra as the opponent falls. Since ultras cannot be comboed into normally, this is the best way for him to hit his Ultra.

What's new for the console version?
Dan, Fei-Long, Sakura, Cammy, Rose and Gen are console-exclusive characters and Seth and Gouken are playable on console. The console port also has remixed stages, remixed music, English voices and anime sequences for the endings rather than slideshows. The online mode has a lot of options, including a open arcade mode where you can play on your own and anyone else online can challenge you as you play, just like in an arcade.

The official pads and stick.
MadCatz (Yes, them) are making official pads and sticks for SFIV. They've got people who know what they're doing on board, and first impressions have been really positive. The pads come in Ryu, Ken, Akuma, Chun-Li and Blanka versions, and have a 6-button layout, just like Saturn pads, or those old Mega Drive/Genesis pads. They also have a proper D-Pad, with a switch to allow the pad to act as either the left or right analog stick.

The sticks come in two varieties, Regular and Tournament. The regular one is smaller and uses MadCatz's own buttons. The buttons are on quick disconnects so if you're that way inclined you can mod it with different buttons. The tournament edition is bigger, uses real Sanwa parts, ie the controls which actual Japanese arcade cabs such as SFIV use, also has quick disconnects on the buttons, a removable faceplate, a cord storage department and a bored-out bottom if you feel like changing the stick or something. All are fine choices, it just depends on your budget and your control preferances.

Pads are $40, the regular stick is $70 for PS3 and $80 for 360, and the tournament stick is $150 for both consoles.

Release dates are Feb 17th for the US and Feb 20th for Europe.

Wall of text done!

Daigo at work against Inoue. Ryu v M. Bison.
Seth Killan talks about the MadCatz FightPads and FightSticks.
Abel vs Rufus. FOR SAMOA!!!!!!