Street Fighter IV
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ESRB:
Alcohol Reference,Suggestive Themes,Violence
Publisher: Capcom Genre(s): Action Home Page: http://www.streetfighter.com/
Requirements: Arcade MachineInitially many were somewhat surprised that Capcom would port Street Fighter IV to the PC. However, Street Fighter IV was developed first for the arcades using Taito Type X2 hardware which is effectively just a PC hidden inside an arcade cabinet running Windows XP Embedded. The hardware is completely off-the-shelf - Intel Q965 chipset board with a Core 2 Duo E6400 CPU and a DX9 Shader Model 3.0 level video card - based on a bit of Googling, apparently a GeForce 7900GS is used for Street Fighter IV. In theory, only the encryption system used in the arcade version to prevent copying would stop you from loading the exact same code that runs in the arcades to a bog standard PC. Unsurprisingly, this means that the PC version of Street Fighter IV is the definite version of the game. Running on a modern system at 1920x1200 resolution, every aspect of the game is either identical or superior to the arcade version. Technically the visuals are just a bit on the crude side due to the polygon count but I'm more than willing to ignore such minor details when everything flows at rock solid 60fps and with character animation that can't be praised enough. Small things like facial expressions and the overall "hand-drawn" art style just adds so much style and character to the visuals that minor technical shortcomings of the arcade original are completely irrelevant. Street Fighter IV visuals are art, not just graphics.
The PC version also goes beyond the other versions in visuals by allowing you to switch the "draw style" in the graphics options to either "ink", "watercolor" or "posterization". This changes the rendering style in a subtle way and offers visuals that are not available on the consoles. It is down to taste if the visuals are "better" with these options and it is up to you to tweak it to your liking. Naturally if your video card is up to date, you can also bump up texture filtering and antialiasing to push the visuals way beyond the arcade and console counterparts. Both widescreen and full screen modes are fully supported and the game looks best on widescreen displays, just like the arcade version. You do need a slightly faster system than what can be found inside the arcade cabinet due to the overhead added by a full-blown operating system but a fast dual core CPU and a GeForce 7900 will run the game quite fine at 720p (1280x720). The engine is fully multithreading so even a slow quad core will obviously do fine. The YouGamers recommendation indicates a system that will run the game at solid 60fps even at 1650x1080, 1600x1200 or 1920x1200 resolution display with the visual settings maxed out while the minimum system we recommend is what you realistically need to keep things at 60fps at 720p with medium level visuals. A fast single core CPU will also work but you may run into small stuttering issues as you would be pretty much maxing out the CPU.
There are plenty of video options so if you are willing to cut down the visuals from the level seen in the arcades, the game will run on almost anything you could call a gaming PC. In fact, the lowest mode that renders only the characters should run on almost any SM3.0 card at quite playable framerate. It is unquestionably ugly, but it is there if you are desperate. Arcade Joystick Strongly Recommended The way Street Fighter IV is meant to be played - Tournament Edition stick ($150) Controls are a much bigger deal - Street Fighter series and fighting games in general are designed to be played with a joystick. While it is theoretically possible to play using a keyboard, to really enjoy the game you need to invest in a proper stick. Okay, in theory a standard Xbox 360 gamepad works and it is probably the most common way people end up playing the PC version but if you are serious about playing Street Fighter IV, it is far from optimal. The reason? All those quarter circle, half circle and full circle inputs used in many combat moves that can be pulled off naturally only with a joystick. Keyboard just won't cut it and a thumbstick is just too imprecise. Smelling opportunity, Mad Catz has released a pair of licensed Street Fighter IV controllers. Nominally they are for the consoles but both the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions use USB and work perfectly fine when plugged to a PC as well. There is an "Official Street Fighter IV Fightstick" at $80 and a "Tournament Edition" version at $150. Tournament Edition joystick is unquestionably the way to play - it uses the exact same physical joystick and buttons as the arcade cabinets do. Unfortunately that quality comes with a price and if your funds are somewhat limited, the cheaper Fightstick is a good compromise - the components are not quite arcade-grade and the base is smaller but at least you have a stick and a proper button layout. No matter which one you choose, both are infinitely superior when compared to any gamepad or a keyboard. Capcom and Mad Catz is also promoting a "Street Fighter IV Fight Pad" at $40 and even offer a bundle with the PC game at $60. While it does have a proper button layout for Street Fighter IV, it has no stick and instead comes with just a directional pad. My painful memories of SNES Street Fighter II sessions using a directional pad still fresh, I can say with confidence that a pad just isn't the way to play this game. While the Fight Pad is slightly superior to using a standard gamepad, I recommend you to invest in a proper joystick instead.
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