Without ‘Street Fighter IV’, the Fighting Game Community Would Look Pretty Sh*tty Right Now

Prior to Capcom's fourth main entry in its legendary fighting series, the scene was in faltering health. But with just a few refinements, the 2008 game changed everything.

[Sonyslave3]

Killer instinct is the best fighter on market right now until Tekken 7 imo.

[DarkOcelet]

With that name...

Not sure if you are trolling or speaking your mind.

[Army_of_Darkness]

MKX

[gamerfan0909]

I agree. The only people that'll disagree with this are sony fanboys or people that haven't played the game.

[OmegaShen]

To bad sales history say otherwise, Namco is still the top when it comes to fighting games.

Still want MK Vs SF.

[Snookies12]

Uh, I don't think so... I've played Killer Instinct quite a bit at my friend's house. It's a really fun fighter, granted. The best though? Certainly not. Don't act like anyone that disagrees is instantly a Sony 'fanboy' or people that have never played the game.

[ChronoJoe]

Sales and community say otherwise. The KI community is pretty much dead in the UK. No one plays it.

It's not that it's bad though, it's just that people have invested so much into the street fighter series, and it's more popular. It's a revolving process, where street fighters popularity draws more players in, because people who take the games seriously want more, and better competition.

KI is a pretty fun fighter but personally I wouldn't put it on the level with SSFIV, the depth just isn't there. It's enjoyable however, and I really like the artstyle / particle effects.

[OmegaShen]

Sales do, because the top fighting games are Tekken and Dragonball.

[StrayaKNT]

I agree I was a huge tekken, sf and mk player until I played ki. Now I just can't go back to any of them it's like a huge downgrade compared to ki where you need a ton more skill than any other fighter. Ki also has the best characters and soundtrack in any fighting game. Only people who downplay it are fan boys who don't have it and you csnt go to a friends house and play it because you wouldn't even know the basics lol

[Revengeance]

Anyone who thinks this an idiot. USFIV is STILL the best fighter on the planet and that's a FACT!

[Rookie_Monster]

I agreed Gamerfan,

KI is my favorite fighting game since Street Fighter Alpha 3.

People need to have a XB1 and play it to know what it is before opening their mouth and talking bad about it.

The one thing that separate it from other fighters IMO is the diversity of the cast, the constant monthly tweek, balance, and gameplay updates, and the online netcode is second to none.

Also, for those haters that said it sold poorly, it is only avaiabe online so how can anyone really know how much it is selling? Phil Spencer and Ken Lobb already commented that they were very happy with the sales in interviews and tweet. It also made it through 2 seasons and it is pretty much guaranteed a third season is coming from the Iron Galaxy Twitch TV comments and hints. It is a great reboot. Is it better than SF or MK or Tekken is all up to the eye of the beholder and to me it is at the very top this gen.

[Spotie]

Ain't better than BlazBlue, means it ain't the best to me.

[rainslacker]

I like Aksys fighters. They do put a lot of depth into them. But I find BlazBlue to be an extremely technical fighter, and hard to really just pick up and play.

I'm not a fighting game fanatic, but i do enjoy them. I don't think SF is the best either, but I know it's a quality fighter, that rarely fails to meet expectations.

KI is fun, and easy to pick up and play despite AussieGamers comment above that people can't just go and play it at a friends house because they are too casual(or whatever it is he was trying to say), but it is far from a technical fighter, and much more casual than most fighters out there. In this way it's much like the original, which was never a grandiose epic technical fighter, but was a ton of fun to play.

So far I've found guilty gear to strike a nice balance, where it's easy to pick up and play, but in competition, you really have to learn the mechanics well to compete, but those mechanics aren't overly technical. I think I like it because it doesn't require me learning 20 button press combinations with single frame timing between inputs to pull off moves.

Otherwise, I miss the old Soul Caliber games, and DOA5 has been about the only fighting game I've stuck with since it's release, and it's fairly casual outside of competition.

SF itself could go either way. It was easy enough to pick up and play and have a lot of fun with friends, or even in evenly matched competition, but it could be fairly technical without being overly complex. I haven't played it in a while, but I do recall that some people could rely on one move to beat all competition...something which is also a problem in some Tekken games...which I also haven't played in a while.

Just my 2 cents, as they all have their plus and minuses and claiming one to rule them all like the OP is just silly.

[Spotie]

I agree with you as far as Aksys fighters are concerned. I'm also a huge fan of P4A(not just because I love Persona).

To be honest, I'm not all that into fighting games, though I've played quite a few in my time. (That reminds me: I've still yet to play Aquapazza, though it's siting right in front of me.)

I think it's strange, but only certain fighters even in the same series do it for me, in many cases. EX alpha is my favorite Street Fighter, though I like X-Men vs. Street Fighter even more. I'm a massive fan of the first Rival Schools(never got to play the second), and would LOVE it if Capcom made a third. Tekken reached its peak with 3 for me, though I did enjoy using Zafina and Alisa for the first time. I haven't been any good in Mortal Kombat since 4. Guilty Gear I liked more in the past; Xrd felt too slow for my liking.

I've always looked at DOA and Soul Calibur as two sides of the same coin. I enjoy them both quite a bit, though probably more for the lovely ladies than the gameplay(had a helluva time getting countering down in DOA, which makes me wonder how I was so good for so long before, lol). But, as with most of these games, I could do without playing them.

I think I prefer Bloody Roar to Killer Instinct. Haven't played much of the new KI, but nor has it really interested me: not too fond of the idea of the one character at a time model. Might not be that big of a fan of the genre(looking at all I've written, and all I've left out, maybe I'm a bigger fan than I think?), but I'm a firm believer that in order to be truly proficient with a character, you need to be proficient both fighting against that character AND with using other characters.

But that's just me.

I'll never say any game is "hands down" the best in a genre, even if I actually think that, because it's an opinion at best.

[rainslacker]

I could never get into P4A for some reason, despite being a huge persona fan. I dunno why, just never clicked with me I guess. I still have my sealed copy of Aquapazza, but never got around to playing it, and i probably never will. I tend to commit a bit of time to fighting games I enjoy, but it's hard to find one I enjoy enough to commit time to. For me, SF, Tekken, DOA, and SC are about the only ones I play regularly, but outside of DOA I haven't spent a lot of time on any of them in the past couple years.

I can't remember bloody roar, although I'm sure I played it at some point. I've only played KI at a friends house, and it was just matches between friends. I may have enjoyed it more if I drank, but I don't often do that.:)

I think that most people like the fighting game that they're best at playing. I know some people can play a lot of them well, and they're about the only ones I would take the opinion on on which one is better, because they could probably say why something is better from a fairly critical perspective, but to me, I just play what I enjoy.

[xKugo]

I'm going to pretend that you've never heard of MKX and not blast you for that comment.

[CorndogBurglar]

MKX is far from the best fighter. Its got serious issues as far as fighting games go, and that isn't even mentioning the terrible netcode.

[deadpoolio316]

Im sorry but MKX is faaaaarrrr from the best anything...They finally decided to take what other games had already been doing for years and mashed it into MK....The game is good, but far from a great or the best fighter

[StrayaKNT]

100% agree nothing even comes close. Lol at the disagrees I guess alot of people can't play ki (huge loss if you're a fighting fan)

[Chevalier]

Maybe a lot of people didn't play KI because it's just not that popular or even that great. From a technical aspect it's not even got that much depth. It is fun though, but, comparing it to the best selling fighter of all time is laughable. Not surprisingly Aussie is talking about all these fighters. Maybe you don't have access to Guilty Gear Xrd, SF or any of the other to even compare properly.

[xKugo]

Such a shocker that you would say that..

/s

[gangsta_red]

@Chevalier

"From a technical aspect it's not even got that much depth."

This is something the ill-informed always seem to say. KI has a lot of depth, anyone who has seen the tourney's for it would tell you. Not surprising coming from someone who doesn't own an X1 to say this though.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

lol can we be real about this so the silliness can end already. If Killer Instinct wasn't an Xbox exclusive, nobody would be checkin for it. It had a decent run on N64 for being something new and unique, but it is nowhere close to Street Fighter. It never was.

[jetlian]

Yup some people lol. Mentioning tekkens past same with sf. As of right now it is the best.

I personally like 3d fighters over 2d. Tekken is 100, virtua fighter 99, doa like 82 and soul calibur like 75.

Dont know where id factor 2d fighters into this. I like kof more than sf too.

KI season 3 almost certain to come after shadow jago was secured in 3 days.

SF are fun but im tired of the same characters and moves. Bison new style needs to happen for all.

[holysmokesbatman]

Street Fighter AND Killer instinct are both the best fighters out right now, both do what they do perfectly (apart from a recent port)

[Hoffmann]

Lol. No.

[ZHZ90]

Actually the best fighters in terms of sales and popularity whether you like it or not are:
SF, MK, Tekken, Soul Calibar and Smash Bros.

And also SF and MK are also a bit more popular because they had movies and cartoons.
But in terms of gameplay and preference each of their own and each person has his/her own taste.

[silvacrest]

KI is a shadow of its former self, MKX is what actual fighting game fans are all over right now.

and i just have to say that the initial launch of KI was terrible, just two characters to use WTF? i dont even care if it was free, even now, MKX has a wider selection to choose from

[DeadManMMX]

Killer Instinct is great. So is MKX but Street Fighter IV is the standard its damn near an art to play.

[Relientk77]

7 years ago, it came out that long ago? Wow

[hockeyglory]

PS4's Ultra Street Fighter 4 isn't helping.

[Sora_1994]

Now you know Damn well nobody's going to agree with this because street fighter now sucks and is no longer relevant any other fighter that isn't street fighter is a better choice because street fighter is an ps/pc exclusive of course *rolls eyes

[tdogg]

I personally think SFIV is nowhere near MKX or KI. KI is more fluid than any other fighter i have played. And MKX is just a beast in its on catagory. I would love to see a Mortal Kombat vs Killer Instinct

[Germany7]

Maybe the best fighting game recently.

[TheColbertinator]

Bored of SF.

[Iluvtrim]

B8llshyt article.

[Avernus]

The title is a little click baitish. SF is huge in the fighting community, like it or not, it's huge. The fighting community right now, has SF, MvC, MK, Smash Bro's, and to a lesser extent KI. Everything else is meh in terms of a "competitive" stand point.

I miss KoF... it used to be big back in the day, so was Tekken.

[DoggyBiscuit]

I remember when I first got SF4 I was so hype I felt like kid again

[sephiroth420]

sf4 was shite, tekken tag 2 is 100 times better in my opinion,

[KwietStorm_BLM]

Tekken Tag? Cmon man

[sephiroth420]

yeah of course its better, MVC3 was better than sf4, even Soul calibur 4 was better than sf4

[Hoffmann]

Comparing SF with Tekken is like comparing Gran Turismo or Forza with Mario Kart.

[sephiroth420]

i was just saying they are better fighting games than sf4, the real comparison years ago was the king of fighters games, which were better, now i guess we can only really compare it to blazblue, guilty gear and persona 4 arena, which are still both better than sf4, so in conclusion sf4 is a piece of shit.

[chrisco84au]

MKX, KI and Guilty Gear have really gotten me back into the Genre. I have, hate me as you wish, bought all the DLC for MKX so far and will prob continue too (DID NOT buy the Krypton unlock or easy fatalities). My money, my choice, my enjoyment.

I grew up on fighting games but then I lost interest personally.
Now with the new gen of fighters stated above I am hooked again and brings back the joy of childhood memories, couch vs fighting games are near unbeatable with a few friends for pure fun factor.

Big disappointment with the port of SFIV, hopefully it's patched soon and can be added to my library. Patience is a virtue...... Although releasing a buggy, half broken game is also inexcusable.

Looking forward to SFV, hopefully it delivers.

[Revengeance]

Anyone who thinks KI is a better fighting game isn't a REAL fighting game enthusiast.

[CorndogBurglar]

Not only that, but the people saying SF4 wasn't even good at all?

Lol that just tells me they don't know much about fighting games. SF is considered the end all be all of fighting games.

Not to mention, without SF4, the fighting game genre would be all but dead right now. SF4 is what rejuvinated the entire genre. It was on its last legs until SF4 came out.

[Max-Zorin]

SF4 was good until they started giving character that don't even need buffs like Yun, and nerfing characters that never been a threat like E. Honda.

[Knightofelemia]

Mortal Kombat has been keeping me playing. Wish they would make a new Samurai Showdown or a new Fatal Fury game.

[mark_parch]

if only people who don't own an xbox one could experience killer instinct they would realize it is a major contender in the fighting genre. I actually prefer it to street fighter.

[Max-Zorin]

Tekken beats all.

[MetroidFREAK21]

Lol that title... I have survived nearly 21 years of gaming experience without Street Fighter... I can survive, along with the gaming community of SF4 came and went...