Just played Ultimate Street Fighter IV for the first time.

[atomicpoet@atomicpoet.org]

Just played Ultimate Street Fighter IV for the first time.

With a title this big, people are bound to ask, "How did you just arrive at this now?"

Well, I have a big backlog and a whole lot of patience. I consequently feel no FOMO so I arrive at the big titles only when I'm good and ready.

Now that Street Fighter IV is 18-years-old, what do I think of it? This seems like it was made at a time when studios were afraid to go all out on 2D and pixel art, so they went for a pseudo 2D look with cel-shaded graphics that gives it an inky effect. Which is fine.

However, I find the backgrounds far more interesting than the character models. To me that's the highlight.

Cutscenes have an anime look, and that's pretty high quality. But it makes me wonder why the fights themselves couldn't preserve that anime look.

I also find the controls to be wonky. On more than one occasion, I press forward on the D-pad only to execute a jump. Which sure sucks when you're trying to make a fireball.

With that in mind, my kid sure loves this game. And the co-op mode is a highlight. Especially when you're on a couch. Street Fighter always excels at that kind of play.