For years I have wondered what it would be like to see characters from the Street Fighter series fighting against those of the Tekken series. And now, on this day, I have witnessed these battles myself.
Street Fighter x Tekken is developed and published by Capcom. It will be released on 6th March (NA) on the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. It will also be released on Windows on 11th March.
Like all fighting games, Street Fighter x Tekken has an extremely weak story. Or rather, there’s hardly any story at all. Basically, there is a conflict between the Street Fighter and Tekken characters that has been engaged due to an object called Pandora which has crash landed on Earth. As seen in the first few trailers, the combatants are granted more power due to this object because it releases a water-like energy.
And that pretty much sums up the story for you.
Moving on to the gameplay which is the major aspect of all games. Street Fighter x Tekken contains characters from both the franchises, but the gameplay leans more towards Street Fighter. However, Capcom makes up for this by providing grapples from the Tekken series. Some Tekken fans might not like this overall gameplay, but Namco Bandai is creating a Tekken x Street Fighter, which will have Tekken-styled game play.
Like in Street Fighter IV, this game has Super Combos and EX attacks. A team of two is selected to fight and characters can be switched out normally, or during combos. This switching of characters is a lot of fun, especially when it is done tactically. It can be used to complacently turn the tide of battle. Also, combos can be chained with two characters if the Super Combo bar is completely filled.
There are two new game mechanics in SF x Tekken. The first one is the Gem System in which players can use specific gems to help them during battle. These gems are allocated before the fight. Six varieties of gems exist: attack, defense, speed, vitality, assist, and Cross Gauge. Each gem has a different colour and is activated when certain conditions in battle have been met (For example: You successfully attack the opponent for a specific number of times etc.).
At first, I had thought that this Gem System might make the game too easy, or too hard as everything would depend on the placement of the gems. However, I am pleased to say that this is not the case. The game is very well balanced. Although the strategic placement of gems is important, it’s still not a very huge deal. Ultimately, it all comes down to skill.
The next new game mechanic is the Pandora Mode. This is like that Devil Trigger thing in DMC; your character receives a lot of strength for a limited time (10 seconds to be specific). When your character has less than 25% health available, he/she can use Pandora mode, receiving increased attributes but with a limit of 10 seconds to defeat your opponent. If you are unable to fulfill your objective in 10 seconds, you lose.
Pandora mode can be used by both the players at the same time, which can be very thrilling. Pandora mode can either make you win very quickly, or lose shamefully. In other words, it’s risky. But that makes it essential as a last resort.
The game can also be played online with 4 players (2 on each team). At first I had thought that this would be weird with 4 players playing the same game. But as it turns out, it’s pretty fun.
The graphics of the game are good, but not great. They are pleasing to the eyes, but sometimes, you think that Capcom could have done better. The character designs aren’t bad either. The environments are nice, but could have used some improvement in terms of detail. Maybe we’ll see those in the ‘Super/Alpha/Ultimate SFxT”.
Similarly, the soundtrack isn’t bad either, but it ultimately, it comes down to your choice of music and OSTs. Everyone has a different taste in music, so you may/may not like the soundtrack.
Overall, this is a great fighting game. If you’re a SF or Tekken fan, you should definitely try this. At the same time, though, I would recommend that you wait for a while… because we all know Capcom will release an enhanced version of the game soon. If you think you’re satisfied with the current version, then go for it. If not, then it is wise to wait for the next version.
TechDeville awards Street Fighter X Tekken 4/5 stars.
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