Street Fighter X Tekken Lots Of Fun
Street Fighter X Tekken, the long-awaited dream match-up between Street Fighter and Tekken, is finally a reality, delivering the ultimate tag team iconic characters from each franchise. The gameplay mechanics are based on the Street Fighter IV fighting engine, and refined to suit the needs of Street Fighter and Tekken fans alike.
Street Fighter X Tekken is a 2-D fighter that includes many of the same fighting mechanics seen in Super Street Fighter IV, and features two-on-two combat. Each side is in control of two fighters (which you can pick) and you can swap them as you wish. You can even team up cooperatively and fight on the same team, meaning up to four players can participate in a fight. However, when one fighter on your team is knocked out, your whole team loses that round (regardless of how much health your remaining fighter has).
Thirty-eight characters from each franchise are in Street Fighter X Tekken, including Rolento, Zangief, Cammy, Sagat, Hugo, Ibuki, Poison, Dhalsim, Ryu, Ken, Guile, Abel, Balrog, Juri, Vega and Chun-Li from Street Fighter, along with Heihachi, Lili, Julia, Hwoarang, Raven, Kuma, Yoshimitsu, Steve, Kazuya, Nina, King, Marduk, Bob, Law, Pual and Xiaoyu from Tekken.
The game has a six-button layout – three punches, three kicks and a three-section energy meter with numerous functions. This meter is quickly earned and also quickly spent on devastating super arts, EX special moves and more. One of its most important/unique functions is cross-canceling. For one block of meter you can tag in your partner mid-combo to continue the assault. This move can be confusing at first, but with some practice it’s useful. It’s much easier to fight with one character until your health gets low, switch characters and repeat, but if you stick with this method, you won’t experience the game’s full unique gameplay.
A key aspect this game introduces is the Gem system, a strategic new way to customize and enhance your fighting experience. The gems make your character stronger and can be tailored to suit any fighting style. For example, if you’re offense-oriented, then the attack-boosting Immense Power gems are for you. If you know you’re going be hit quite a bit, the Iron Wall gems are best since they grant damage reduction. There are a total of 57 gems, and they must be earned, and they can either improve your weaknesses or capitalize on your strengths.
Additionally, Street Fighter X Tekken includes the online features from Super Street Fighter IV, but with upgraded online functionality.
If you don’t want your stand-alone game to be constantly interrupted by online challengers (from around the world), make sure to disable that feature. Otherwise, you won’t be able to get through the game in peace.
This game is loads of fun and definitely worth it. Plus, since it’s a fighter game, it’s something you can just walk away from without having to worry about where you left off in the story. As always, I played this game as my favorite Chun-Li (and filled the second slot with various other characters). Happy fighting!
Street Fighter X Tekken is rated T for Teen and retails for $59.99.
