THE LATEST NEWS FROM SEPTEMBER 2008

After plenty of hype, the arcade version of Street Fighter IV was ready to go, and it scored 9/10 in both games™ and Edge.

- 

Praising the way that special moves were easier to perform, Edge noted that, “The inputs are the same as ever, but SFIV is generous in its interpretation of your intentions, and much less fiddly.” The new mechanics also impressed games™, with the mag stating, “If the Focus system proves as versatile a tool as it appears, then we may now have a Street Fighter to top 3rd Strike,” and also noted that the new Ultra Combos can make for “truly tense exchanges” between evenly matched players.

At home, Soulcalibur IV drew almost universal praise on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, with scores of 94% from Play, 9/10 each from X360 and Official PlayStation Magazine, 4/5 from 360, 8/10 from games™ and 7/10 from Official Xbox Magazine. Play felt that it was, “An amazingly deep and beautiful fighting experience, marred by a couple of unnecessary characters,” referring to Star Wars guests Darth Vader and the Secret Apprentice. OXM criticised the game’s offering for solo players, saying that, “It’s fortunate that the series can now rest on the safety net of online play and character customisation because, without it this would be a slender, anorexic package.”