SpecialEffect's accessible GameBase

In 1987 a little-known fighting game crept onto the arcade scene. It featured the player controlling a single martial artist who fought his way through 10 increasingly harder opponents in several locations around the world.

The game's main selling point being 2 large pressure-sensitive buttons that the player could whack to determine how hard their fighter kicked and punched. The game was 'Street Fighter' and the fighter's name was Ryu . . .
 
1991 saw the release of the now-famous sequel: Street Fighter II  - The World Warrior. This game turned the fighting game genre on it's head with it's large colourful sprites, the choice of 8 vastly different fighters to pick from, and the seemingly huge array of secret special moves known only to the Grandmasters of the Arcade!

Fast-Forward 20 years through a multitude of reiterations and CAPCOM finally give us Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition (SSFIV:AE).
Taking the gameplay back to it's Street Fighter II roots, gone is the complicated parry system of Street Fighter 3, instead we see new features such as the Focus Attack, and the Ultra Combo - this latter being a nice game balancing feature that allows a player on the verge of defeat to come right back into the game!
The game uses 3D models for the characters and the backdrops but plays as a traditional 2D fighter using a side-on camera view - great for seeing all the action. The main focus of the game is online play but each character in the roster (there's 39 in all) has their own story mode in a single player game, which involves cut-scenes at the beginning of the game and an ending which is viewed on beating the final boss.
 Other features include 2 player Vs mode so you and a friend can play against each other (complete with adjustable health bars to balance mis-matched skill levels), a challenge mode where you need to perform certain combinations to progress. The car-smashing and barrel-busting bonus stages from Street Fighter II also return in SSFIV:AE. There's a very useful training mode and a Player Data area where you can view your records and watch replays of your fights (or other people's!).



ACCESSIBILITY:
SSFIV:AE is available for the XBox 360, PS3 and PC. I can't comment on the PS3 version as I've only played the 360 and PC versions.

All versions come with a wide range of skill levels, but players with poor reaction time might struggle even on the easiest setting. A way to slow / adjust game speed in single player games would have been very nice and wouldn't have impacted on players who prefer a faster game .

In visual terms the main game features nice large colourful characters. The PC version has better graphics (in my opinion) than the 360 version, with the option to add things like ink and watercolour effects, and the backgrounds are more detailed with extra animations.
In-game text is minimal and mainly appears as white text on a red background showing a statement from the winning fighter after a match.
Menus are clear and generally well laid out.

Audio: Sound is very good and features all the expected thumps and crunches you'd want in a fighting game, along with battle-cries from the combatants. In-game music accompanies the frantic pace of gameplay and thankfully, the cheesy title song that featured in the original SFIV has been dropped in favour of modernised rendition of the SFII theme. There are options to individually adjust the SFX, music and voice settings.
Cut-scenes have sub-titles but unfortunately in-game banter between rival combatants can be hard to hear and there's no sub-titles to see what's being said. Not game-breaking but might have been nice . . .

Controls: By the nature of the game design the Street Fighter series has never favoured those of us who have motion impairment or reduced manual dexterity - performing special moves and combos has always been a mixture of joystick gymnastics and pure luck for many players who are considered able-bodied, and SSFIV:AE is no different to it's predecessors.

 The 360 version has the option to re-map the buttons but no option to remap the stick or switch the directions controls to the right stick, however this is possible to do in the PC version.
I recommend the PC version over the console versions when it comes to controls. As well as the option to use a fully remappable gamepad, the PC version allows for redefinable keys for all basic movements.
For players with motion impairment or dexterity impairment there is the option of using a programmable gamepad to tie complex sequences of button pressing down to a single button, although some gamepads require you to be able to first perform the move to record the action.
If you have a gamepad that can map it's buttons to the PC keyboard (eg. Logitech Dual Action gamepad) I might be able to help you out - if you need help post here or message me.

The PC game can be run in a window but there's no option to switch between windowed mode and full screen in the set-up menus - massive oversight really. To toggle window mode you need to press ALT+Enter.  
For Head mouse / Eye tracker users, or anyone with limited use of their hands: I've created a special version of my Shodan Virtual Gamepad to work specifically with SSFIV:AE.



This converts mouse pointer movement (no need for mouse clicks) over virtual buttons into keyboard presses. It's a work in progress, current version supports all basic moves for all characters and profiles for special moves/combos for 3 characters (Ryu, Ken & Evil Ryu), more profiles to follow. Go to the download page on my website to get a copy:

http://www.graemesfreegames.com/html/virtual_gamepad.html 

If you plan to use the Shodan Gamepad, I advise you to get the Shodan Gamepad first and try it out on your PC before you buy SSFIV:AE. When you activate and unlock the gamepad, the on-screen buttons should move around the screen smoothly, tracking your mouse pointer.

In summary, SSFIV:AE is one of the best (the best?) fighting games around, if you like fighting games then you can't go wrong with it. For PC gamers, if you want a change from the usual FPS / RTS/ RPG games that make up the vast majority of commercial PC releases, then give SSFIV:AE a try. . .