Street Fighter IV is showcased with 3-D graphics, yet the game plays entirely like the 2-D Street Fighter games in the main series. The game looks absolutely gorgeous. The characters blend in well with the backgrounds and all of them are flowing with life. Lighting effects are displayed on fighters as energy projectiles come into close range and many of the moves are bursting with flashiness. Seeing each fighter in action reminds me of the first time I witnessed the extraordinary character animation from Street Fighter III. Just about all the classic fighters from Street Fighter II are back with the exception of Dee Jay and T. Hawk. A few Street Fighter Alpha fighters are also included and they make the transition very well. I have always considered Rose to be a stylish fighter in the 2-D Alpha series, but she looks even better when showcased in 3-D!

I'm proud to say that the new fighters are all unique and useful in their own way. If you've played the many versions of Street Fighter III then you're most likely familiar with how useless some new characters can feel. Twelve was a unique character to me in Street Fighter III, but I never once could use him effectively until I used his super to make him copy his opponent. In Street Fighter IV however, all the new characters have their own unique moves that do not rip off other fighters (for the most part) and they are all useful in their own way once I had learned how to control them properly.

Street Fighter IV plays more like Street Fighter II but it still pulls in a few aspects from Street Fighter III such as the ability to cancel special moves into supers, the inclusion of EX special moves and of course the taunt, which is now called the personal action. Each fighter has a list of 10 personal actions and outfit color changes that can be unlocked while performing certain tasks. A player that is familiar with either Street Fighter II or III will have no problem entering the battlegrounds of Street Fighter IV. The game has a few little twists on the old Street Fighter formula however.

Somewhat like a parry move, Street Fighter IV introduces a move known as the "focus attack". You can tap both medium attack buttons at the same time to perform this close range attack. It can be charged by holding the buttons or performed instantly by letting go of them early. When charged, this attack gives your characters slight super armor that will allow them to take a hit while the animation for the move is underway, so if a character tries to attack with a normal punch while your is in the middle of the attack then your character will take damage from the hit but the hit will not knock them out of the focus attack allowing you to hit your opponent and stun them. The damage retained during a focus attack is darkened on the character's life bar and slowly regenerates in a few seconds if that character is not attacked shortly afterwards.

Focus attacks can be cancelled into dashes at any time to instantly stop their animation sequences and an EX focus attack will allow you to cancel a special move into a focus attack by pressing the two medium attacks button during the startup animation of the attack. For instance, if a Ken player performs a Dragon Punch that the opponent blocks, Ken can quickly cancel into an EX focus attack before the opponent has a chance to retaliate with a counter attack. From the EX focus, one can quickly dash away or continue to charge the attack with a slight super armor in place. The focus attack allows for a very enjoyable change to the usual normal and special move tradeoffs per battle. It's slightly reminiscent of Street Fighter III's parry system but not as hard for those with a lack of timing, yet deeper for those willing to explore.

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