Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition Impressions – Dynamic 3D Shift

Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition

Developed by Capcom, release date: February 26, 2011

Demo time: 8 minutes

Estimated wait time: 15 minutes

Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition could be seen as a sign of how far handheld gaming has come. Back in the 90s, gamers used to wonder if console and arcade versions of fighting games like Street Fighter II would ever enjoy performance parity. Home consoles became powerful enough to meet that threshold, and it looks like the Nintendo 3DS too will do arcade fighters some justice. Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition coming to the Nintendo 3DS at launch in Japan is even more impressive given how recent the HD console and arcade versions are. From a gameplay standpoint, Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition will be familiar to any fan of the series, and indeed, the 3DS does justice to the overall game experience by maintaining a very similar look, identical gameplay and plenty of features.

Capcom has taken an interesting approach to applying 3D visuals to Super Street Fighter IV. In traditional flat 2D mode with the 3D dialer at a high setting, you will see the depth of background environments. At the menu select screen or anytime during a fight, you can change the camera angle into “Dynamic Mode,” a 3DS exclusive feature. Choosing this angle, causes the camera to shift sideways, so that you are looking at the action from an angle. The gameplay itself remains the same, but the new perspective does make the fight feel somewhat different. Dynamic Mode is best enjoyed with the 3D effect turned on so you are able to perceive the distance between your player and the opponent.

Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition is packed with multiplayer modes to keep gamers occupied. Using either local wireless or internet play (with friend codes, according to the latest issue of Famitsu), players can square off against each other. Internet competitive gameplay will be compatible across regional releases, so players in Japan will eventually be able to challenge players of other countries’ version of Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition. There’s also a mode called Street Pass, which is a wireless communication feature built into the 3DS hardware. If you have Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition in your 3DS and Street Pass is turned on, you can instantly challenge another person in a figure fight if that person also has Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition and Street Pass turned on. Other cool features include being able to watch two other players fighting on your own 3DS using a feature called Channel Live, as well as figure collecting as a form of achievements.

Although Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition is a re-release of an existing game, it stays true to its strengths and offers something different for people who want to play it on the go and/or in 3D. Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition Edition is looking like a solid choice for a 3DS launch title.