Technically, there is no arcade version of Street Fighter IV in the US. However, that never stopped Chinese people from getting their fill of “so bah tou” (Guile) and “boxah” (Balrog/M Bison). And in a Mott Street arcade lies one of two places in New York (none found in Jersey yet) with SF4.
Unfortunately, there is a gaming principle I follow, which states that if I don’t own the game, I suck at it. Plus, Chinatown is known for some of the best SF players in the area, so that $1 game was going to be over quick.
I played two games, choosing Blanka and Guile. I got crushed both times. SF4 is actually a successor to SF2, a game release way back in the early nineties. The first time I ever played SFII, I was only six. Like all fighting games during that era, it’s a slower paced game that requires more patience and tactics rather than speed and quick reflexes of modern fighters.
That’s not to say SF4 didn’t get any changes. As I learned quickly, there are more ways to punish an exposed opponent such able to beat up a falling opponent from mid-air (like in SF alpha 3). Then there some other stuff that I haven’t figured out yet, like doing a Blank ball through a fireball.
In conclusion, despite playing variations of Street Fighter, I can never mastered it all because I do not own the game and take the time to learn the intricacies such as in Call of Duty.
The game comes out in consoles next month with the PC version following soon (I hope). You can be damn sure I will purchase the game and a joystick when it comes out on PC.
Then I left Chinatown and went home to watch…
*Scroll up, that’s what happened next*