I have always loved fighting games.  Theres something classic about the relieving of the stresses and strains of life by beating seven shades of S*** out of some games character on screen, that no other gaming style comes close to.  Street Fighter has always been one of the biggest names in the industry, but had lost its way in recent years due to countless unimaginative spin-offs from the legendary Street Fighter II with the exemplary Alpha series to the downright bizarre Puzzle Fighter and Pocket Fighter titles.

Yet after sitting in the shadow of the acclaimed Virtua Fighter series or the fan-favourite Tekken, now was as good a time as any to step back into the ring and reclaim its crown.  Street Fighter IV stays true to the game’s formula whilst re-imagining it with vastly improved 3D graphics, and a more friendly control system that allows even novices to pull off amazing moves, whilst still leaving plenty of intricacies for experts to get to grips with.  The on-line mode is very well implemented (something that has always been hit and miss in fighting games), with a great medal and battle points system.  Of course facing experienced players if you are a novices like me, will mean plenty of embarrassing defeats, but there is enough depth in the offline single player modes to hone your skills before facing the world … something I recommend.

So I am glad Street Fighter is back, it’s never looked so good, and although still not as easy to get to grips with as Tekken, has enough personality and entertainment to keep me coming back for a while yet.