Let’s be honest, as Street Fighter is one of the more technical fighting game series, it doesn’t stand as a very approachable franchise for new players. However, it seems like Capcom is trying to lessen the “dedicated players only” barrier with Ultra Street Fighter IV. It was previously mentioned that the intention of adding Decapre was to have a character that “would interest newcomers” with a different type of playing style, but it looks like some of the new core mechanics were designed with the same intent.
A recent interview between Japanese-focused gaming website Siliconera and Ultra Street Fighter IV Assistant Producer Tomaki Ayano reveals more information behind the features being added into Ultra Street Fighter IV. Players will have the ability to power through attacks with the new Red Focus Attack. This variation of the standard Focus Attack features a charge-up that can withstand more hits, at the sacrifice of some EX meter progress. While the new attack variant can withstand more damage, like its counterpart, it’s still vulnerable to Ultras and throws. As seen in high-level competitive gameplay, the original Focus Attack is used to nullify “poking” hits, and as an attack-dash-cancel (hence “FADC”, or “Focus Attack Dash-Cancel”). A fully charged FA can stun and/or knock an opponent down, though this is rarely seen in faster, tournament play. According to Ayano, the Red Focus Attack was simply created to “deal with multi-hit attacks via simple button input”. By emphasizing the attack-absorbing feature or the standard Focus Attack, in a more simplified and streamlined way, Ayano thinks that this new defensive tactic will “reignite interest among players who may have been sitting out of the Street Fighter IV series”, until the release of Ultra Street Fighter IV.
The standing time after a knockdown has been delayed, giving the player more time to choose when to initiate a “wake up” (i.e. the getting-up animation). While this may look like a subtle cosmetic change to some, the “wake up meta-game” plays a huge role when constructing combos, “cross-ups” (an overhead strike that hits from the opposite side), or just trying to take the opponent by surprise. This change was “most certainly intended for a more hardcore crowd”. Ayano states that competitive players were having trouble with timing-based options after the wake up, so the change was specifically made to allow them to have more “control over their stand timing”.
The wake up meta-game is something that all players eventually come to understand, even if it’s just through passive, casual playing. The best way to describe an example of this would be with the sweep kick, found in just about every fighting game. Once your opponent has been knocked down, if you try to sweep them again, the attack will not connect. However, in some cases, once their wake up animation begins, a sweep kick- or any other low-hitting poke- becomes an optional attack, and will actually cause some damage.
It’s addressed during the interview that the Street Fighter franchise has never been one to include in-depth Tutorial modes. Where other games feature at the very least a Tutorial that shows the basic button inputs and beginner combo strings, Street Fighter has only featured a Training Mode with CPU Dummy settings. From the beginning, Street Fighter has had some complex systems at hand. Players who are either new to the series, or who want to improve their passive abilities, may have no idea how to tackle such concepts and tactics as “zoning”, “Wake Up Attacks”, “Priorities”, and the staple “FADC”. The addition of a thorough, complex Tutorial Mode would give new players the ability to learn these advanced mechanics at their own rate. Regarding the absence of a Tutorial in Ultra Street Fighter IV, Ayano had this to say:
“We’ve taken a different approach with Ultra Street Fighter IV. Rather than implementing a traditional tutorial, we’ve added Online Training Mode. You can explore the offline Challenge Mode to see how different moves are performed, but online training is best for practice. The way fighting games are played changes a great deal as the audience figures things out and play styles evolve. By allowing users to train with one another, they can learn about the most up-to-date techniques.”
While some fans are still irate regarding the inclusion of Decapre as the fifth new character, Ultra Street Fighter IV may be one of the most “accessible” Street Fighter titles in recent history. The intentional decision to not include a Tutorial Mode may still turn some potential new players away, but it sounds like Capcom has been listening to their audience, and is working towards a Street Fighter game catered towards both competitive “hardcore” players, and the more passive “casual” crowd.
Ultra Street Fighter IV is set to release in June, with the PC version arriving in August.