Originally Posted March 26th, 2012

Not being a huge player of fighting games, mainly because I suck, Street Fighter X Tekken interested me purely on the premise of two fighting games converging. I’m still holding out hope that the second game, Tekken X Street Fighter, will release. This is purely because I feel like I “get” Tekken a bit more than Street Fighter. Either way, from all the fighting games I’ve played, this one is certainly one of the more interesting ones.

The first of two crossover games,Street Fighter X Tekken is Capcom’s fighting game with Namco’s characters. This is an interesting move for both developers, as one franchise is a 2D fighter while the other is focused around 3D. While this could have meant the Tekken fighters felt strange in Capcom’s hands that really isn’t the case. In fact, this is the most fun I’ve had with a fighting game for a long time.

Building from Street Fighter 4 (and a little from Marvel vs. Capcom too), the fighting system is fun, fast and fluid. It all feels very familiar if you’ve played a Capcom fighter before, with a great starting tutorial to play through if not.

The major difference is the Tag-Team set up, meaning you pick two characters instead of one, though only one needs to be knocked out to declare the round over. It’s easy to start building up some combos and switching characters when you feel the need, even combo-ing into the switch.

The game itself feels a lot easier to get into than a typicalStreet Fighter game. There’s still a huge amount of complexity in the systems at present, but it can be much simpler to pull off some combos than in other similar games, which isn’t a bad thing in the slightest. Mastering this game will still take a lot of practice, patience and time, so veterans will find a lot to like about some of these new tag combos and other mechanics implemented.

It’s interesting seeing the familiar Tekken characters in this new art style, though they don’t look out of place at all. Bright colours and flashy moves are abound and it’s certainly a joy to look at. The animations also look fantastic, with familiar moves on both sides making the cut.

The roster itself is already rather large, with a guarantee of extra purchases down the line. Not only has there been plenty of good characters from both franchises, there are some interesting additions too. The PS3 version has, for free, Pac-man and a strange homage to the first Mega Man’s box art.

Progressing through the arcade mode is standard here. With the only interesting features happening when you pick a “team” such as Ryu and Ken. This adds some post-match dialog between them and the possibility of going up against their rivals. While this adds more to the completely bonkers story, it’s only slightly amusing. Then, as is usual for fighting games, the boss fights at the end are brutal and make sure that you have to be completely up to the task before you’re able to take them down.

Street Fighter X Tekken is a great game, though a little too similar to Street Fighter 4 to truly stick out. It does a lot of things right and though it does have a difficulty spike (like most fighters) against veterans and boss fights, it’s a lot more approachable to newcomers to the franchise. This was likely intentional and for the Tekken fans, but it also means this game is a great place to practise and get good at great fighting games.