Super Street Fighter IV

Fans of a good, old-fashioned button-mashing can't failed to have noticed the number and quality of releases the beat 'em-up genre has thrown up recently. They no longer command the headlines, or the sales, of their mid-90s heyday but are enjoying a revival that has been defined by unusually high standards. Last year's Street Fighter IV set a quality benchmark that remained unsurpassed – until now, when, refined and expanded, retouched and renamed, it returns as Super Street Fighter IV . Astute observers might point out that in a world where convenient downloadable updates to games are now commonplace, a completely new release for a title effectively already in the public domain is hard to justify. But that would be to miss the point of Super Street Fighter IV , and also underestimate the extent of the overhaul. Along with new characters, such as red-skinned Turkish oil-wrestler Hakan, a wealth of extra content has been added for nostalgia fans, in the form of returning combatants from previous titles. The revival of the bonus levels from classic Street Fighter iterations – such as the car-smashing challenge – will also please greying gamers, while a host of new online modes capture the competitive spirit of the arcade version. There are numerous additions but it's the subtlest changes that are the most significant. A fine recalibration of the core gameplay mechanics gives a faster, slicker game with more close-fought melees. If you're looking for the ultimate Street Fighter , Capcom's latest is essential.