It seems only yesteryear when fighting games, nevertheless good fighters were
few and far between and nowadays it seems to be that the next big blockbuster
fighter of the generation is being released multiple times a year from the same
developers. This time around, we have been provided with a copy of Street
Fighter X Tekken from Capcom to review, but before we get to that, let's lay
out some of the features of this crossover fighter. This is still a 2D fighter
that carries over the appearance and engine of Street Fighter IV, but this time
around we get a 2 vs. 2 tag team fighting game. Gameplay controls use either
the traditional Street Fighter 6 button or the 4 button Tekken layout. So, here
comes the new challenger, time to see how it holds up.

Tekken has never been on my radar as a fan of the fighting genre, but crossover
fighters have always piqued my interest. What made this an easy transition for
me was the different button configurations, as a fan of Street Fighter it was
fairly simple to pick a new main, I try to have one from each side, and learn
their controls with the layout I am most comfortable with. What I particularly
liked was the new tag team fighting style, if you don’t tag in your other
character before your life bar runs out then the round is over, so you have to
keep a close eye on your life bar and choose your teammate wisely. I also preferred
this crossover to the recent Marvel vs. Capcom, as it is less hectic and more
technical, much like Street Fighter IV is. Just like Mortal Kombat for the PS3,
the PS3 version of this title also includes Cole MacGrath from InFamous, Mega
Man, Pac-Man, and Sony feline video game personalities Toro & Kuro. None of
the exclusives fit my preferred fighting style but it is nice to have a reason
to choose one console version over the other.

At the same time, it also seems like Capcom was trying to
get in as many features as possible, with the inclusion of the gem system,
scramble mode, and Pandora mode. Though it is nice to have more to do than some
missions, arcade, and online, but there comes a point when it just seems like filler.
The gem system is something that I thought the game could do without as you can
customize buffs in the way of gems, much like heroes and heralds in Marvel vs
Capcom, it adds depth but really doesn’t change much and can make online
matches incredibly one sided. I had no problem finding matches online, but due
to people mapping their buttons to spam combos or exploiting single moves and
spamming those made matches downright painful at times, much like that
encountered in previous fighters. Load times, what happened with this game, I don’t
recall Street Fighter IV or any recent fighter for that matter having load
times as long as this, the first couple matches I had both on and offline, I thought
my PS3 had frozen waiting for the match to start.

I had a great time with Street Fighter x Tekken, and it was
a great way to introduce me to the Tekken universe and even prepare me and
other newcomers for Tekken x Street Fighter.
This game was much more forgiving for me to get into, over the other
recent crossover Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3. Though there were issues that
stood out to me, mainly the load times, can we get a patch please? There were
redeeming factors like the tag team gameplay and large roster of characters
new, old, and exclusive, but why was Blanka not in the initial roster? Those
hesitant to jump in and be an early adopter of this title can wait a few months
for the Ultimate Street Fighter x Tekken Arcade Edition and those are typically
announce just shortly after DLC has been released and offered at a forty dollar
price point.