Especially for Gamer.ru My review of the game from a non-console player's perspective

Well, we finally waited! Fighting is on PC. Yes, sometimes something comes out for our platform, but it's all too much, if I can put it that way, for fans. Even such projects are a rarity. And Street Fighter is a big name, a brand. Many of us played the early parts on “Dendy,” but then we forgot this wonder... And now it returns. What has Capcom managed to do this time?

To be honest, I hardly remembered that old project. I played it probably thirteen years ago. If not more. That is, at such a tender age when I wasn’t drawn to women, alcohol, or working fourteen to sixteen hours a day. Back then I didn’t even have a wife. In general, a completely different time. And you can’t call me a fan of the series or, God forbid, a fanatic. Before starting the new part, I remembered nothing...

...At least, that’s what I thought. As soon as I launched Street Fighter IV, those suspiciously familiar faces appeared on the screen. That green monster, I told myself, seems to have been electrocuted. And indeed — Blanka turned out to be electric. I scratched my head, hopped around, took my dose of beatings, and decided to play as someone else.

Soon I met another familiar face. Old man Dhalsim with his stretching legs and arms. Plus, he can fly and spin after jumping. A completely useless ability, but I often used it as a kid. That's how I remembered the character.

There are also other old characters here. The main hero of the entire series Ryu, his buddy Ken, the bruiser Sagat with the scar and bandage. Who else do you know? The Russian wrestler is also with us, but for some reason, I don’t remember him at all. However, I immediately recognized Mr. Dictator, also known as M. Bison (also Mike Bison, and Vega...).

The game is astonishingly similar to previous installments. Capcom did an excellent job capturing the spirit of the series. Just recently, I rewatched videos from the earlier parts on YouTube and realized that the new heroes are much closer to me. I absolutely dislike the old ones after getting acquainted with Street Fighter IV. Clearly, it wasn’t for nothing that the developers enjoyed the noble bread...

The Story of a Fighter

I initially struggled to remember the storyline of the earlier parts but then abandoned it. And rightly so. The Street Fighter story is so vast and drawn from so many sources that knowing just one or two games won’t give even a rough idea of the world. You need to read about it, a lot. And you need to watch, quite a bit too. To figure out who's who, I probably spent several days. Otherwise, the plot of the fourth part will seem like a silly story about another guy who dreams of enslaving the planet and loudly saying, “Mwa-ha-ha!” (by the way, in the Street Fighter IV anime, Akuma laughs exactly like that, I was thrilled).

In reality, although the story doesn’t reach for the stars, it’s still good. You just need to know the history. Otherwise, it’s unclear why some skinny, funny, red-haired guy is mocking huge Sagat in front of the crowd, and what is up with that guy who first bathes in a green vessel for a long time and then stands on a mountain, levitating a little for his pleasure.

Moreover, Capcom did something so amusing that even if you have a rough idea of the series overall but launch the game without watching the namesake anime — you still won’t understand everything. Why Sagat beat his student will be clear, but who is Seth, why does he want Ryu, what was Chun-Li doing — God only knows.

Isn’t it a strange approach by the developers? I’m not blaming them now, just find it amusing. To understand a game that has thirty minutes of cutscenes, you need to collect information for several days. But once you learn everything — fighting gets really fun. I recommend getting to know the universe first, and only then installing SFIV. You’ll get much more enjoyment.

In fact, the fourth part is a prequel to the third. In it, the new game boss Seth organizes a worldwide fighting tournament. He wants to gather all heroes in one place and seize their power. Each character has their own motives, and each goes to this championship due to special issues. One became bored, another decided to thwart Seth's world domination... It's not the point.

Even though some dots on the