Review: Street Fighter X Tekken

Was I the only person who saw this fighting game crossover coming? I mean if we can have Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games then we can have Street Fighter X Tekken. Still, you’ll only be playing five minutes before realising that this Capcom developed game is essentially Street Fighter IV with Tekken characters, and we’ll have to wait until next year to see Namco’s take on the series.

I’ll be completely honest and admit that I’m actually fairly rubbish at Street Fighter X Tekken. I’ve been playing the Street Fighter games for years, but whilst I’ve picked up skills at other fighters such as BlazBlue and Dead or Alive, Street Fighter has never really been my strong suit. So if you’re a real pro you’ll probably have a very different experience of the game than myself, and may come into many of the technical issues I’ve heard about but personally haven’t really noticed.

But y’know what, I may struggle when the A.I. difficulty is set past medium, but I don’t actually know anyone in real life who can beat me at this game. There must be many more people that suck at Street Fighter X Tekken compared to those who are awesome at it, especially as (in all honesty) I found it to be a fairly average game that’s not worth sticking at long enough to turn pro.

Games are meant to be about having fun right? Street Fighter X Tekken may be a fairly competent fighter, but I did find that it managed to suck the fun out of an experience that should have been more enjoyable. And not really for a specific reason, it’s just a list of smaller frustrations I had that built up into a game that isn’t as fun to play as what else is out there. I’m talking about the over saturated colour pallet, the stupid Gem System, the 6 button control scheme on a 4 button controller, the DLC ridden customisation modes, and the weird overly exaggerated character models that really freak me out (and not in a good way like those in Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle).

That’s not to say the game doesn’t have it’s good qualities, and both the variety of stages and selection of characters is impressive. In fact, Street Fighter X Tekken has one of the largest character rosters in any fighting game I’ve ever played, and you can pretty much guarantee that your favourites from both series are playable. The game is certainly more fun when you’re mauling your enemies as Kuma the bear. There’s even some guest characters such as Pac-Man and a classic box art inspired Mega Man. I’m not really sure if this was a good idea or a stupid one, but it certainly happened.

Street Fighter X Tekken isn’t the worst fighting game I’ve played recently (this is), but it’s also not the best. It’s simply not as fun as what else is out there, and especially if you’re a fairly casual gamer when it comes to the fighting genre I’d recommend something else instead. I can’t vouch for the hardcore, but have heard that this game isn’t as mechanically competent as it should be. But if you’re skill level is somewhere in the middle (maybe semi pro), and you’re into both the Street Fighter and Tekken series, then I’m sure you’ll have some good fun with this game. Personally, I’m interested in the upcoming Tekken X Street Fighter, and think Namco might be able to do more with the crossover than Capcom did.

7/10

Play instead: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle