Heroes of Yesteryear: Street Fighter

Here's a look at a group of characters from the '90s that made me wait outside the local arcade for hours, semi-starving during lunch. I remember saving Rs 10 from my lunch money to go play at the arcade, back in 1992; 10 bucks got me a lot of credits to play - and playing Street Fighter was the highlight of the day. Street Fighter was a rage, probably one of the most-played arcade games of all time, and for good reason. Let's be honest: no matter how much you play all these new fighting games, they lack innovation, they focus more on graphics, multiple levels, effects, and voluptuous female contours; they lack the punch (pun not intended). One of the main reasons I'm writing this is that there's an upcoming Street Fighter 4 title, one game that's looking ber-cool. If it follows SF tradition, we can look forward to a great game!

The first Street Fighter was published in 1987, which saw only Ryu as a playable character. The game was a decent hit and brought something new to gamers. A few years later -- in 1991 -- Street Fighter II was released; this was the game that made SF the brand it is today.
The game had great visuals, and was the first game to give players the option of choosing different characters. Every character featured multiple combat moves, throws, and special attacks. These special or hidden attacks were hard to execute and gave the player the edge over the AI or human opponent. The arcade version features a single-player campaign, wherein the player could choose a character and play through a series of fights with opponents from all over the world. The player would finally battle a boss character; every character had a story, and I remember playing through every character's story to see the different endings. Ryu was my favorite; his style, stance, and special attacks were awesome. The Shoryuken, Hadouken, and Hurricane kick were amazing special attacks. Ryu's American counterpart was Ken; they'd both learnt under the same master, but Ken's fighting style is more aggressive -- he relies on style more than technique.

Devil May Cry 4 (PS3)

The first DMC game was a huge success; it sold four million copies and gained a reputation for stylish gameplay. The gaming community had never before seen this stellar combination of gun and sword, executed to perfection. The protagonist, Dante, soon appeared all over the Internet: every second guy had a Dante forum avatar or used his nick online. The series went through a few ups and downs with the lukewarm response to DMC 2; they recovered with DMC 3, a prequel, and eventually arrived at DMC 4. This is a true DMC title with one major change: you don't play as Dante. Still, the new protagonist is identical to Dante as far as combat style is concerned.



The Plot
The game starts off with the new lead character called Nero; he belongs to a group called Order of the Sword, running towards an opera house. A female character called Kyrie is performing there and can be seen patiently waiting for Nero's arrival -- you can guess they have a thing for each other. There are quite a few missing links in the plot: in the intro video, Nero comes across a group of monsters while he's running towards the opera house. In true hero style, he eliminates each of them within seconds -- he isn't concerned about the monsters and how and why are they invading his city, which is quite confusing.

As you play the game, you realize the story isn't DMC 4's forte -- not that the previous games had an exceptional plot, but this one is a step beyond. So back to Nero, whose right arm is covered in a sling: he manages to reach the opera house before Kyrie finishes her act. A few boring speeches and over-the-top dialogues later, you see Dante come crashing from the roof. Within seconds he shoots the Order's leader, a very old man, referred to as His Holiness. Dante's got blood splattered over his face, in a very dark avatar; this isn't the cool dude we know from the previous games. The army general called Credo sends his troops to attack Dante; Credo happens to be Kyrie's brother.