Four of Ultra Street Fighter IV’s new characters are out of Street Fighter X Tekken, right down to their character models and moves. Street Fighter X Tekken is a very different game, though, and plays nothing like USFIV; and so, Siliconera caught up with assistant producer Tomoaki Ayano to ask about how Capcom went about bringing those characters over into Ultra.
“We started by rebuilding those characters in much the same fashion as their Street Fighter X Tekken incarnations. The easiest change to explain is that we added Super and Ultra Combos,” Ayano replied.
“Also, since Ultra does not include a system equivalent to Street Fighter X Tekken’s Cross Rush, there will be some combo recipes that won’t deliver the same result that you may have grown accustomed to in that game and their general play style will feel a bit different.”
He continued, “There are also plenty of tweaks under the hood that might not be obvious at first glance. For example, most moves in Street Fighter X Tekken could be used for air combos, but the parameters have been adjusted to suit the play style and rule set of SFIV this time around, so only certain specific moves can be used in that fashion. Getting more technical, the whole method by which hit boxes and hurt boxes are applied and adjusted differs between SFXT and SFIV, so those have been changed in all instances, whether a character is standing, crouching, or jumping, etc.”
“There have also been a host of changes made to move properties, frame data, and the like that will allow for new combo opportunities. I encourage users to experiment with these characters to see what is now possible.”
Feedback has played a big role in Ultra Street Fighter IV’s development, and has influenced the changes that have been made to a number of the game’s characters. I asked Ayano if he’s noticed any differences in the kind of feedback from players in Japan and players in the West.
“Speaking broadly, Western players tend to make requests in relation to combos, while Japanese players often focus on the parameters and frame data of individual moves,” Ayano replied. “One thing all players have in common, though, is a desire to play something unlike what has come before. I think the battle balance we’ve achieved meets this goal.”
Ultra Street Fighter IV will be available on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 this June. A PC version of the game will follow in August. Pricing and other details can be found here.
