The time leading up to the release of Street Fighter X Tekken has certainly been an emotional roller coaster, with Capcom catching flak for various design and marketing choices. Yet combining the rosters of Capcom’s and Namco’s flagship fighters is a strong idea with a lot of potential, and the game lives up to it. Playing as a mix of Street Fighter IV, Tekken Tag Tournament, and a sprinkling of other ideas, SFXT lets you pick from almost forty characters and fight in tag team fashion.
While the basics are similar to any other fighting game in that you’re trading punches, throws, fireballs, etc. until someone wins, it’s the surrounding details that matter. Unlike some fighters even as recent as a few years ago, this one doesn’t throw new players to the wolves. The controls have been streamlined, and nearly every character can ’dial a combo’ by following a light/medium/strong attack series that can lead to a launching attack and automatic tag to your other character. This is important since tags are often just the first half of a combo, so letting even inexperienced players have access to them is a good idea.
An extensive tutorial also reaches out to new players, though fighting enthusiasts actually should check this one out too. Several SFXT engine features aren’t a typical part of Street Fighter, such as being able to spend part of your super meter (’Cross Gauge’ in this game) to knock your opponent away while you’re blocking or bring in both of your fighters at the same time (with one controlled by the AI). And these are just the beginning, so the tutorial is a very welcome thing to get anyone up to speed.
Obviously these things aren’t the main draw, the real appeal is seeing how the Tekken cast stack up against Street Fighter’s best on their home turf (a Capcom engine). It must seem like an odd match, since most Tekken characters don’t have a projectile attack and are used to fighting in a 3D space. Despite taking more cues from Street Fighter than anything else, fights won’t feel completely alien to Tekken fans. They have learned many of the same core skills that come up in Street Fighter, so timing, spacing your attacks well, and having a good grasp of your opponent’s psychology will get you pretty far. The inclusion of a more juggle-friendly combo system may help ease the transition as well.
