I stayed up pretty late last night squeezing in some quality game time with the newly released Street Fighter IV on Xbox 360.

Reviewing the game is really easy:

It’s great. The game is fun, the characters are balanced (from what I’ve seen), the graphics are sweet, and if you have ever played Street Fighter II, the basics will feel extremely natural.

I also really like that it is a 2D fighter with 3D graphic elements. The simplicity of the 2D fighter layout is superb.

The downside? I don’t like anime, but the anime cut scenes take it to a special level of bad. Why they even bothered is beyond me. The story is so thin that you can see through it, and some of the sound-effects and voice acting are weak and repetitive (a hallmark of fighting games).

I also miss the old Street Fighter II soundtrack.

It’s the best fighting game I’ve played since Marvel vs. Capcom II (my gold standard for fighting games).

Here’s the odd thing about Street Fighter IV:

The new final boss Seth (not a particularly menacing name) bears striking resemblance to Dr. Manhattan of Watchmen. He even teleports like Dr. Manhattan.

Admittedly, Seth has a big ying yang for a belly and wears pants (or has no genitals), while Dr. Manhattan doesn’t have a ying yang torso and goes commando.

Those two points of difference aside, they are pretty damn similar.

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