Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition review

Multiplayer is where Street Fighter has always excelled, and Arcade Edition is no different. The net code has been noticeably improved, so we had no trouble finding matches that were lag-free. Each time you win a game, your player and battle point totals increase, which highlight how proficient you are with individual characters as well as your overall skill level. Scores are tracked on a global leaderboard, with player skill indicated with a series of different ranks.

You might not get the time to stop and enjoy the scenery when playing online, but the game looks fantastic. It isn’t hugely demanding, either, so most people should be able to run it using the fixed frame rate setting; this ensures that each move displays the correct number of frames, which is important for timing counter attacks and special moves, regardless of your computer hardware. A built in benchmark tool will tell you if your PC is able to run at the minimum frame rate to play online games smoothly.

Console gamers would be justified in feeling slightly cheated if they bought Arcade Edition for the full retail price; compared to Super Street Fighter IV, it adds very little in terms of new gameplay. However, it’s phenomenal value on the PC, providing a wealth of upgrades, a massively improved spectator mode and plenty of new characters. Truly dedicated players may want to invest in an arcade stick, such as the Mad Catz Arcade Fight Stick, to get the precision needed to pull off many of the complex special move inputs, but however you choose to play, there’s simply no competition from any other fighting game.