Capcom! Resident Evil! Tom Jones!

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When it comes to fighting game guides, I can spend weeks on a single character and still not be satisfied, so it’s more of a personal issue than anything else. My time at Capcom was limited, but luckily I had plenty of time with the arcade version before I headed up to San Mateo.

I think anyone who is just getting into Street Fighter will get a lot out of the guide, and the tournament-level players have frame data in the back of the book that they’ll certainly appreciate.

I don’t know what my next guide will be, but hopefully I get something else soon. I’m already starting to get bored… ^_^

The Hint Book is a very bare bones introduction to the four new characters introduced in Street Fighter IV. These include Crimson Viper, El Fuerte, Abel and Rufus. Within the pages of the Hint Book you’ll find one combo for each, as well as a few special moves, all wonderfully drawn by Udon (the people behind some of the SF comic books).

As a collectible, the Hint Book is a must have for SF fans. The artwork is very nice and it has a comic book feel that you won’t find in the Official Strategy Guide (although you will find plenty of artwork). However, it’s in no way a replacement for the Strategy Guide. You won’t find any frame data, character strategies, general strategies, or anything remotely similar to these assets.

Hopefully that helps to clarify the difference between the two for people on the fence about choosing between them. Collectors will probably want to pick up both, while people looking to take their game to the next level, or simply learn the basics should opt for the Strategy Guide.

Now that I’ve covered that, I’m off to do some Soul Calibur IV training. I just came off of a displeasing 5th place finish at a regional qualifier over the weekend, so I need to ensure I do better at the next regional qualifier in San Diego this coming weekend.

Don’t forget about the $2,000 DEVASTATION Street Fighter IV tournament in June, or Evolution in July.

The layout is looking phenomenal; huge props to Jody for hooking up a stellar layout and using the high resolution Capcom artwork perfectly. I’m generally not a big fan of game artwork, but the SF4 art is really nice. In addition to the artwork scattered throughout the guide, there’s a small art section in the back with a few character montages.

I think this guide should appeal to the new players and the returning veterans. Coming from a Tekken and Soul Calibur background, I had to change the way I think about high level play. Playing a 2D fighter at high levels is very different from how a 3D fighter is played. But while I learned the differences (playing on a local SF4 arcade machine before heading to Capcom), it helped me develop the early chapters of the guide, informing newcomers about the intricacies of SF4.

For the advanced players, there’s a frame data index in the back of the guide. It only covers the 17 arcade characters, but it’s more than you’d find in most US-based strategy guides and the first time I’ve been able to include frame data in one of my fighting game guides. I ask for it every time because it’s something that high level players use regularly and something that I personally use religiously, but I always have to import a Japanese guide to obtain it. Now the SF players have it in the US SF4 guide.

The guide should be heading to the printer very soon to release alongside the game on Feb 17th. I’ll be gracing the Capcom Unity blog later this week with info on the new characters, along with another Prima blog next week.

For you tournament goers, keep in mind that there will be a $2,000 SF4 tournament at DEVASTATION 2009 in June. In addition, Evo 2009 was just announced to include SF4 when it takes place in July.

I missed out on Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, but Street Fighter IV will be a welcome change from my last two NARUTO guides. The game seems to borrow from Super Street Fighter II Turbo and Street Fighter III: Third Strike, while still maintaining the feel of a new fighting game.

Hopefully the release of SF4 will kick off another great year for fighting games. Tekken 6 should hopefully be landing on US shores sometime in 2009 and King of Fighters XII, along with a new Samurai Shodown are hitting during the first half of 2009. Now if only Rare would announce a new Killer Instinct, I would have all the fighting games I need to last me until 2010.

The Mega Man franchise started in 1987 when the Blue Bomber hopped onto the scene on the NES in 8-bit glory.  The premise was simple.  You are a robot assistant created by Dr. Light as a simple AI tool using type robot, the basis of a group of once similar, and useful household robots (called Robot Masters) that were reprogrammed to harm humanity by Dr. Light’s evil protégé, Dr. Wily.  You alone resisted the reprogramming, offered to transform yourself into a fighting machine and with your Buster in arm, take down the rogue robots.  In a word: Epic.  Okay, so I might have added a little to it, but still awesome.

A 2-D side scroller where you could only shoot three “bullets” from your arm and jump around, the game was hard.  You went through each Robot Master’s level, defeated each Robot Master (stupid Quick Man), learned their abilities and continued fighting until you defeated Dr. Wily.  Many games came to follow, adding new features like the Slide (thank god), a charged Buster, even a Hadoken…but the premise pretty much stayed the same.  Mega Man + Evil Robot Master & Dr. Wily = ass whoop.

The Mega Man series is pretty huge.  There’s classic Mega Man, then we have the X series, Legends, Battle Network, Zero, ZX, and Star Force.  I’ve placed a little from each: my current list that I’m playing now is Mega Man 2, Zero 4 (in Japanese actually), ZX Advent, and I just got Star Force 2. 

And here the truth comes out…Mega Man Star Force 2: Wave Command Card Kit.  Out June 24th.  You gotta help Geo and Omega-Xis battle the new threat coming from the land of Mu, and an enemy known as Rogue.  That’s all I’m going to tell you for now…

I’ve lived in Japan, and have played games simultaneously in both English and Japanese (from DMC4 to my current Rockman game).  One thing that I’m really excited about in SF2 is the cards.  Yes, there are Wave Command Cards in Star Force 2.  279 actually and 9 separate categories (we try to trick you as there are some “secrets” in the book ~_^).  And no, you can’t find all of them in the games.�
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We have localized the Japanese version of the book, and I gotta tell you, it was really cool to work on.  It always amazes me to see how we change things from one language to another—just look at Mega Man’s name.  Mega Man in the US.  Rockman in Japan.  And trust me, that wasn’t the only name we changed for this.  The book localized all aspects of every card and how to use them.  112 pages of awesomeness.  We worked on the difference in names, elements, attack call-outs, etc.  We tried our best to keep the layout and artwork the same as well as the same cover (see picture)   It also includes Touch Command Overlays to help with the card input as there are about 20 possible inputs at any time and the cards have anywhere from 6 spots to 14. 

You can check out this link to download a preview of the guide and get roughly 6 cards for free.  You can find books in stores and on sale along side the game on June 24th.  You can also download the eGuide at 12:01am on 6.24.08.  Mega Man Star Force 2 looks to be a pretty sweet addition the Mega Man family.  From 8-bit to Touch Command Interface… Tribe On!