everyday gamer

I originally intended the forthcoming entry to serve as a bookend to my Best of 2008 series of posts.  Emphasis on intended.  Instead, the past couple of weeks was spent following up on the lives of the former 1up.com folks in the wake of the UGO buyout of the former Ziff-Davis web property.  While following the multitude of new twitter feeds, personal blogs, and podcasts of the former Ziff employees, I came to the stunning realization that I did not have a lot of insight into what new games were coming out in 2009.  Even so, that lack of knowledge isn’t going to stop me today!  I present to you, in no particular order and a month late, my most anticipated games of 2009!

Street Fighter IV - C. Viper vs. Chun Li

Street Fighter IV

I played a hell of a lot of Street Fighter II and Street Fighter II Turbo during the heyday of the SNES era back in the mid 1990s.  I remember being completely stoked for SFII’s “extension” in Super Street Fighter II back in sixth grade,  featuring the debut Fei Long, T. Hawk, Dee Jay, and (gasp, another female) Cammy! With a memorable cast of players and the best competitive play during its time, the Street Fighter II series wound up consuming a significant part of my video game time for the entire console generation.

Then something happened in 1996: the port of Street Fighter Alpha 2 to the SNES.  No Guile?  No Cammy?  No Fei Long?  No thanks!  Even though Alpha 2 is widely considered a good Street Fighter game, there was just something disconcerting not being able to do Cammy’s Cannon Spike or a Thrust Kick in this new incarnation of the series.  My taste in fighters would eventually shift toward the Capcom Vs. fighters (due primarily to the Marvel Comics characters included), leaving the core Street Fighter games to the hardcore and the tournament players.

Capcom recognized that a lot of hardcore Street Fighter II players left during the transition from SF2 to Alpha.  With a less complex, more accessible fighting system and the return of most of the original cast of World Warriors, Capcom hopes to return the lost fans of Street Fighter II back into the fray.  And thus far SFIV looks like  a success, seemingly responsible for a small resurgence of arcade activity in Japan with the hype machine rolling for the home versions as well.  How excited am I for this game?  Let’s just say that it will be the first game that I will be purchasing an arcade stick for: the highly coveted and nigh-sold out Madcatz Tournament Sticks.

Next time: Floating through a field of Flowers.