Super Street Fighter IV changes

A few days ago Ono has essentially confirmed that Yun and Yang are going to be added to the arcade version roster of Super Street Fighter IV. If you've somehow missed this news check here or at SRK.

So yeah in the high speed world of the internet this is pretty much old news by now. What I wanted to do was throw in my 2 cents about the stir of balance and existing character changes people are speculating about due to these "sort of" announcements.

While the changes are for the arcade version release only at this point, I feel that it's highly likely we'll be getting these changes to the console versions via DLC. With the success of SSFIV on home consoles, I think this is pretty much a given. Especially since they are already developing more alternate costumes for DLC, it means they are still very much looking at expanding the console versions.

New characters and costumes sound awesome, but I'd like to see some additional balance changes happen as well (as does everyone else fueling the speculation wildfire). So what would I change?

I think for the most part after the updates from vanilla to Super the cast feels generally pretty balanced. Most of the changes I would request are to the SSFIV engine itself.

Input/reversals: I've come to accept the input short cuts to the game, as it was probably needed to allow all the new players who have never played a fighter to get into Street Fighter. A large part of the game's success is probably owed to this. I think the problem arises from the massive input window and reversal window. This is what allows button mashers to dp you in the middle of your combo or block strings. Both should be tightened considerably. I'm not asking for 4 frame inputs like ST, more like 8+ frames akin to 3rd Strike. Specials shouldn't happen from wiggling the stick around like a mad man. Also kind of related to this issue, I think block stun should be longer too.

Ultra damage/damage scaling: Between vanilla and Super the damage in general was toned down. This makes for seemingly longer matches, however I feel like the damage from Ultras are still a bit too devastating. Though not as bad as vanilla, there's still that chance of being taken out by a completely random Ultra or "lucky punch" as some people like to put it. I dunno, there's something a little fundamentally wrong about gaining such damaging abilities for getting your own ass kicked. For example, why is Abel's U2 so devastating? In my opinion this move is pretty easy to land and can turn the match back in his favor in an effortless instant (Admittedly, I've taken advantage of this many times myself.)

I would like to see changes made to make the easier Ultras not as damaging. I know what Abel does to you in U2 would hurt like a mother, but as would Sakura's U1. Why doesn't her's do squat when it's considerably harder to land?

Rufus is another problem example. Any half way competent Rufus player can combo into hi U1 with ease. Damage scaling kicks in a little, but he still gets 500+ damage from any of his combos into U1. This is bad because despite having a considerable lead over him, if you only have half health his next move could very well win him the match or put you at the disadvantage again. You could put up the argument that this was the case in ST when your opponent gets super stocked, but it's considerably harder to land a super in ST vs. SSFIV. (Note: I'm not implying that when Rufus has meter it's free damage as he still has to apply his mixups to get in, but when he does you'll be hurting).

I dunno what system you could replace it with, I mean, it's fun enough and similar systems have worked in other games, I just think the damage should be kicked back a little bit in my opinion.

Stage length: SSFIV is already a turtle player's paradise, which is a little annoying on it's own, but what makes it worse is the very length of the stages. For characters with easy runaway strategies such as Guile or Akuma, this is a god send. It's hard enough chasing them down in the first place, but if they get on the other side of your cornering attempt then the chase begins all over again. I think a more traditional SF stage length would cut down on some of the no-brain turtling/runaways.

So those are just some examples of general engine problems. There are a lot of individual changes I think should be made to the low tier characters to bring them up a bit but I'll save that for another time.

I enjoy playing SSFIV, I just think it houses many minor annoyances that keep it from being one of my all time favorites. Here's hoping that the "3rd times a charm" Capcom tradition will tackle the remaining problems. (There probably wont be a title change for SSFIV, but with new characters and other changes in the pipeline I'm sure it will be considered a new version.)

...

Alex for SSFIV please! (one of my greedy requests, lol).