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Street Fighter X Tekken blends tons of elements into one AWESOME fighting game

Now is the absolute best time to be a fighting game fan. Games like Super Street Fighter 4 (now Arcade Edition), Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, Tekken 6 and Mortal Kombat have been keeping the fighting scene strong and the list of titles keeps growing. The game on most people's radars now is Street Fighter X (X = Cross) Tekken. This game is the Capcom take on the Street Fighter and Tekken collaboration, and there will be another version known as Tekken X Street Fighter. However Street Fighter X Tekken has been in the spotlight and seems to be closer to being released. I was able to play a good amount of matches and feel out certain characters and I can assure people that are familiar with games like Super Street Fighter 4 that this is NOT the same game.

The first thing the player will notice when they play Street Fighter X Tekken (besides the awesome graphics) is that the game feels a bit "floatier" than the Street Fighter series. Along with that, many characters have additional moves and/or re-mapped moves. For example Chun-Li's lightning legs would usually activate by mashing the kick buttons, but in this game its half circle forward with kicks. This was probably done to go along with the rush down focused gameplay that the game offers. The game is definitely a unique blend between the Street Fighter games and Marvel vs Capcom 3. Combos can be done like in Street Fighter using links and advanced combo strings but the standard Light, Medium, and Hard chain also works in this game. New to this game is the tag system that allows one character to tag out to another character. This can be done mid combo, by double tapping the Hard punch or kick buttons. For example you can chain light kick, to medium kick, to hard kick, then follow up with another hard kick to launch the enemy into the air and tag out to the next character. This looks to be one of the definitive gameplay systems in the game, and I have already seen notable players learn how to use this technique effectively.

So far in Street Fighter X Tekken the characters include Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Cammy, Sagat, Guile and Abel on the Street Fighter side, whjle Kazuya, Nina, Hwoarang, Bob, King, Marduk, and Julia fill up the Tekken roster. The characters all have different play styles, especially between the Tekken characters. While the basic combo's are generally the same, the extended and advanced combos are different and really separate the Street Fighter roster from the Tekken roster. The Tekken characters in particular have the option of a 4 button set up which should be familiar to Tekken veterans.

Overall the game is tons of fun, and looks like it will fit in comfortably with the rest of the fighting games that are coming out today. Capcom is looking to make this game the the most ambitious yet, as they suggest a revamped online system, a ton of characters, and the addictive and competitive gameplay that fighting game fans love. Street Fighter X Tekken is to be released sometime in 2012.