The third action-packed update to Capcom's fourth Street Fighter Game is titled Ultra Street Fighter IV. Five new characters and six new stages have been added for even more combat mayhem.

The fighting Game Ultra Street Fighter 4 perfectly illustrates how to meet those objectives without alienating more casual players. Ultra is the most full and polished iteration of Street Fighter 4 thanks to a significant cast-wide rebalance and additions like the long-requested offline match recording and the highly entertaining edition select. Everyone, from the weekend warrior to the intermediate or advanced tournament hound, will feel like they got it tailored for them.

The upgrades in Street Fighter 4 Ultra are rather brave given that the Game has been out for almost five years. The key differentiator here is W-Ultra, which gives you access to both of your character's ultra combos rather than just one. Both won't deal as much damage, but their usefulness is almost too good to pass up for players like Dudley, whose Ultra 1 is dangerous in some matchups, but his Ultra 2 is too generally beneficial to pass up. It's a fantastic additional tactical layer that gives many heretofore flat matchup considerations dimension.

On the other hand, red-focus and delayed awakening have a little more situational application, making them less instantly useful than W-Ultra. However, they do provide each character with some fresh ways to counter the knockdown/vortex aggression that characterised tournament play in Arcade Edition 2012, so even that makes them welcome additions. After being knocked down by Cammy or Akuma, feeling less powerless is excellent. The most frequent modifications, however, are the minor ones, and it is in these areas that Ultra stands out. To increase the pool of workable characters and narrow the gap between the top and bottom tiers, every character has been affected in some way. It will take time and competition to determine Capcom's actual Level of achievement in this area, but thus far, the adjustments are fantastic.

Reversing some of Yun's harsh 2012 nerfs and correcting Rufus' Messiah Kick are two small details that help those characters seem like threats once more. Characters who have long been overlooked may now have a chance to become more prominent because of subtle improvements like the speed of Ken stooping forward or the hitbox of Dudley standing fierce. Characters who have endured hardship at the bottom now appear more valuable than ever, giving Ultra a new, thrilling air.

The five characters, boosting the total number of playable combatants to a staggering 44, are the most significant portion of new content for anyone who isn't into the finer nuances of combat. Many of the movesets of Rolento, Elena, Poison, and Hugo are carried over from Street Fighter x Tekken but have been modified for SF4's more conventional fighting engine. All in all, the results are pleasing.

Each of them brings flair and a well-differentiated fighting style to the table, whether Hugo's relentless clap and grip pressure, Elena's suffocating high/low poke Game or Rolento's cat-and-mouse deception.

This is especially true of newbie Decapre, whose unpleasantly recognisable "Cammy with a mask" appearance conceals one of the most versatile skill sets in the entire company. She is a delight to play, thanks to two practical Ultras, solid pokes, and a packed toolkit of mixups. Every feature from earlier iterations is back, plus a few extra icing on the cake. Edition Select is a dream come true for die-hard SF4 nerds like me. Offline match recording and the opportunity to train while waiting for online match opponents have long been top requests. Grudge fights get intense when players can choose any character iteration from the entire Street Fighter 4 series. Who, in all honesty, missed the ridiculousness of Ryu trading a dragon punch for a total ultra or Rufus leaping into an EX snake strike to shave off vast chunks of life?

Verdict

With Ultra Street Fighter four, a fantastic, content-rich fighting Game gets improved in ways that both fighting fans and casual players will love. Every improvement and addition, no matter how modest, is thriving. Anyone who has enjoyed any version of Street Fighter 4 should own Ultra since the new characters feel like they have been there all along, and the rebalancing gives existing characters a new lease on life.

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