The old maxim, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” doesn’t always hold true for videogames. There are many times when you can absolutely judge a game by its cover. For example:
This game is exactly what it looks like. It involves people wearing ludicrous clothes fighting green gorilla men in the street.
A more useful term might be, “Don’t judge a game by early screenshots.” Six months ago, Street Fighter 4 looked like this:
Not the worst character models in the world, but those faces were certainly cause for concern. This new trailer, airing during televised mixed martial arts competitions, is a good showcase for how far the game has come visually in just a half-year’s development.
It’s a little strange though. Making this game a proper numerical sequel implies that the Street Fighter brand and its characters have enough cultural currency to justify a new product. But this trailer trades almost entirely on nostalgia. It’s less the Street Fighter 2 clips and more the Faith No More that seems out of place. It’s like Capcom is trying to hook old fans of Street Fighter 2: The Movie more than Street Fighter 2 fans. That’s just weird.