Nukezilla Review: Street Fighter X Tekken (Xbox 360)

Two of the biggest names in the 2D and 3D fighting world finally collide head on in Street Fighter X Tekken. Can these two fighters play nice together or should you just stay clear of the brawl?

Capcom takes the reins on developing this 2D tag fighter pitting their Street Fighter characters against the combatants from Namco’s Tekken series.  The long heated play ground arguments can finally be settled here.

The roster has 19 fighters from each side with some old favorites like Ryu and Ken from Street Fighter and Kazuya and Nina from Tekken. The fighters offer their trademark moves and the ability to create a team using either Capcom or Namco’s fighters makes for some interesting combos. More characters have been promised as downloadable content in the next few months.

The game is what you would expect if you’re familiar with Street Fighter 4 or Marvel vs Capcom 3 as far as features go. Online battles, leaderboards and replays are available as well as a 2v2 tag out option for buddies playing online. The online features are limited especially compared to Capcom’s feature rich Street Fighter 3^rd Strike. One would expect a $60 retail title to have all of the functionality of a $15 download title.

Speaking of online there is a peculiar glitch that somehow made it through to release. Online battles constantly loose sound for no apparent reason. The fight functions fine otherwise but this glaring oversight of quality control is just baffling.

A new mechanic is implemented here promising more customizability by collecting and then deploying gems. Each gem gives a boost to certain attributes like power or stamina so players can chose how they want their fighter to perform in action. It seems great on paper but I think casual players will careless about the time needed to collect and learn about the dozens of gems. Hardcore tournament players might take it as adding too many variables and wasting too much time in tournaments setting up gems.

Street Fighter X Tekken is a fantastic 2D fighter that promises to bring a lot of surprises and classic moments to the scene.  However casual players may be turned off by the fairly complex fighting system and bugs found online. Casual players should wait for a price drop before picking this one up but hardcore fighting fans need to pick up Street Fighter X Tekken today.

Disclosure: Capcom provided us a copy for review.