GameplayFocus Attacks
Focus Attacks, known as Saving Attack in the Japanese version, is a new system introduced in Street Fighter IV. The Focus Attack is a move that allows the player to absorb an attack and launch a counterattack, and it is performed by pressing the medium punch and medium kick buttons simultaneously. There are two phases to the attack. In the first phase, the player will shift into a new stance, at which point he or she is able to absorb a single hit from the opponent. The second phase is the counterattack. The longer the player holds down the medium punch and kick buttons, the more powerful the attack will be. If the buttons are held for long enough the attack will be unblockable and cause the opponent to crumple slowly to the ground, allowing the player to follow up with a free hit. Attacks that were absorbed during the first phase of a Focus Attack still cause damage to the player; however, life lost from the opponent's attack will be quickly regenerated afterward. In addition, during the first phase of the Focus Attack, the player may perform a dash either forward or backward to cancel the Focus Attack. Finally, at the cost of two bars of the Super Combo gauge, many Special Moves can be canceled into a Focus Attack. By executing a Focus Attack during the Special Move, the animation of the move will be cut short and go instantly into the Focus Attack animation. This allows players with precise timing to cancel Special Moves into Focus Attacks, and in turn cancel Focus Attacks into the forward dash, resulting in new combo possibilities. If a Special Move is blocked by the opponent, the new system allows players to cancel the blocked move with a Focus Attack, and then cancel the Focus Attack by dashing backward safely away from the opponent.Ono has stated that this system was incorporated in order to shift the emphasis away from combos and toward a more realistic system he has compared to boxing, in which "the skill is in reading your opponent's move before he or she starts moving ... We haven't forgotten about combos and linked moves, but focus makes it so that you have to read your opponent. The system aims to make ground attacks as viable a way of approaching opponents as jumping was in previous games.The focus system is a core part of Street Fighter IV's gameplay.
Ultra Combos
In addition to the powered-up versions of Special Moves introduced in previous Street Fighter games such as Super Combos and EX Special Moves, the game also introduces a new type of powered-up Special Move officially dubbed the Ultra Combo. Ultra Combos are long and cinematic moves featuring a lengthy combination of punches, kicks and other fighting techniques. Just as there is a Super Combo gauge, there is also an Ultra Combo gauge (officially known as the Revenge Gauge or Revenge Meter), but whereas the Super Combo gauge fills up when the player hits their opponent or performs a Special Move, the Revenge Gauge fills when one takes damage from their opponent Characters
New characters
- Abel, a French mixed martial artist. He is described as an amnesiac, a "man with no past" looking to defeat surviving members of Shadaloo. He is later revealed to be a prototype of Seth's model.
- Crimson Viper, a female American spy wearing sunglasses, leather gloves and a form-fitting suit with weapons she entered the tournament in order to "test".
- Rufus, an overweight Kung Fu fighter, who seeks to fight Ken to prove himself as the best fighter in the United States.
- Seth, also known as "The Puppet Master", is the new boss character. He is the Chief Executive Officer of S.I.N., the weapons division of Shadaloo. His body has been modified using advanced technology. His Special Moves are techniques used by other characters.
- Gouken, the elder brother of Akuma, and Ryu and Ken's master, appears in the arcade version as a secret computer-controlled challenger in the end of the single-player mode, making his debut as a fighter in the Street Fighter series.
Returning charactersAdditional characters
The notable addition in the home versions of Street Fighter IV are eight unlockable and playable characters not available in the arcade version. Seth and Gouken, computer-played characters in the arcade and six characters from other Street Fighter games were added, to a total of 25 characters, all of them playable. The introduced characters are Dan, Fei-Long, Sakura, Cammy, Gen, and Rose.
