Capcom has launched an iPhone and iPod Touch adaptation of its massively popular one-on-one fighting game Street Fighter IV ($9.99), promising App Store customers “the first true fighting game on the iPhone.”
The iPhone version of Street Fighter IV includes eight playable characters — Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Blanka, Guile, Dhalsim, Abel, and M. Bison. Each fighter retains his or her full move set from the console and arcade versions of Street Fighter IV, including specials, focus attacks, super combos, and ultra combos.
To ease the transition from an arcade joystick to a virtual controller, Capcom has included a Dojo mode to train newcomers in the arts of throwing fireballs and kicking people in the face. An optional “SP” button is also available, giving quick and easy access to each character’s otherwise difficult-to-perform super moves.
And, of course, there’s multiplayer. In addition to a single-player tournament mode, Street Fighter IV allows players to battle head-to-head over a Bluetooth connection. Good times!
Capcom’s one-on-one brawler Street Fighter IV is coming to the iPhone next month. How well does it play? The video above, captured by IGN, shows that special moves and even supers are relatively easy to pull off, thanks to the iPhone version’s simplified control scheme.
The game’s playable lineup has also been revealed. Street Fighter IV for the iPhone includes eight fighters — Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Blanka, Guile, Dhalsim, Abel, and M. Bison. Sorry, Rufus fans. The lack of E. Honda and Zangief also stings a little. I think I’ll survive without Crimson Viper or El Fuerte, though.
After testing the App Store waters with safe bets like Cash Cab and Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, console games publisher Capcom is set to make a major commitment to the iPhone and iPod Touch with an upcoming port of Street Fighter IV.
Released in arcades in 2008, Street Fighter IV assembled a cast of classic characters for a series of one-on-one brawls. If you’ve played video games for any length of time, you know what the deal is here — a bunch of dudes and some ladies beat up on each other with fists, feet, and fireballs. Street Fighter IV adds new features and mechanics to the mix, resulting in what is now considered the new standard in one-on-one fighting games.
Given that the Street Fighter games require precise timing and fluid controls, the iPhone seems like it would be a wholly unsuitable platform for the franchise. Capcom has taken steps to remedy any potential issues, however; the iPhone version of Street Fighter IV features a customizable “Visual Pad” interface that allows players to reposition the on-screen controls to their liking.
There are also fewer buttons to worry about — punches and kicks are mapped to a single input each, and certain special moves can be triggered with a single button press, eliminating the need for complex joystick commands.
Judging from the screenshots released thus far (check out the gallery below for more), Street Fighter IV loses surprisingly little visual fidelity in its iPhone conversion. Capcom promises that the game will feature Bluetooth multiplayer when it launches in March, along with an exclusive Dojo training mode for series newcomers.
The first chapter in Capcom’s Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney series is heading to the iPhone, according to a post at the Capcom Unity blog.
The Ace Attorney franchise, once exclusive to Nintendo’s portable consoles, puts players in the role of Phoenix Wright, a young lawyer who must prove his clients’ innocence in a series of outlandish court cases. The series is known for its wacky characters, brain-twisting legal logic, and a narrative style that deftly mixes drama and humor.
The iPhone version will be a port of the first game in the series, and will arrive in the App Store with an overhauled interface suited to the iPhone’s touch screen. With any luck, there will also be support for voice commands, allowing users to shout “Objection!” and “Take that!” at appropriate moments in the courtroom — a popular, and thankfully optional, feature in the Nintendo DS version.
No release date has yet been announced for the iPhone port of Phoenix Wright, and the title will be available exclusively in Japan when it launches. Capcom’s mobile branch is currently “looking into how to bring it over for North American fans,” so hopefully a U.S. version will follow soon after.
Capcom has released an iPhone-exclusive chapter in its long-running Ghosts ‘n Goblins series. Ghosts ‘n Goblins: Gold Knights puts players in control of Arthur for his latest side-scrolling trip through a demon-infested world.
Gold Knights introduces a second player character named Lancelot, who has slightly different attacks and abilities. The basic gameplay should otherwise be familiar for series fans — a virtual d-pad controls movement, while on-screen buttons control jumping, attacking, and magic.
If the experience proves too demanding for you — which is likely, given that previous entries in the series are infamous for their extreme difficulty — Capcom has made a selection of cheats available as in-app purchases. Players may purchase infinite lives, power-ups, and an easier difficulty level, among other perks, for 99 cents each.
Capcom has unveiled the latest sequel in its Ghosts ‘N Goblins franchise — and it’s an iPhone exclusive. Ghosts ‘N Goblins: Gold Knights will be the first title in the series to offer two playable characters, and will feature all-new levels and enemies not seen in previous games.
Despite Capcom’s penchant for releasing multiple franchise sequels every year, its Ghosts ‘N Goblins series is rarely explored. Only three main series sequels have been released since Ghosts ‘N Goblins debuted in arcades in 1986, with the latest entry, Ultimate Ghosts ‘N Goblins, arriving for the PSP in 2006. It’s an unusual move for Capcom to release a Ghosts ‘N Goblins sequel at all, much less as an iPhone exclusive.
The Ghosts ‘N Goblins series is famous for its quality platforming action…and notorious for its high level of difficulty. It should be interesting to see how the franchise’s challenging gameplay translates to a touch-based interface.
No release date for Gold Knights has yet been announced, but Capcom notes that the game will arrive in the App Store “just in time for Halloween.” Gold Knights touts the following features:
Brilliant 3D graphics and classic platform action!
For the first time, play as two different heroes each with a unique play style.
Master six different weapons per character and power up each weapon with magic.
Destroy treasure chests to uncover weapons and more powerful suits of armor.
Further customize your Ghosts ‘N Goblins experience with DLC.
It’s been a long time coming, and the journey was an unusually difficult one, but at last, an iPhone port of Capcom’s Resident Evil 4 ($7.99) is now available for download from the iTunes App Store in North America.
And boy, is it a looker. Boasting a 3D graphics engine, Resident Evil 4 for the iPhone successfully captures the creepy aesthetic of the console versions of the game, and features many of the same characters, weapons, and environments.
Note, however, that this is not a direct adaptation of the console edition of Resident Evil 4. The iPhone version is a port of BioHazard 4: Mobile Edition, a game originally released for BREW-enabled cell phones in Japan.
The result is a stripped-down, level-based Resident Evil 4 that focuses more on shooting and less on exploration. Many of RE4’s more complex gameplay mechanics have been eliminated, and story segments are relegated to still-screen sequences in between stages.
Taken on its own merits, though, the iPhone’s Resident Evil 4 could still prove to be a satisfying experience for those in the mood for a more action-oriented take on the Resident Evil franchise. App Store response has proven positive as well, and the game compares favorably with Capcom’s previously released port of Resident Evil: Degeneration.
After the minor debacle that was Resident Evil 4’s premature Japanese release earlier this week, Capcom has announced that a real, final release will make its way to the App Store in Japan at the end of this month.
Even better, Capcom’s Twitter account reveals that an English-language version will hit North America and other regions “shortly thereafter.”
“Woo!” the announcement continues.
Indeed! The mobile edition of Resident Evil 4 has never previously been released outside of Japan, so this is definitely something worth wooing about.
Capcom has released a major upgrade for its iPhone port of the classic 8-bit platformer Mega Man II. Version 1.5 of Mega Man II features a landscape orientation option, an improved control setup, and a new Classic Mode that disables all iPhone-specific difficulty rebalancing.
All of these features can be found in the free Lite version of Mega Man II, released today in the App Store. The demo allows players to experience the Wood Man stage in its entirety.
(Really, though, don’t bother. The control improvements at least make the game playable — barely — but otherwise, it’s as bad as you’d expect.)
In less depressing news, Capcom recently released an iPhone port of BioHazard 4 (aka Resident Evil 4) in Japan…and then almost immediately removed it from the App Store. No explanation for the removal has been issued, and Capcom has made no announcement of when (or if) the title will be released overseas.
Before BioHazard 4: Mobile Edition was taken down, Japanese iPhone news site AppBank was able to download a copy and post a gameplay video, embedded below. The game appears to be a port of the adaptation of Resident Evil 4 previously released for cell phones, with upgraded graphics and a new control scheme.
1UP.com’s Jeremy Parish notes in his latest blog post that something about Capcom’s recently announced 8-bit-styled underwater shooter Mega Man: Rush Marine seems suspiciously iPhone-like.
Specifically, the screenshots released so far are sized at a resolution of 480×320 — the exact same resolution used by all iPhone games. It’s a safe bet, then, that the title is likely bound for Apple’s platform, despite Capcom only revealing that it’s in development for an unspecified “mobile” device.
Mega Man: Rush Marine appears to be a new direction for Capcom’s retro-themed Mega Man revival, which began late last year with the multiplatform release of Mega Man 9. Rather than being an NES-inspired platformer, however, Rush Marine appears to be an entirely new game that uses a mixture of existing sprites and new artwork.
Little else has been revealed about Rush Marine so far. Capcom notes that the game is a horizontally scrolling shooter that will feature 10 bosses, each of which will grant Mega Man a new weapon after its defeat. No release date has yet been set.
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