Going Fists to Face in Street Fighter X Tekken

Carrying on a fine tradition that has seen the likes of Frank West in the throes of hand-to-hand combat against Spider-Man and other Marvel characters, Street Fighter x Tekken is the latest crossover title from Capcom. The game blends elements from the two games with aplomb, creating an experience that will be immediately comfortable to fans of the Street Fighter series, while adding in enough changes from the Tekken universe to make for a wholly unique fighting game.

Bringing characters from NAMCO Bandai's Tekken fighting series into the Street Fighter universe, Street Fighter x Tekken is heavily focused on the Street Fighter side with some accents of the Tekken series, but does a good job of blending the gameplay of each for a pretty unique experience. Capcom had the game on-hand at a recent press event, and we were able to take control of the game's roster of fighters to see what it had to offer fans of each respective franchise.

The roster is filled out with familiar favorites from both fighting series. While the Street Fighter crew plays mostly how you'd expect them to, the Tekken crew is extremely different, fitting more into the 2D plane/super move formula that Capcom has created for their fighting franchises. However, there are some key additions that have carried over from the Tekken franchise that give Street Fighter x Tekken a feel all of its own. Throws are done by pressing the light kick and light punch buttons together, similar to the punch/kick throwing system in the Tekken series. Also as in Tekken, throws are an ideal way of breaking your opponents blocks, so if you run across an opponent blocking all of your attacks, you can chuck them into the ground and knock them out of their rhythm.

Street Fighter x Tekken carries the crossover tradition of tag battles, as in the game, you'll send two players into battle and be able to switch them out and even perform combos that utilize both of them to deliver some enemy beatdowns. However, the game also borrows the Tekken Tag Tournament system of rounds, as opposed to the freeform "knock out all of your opponent's fighters" model from Marvel vs. Capcom 3. The matches unfold in a best of three contest, and knocking out one character is all it takes to win the match. You'll have to keep a watchful eye on your fighter's health bars, and switch them out if their health is getting too low lest you lose the whole match.


Even for its changes and new additions, the game will feel very familiar to what players have experienced with other Street Fighter games. The focus on fast, fluid combat and high-combo special moves is well in place in Street Fighter X Tekken, and while the Tekken fighters come from a vastly different fighting system, they have been retooled just enough to work well within Capcom's fighting model.

Graphically, the game's aesthetic looks like a more polished version of Street Fighter IV's engine, meaning the same artistic stylized look to the characters has returned, albeit with the new Tekken characters in the mix.

From what we had tried out in our brief hands-on time with the game, Street Fighter x Tekken is shaping up to be a unique entry to Capcom's crossover games, and one that's a worthy addition to the Street Fighter and Tekken franchises.

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