Super Street Fighter IV (PS3)

So, if anyone reading this knows me, you know I've been completely against the whole Street Fighter franchise for years upon years. I've always thought it was sluggish and boring and too hadouken filled for my liking.
I was also of the opinion that it didn't take any skill and that Daigo was just some kid who got lucky. Yes, I know, blasphemy.

And then, along came Super Street Fighter IV.
Now, I dabbled in vanilla Street Fighter IV when it was released (I mained Blanka), but I just really didn't enjoy it. It just wasn't for me.
However, I was caught in a good mood and agreed to go half for Super and played it the majority of the night. Immediately I screwed around with Blanka to no avail. An hour later and done with Juri, Cody, Ibuki,  and a slew of other characters, I settled on El Fuerte. Yes, the low tier jumping bean that everybody knows and loves.

I had never had so much fun with a Street Fighter game in my life.

Graphics
 Now, to be honest with you, I'm slightly biased and have never been a fan of Street Fighter graphics. I absolutely HATED the way Vanilla looked. Super, however, is absolutely beautiful.
The intro to Super Street Fighter IV is one of the most impressive fighting game introductions I've ever seen. The first minute of the introduction is a beautifully animated fight between Ryu and Ken done in what looks to be a comic book style of drawing. It's absolutely amazing. The style remains the same throughout the entire intro and never ceases to amaze me. The rest of the animated scenes are just as impressive. It's actually refreshing to see well animated cut scenes in a fighting game. They've become few and far between in recent years.
Gameplay graphics are definitely a few steps above any other Street Fighter game that's been released. The characters don't seem as heavily outlined and they seem to move better than previous installments in the series. It makes Super a pretty game to look at if you're sitting on the sidelines. The most impressive thing, though, would have to be the Ultra animations. El Fuerte's Super Flying Giga-Buster is absolutely amazing to see! As is Guile's Sonic Hurricane and every other ultra in the game, both new and old. It's quite obvious that a lot of detail was put into the animations and the work truly paid off.
You can also tell that the character designs are fairly unique. Yes, Ryu, Ken, Cody, and Dan all seem to have the same body.  But, look at Juri and Rose. Look at Blanka and Rufus. You can't deny that all of them are pretty unique characters in design.
My only complaint? Everyone's just beyond buff. But, hey, it's a Street Fighter game. It's normal.

Gameplay
Okay, so here's the big crowd pleaser. The gameplay aspect of Super Street Fighter IV is absolutely amazing. I find myself enjoying it more and more with every match. There are 35 playable characters the moment you pop the disc into your PS3, so there's probably a character or two to fit just about everyone's play style. Not only are there the 25 characters from the original SFIV, we're given an additional 10 characters including two that are brand new to the series.
Returning fan favourites: Dee Jay & T-Hawk (Super Street Fighter II); Adon (Street Fighter); Cody & Guy (Final Fight and appearances in Street Fighter Alpha); Dudley, Ibuiki, Makoto (Street Fighter III).
New: Juri (a South Korean Taekwondo fighter) and Hakan (a Turkish Oil Wrestler)
If you take into account that there are 35 characters and that there's a challenge mode and story mode for each one, you have hours of single player play available to you. Not to mention the return of the car and barrel bonus stages from Street Fighter II and Final Fight!
Each character also has two ultras, a la Street Fighter III's Super Arts, one from SFIV and one new one. You can only pick one, so be sure to choose the one that best fits your play style. Don't pick a counter ultra if you don't like to play up close and personal and don't pick a projectile if you like to be in your face. It's simple.
Then, there's challenge mode, which proves surprisingly helpful in learning those tough links we all run into no matter the character we're playing. It's great for first time players or anyone wanting to improve.
Another fantastic aspect of SSFIV is the online play. I can't get over how great online play is getting. Everynow and then, you'll run into one of those Ryu players who wants to spam hadoukens all over the screen, but for the most part, you get some pretty great practice from online play. SSFIV introduces what's called "Team Battle" and "Endless Battle", both of which are pretty neat.
Team Battle allows you to play with up to 8 characters on your team and you play in a virtual round robin. One of your players loses, the next steps up to the plate and so on. It's actually quite beneficial. You can pair yourself with some pretty great players who can give you some pretty great advice on the character you're playing. Not only that, but it gives you a chance to see how other players handle certain matchups. The only problem I've come across is there's a little more lag than in a typical online match.
Endless Battle allows up to eight players to enter a lobby with the top two players in said lobby going at each other until one wins. At this point, the winner sticks around and plays the next person in the lobby and play continues as such. The loser goes to the bottom of the rotation and gets another shot at being top dog. These matches don't affect your Player or Battle points, so you can stick around as long as you like just to have fun and kick some ass. Seems pretty great, right? I think so. It puts the arcade feel back into play. I mean, I know I personally get tired of running into that Ryu/Ken player who just doesn't know when to quit. But, with Endless Battle, it's like putting a quarter into the slot and seeing how many rounds you can go before you're knocked off the joystick!

Story
Okay, one of the few lacking points in the majority of fighting games is a decent story. I will give SSFIV it's credit at actually including a story.
However, I'm pretty sure the story is meant to be a mockery of the fact that no fighting game story ever really makes sense. None of the story modes really come together in one ending and most of the rivals don't really have a reason to be a rival. I mean, Ibuki's story just centers around the fact that she'd like to go out and meet a decent guy and all she seems to find are creepy old men and fat guys.
No matter how bad the story line of this game is, though, it's definitely amusing to watch and read which made it pretty enjoyable. Just don't go in expecting a Final Fantasy story that all falls together in the end. You'll be sorely disappointed.

Music
I, personally, find the SSFIV soundtrack to be MUCH better than the Vanilla soundtrack. Maybe it's the fact that the intro song is no where near as annoying and is actually a lot of fun to listen to. Or, maybe it's the fact that the fight music is quite catchy, I'm not sure.
Either way, it's a great soundtrack for a Street Fighter game. Definite thumbs up.

Extras
So, with the addition of internet to gaming, off course there's going to be a lot of extras available. The DLC costumes are actually pretty amazing, especially Blanka and Akuma's Dragonball Z-esque outfit. I have to say, I was pretty impressed. Not to mention Ken's cowboy outfit, Dhalsim's firebreather get-up, and Dee Jay's sterotypical Jamaican costume. The DLC costumes are definitely worth your while. Personally, I'm pretty excited about Mecha-Geif!
I wouldn't suggest buying them all separately though. The complete pack for Japan was just released and is due out fairly soon for US consoles.
In-game, you have the two mini-games that were introduced in Street Fighter III and Final Fight, which, are actually pretty awesome to play. In one, you beat a car until it can't be beaten anymore, and in the other you attempt to bust every barrel that wants to land on your pretty little head.
There are also your typical unlocks (costumes, personal actions, trophies, icons). It's pretty standard for a Street Fighter game but also gives you the initiative to play more and more with each character.
Oh, and did I mention that there are talks of DLC characters? Two in the works at the moment are Rainbow Mika (Street Fighter Alpha III) and Hugo (Street Fighter III Second Impact). How awesome would that be?

All in all, I'd more than recommend Super Street Fighter IV to anyone who's already into fighting games and to anyone who's interested in learning the basics of a fighting game.
It's fun, it's competitive, and it's great to look at. You have a soon to be increasing amount of characters to choose from and gameplay choices to allow you to become a better player.
It's definitely a place to start!