Launch Station: Street Fighter X Tekken

Here we are.  The biggest week for video games in the first quarter of 2012.  GDC is talking place in San Francisco and a huge amount of games are releasing this Tuesday.  Tomorrow will see hardcore gamers, fighting fans, RPG fans, baseball fans and gamers of all kinds flocking to their nearest EB Games, Best Buy, Future Shop or possibly Wal-Mart to pick up at least one of the games that will release tomorrow.  Personally I will be at my local EB Games when it opens at 9:30 to pick up my Mass Effect 3 Collecter's Edition.  While Mass Effect 3 is a big game, it is not what I will be previewing in today's Launch Station.  That honour goes to the biggest fighting game since Marvel vs. Capcom 3 released last year, Street Fighter X Tekken.

In the past Capcom has joined forces with the likes of Marvel, SNK and Tatsunoko to create some great fighting games.  Now Capcom has joined forces with Namco to bring together the fighters of Capcom's iconic 2D fighter, Street Fighter and Namco's iconic 3D fighter, Tekken for two games, Street Fighter X Tekken (a 2D fighter developed by Capcom) and Tekken X Street Fighter (a 3D fighter developed by Namco).  Street Fighter X Tekken releases tomorrow for consoles while nothing for Tekken X Street FIghter has been showed off yet.  Street Fighter X Tekken uses the Street Fighter IV engine meaning that all the characters and environments share the same beautiful cel-shaped aesthetic that Street Fighter IV has. Each match in Street Fighter X Tekken is a two-on-two tag match.  The first player to have one of their fighter's health be reduced to zero loses the round and the first player to win the best two out of three rounds is declared the winner.  With each match being a tag affair, you can tag between fighters on the fly, which can lead to some incredible combos and special moves.  There are two new mechanics in Street Fighter X Tekken that can change the tide of battle for some.  The first new mechanic is the Gem System, which allows players to equip up to three gems that boost different stats.  There are six types of gems that you can equip; attack, defense, speed, vitality, assist and Cross Gauge (the name for Street Fighter X Tekken's super meter).  The second new mechanic is Pandora Mode, which can only be used when one fighter on the player's team has less than 25% health remaining.  You can sacrifice that character to activate Pandora Mode, which gives the remaining fighter increased strength and infinite Cross Gauge with one catch.  That catch being that you have to defeat your opponents before Pandora Mode runs out or you die.

I have never been that great at fighting games, but I have always loved them.  While Street Fighter X Tekken has pimped my interest, I am not going to run out and buy it.  Also I am going to wait a few months or so to see if Capcom plans on releasing an updated version of the game with all the DLC characters like they did with Super Street Fighter IV and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3.  If you are a fighting fan that has waited years for the chance to see Ryu fight Kazuya Mishima or Chun-Li fight Nina Williams, Street Fighter X Tekken is definitely that game for you.