Almost 40 years after Capcom’s Street Fighter became a quarter-munching knockout in arcades, the legendary fighting-game franchise enters the Netflix arena. Free to subscribers, the acclaimed Street Fighter IV: Champion Edition puts all the fast-paced, face-pummeling, pugilistic action in the palm of your hand.
Updated and optimized for mobile devices, the bare-knuckle combat classic is a full-featured, content-stacked offering with a brimming roster of battlers, multiple modes, and ample opportunities to unleash Hadokens on your friends.
Whether you’re a seasoned scrapper or a burgeoning brawler anxious to land that first blow, you’ll want to read on for everything you need to know about Street Fighter IV: Champion Edition.
The granddaddy of fighting games, Street Fighter (and its numerous sequels, spin-offs, and special editions) has been blistering thumbs since making its arcade debut in 1987. Its deep yet accessible combat system allows players to unleash — and ultimately master — a variety of combo-heavy fighting styles from their lightning-quick limbs in timed, toe-to-toe matches.
Beyond its bone-fracturing fisticuffs, the series stands out for its beloved cast of characters, eye-popping visual presentation, table-turning special moves, and stylized, souped-up attacks. Street Fighter IV: Champion Edition retains all these defining elements, bringing the brand’s best — and most brutal — aspects to Netflix subscribers.
Street Fighter IV: Champion Edition is a feature-rich installment that rivals any of the series’ console editions. The Netflix version contains multiple modes, various difficulty levels, and a lineup of more than 30 fighters. No mere watered down mobile port, it enters the ring fully loaded and ready to rumble.
For starters, its fan-pleasing roster pulls no punches, featuring the scrappers that started it all — Ryu and Ken — as well as plenty of enduring favorites, from Chun-Li and M. Bison to Blanka and Guile. E. Honda and Vega are also pumped-up and accounted for. More recent rumblers, like Juri and Poison, are on deck, as are some deeper cuts, such as Dudley. Even Evil Ryu dares to show his menacing mug.
Of course, whether you enjoy winning matches with Zangief's spinning piledriver or prefer securing victories from behind Cammy’s flying neck-breaker, Street Fighter IV: Champion Edition is happy to oblige across various modes. Solo brawlers looking to learn the ropes — as well as experienced bruisers wanting to brush up — can trade blows with computer-controlled combatants in Arcade and Survival modes.
Solo play also offers dedicated Training and Challenge areas, where moves and combos can be practiced and mastered. Those craving some steeper competition can bring the battle online, where they’ll face live fighters from around the world in both Ranked and Free match play.
Regardless of your preferred arena — online or off — the game supports a number of settings, assists, and other customizable features that allow you to tailor the difficulty to your skill level. So even if you’ve never thrown a punch, you’re welcome to take your first swing in Street Fighter IV: Champion Edition.
Your fighters’ feet and fists might do most of the hard work, but it’s the precision and timing behind their rib-rearranging attacks that make the difference between winning and winding up face down in the dirt. Optimized for mobile devices’ touchscreen interfaces, Street Fighter IV: Champion Edition’s virtual joystick and buttons retain and polish these crucial elements.
The intuitive controls pack the snappy, responsive feel fighting-game fans expect, allowing them to focus on winning rather than worrying about wonky inputs. The default layout will more than do the job for most players, but those seeking a bit more personalization can also adjust the position, size, and transparency of the tactile controls.
And for those who just can’t imagine delivering a beatdown from anywhere but behind a more traditional gamepad, the title also supports physical controller connections.
Free to Netflix subscribers — with no ads, in-app purchases, or extra fees — Street Fighter IV: Champion Edition can be downloaded now from the App Store and Google Play store.
