Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. Reviews

In Control: Street Fighter X Tekken [Vita] preview

By
Image used with permission by copyright holder

One of the best editions of one of Capcom’s best fighting games was Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max for the PlayStation Portable. It had barely noticeable loading times, a rarity for a PSP game, and it added a motherload of characters to the arcade original. Eagle, Maki, Ingrid from Capcom Fighting Evolution—the line up was amazing. Capcom even added in storylines for all the new characters! It was gorgeous, a vision of what portable fighting games could be. It was also almost completely unplayable. The little analog stick was useless and the PSP’s directional pad was so unyielding that Capcom had to give out a cover that had to be glued to the system to make it playable. Control has ever been the bane of portable Capcom fighters.

Steet Fighter X Tekken for PlayStation Vita comes with a whole lot new, namely 12 brand new fighters not featured in this spring’s console version, including some amazing obscure choices like Elena from Street Fighter III. The new characters and features aren’t the best parts of this version though. That distinction belongs to the silky smooth controls.

Recommended Videos

At a mechanical level, Street Fighter X Tekken on Vita is identical to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 fighter. You pick two characters from the roster of Street Fighter and Tekken characters and have them beat the crap out of each other. The controversial Gem System is untouched as well. The controls are a bit different however. The Vita’s buttons and direction pad work flawlessly in Street Fighter X Tekken, making the classic quarter-circle motion (pressing down, then down-right, then right in a smooth movement) as natural here as on any non-arcade controller.

 

Capcom added in inputs taking advantage of the Vita’s rear touch panel as well. While this might seem awkward and superfluous in theory, it works quite well in practice. Swiping up on the left side of the rear touch panel for example activates a launching strike that will send your enemy into the air so your partner character can rush in and wail on them. Since some players have amply-sized hands, the rear touch controls can be turned off, but they do make for a nice alternative.

The spot on controls are essential for taking advantage of the Vita edition’s other big selling point: Cross-platform play with the PlayStation 3. Matches between a player on Vita and another on PlayStation 3 would be a waste of time if the controls weren’t functional on the handheld, but they work nicely. The matches I played over a WiFi connection were seamless to the point that I could watch the match as played on the television and my inputs still felt immediate from the Vita. That kind of smoothness is absent from the online play in single-platform fighting games like Soul Calibur 5 so it’s especially impressive for the cross-platform play.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Other than that, Street Fighter X Tekken on PlayStation Vita looks every bit as promising as the last time Digital Trends got its hands on the game. It is worth noting again how great the game looks on the handheld. While some graphical effects were toned down to accommodate for the handhelds diminished horsepower, many of the characters actually look better. The sort of glowing sheen on all the character models is gone, which allows you to get a better look at the characters features free of embellishment. It’s enough to make you wish you could turn effects off in the console version.

Capcom also seems to have taken criticisms about downloadable content to heart. All of the previously released DLC is included in the Vita cartridge. Anyone who already owns the PlayStation 3 version will get all of that content unlocked automatically by connecting their Vita version to the system. It’s a nice perk, though it would be nicer if Capcom offered those previous buyers a discount on the Vita version in the first place.

 The Vita is shaping up to be the first portable gaming device that’s actually great for fighting games. The days of near misses like Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max are over.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Anthony John Agnello
Anthony John Agnello
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Anthony John Agnello is a writer living in New York. He works as the Community Manager of Joystiq.com and his writing has…
If you want to up your Tekken 8 game, try this stickless controller
Kuma hitting Law causing him to fly toward the screen in Tekken 8.

With the release of Tekken 8, I’ve been at a bit of a crossroads. I had no clue what controller I wanted to use to learn and beat the rest of the competition. A standard Xbox controller? PlayStation’s DualSense? A fightstick? Or maybe it's time I looked to the future and tried out a hitbox controller? That last option is the one I'd ultimately go with, thanks to the Razer Kitsune.

Released last year, the Razer Kitsune is a hitbox-style fighting gamepad with no joystick. Its selling point is that it is sleeker than most hitbox controllers on the market and features high-quality buttons. It's a great option for those who love that style of control, but don't love carrying around a big, boxy gamepad. The true question, though, was whether or not I would prefer it over a classic gamepad, my Tekken comfort zone. I decided to take on a fighting game gauntlet with a day of matches with my little brother in just about every fighter I own to find out.
What is a hitbox controller?
A hitbox controller is a stickless arcade pad. It retains all the classic attack buttons but replaces the directional stick with buttons. I would compare it to playing on a keyboard but with more comfortable buttons to press and the up button placed where your thumbs rest. You may have heard of it a few times due to the controversy it causes in the fighting game community over it being the “easy way” to play fighting games.

Read more
How to sync a PS5 controller to your PS5
A person holds up a PS5 controller.

Whether you're going with the default DualSense controller — one of our favorite PS5 controllers — or a third party controller, you'll need to connect your PS5 controller to your PS5. It's not a difficult process, but if you aren't aware of the ins and outs of it, it is reasonable to have trouble.

This guide specifically covers connecting your PS5 controller to your PS5, a process known as 'syncing'. Previously, we've covered connecting your PS5 controller to PC and even how to update PS5 controllers from PC, if you're strictly a computer gamer that uses a PS5 controller for the purpose. Naturally, we've also gone over syncing a PS4 controller, just in case you're lost in the wrong gaming generation.
How to connect a PS5 controller to a PS5

Read more
You can play as Resident Evil 4’s Leon Kennedy in Tekken 8 … sort of
Leon Kennedy in Tekken 8

Tekken 8 has only been out for a few days, but folks on the internet have already found a way to make some incredibly convincing recreations of some of their favorite characters from other properties. Perhaps one of the most impressive seen so far is a version of Leon Kennedy that closely resembles his appearance in the recent Resident Evil 4 remake, giving players an opportunity to enter the King of Iron Fist Tournament as a zombie-slaying brawler ... well, sort of.

As shown by YouTube creator Dan Allen Gaming, it's entirely possible to replicate Leon Kennedy's look to quite a shocking level using Tekken 8's detailed character customization features. Everything from his iconic leather bomber jacket to his quintessential '90s haircut is nailed perfectly here by using popular fighter Lars as a base for the customization due to his similarity to Leon in frame and stature.

Read more