I'm really glad to see these three in, in addition to the others added to the roster. I'm a casual fan, more into it for character appeal and nostalgia than strategy and tourney play, and SSFIV gives me a lot more to be excited about than its predecessor. I really miss Dudley's old voice, though... I hope they at least retain the line "Let's fight     like   gentlemen."

Although I'm not a fan of the musical style they're remixed in, it's nice to hear the character stage themes were brought back too.

Nice trailer.  I wasn't interested at all in the Super version but seeing those three new characters has me changing my mind (and I've never even played SF3).  The character animations for Ibuki and Makoto look a lot smoother to me than the other new additions and I like the expressiveness in Ibuki's eyes.

Really curious to find out how much new music will be making it into the soundtrack and whether Hideyuki Fukasawa is at the helm again.

I believe that Fukasawa is at the helm again. He mentioned it to me on Twitter and thanked me when I told him I liked the new SSFIV music.

I enjoyed a fair amount of his treatments to classic SF2 themes so it was nice to hear the guy did the same to the remainder although his biggest strength is in his original stage themes imo. Snowy Rail Yard and Beautiful Bay are some of the strongest work that he has done for SF so I can't wait to fully hear Korea and Africa.

I wonder if there is going to be a stand alone release of the rest of the music or if maybe the US is going to get a CE Bonus disc or something.

I can't wait to hear Vega's theme.

While the game is still officially a good week away, a high-quality rip of the new SSFIV character themes is already in circulation.  Check it out!

Super Street Fighter IV Character Themes:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/7bssi9   

The rip is made courtesy of "Evil Jerk aka Bippo", and features eighteen themes total.  In addition to the ten new characters specific to Super, the existing eight who missed out on getting their own designated remixes in SFIV now has one to call their own.  This includes Balrog/Boxer, Blanka, Dan, Dhalsim, E.Honda, Fei Long, Gen, and Vega/Claw.

It's pretty awesome work all around.  Fukasawa's sensibilities are all over this one, his bombastic stylings driving all of the familiars.  The hard-hitting rock flavor isn't much of a surprise for Adon, but the way it opens Fei Long is ridiculously awesome.  Blanka, Dhalsim, Honda, and Vega/Claw all retain their distinct, ethnic instrumentation; I'm especially pleased with the way Vega's turned out.

Cody going gangsta is wicked, and while I was never a huge fan of Makoto, her new drum 'n bass makeover is quickly growing on me.  As for the two brand new characters, Hakan milks his Turkish lineage for all its worth....... but it's the agonizing female screams that punctuate Juri's malevolently playful (and distinctly Capcom-like) melodic hooks that makes her a new favorite of mine.

I'll have to check that out when i get home from work. Thanks Angie! I've heard Construction Stage and Solar Eclipse Stage themes as well, and omg, the latter of which is phenomenal.

Thanks for the link, Angie!

I really can't bring myself to liking SFIV music, though.
Every single Super SF and SFA theme remix on there was much better in its original form, or at the very least in its remixed console form.

Adon's theme was SO much better in SFA on Saturn/PSX:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPuNqebHQHQ

That said, I do like what they've done to the SF3 stuff.
Dudley's theme and Makoto's theme (which, contrary to Angie, has always been a favorite of mine) are pretty cool.

Have you ever checked out the SNES score for Alpha 2? Personally, I think these tracks sound great (and less synthetic) played through the SPC700.

Oh Angie,

I ordered the game today so you know we have to do battle to the bitter end come next week! Abel + me = ready!!!! But at the same time, I want to try the new people. Be prepared...to whoop my butt per usual.

Also, since no OST seems to be on the horizon, it's up to you to rip the new stage themes for my listening pleasure

Super IV stage themes wrap-up!

-Skyscraper Under Construction
-Solar Eclipse
-Exciting Street Scene ~ India
-Festival At The Old Temple ~ Korea
-Crumbling Laboratory
-Crumbling Laboratory ~ Boss

The two new character select themes.  Indestructible is indeed completely MIA.

-Character Select (Arcade)
-Character Select (Versus)

Totally digging the new Volcanic Rim/Main Theme remix in Main Menu -Type A-, though.

I concede to being let down a bit with T. Hawk.  Or maybe it's because I'm comparing it to the incredible "New Mexican Thunderbird" that's featured in HD Remix -- the very best version of the theme I've heard yet.

The new tweaks and characters mean it's going to be all-new territory for me as well.  Hey, at least we won't have to spend hours unlocking everyone before getting to fight proper this time around.

Sexy music is sexy. Thanks for those. Korea = awesome, but Solar Eclipse is still my favorite new stage theme. .

And of course...you and I have a date Tuesday, the 27th. Don't leave me hanging!

Anyone heard the Super IV Staff Roll credits theme yet?  It's one hell of an orchestrated-style medley, consisting of the following themes.  (Wanna be surprised?  Then don't highlight the following): ...... Ryu, Sakura, Abel, Juri, Akuma, Gouken, C. Viper, Seth, Chun Li, Cammy, Ken, Volcanic Rim/Main Theme of SFIV

Made an mp3 recording off of the 720p stream, which you can grab here.  Also, the game's opening intro video been out for a while, and it too accompanies a pretty mean medley.

I have to say I'm enjoying this game MUCH more than the original SFIV.
It just feels like this is what it should have been in the first place.

Most of all, I appreciate that all characters are directly available from the get-go.
And no obnoxious J-pop is definitely a huge plus too...

started playing last saturday and i can't stop.

hit me up, i'm on PSN.

Playing as Juri is an absolute blast.  I sense a new main, because she's just a ridiculously enjoyable character all around.

A shame they got rid of Player Matches.  For one-on-one invites, it looks like you need to set 'em up through Endless Battle now.  Keeping track of win/loss stats is a bit more cumbersome as a result. 

I had already installed the game on my PS3 drive.  And while I obviously can't verify if users had done the same, every random online match I came across so far loaded MUCH faster than the original SFIV did without people doing the install. 

Hadn't quite realized how much I DIDN'T miss the bonus rounds.  They really are just speed bumps on the road to the fight.  Luckily, you have the ability to turn them off after going through them for the first time. 

Got original SFIV save data on your drive?  Upon loading up Super, two unlockable colors for every character will open up automatically.  They're more like filters, though.  In addition, any of the DLC alternate costumes you purchased for original SFIV will transfer over to Super.  Of course, Capcom will be charging for their all-new set of Super alternative costumes.

So, the way the character themes work is this.  You need to first beat the game once.  Not certain if the difficulty level matters, but I did it on Medium.  (Be forewarned, Seth *is* still a massive headache to defeat.)  Doing so opens up a bevy of unlockable options, chief among them the ability to once again set the character voices individually to English or Japanese - as well as Arrange BGM. (The game doesn't explicitly state that this option was unlocked - but it should be there in the Sound Options.)  Turning Arrange BGM on will allow you to hear your online opponent's remixed theme.  Presumably, the theme your opponent will be hearing on their end will be that of YOUR character - but I'd still like to confirm that with someone here.  If either player has Arrange BGM turned to off, then it should be the regular stage themes that play up on your respective games.

Regrettably, the character themes aren't featured in Arcade Mode - just during the Rival Fights.  As for local VS mode, that's a good question.  I'm venturing a guess that it's the second player only who gets the musical privilege.

So, the message I want to relay is this: DIVERSIFY YOUR CHARACTER CHOICES, PEOPLE.  I got so sick of hearing Ryu's and Ken's themes over and over again last night. o_O

I always play SFIV with the Random option they got on the character select screen. It makes fights a lot more interesting for casual people, and it gives seasoned veterans someone else to try if they get someone they never used before. I wonder how many other people do what I do?

I do the same, Idolores, whenever I decide to attempt to play my friends. They're wholly dedicated to deep mastery, whereas I never really got into that level of play. I'm going to lose horribly no matter what, so I may as well change the scenery.

Hey quick question, can I interact with a player of the PS3 version if I'm playing the 360 iteration of this software? It seems there are more players on that side of the spectrum.

That'd be the day...

i wish, but it's not possible

Played a bit last night with Angela. She plays a mean Juri. I did manage to beat her once or twice, my first win being with Ibuki, but out of the new characters that I have tried (not many), I particularly enjoy both Ibuki and Hakan. He's just SO fun to play as. Gonna try some other new characters tonight probably.

Anyone know if this game will get an album release proper. I'm dying to have these stage themes.

Anyone wanna play sometime?

PSN ID: FuryofFrog

i'm currently trying to get better with guy, but he's pretty hard to use, so it's gonna take a while.

maybe i'm gonna try cody next, or dudley?

The Dojo Edition for 360 I ordered from Capcom has not yet arrived, nor has the second issue of the Ibuki miniseries. I have the PS3 version of the game on my shelf, but my PS3 is currently away, being repaired.

This whole situation is...inadequate.

Played a bit with Pellasos, Don, and XLord007 these past couple of days.  Despite what he says, Pellasos has gotten pretty proficient with Guy, effectively whupping my Juri down hard.  Don's keeping me on my toes with his trio team of Abel, Ibuki, and Hakan.  And XLord, it was fun checking out Spectator Mode; any idea how that "passing" of turns works?

I love the rate at which character-specific unlockables opens up now.  You need only use a character a couple of times, and a whole bunch of new colors, taunts and title/icons automatically becomes available.

By the way, I've updated the Character Sound Collection [Single Cut] tracklisting on VGMdb.  As you can see, songs don't loop, but I'm currently in the middle of incorporating my own for the eighteen new themes featured in Super IV.

Yeah, last night was a ton of fun. In particular, our final battle of the evening was absolutely amazing. Close, tight matchup where we were both on the edge of our seats! Still, it was the first time I beat your Juri so I was immensely proud.

My copy of the 360 version arrived today, finally. I figured I'd practice a bit with the 360 pad before taking it online, finally putting my 3-month-old Gold account to actual use.

Here's what I've learned that might help answer some of the above questions:

-Arrange mode BGM is unlocked simply by going online with the game.  Arrange mode only affects players that have it turned on locally, and it completely replaces the regular music (much to my annoyance -- I wish it would be added to a random pool of music).  So, if I have it turned on and you don't, I will hear the arrange old school themes and you will hear the regular music.  Works the same way as local voice language settings.

-Colors and taunts unlock in an alternating pattern with each versus use of a character until you unlock all of them for a character (also in arcade mode I think).  Note that using the REMATCH option in local play will not work to unlock these.  You must go back to the character select screen and choose the character again.  When you exit out of versus play, local or online, you'll get the huge list of everything you unlocked.

-In Endless mode online, if there are more than two people in the lobby, if one of the people takes more than 10-15 seconds to hit "ready," the option will automatically roll to the next person in order.

I'd still like to know what the "Save Reservation" option thing with the Select button is for spectators if anybody knows that.

Really?
I know Ryu and Ken tend to pop up a lot, but they're nowhere near as numerous as the Juri players out there in my experience.

My friends and I were watching the replay channel and sorry to say...the number of Kens and Ryu's outnumbered EVERYONE else by a large margin. Best thing to do is turn inputs on for replays and watch the fools spam the controls. Is pretty hilarious.

I will say Juri is the one character that all of us want to learn how to play better. She is FUN and is actually pretty diverse (can turtle with neutral jumps and HK, can rushdown, has comboable ultra, go-to EX move -the pinwheel-, decent fireball). On the flipside...all of us are convinced Hakan is pure garbage. The concept is okay, but non-oil, he's awful and the oil doesn't last long enough to make him truly fearsome (opponent can wait it out). The lay-down Ultra shuts down jump-ins though (although usually, whoever used Hakan was so far behind in life, hitting it really didn't matter, lol).

I'm trying to develop Adon as a fun character, but I'm REALLY disappointed he isn't better. His air normals are his best thing, but all of his specials have nasty drawbacks. And unfortunately, air normals aren't much help in a game like SF4. My main from IV got buffed pretty nice though (Rose...Soul Sattellites aren't damaging, but they are all-purpose and can turn the tide pretty quick. Pretty nice, considering her old ultra 1 was junk).

I need to reactivate my Live account in a few days.

My goodness, you just made me incredibly apprehensive about playing this online. Love them though I do, I've never been exceptional at fighting games. It's fine to admit amongst friends that I'm terrible, but the idea of well-seasoned strangers being able to look at my inputs and laugh as I flail makes me rather uncomfortable.
That said, I'll probably head online next week regardless. I'm on vacation then, and what better time to flail like a monkey in public?

Seriously!?
I loved using Rose back in the Alpha days, but she got SERIOUSLY nerfed in SFIV if you ask me.
All her moves are a lot slower than they used to be, leaving her open to attacks with almost everything she does. She's totally useless now.

Compare that to newcomer Juri whom I tried out yesterday, and who is quick, versatile and has some really easy and damaging combos, and I ended up once again being amazed at how unbalanced this game can be in terms of characters.

Rose zones with Soul Spark (which is a lot better now) and if they jump over it, crouch HP. I tend to play her like Guile. Her jumping mk crossup is really good and is a free combo if it hits or a poke string or throw attempt if it is blocked. Satellites hit as soon as you activate pretty much, so they can turn the tide if the opponent is right on you. I wish her crouching mid punch was as godlike as it was in Alpha 2.

I HATED Rose in vanilla SFIV because of her limited options, but her new ultra really makes a huge difference because it gets her off the defensive and on the offense pretty much for free each round (you can rush in if the satellites don't hit right away). Oh yeah, and she's probably one of the best anti-Guile characters in the game (sonic booms got seriously buffed up in this game). Her reflect shuts down his only worthwhile special move, lol.

Personally, I don't consider Juri easy to use at all. All of her special moves are easily punishable if whiffed, so they cannot be randomly thrown out and she lends herself mostly to the air, so she's susceptable to anti-airs (crouching uppercuts, dragonpunches). She has easy combos into her ultra (regular dive, ex dive, jumping mp air-to-air), but these have to be set-up and ex dive is frightfully easy to punish, since you need the full animation to get the juggle for the ultra. Juri lacks wakeup games, so she cannot really get people off her, aside from EX pinwheel (which can then be blocked, and Juri then dies horribly from the lag on it). That's her tradeoff for her offensive options.

Right now I am in the middle of crafting a Rose stick right now. I'm glad to see all the Rose love here. In vanilla she was really junky and I couldn't even pull off a quarter of the shit that I could in A3. In this game she got a little speedier and her links got easier too. A big part of my game was utilizing qcb + p to smack people in the face but the range in vanilla was ultimate crap. I'm so happy that she got a proper buff. That and soul satellite was much better then I expected to be. Death to the Shamwow Ultra I say.

I snagged a copy of this last week via Goozex. I'm a scrub, as always, but I'm eager to play. You can boost your BP by beating on me, lol. I promise I won't shoto spam...as much.

My PSN handle is Nekobo1. I'll probably be on all weekend.