Home Gaming Ultra Street Fighter II’s first-person “Way of the Hado” mode is goofy and unfulfilling

Ultra Street Fighter II’s first-person “Way of the Hado” mode is goofy and unfulfilling

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Street Fighter has been around for nearly 30 years.

I played the first Street Fighter in the arcades in the late 80’s, but it didn’t really have much of an impact on me. It wasn’t until the second game hit the scene in the early 90s that Street Fighter Fever took a hold of me.

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There’s really very little to be said about Street Fighter II and its influence not only on me as a gamer, but also on games as a whole. It’s the single most important fighting game in history, and one of the most influential games ever made – revitalising the arcade scene, popularising face-to-face battling and paving the way for competitive multiplayer.

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I grew up spending just about all of my money on Street Fighter II, in an era when arcade games still cost 20c. The fabled, seminal fighting game series celebrates its 30th Anniversary, and for nearly that long, I’ve wanted to be able to throw fireballs.

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A new mode in the soon-to-be-released Ultra Street Fighter II: The New Challengers finally lets me do that. I just wish it were better.

Way of the Hado is a first person, motion-controlled mode that has players see things from perpetual Street Fighter protagonist Ryu’s point of view. With the Switch’s detachable Joy-Con controllers in each hand, players can emulate the motions for Ryu’s signature moves to execute them.

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Push both hands forward, and you’ve propelled pure energy forward as a Hadouken. Keep your left hand still while you thrust your right into the air and Ryu will unleash a dragon punch. Twist both hands to the side, as if you’re about to leap into the air, and you’ve got a crowd-controlling hurricane kick. It works, but as with many games reliant on waggling controllers, there’s not much in the way of consistency. Sometimes my fireballs would hit their intended targets, at others they wouldn’t materialise at all, or end up as a misplaced shoryuken.

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That there’s no free motion, and you’re an otherwise static Ryu throwing fireballs at waves of minions doesn’t make for the best gaming experience, making The Way of the Hado an odd curiosity more than a selling point for Ultra Street Fighter II. It’s fun, but I don’t expect it’ll be fun for very long. We’ll have a more in-depth look in our review next week.

Last Updated: May 15, 2017

2 Comments

  1. Original Heretic

    May 15, 2017 at 15:29

    I remember Dragonball Z on the Wii. Damn that was a fun game. Lots of strange waving around of the controller. And after a hectic fight, I actually felt tired.
    That seems like a better version of what Street Fighter is trying to do here.

    Reply

  2. Admiral Chief

    May 15, 2017 at 16:03

    SF is such an ODD game, it bores me out of my SOCKS

    Reply

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