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Summary:
Ultra Street Fighter IV is a solid fighting game with deep mechanics and a rich roster of 44 characters. However, the game is now over 10 years old, and the player base has dwindled.
https://steamcharts.com/app/45760
Given the game's age and the current state of its online community (very small and comprised mostly of seasoned vets), I can only recommend buying it on sale. The lowest recorded sale price is $3.89 at -87%.
Full Review:
Ultra Street Fighter IV is the fourth and final update to the fourth main entry in the Street Fighter series. The first version of Street Fighter IV was released in 2008 (roughly 9 years after Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike). Super Street Fighter IV came out in 2010, 3D Edition launched in 2011, and Ultra Street Fighter IV was released in 2014.
Street Fighter IV has a similar feel to Super Street Fighter II Turbo while incorporating features from Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike and adding new features of its own.
As expected, the game has a high skill ceiling with combos that require 1-frame links (i.e., frame-perfect inputs). Mechanics such as Focus Attacks, Red Focus, delayed wake-ups, plinking, double plinking, kara cancelling, and Focus Attack Dash Cancels (FADC) add layers of strategic depth. Mastery involves not only learning these mechanics (along with your character's combos and special moves), but also knowing when to use them by taking into account distance/spacing, reflexes, and timing. Understanding matchups and frame data is crucial for high level play.
The skill floor is deceptively high. Button mashing is basically like flailing your arms in a real fight, hoping to land a knock out. It's not going to work in real life against a trained fighter, nor does it work in video games against a skilled player.
The learning curve can be pretty steep, depending on player skill and familiarity. As usual, computer controlled opponents will read inputs and have insane reactions (especially on higher difficulty settings), but at the same time can be easily exploited by things that wouldn't work against human players (such as spamming Focus Attack).
A major issue with these older competitive games is the small player base, which results in a wide skill gap. For new players to effectively learn and enjoy the game, they typically need three types of opponents: those of superior skill to learn from, those of similar skill to spar with, and those of less skill to teach. These days, two out of three of those types are lacking.
Nonetheless, if you can grab Ultra Street Fighter IV on sale for around $4, it's still a worthwhile purchase for Street Fighter fans or fighting game enthusiasts looking to explore the series.
PS: The game runs perfectly on Linux with Proton-GE *except* for missing audio during cutscenes. This issue occurred with newer versions of Proton-GE (7/8/9), though Proton-GE 6.21 played cutscene audio normally.