What is Ultra Street Fighter 4 like on PS4?

Ultra Street Fighter 4 finally hits the PS4. Is this the most definitive version of the released to date? Ultra Street Fighter 4 is the fourth edition of Street Fighter 4 released to date. This game has been re-released around the same amount of times as Street Fighter 2 back in the early '90s. Does this new iteration offer anything new for fans to see? It's weird thinking back that Street Fighter 4 was the first game I ever reviewed professionally. That game came out over six years ago in 2009. Here I am today over six years later in 2015 and I'm essentially playing the same game. Albeit this is the first time the series is on the PS4.  Ultra Street Fighter 4 does add a few new things that previous versions never included. First of all, the game has five new characters for you to try out. The characters include: Poison, Elena, Decapre, Hugo and Rolento. The game's roster has now grown to an astounding 44 playable characters. 

Apart from the growing number of playable characters, Ultra Street Fighter 4 also has some new fighting stages too. There are six new pretty stages. Some of them have already been included in Street Fighter X Tekken, but it's nice for them to add a bit of variety to the stages.  Aside from cosmetic changes, Ultra Street Fighter 4 adds several gameplay changes as well. The usual balances have been made and every character feels strong. There isn't a "weak" character or overly strong character in the game either. No matter who you choose, the characters all have the ability to win.  My favourite feature is that you can even choose a new fighting style in Ultra Street Fighter 4. All of the characters have a new "Omega" mode which makes them have new moves and special attacks. There are also several different costumes that you can choose that were previously only available as paid DLC in other versions of the game.  Unfortunately, playing Ultra Street Fighter 4 can feel like deja vu at times. If you've played Super Street Fighter 4 or Ultra Street Fighter 4 on PS3 or Xbox 360, this is essentially giving you the exact same experience. The changes aren't too big to justify paying what is close to being a full priced game.  Having said that, Ultra Street Fighter 4 does look pretty on the PS4. It looks marginally better than the PS3 versions I have played in the past. Although I must say the graphical changes aren't that large either. If you already own Ultra Street Fighter 4 on PS3 or Xbox 360, there's not really a big incentive for you to buy the PS4 version too.   It goes without saying that Ultra Street Fighter 4 on PS4 is not at the best state right now. As of time of writing, the game suffers from several glitches both online and offline. I didn't notice too many glitches myself, but a lot of other gamers are suffering problems with the PS4 version of the game. Capcom knows about the problem and is already going to release a patch to fix everything soon.  As for the controls, the DUALSHOCK 4 controller is not the best piece of hardware to use in Ultra Street Fighter 4. I still think the DUALSHOCK 4 controller feels very uncomfortable when playing fast-paced fighting games. Thankfully, the game is compatible with many arcade sticks. It will even support PS3 arcade sticks as well.  Ultra Street Fighter 4 on PS4 is a great game, but only if you have never played the previous editions before. If you have played any other version of Street Fighter 4 to date, this doesn't offer anything too substantial for you to buy the game all over again. However, this is definitely worth getting for newcomers.  Verdict: 7.0/10