Forty-four.
That’s the roster count the upcoming Ultra Street Fighter IV. If you know your history, that’s actually no where near the record size of a fighting game’s character headcount (see: King of Fighters and Namco anime games).
As the fourth major update to the Street Fighter IV series, you can expect a slew of tweaks including changes to hit absorption as well as a number of new combo options. Capcom’s also getting extra mileage from Street Fighter X Tekken by reusing six of that game’s stages in Ultra.
These include the Mad Gear Hideout in all its traditional Japanese ceremonial charm and the tricked-out truck lot of Pitstop 109. And given the addition of Hugo, Poison, and Rolento, Capcom could have easily called this Street Fighter IV: The Final Fight Challengers, though we admit it lacks the punchy marketability of “Ultra.”
This also marks the return of Street Fighter III’s Elena and the playable debut of Decapre. You can see these new characters for yourself in our supercut, edited from footage we recorded during a recent visit to the U.S. office of Capcom.