Funny trailer, eh? Capcom released another trailer, and they’re calling SFxTekken on PSVita “Street Fighter x Tekken Vita.” The trailer reveals six new characters that will join the PlayStation Vita roster, they are: Blanka, Sakura, Dudley, Elena, Lei, and Christie.

SF x Tekken features cross-platform play, what that means is that if you own both PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Vita versions of Street Fighter x Tekken – you can get the DLC characters for free on either version. For example, let’s say you bought DLC on PlayStation 3, according to Capcom, the DLC you bought on PS3 will appear on PlayStation Vita. And vice versa.

Jin has been spotlighted many times in many SF x Tekken videos, so we already know he’s in. But what is a surprising inclusion is this big, bad Ogre!

Street Fighter x Tekken releases next month for Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. PlayStation Vita fans will have to wait until the fall.

The trailer shows off some neat graphics display all over the place. It really shows how much vision Capcom has. Capcom also released a trailer as a precursor to the SF x Tekken launch. It’s about the story of Street Fighter x Tekken so far.

Street Fighter x Tekken is going to release in March for Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. The PlayStation Vita version is coming in the fall.

Most of the kiosks that were at the event were all situated on the Gem System. The mode has been featured throughout Capcom’s Fight Club on Feb 2nd, to help promote the game’s mode. Some players were better than others at it.

What is this Gem System?
The gem system in a nutshell a battle system that allows SF x Tekken players to receive a ‘boost’ of sorts. These 5 gems are selectable at the character select screen. The gems correspond to the abilities that you are able to execute in-game. There are many types of gems available, here are a few: An attack gem is red, to get speed you need a green gem, for defense you need a yellow gem, to have the c. gauge you need a blue gem, and to have an assist ability, you need a purple gem. You can mix all of these gems together to form a combination of boosts. The gems is connected to the super/EX meter at the bottom of the screen.

Want to see just how deep the Gem System is? Check out the video:

Okay, so how does the game play?
I’m a casual fighting game player, I have played Street Fighter before, I have played Tekken before. The last game I played were Street Fighter 3, and Tekken 6.

Street Fighter x Tekken is a 3D fighter graphically, but the game is played on a 2D plane. So, accordingly, the controls of Tekken characters are going to be stuck on the Street Fighter 4 engine. And it shows. Street Fighter x Tekken retains Tekken’s 4-button fighting scheme. I think Tekken characters play pretty well on Street Fighter 4′s engine. You can execute moves a little better with SF4′s control scheme. Street Fighter characters play similar to their Street Fighter 4 fighting schemes.

I played Street Fighter x Tekken on the official SF x Tekken arcade stick for Xbox 360. I think the arcade sticks are really nicely designed. But I do notice that there are a few hitches here and there. SF x Tekken isn’t as responsive on a stick than a controller. Having played the PlayStation 3 version of Street Fighter x Tekken, I strongly believe there’s a slight delay in response. I can execute moves on PS3 than I would on an arcade stick.

Street Fighter x Tekken Graphics
One of the first things I noticed right off the bat when I saw Street Fighter x Tekken in gameplay trailers, was that the graphics seem to be ugly for the most part. When I attended Capcom’s Fight Club, that first impression of SF x Tekken disappeared. The images, the gameplay videos posted on various websites do not do the game justice. The special effects has an effect of it’s own, so those ugly black effects you see in videos – those aren’t even noticeable once you play the game. Second thing I notice with graphics is that the environments seem rough. Having played the game, that impression disappeared, because the environments look really, really colorful. Capcom really captured the Street Fighter feel with the stages – especially the trailers stage. Which I assume is Balrog’s stage. With SF4, I felt like something was missing. That missing component was evident in SF x Tekken. Somehow I feel like this should have been SF4, and not SF x Tekken.

Street Fighter Fun Factor
For the most part, SF x Tekken is fun, but I really don’t like the ‘rules’ for the game because most of the 2 vs 2 games, those tag team games usually allow you to deplete both characters or beat both characters. Street Fighter x Tekken goes against the grain, between your player and the other CPU player, you have one life. That’s it. Once the person with the lowest life is dead, the match stops. This is true with your co-op player, even though that both of you can play at the same time. So, if your partner dies, you lose.

Tekken Tag Tournament fans will notice that the rules in the game is similar to what they’re used to. However, I feel that this rule of the first person that reduces their health to zero loses the match. That means if your opponent defeats one of your characters, they win, mixed with the Gem System and the Pandora mode is a bad combination. Why? Because this would mean that Street Fighter x Tekken is all about power moves. The only reason why Tekken Tag Tournament got away with this rule is because of the balancing. Some of TAG’s moves are deemed as “power moves” but only in some circumstances. Tekken Tag Tournament has always been about combos, Street Fighter x Tekken does not encourage dial-a-combo like TAG does. Then again, it feels like SF x Tekken is a marketing stunt on Capcom’s part to help push sales of Tekken Tag Tournament 2, which is slated to be released quite soon for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. An arcade version of the game is already out.

Wait, there’s a co-op mode?
Yeap, go back to the video above and see for yourself. You and your co-op buddy can fight against the other side together. But as implied, there’s a risk that come with it; once one of you dies, it’s game over.

Street Fighter x Tekken sound
Since Fight Club was packed with people, you couldn’t really hear the sounds very well. From what I hear, the game is loud, full of sound effects. You can even hear some small details as you play.

Anything else worth mentioning?
I really like the attention to detail in Street Fighter x Tekken. Like Guile, his pose was so funny that I laughed out loud. In one of the stages, Zangief is seen trying to break the window. The character select screen has animated characters, and then when the game proceeds to the “Vs” screen, all of the characters are still animated.

The Verdict
Capcom really has gone all out with Street Fighter x Tekken. Capcom really captured the Street Fighter feel with SFxTekken. The game’s fun, but the fun can be ruined during play. The rules of the game may confuse some people, and it can infuriate some people – I have seen it first hand. Half the time, you can play the game, but on the other half you got to keep the gem system in mind while playing. In my play time with SF x Tekken, I didn’t really pay attention to the Gem System, and I got my @$$ kicked. I think that Street Fighter x Tekken is more geared towards the hardcore fighting fans. Casual fighting fans will either like it or not. I’m going with the latter. Not a lot of people will like it, it’s a little complicated for casuals.

Quite frankly, I’m having a hard time getting over the “fat” Mega Man idea. Mega Man looks fat… What the hell, Capcom? Is that what you think of Mega Man?

Next up we have Namco’s very own mascot, the legend himself, Pac-Man! Sony joined the foray when they announced that Cole would be a playable and exclusive Street Fighter x Tekken character back at E32011. Sony also threw Kuro & Toro into the SF x Tekken exclusive roster.

Looks like Capcom has been very excited about these additions!

Once again, Capcom teases that a PlayStation Vita version is in the works. Some gameplay is shown, with this weird little teddy bear, and Cole fighting.

Capcom released a really shining example of ladies in a trailer:

It introduces Asuka to the Street Fighter x Tekken roster. Lili, Cammy, and Chun-Li join the battle for supremacy in SF x Tekken.

The ladies of Street Fighter x Tekken aren’t afraid of a fight, in fact, they relish it.

Two ladies duke it out, but is interrupting Jin and Colonel M. Bison, in which Jin starts to show his true colors in traditional Tekken fashion.

Do you see the difference? You see how Zangief was able to grapple Kazuya in a speedy manner, while a normal player won’t be able to grapple you the same way. The speed difference is evident.

In another example, the beginner Gem player won’t even notice the Gem system is in play, rather, he uses his moves to his advantage. In the next video, a novice player will attempt to use his gems in order to win a match, this is the result:

The expert player, the Intermediate player will use every ounce of the Gem system to overthrow his opponent. See for yourself:

You see? The player controlling Ryu knows exactly what the Gems do, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to use his combos as if it were under his control. He switched characters to help his fighting style along.

The Gem System includes parts of the Pandora system. What it does is that it allows you to power up, but with a risk; your life. See for yourself:

As you can see, the power up is risky, but also powerful. It turns you into an evil version of the character, it makes Akuma look pale in comparison. These power-ups make combos even more deadlier than normal combos. Interested?

It starts out with Ken and Ryu at each others’ throats, again. Kazuya joins the fight along with Nina. Cammy and King duke it out in an exchange of blows. Ryu and Guile throws fireballs in several draws until they stop. Those battles will never bore a fighter.

Bob and Sagat wrestle for supremacy. Hwoarang shows off his slick power kicks. Chun Li shows her thousand kicks to Kazuya. Yoshimitsu shows off his legendary spinning, sword-swiping techniques to Poison, but Raven joins the fight on Yoshimitsu’s behalf as well. Julia joins some fights and struts her stuff. Julia tags Lili to close out the video.

The next video shows off the various moves, and how to do them. The Gem mode is a massive learning curve for deeper fighting fans. And trust me, it does have a learning curve…

There’s a PlayStation Vita version of the game on the way. To learn more about how PlayStation Vita feels and play, check out my article about the system here.

If you would like to see the above video on YouTube, here ya go:

We’ll have more about Gem System soon.