In only three short months STREET FIGHTER X TEKKEN (SFxTK) has undergone a transition from its true home on Consoles and PCs to the mobile platform. Fighter fans may take exception to my wording there, but fear not, Street Fighter on iOS has (to date) been adapted almost perfectly for touch-screen devices. SFxTK is no exception to this and indeed it places even more emphasis on its ‘versus’ modes than ever before - sure you can enjoy the game single-player, but if you have WIFI then you’re missing out if you don’t compete online.

Whether or not you choose to employ ‘simple moves’ you’ll have to get used to the virtual-stick and ‘six’ button configuration that has been designed to give you access to each character’s full-array of combo-moves with ease. The buttons themselves are boiled down to a single punch and kick, along with ‘cross’ (for team based moves), and ‘special’ to deploy ‘special’ and ‘EX’ moves depending on your setup. Lastly, like past Street Fighter titles, touching a portrait or the power-gauge bar will unleash your super and ultimate moves.

Fine-details aside, you’ll need to throw yourself right in to the mess with little more than a cursory introduction to get anywhere - it’s a trial-by-fire as it were. Once you’ve completed the Arcade mode you unlock more ‘gameplay’ modes, including ‘Trial’ to practice combo moves that will assist you in higher difficulties, and more importantly, versus online opponents.

Of course it would be silly to assume that the mobile version could manage to pack in the full console experience, but what it does provide is a competitive facsimile that retains the core concepts from the full title. Instead of full character switching you’ll be limited in how long your partner can be on screen, likewise limiting how much health you can recover on your main character. Thankfully unlike the console version, if your secondary character is ‘knocked out’ they’re simply swapped out, but should you activate ‘Pandora mode’ to gain a temporary power boost, they’ll be sacrificed permanently.

Also missing from the mobile release is the extensive roster of the console version - at this time a whole 10 characters (five from each franchise) are available from the outset. As a result single-player is hamstrung in its length and given our past experience with CAPCOM’s fighters, we can probably expect a ‘new version’ of SFxTK to extend the roster, dipping in to your wallet once again (though we’ll just have to wait and see on that score).

Once you’re confident enough, the real party takes place online via WIFI (or Bluetooth if you happen to have competitive friends nearby). The insistence on using a stable connection makes for a smooth experience, which is definitely appreciated.

Perhaps the best praise that can be leveled at SFxTK is that it feels at home on the iOS platform and it’s becoming increasingly apparent that physical controls aren’t about to limit hardcore fighter-fans after a competitive bout. Although it’s definitely a different beast to the console version, it still packs a serious punch.