If you’ve already placed a pre-order deal with Shopto for Capcom’s forthcoming Super Street Fighter IV (out April 30^th), then you might want to consider cancelling it in favour of this deal from Zavvi. They are currently charging £20.45 (remember to enter the discount code APRIL2 to get this price) in an offer which undercuts Shopto by about £1.40. Like Shopto, Zavvi are also throwing in a free Street Fighter IV t-shirt.

• Click here to pre-order a copy of Super Street Fighter IV for £20.45 from Zavvi now.

Capcom had initially intended to release Super Street Fighter IV in the form of DLC, but decided the game the was large enough to justify an independent standalone sequel. However, by promising to provide owners of the original SFIV with some extra perks and charge well under the usual £30+ for a new release, they’ve more or less reached a compromise. Super Street Fighter IV will feature ten additional characters and provide some significant tweaks to the gameplay which, overall, should offer fans of the series substantially more than your average expansion.

Eight characters return from previous Street Fighter editions and include the likes of Dee Jay, T.Hawk, Codey, Guy and Dudley. The game will also feature two characters that are completely new to the series. First there’s Juri: a Korean female fighter who batters her opponents with Taekwondo and has some strange implant in her left eye which endows her with time-warp abilities. And then there’s fat Turkish oil wrestler Hakan who has rubbish mobility but is deadly at close range – a bit like E-Honda.

New gameplay mode include ‘Endless Battle’ which basically just an online ‘winner stays on’ match; ‘Replay Channel’ which allows players to view and share replays, and SSFIV also sees the return of car and barrel bonus stages. Although – like previous expansions – some the gameplay improvements might be difficult to notice initially, this sequel should provide plenty of subtle refinements.

Thanks to Mintcake from Hotukdeals.

Earlier today Brendan posted about two great deals for the Collectors’ Edition of Street Fighter IV. However, if you are not all that bothered about having your games wrapped in the shiny prestige of Collectors’ status, or you’d rather have a t-shirt than action figures, the news that Shop To are selling the new Super Street Fighter IV for just a couple of quid more than the best prices for the original one is pretty sweet. Not only does this deal give you a saving of just over £2.50 compared to the next cheapest (£24.49 from Cool Shop for the 360 version, £24.73 from The Hut for PS3) but Shop To are also throwing in a nifty looking Dhalsim t-shirt (normally £9.95) to sweeten the deal!

• Click here to preorder Super Street Fighter IV for £21.86 from Shop To (PS3)
• Click here to preorder Super Street Fighter for £21.86 from Shop To (XBox 360)

Shop To guarantee that you will receive your game by its release date of April 30th so long as you order before midday on the 28th or they will credit your account with £3 compensation.

Super SFIV is an expansion of last year’s Street Fighter IV and adds ten characters to the original roster. These new fighters include old favourites Adon (from the original Street Fighter); T. Hawk and Dee Jay (from Super Street Fighter II); Cody and Guy (from Final Fight) and Dudley, Ibuki and Makoto (from Street Fighter III) as well as new character Juri, a young South Korean woman with a Taekwondo fighting style, who works for Seth’s organisation S.I.N.

As well as adding extra fighters, the game has been revamped and reworked to make play more fun and accessible for everyone. Each character now has a second Ultra combo move and their whole skillset has been rebalanced but without the removal of any moves.

Super Street Fighter IV gives you some new online multiplayer modes to play with, such as Team Battle which can employ up to eight players in team elimination battles, Endless Battle which pits players against a rotating group of players and a Replay Channel which allows the player to view and save replays from around the world. This expansion also sees a revisit to the Car and Barrel bonus stages which featured in Street Fighter II.

Despite the breathless, dribbling awe of some of my friends, I can’t help but feel cynical about Super Street Fighter. While there is enough content here to justify its release as a full game rather than DLC and the release price is certainly modest, expecting fans of the series to buy what is effectively the same game twice strikes me as both audacious and contemptuous. However the vast majority of fans will do just that, so, if you enjoy playing SF IV online, you’ll just have to suck it up and enjoy what the update has to offer. At least if you go for this deal you can nab a free t-shirt while you’re at it.

Now here’s a problem. Super Street Fighter IV is released soon, looks pretty damn tasty and will be retailing for around £25. But look, cheap shiny Collector’s Edition! It’s full of quality extras too, rather than the usual tin-box and art cards guff.

• Click here to buy Street Fighter IV Collector’s Edition [X360] for £17 from 365 Games
• Click here to buy Street Fighter IV Collector’s Edition [PS3] for £19.98 from Blockbusters

So what’s in the box? There are two limited edition figurines: one of Ryu and one of the new gal Crimson Viper (the one with those outrageous flaming kicks). A new HD movie on a bonus disc that fills out the story of events preceding the game and also a collection of those gorgeous early teaser trailers is also included.

There’s also a comic book-style mini strategy guide for the new characters that might tempt you to give them a go, rather than sticking with old favourites. You’ll also get the ‘Brawler’ DLC pack of extra costumes for five characters, saving you a few quid on PSN/XBLA.

The game is about a year old now but is still one of the best brawlers out there, our readers voted it the Best Fighting Game of 2009 and rightly so. The new art-style is simply breath-taking and a brilliant new look between retro cool and modern graphical prowess. King of Fighters XII seemingly tried to copy it, but realised mid-development it was harder than it looks and came out with an odd looking mess stuck in two minds.

Ultra Combos and Focus attacks look and feel devastatingly effective and the game even has a solid online mode. It was a little lacking in extra modes, which is where the upcoming ‘Super’ version will be an improvement. You just have to weigh up your choices of new version soon or this one now. If you consider yourself a hardcore fan but couldn’t afford the £70 price-tag when it was first released, then it’s a no-brainer.

Thanks to burstlikeabubble and gooner_187 at HotUkDeals.