If the mid-90s film taught us anything, it’s that Street Fighter is an awful anime. Crummy anime cutsenes bookend the short stories for each character in Street Fighter IV, and as expected, they’re utter trash. The low-rent art and practically non-existent storytelling are just one step above being Chun-Li-shower-scene bad. But in the face of Street Fighter’s outstanding presentation, the rubbish quickly fades from your mind. The vibrant art style evokes a unique blend of 3D characters in expressive settings, but it takes place in two dimensions. As a result, each match feels like classic Street Fighter, but looks like something else entirely. This blend of familiar gameplay and contemporary aesthetic lends incredibly well to the game, giving you the sense that it’s something wholly new, with plenty of nods to a bygone era.

Yet Street Fighter IV remains true to tradition in the best way: the combat is a delicate science with immeasurable depth. Each brawler can now enhance their abilities by trading earned juice from their EX meter. For example, Ken’s fireball hits twice, and Focus attacks add a cool-looking trail of splattered ink as they blend offensive power with a defensively favorable knockdown when injected with EX.

Complicated combos can be cancelled in to the Super and Ultra attacks, which unleash a hefty amount of damage and can be transferred to an air-juggle if you’re a super sleuth badass. Super moves also give a little more oomph to your moves, adding cool fire effects and extra damage in exchange for a tougher execution. What really packs a punch, however, is the Ultra attacks. As you’re getting your ass handed to you, the Revenge meter fills until it’s able to be used in the form of a cinematic and jaw-droppingly awesome Ultra combo, complete with zooms and camera cuts. Successfully landing an Ultra dishes out a devastating and stylish attack that drops the opponent’s health bar by nearly half.

Series veterans will be familiar with most of this, but it’s the underlying subtleties and stringing-together that adds a fresh feel to an established system. Each hit connects in a meaningful way that correlates directly to your control commands, and it looks the part in the arena thanks to the near-perfect hit detection. Street Fighter II players will be able to comfortably slip back in to the groove of their favorite character, but will be pleasantly surprised to find delicately implemented additions to their moves, many of which you’ll discover simply through experience.

If you’re walking in to Street Fighter IV with fresh eyes, however, be warned: this is an absolutely unforgiving game that you will almost certainly struggle with at first. Standard fights are satisfyingly challenging, but the final fighter you’ll go toe to toe with will quickly become the bane of your existence. Seth is an immensely taxing, endlessly frustrating, and infuriatingly cheap SOB that doesn’t let up for a second. His attacks are mean, they hurt, and he abuses them. Worse, once you take him down and go another round, he becomes even stronger, opening up a new set of moves. Even talented fighters with the advantage of a great arcade stick will be vexed by the final encounter, and can often turn the fun of swapping punches in to an exercise in agitating futility.