Street Fighter IV
Street Fighter IV is awesome in any version. For a basic rundown of the gameplay, check out our Street Fighter IV Review (X360).
Super Street Fighter IV
Super Street Fighter IV took that same great gameplay and tweaked the balance, added a bunch of new characters, and had everyone unlocked from the start. SSFIV is a separate title from the original SFIV release and had its own set of achievements and 1000 gamerscore to unlock.
Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition
Compare Super Street Fighter IV AE Prices on PriceGrabber.
The arcade edition of Super Street Fighter IV isn't as big of an upgrade as SSFIV was over SFIV. It re-tweaks the character balance once again (changing damage, reach, changing some moves, etc.), and adds just four new characters - Oni Akuma, Evil Ryu, and Yun and Yang. It also features an expanded Replay Channel that lets you watch replays of matches from the best players in the world.
So, there is some new stuff, but not that much. As such, Capcom is giving you a choice as to how you buy it. You can download an update for Super Street Fighter IV for $15 that updates it to the Arcade Edition. Or you can buy a new disc-based release of SSFIVAE for $40. It has to be noted that the disc is not considered a new, separate release, and really is just SuperSFIV with the AE update, which means no new achievement list other than a handful of new ones added with AE.
Because of the new balance tweaks, AE players normally couldn't play against players with the regular SSFIV on Xbox Live. It is a fairly different handling game with the new balance, after all. Capcom was clever, though, and lets you select which version of the game you want to fight against when you go online. This means you can play AE with the four new characters and all of the new balance tweaks, or you can play vanilla SSFIV minus all the new stuff. It is a smart way to introduce new, game changing stuff, but not fracture the player base. You get the best of both worlds instead of having to choose one.
Which Version Should You Buy?
If you already own Super Street Fighter IV, you obviously don't need to spend $40 on a new disc. The $15 upgrade will do you just fine. Whether four new characters and some "under the hood" changes are worth $15 is up to you.
If you only own the original Street Fighter IV release, or don't own any of them, then the SSFIV Arcade Edition is definitely the way to go.
