They’re generally not too good (IMO).
Unlike most fighters, the balance is a bit too good since Sega is irritating about constantly revising, testing and releasing updated versions to keep the system on a fair level. This means all characters see a good amount of play and there’s not a clear case of tier whoring due to this. Frankly, this digusts me, since I like to look at tier lists instead of learning individual character playstyles and strengths and tier whore.
Another thing is despite the fact the game has only four buttons (unilke the superior six of Street Fighter) it has large amounts of depth in contrast to its input scheme. I was shocked to see things like dodging, movement, buffing felt like natural progressions in the system and integrated well as your skill level improved. Another thing I hated was characters were distinctly open ended and move lists felt like an offering of different options rather than window dressing compared to most other 3D fighters. I just wanted to know 3 or 4 moves and get on with the fighting.
On top of this, I was dissapointed in the fact the game rewarded results in direct correlation with how much work and dedication you put in. Lastly, I hated how no matter what the option selects or situations provided to me where, there was always a direct balance to them to make the playing field level, leading to different levels of mind games.
Did I mention the customization feature? Blows ass. With literally hundreds, perhaps millions of combinations to choose from when editing your character the possibilities were too large to comprehend. I just want to get a few colors and a silly alternate costume available through paid DLC.
So yeah, not a very good game honestly. =/ Super Street Fighter IV has already been released and to be honest I feel that’s the only game worth playing, ever.