There was no actual hindrance, it just took a little getting used to once you'd already become accustomed to fighting from the left.
Depends what level of oppopnent you're up against. It didn't take to long to hit the level where throwing haymakers was the quickest route to getting yourself knocked out (this is all mp of course, in sp it certainly was easy enough to just spam haymakers).
After how much I liked FN3, I'm not really sure what to make of FN4. The fighters look more like caricatures for a start, and if it's true that it forces the use of the analogue sticks then I may have to consider leaving this one alone.