Cammy gets an entirely new look for Street Fighter 6, let's see how

In the previous blog I mentioned that Street Fighter 6 Director Takayuki Nakayama, Producer Kazuhiro Tsuchiya, and Designer Yusuke Hashimoto had decided to redo the costumes of every returning character in the franchise. Some of the designs are obvious, but work in the context of the fighter, like Zangief having red pants, instead of red wrestling trunks. Even the ones that look the same, like Juri, and Rashid, are actually new fits. The changes to the cut, and color for their uniform that I think makes for better overall designs. However I cannot say the same for every returning character. The more casual designs I think hurt the impact of a classic fighter. This was the case with Ken, as his tee shirt, jacket, and boots seemed out of place from his previous red karate gi. I think the same argument could be made for Cammy White.

Cammy as you may know is a member of Delta Red. A super secret British military strike force. Despite her diminutive size, she is actually quite strong, and exceedingly fast. Her uniform consisted of a green leotard, red beret, red gauntlets, red socks, and combat boots. Also she wore camouflage paint on her legs. Like the other women in the cast she also had a unique hair style. Hers were two long blonde braids ran the length of her back. This was usually her outfit when she was on missions with her team. The new design of Cammy has her wearing something closer to modern street wear. She has what appears to be workout leggings, and a sports bra. Over which she wears a cropped blue jacket, with a long belt. She also has one full-arm gauntlet, and one red glove, with red combat boots. Her trademark hair has been cut short. Her somewhat military inspired look has pretty much been stripped away. The only connection to her training goes to a small Delta Red pin on her jacket. Many fighting game fans said there was little setting her apart from the more recent design of Sonya Blade in Mortal Kombat.

If you remove the character, and just look at the costume you’ll see a stark contrast in her design. I argue that color is one of the most important things you can assign any fighting game character. The ones that had solid colors, and a complimentary second color withstood the test of time. I said that this was a sort of happy mistake. Because game consoles in the ‘80s couldn’t have too many colors on the screen, then sprites were assigned bright primary colors so they could stand out from the backgrounds, and their opponents. This started a trend that at least Capcom stayed with through most of the ‘90s. The artists stayed with solid primary colors for each fighter even when they had hardware capable of presenting thousands of colors on screen at the same time. The original design for Cammy was no exception. She had a lime green associated with her uniform, this was a lighter shade than the green assigned to Blanka. Plus her red, and black accent colors were different than the rest of the Super SFII cast. Some of the returning characters in SF6 have perhaps a new accent color assigned to their outfits, while others have entirely new color pallets assigned to them. Cammy falls into the latter category.

Cammy has had different variations of her uniform through Street Fighter Zero / Alpha, Street Fighter IV, and V. In every instance it was military inspired, even if it was a “sexy” version of spy gear. Without her long hair, red beret, and military look is she still Cammy? I think it’s fair to ask what the SF6 designers think defines the character? For that matter, what do you think makes Cammy unique? I think the changes they made were counter to the spirit of her original design, similar to their approach to Ken Masters. Also why were most of the blonde characters (Ed, Ken, and Cammy) all given jackets? Was Mr. Hashimoto even aware that he did this? I suppose as long as Cammy still plays in a similar fashion that she used to then she will be well received. I’d like to hear your thoughts on hew new look in the comments section. If you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

A new look for Guile, or correcting a mistake? His update in Street Fighter 6.

Today we’re going to look at the makeover Guile received for Street Fighter 6. I’m a fan of the character, and I ranked him eight on my personal list of the 30 most important Street Fighters. SF6 Designer Yusuke Hashimoto did a great job of capturing the look, proportions, and details that worked for him in Street Fighter II. Guile has always had a bodybuilder physique, even more so than Ken, and Ryu. Bengus did some of the most memorable illustrations of the character some 31 years ago. Mr. Hashimoto essentially worked out a modern interpretation of him, while still giving him some unique touches.

If you look at the size of the character, his hair, and proportions it’s as close to the look of SFII than any other sequel. Mr. Hashimoto added some facial hair, and eyebrows to Guile to show that time had passed since his previous appearance. The biggest change to the character comes in the way of the color of his uniform. You know already that I am a proponent of SF characters being assigned a main solid color, and complimentary secondary color. For Guile his costume went from green camouflage to a dark blue flight suit. I’m fairly certain that the military fans of Street Fighter are jumping for joy. Soldiers are just about universally accepted as being exceptional fighters in the genre. Green is mainly associated with Army soldiers, and not Air Force pilots. Technically Guile had been wearing the wrong colors for a generation. It doesn’t matter though at this point. His clothing maintains its military designation. Heavy boots for stomping on opponents. A weathered flight crew top with a couple of patches on it including Air Combat Command signaling his place in the United States Air Force.

Guile’s first 3D appearance was in Street Fighter EX in 1996. That game was developed by ARIKA. The first time he was presented in 3D by Capcom was with Street Fighter IV in 2008. The version of the characters that appeared in those games were heavy stylized. Artist Daigo Ikeno created the look of the World Warriors for that sequel. Many people noted how bulky the cast looked. Producer Yoshinori Ono said the characters were much thicker than they used to be in order to make them appealing to western audiences. Their reasoning was based on looking at the hyper-masculine heroes in first person shooter games. The cast of Gears of War, Doom, and Duke Nukem were big, muscular stars after all. He didn’t think that the characters appealed to fans on this side of the Pacific because of the Japanese aesthetic. Yes there were some bodybuilder physiques in the original SFII, but there were also fat, skinny, and feminine body types as well. Most of them became bulky across the board in SFIV. Thankfully the distinct body types seem to have returned in SF6.

The other appealing thing about Guile has to do with his story. He entered the SFII Tournament in order to get revenge on the organizer for killing his friend Charlie Nash. The emotionally scarred soldier looking for vengeance made for a very interesting plot point. Audiences could root for a character like that. Guile In the end he doesn’t murder the villain. He is instead dispatched by Ken, and Ryu. Guile comes to his senses, and returns to the wife, and child that he had abandoned. Coming to terms with what happened to his friend, and becoming a family man made for a very satisfying conclusion. Why he would be in SF6 has yet to be revealed, but I’m certain it will make for an interesting story. What do you think about the return of Guile? Do you like the switch in color scheme? Do you wonder how he will be incorporated into the plot of SF6? Give me your takes in the comments section please. If you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

30 years of Street Fighter: 30 years of Characters #8

Guile is without a doubt an over-the-top G.I. Joe-cartoon character squeezed into the Street Fighter II lineup for the sake of appealing to Westerners. I should be mad but I'm not. I'm not mad about his nonsensical haircut. Or that he looks like a caveman because he's missing his eyebrows. I'm not even mad about the USA flag tattoo and camo pants that obviously every serviceman gets when they enlist. Capcom of Japan really had our number when designing the westerner. Every fiber of Guile's being was infused with military imperialism. It was a bit on the nose. That's why I can't say anything bad about it. Guile deserves to be remembered on the 30th anniversary of Street Fighter. Not because of the overt pandering but instead because of what he evolved into.

Guile's look was obtuse for a reason. The Capcom designers were heavily influenced by the stylish manga JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. The tall hair was pulled from Jean Pierre Polnareff, the military muscle from Rudol von Stroheim and the name taken from Jean Pierre's rival J. Geils. Despite this mix of influences Guile was a prime example of how military design worked in a fighting game. Just about every other character presented was an archetype of a school of fighting. We had the karate guys, the kung-fu girl, the wrestler, the boxer, a muay thai champ, and so on. We could more or less tell what they were about just by looking at them. Then there was this super buff American soldier. We didn't know what style he practiced but knew he could brawl. Not only could he fight but he had some very unorthodox moves. He could do an inverted head kick, a somersault "Flash Kick" and even had his own variation of the fireball called the "Sonic Boom." These moves were flashy and very effective in the game, making him a sold choice for the tournament crowd. His fighting ability was as mysterious as his personality. His origins and reason for entering the Street Fighter competition were shrouded in secrecy.  

It turned out that Guile was a special forces officer. He was on the hunt for Vega / The Dictator. Years ago he lost his best friend Charlie Nash in a Shadowlaw ambush. Guile swore revenge and traveled the globe looking for clues. His obsession lead him to abandon his family. Nash was not only his best friend, he was also the one that taught him how to fight. These small details would be revealed over the events in Street Fighter II and Street Fighter Zero. As Guile's origin came into focus it made him more interesting. He wasn't just a pandering brute but an interesting archetype. He would become central to the plot of Street Fighter II and even get a prominent role in the animated movie. There hadn't been many military fighters in this series or other games that was as interesting. So to Guile we salute you on this anniversary! As always if you enjoyed this blog and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!