Ryu Final, the real Street Fighter III and IV, part 2 - A 1UP classic from January 31, 2008

Good morning friends, there's not much news to report today. Some family issues that I will see about later in the day, plus lawn mowing of course. Things are holding steady but right now I have to get back to work, one of the projectors blew a bulb so that's going to cost somebody money. Let's get back to the second (and final) book of Ryu Final. WARNING: if you would rather wait for the translated issue next month then skip today and tomorrow's blog. I will be talking about everything that happens in great detail.

This comic begins with a rock pile and a stick. It is a grave marker. The red headband of Ryu is tied onto it.

This story does not begin with Ryu but the lessons learned are just as important as everything we saw in the first book. This is the story of Sagat, rather the lessons of Sagat. As the story starts we see Hugo's diesel truck parked outside of a temple in the heart of Thailand. Hugo is taking swings at Sagat. Although he towers over the mighty Thai, he is unable to land a solid hit on him. Sagat is motionless and allows Hugo to throw punches that don't seem to faze him. In a fit of anger Hugo lifts the stone head of a Buddha and throws it down on Sagat. It shatters into a million pieces and this gets a reaction. Sagat takes down the mighty giant with one kick. He then remembers his life of fighting.

We are taken back to a period in time when Sagat was at his most dangerous. He had survived the dragon punch from Ryu and was recovering in Thailand. Furious with himself he takes his aggression out in the jungle. Knocking down trees and trying to make his techniques stronger. Adon watches from a distance, ashamed that the tiny Ryu could have done this to his master. Although bandaged up Sagat has a would that will not heal. He doesn't stop long enough to think about the consequences of his actions until he accidentally knocks a tree down onto a child. He takes the child to a temple where the monks take him in and try to help. The monks warn Sagat of what he is becoming.

Although he survived a potentially fatal blow he survived. Whether is was his size, his determination or his will that kept him alive is unknown. What worries the monks is the scar has been left in the Shoryuken's wake. It is not the physical scar but the emotional one. They warn Sagat that revenge and hatred is what is fueling him now. That hatred is going to eat him up from the inside, that scar will never heal if Sagat remains possessed with a desire to kill. Sagat lived for a reason, there is tremendous potential for him but he seems to miss his purpose. It extends beyond the fight. The monks say that poachers are killing and trapping tiger nearby. Sagat should be defending his homeland. So he leaves the child behind and goes into the jungle.

We see poachers stalking a tiger who instead kills one of them. Before the tiger can pounce on the other Sagat kicks it in the head and scares it off. The poacher thanks Sagat profusely for which he rejects. Sagat has found a new target for his aggression. He begins slapping the poacher all over the jungle. As he does so the scar on his chest opens up and he starts bleeding. While Sagat pauses to clutch his chest the poacher grabs a young villager from a nearby tent. It is the child that Sagat accidentally hurt. The poacher holds him hostage. Sagat throws his hand in between the gun and the child. The poacher fires a round into his hand. Sagat grabs the poacher with his free hand and lifts him into the air. The poacher fires a few more rounds into the torso of Sagat.

Sagat can easily kill the poacher but he chooses not to. He had just cause and unlike Ryu, this person was a criminal willing to murder Sagat in cold blood. At that point Sagat has chosen his path, he will not let rage consume him, he will not use muay thai as a means to have his revenge. He will not stain the name of his beloved country. The bandages fall away from his chest as he holds the poacher aloft. The massive scar on his chest has stopped bleeding. Sagat has matured as much as Ryu in the universe. He has learned many lessons and he perseveres. He is proof that even a mortal wound can be overcome.

Ryu and Oro know where their path will lead. In Ryu's memory the reader is taken to the past again to witness an important moment in SF continuity. Nakahira shows us the fight between Gouken and Gouki in all its violent glory. Ryu and Ken are young, about the age they were in Zero if not a little younger. One day Gouki just begins shooting fireballs at his brother from high atop a ridge in the woods. Gouken senses these strikes and jumps out of the way. They begin battling all over the woods in a very cinematic fashion. They hurl special moves at each other but Gouken is eventually overtaken by his brother. He is beaten and killed when Gouki punches his hand through his chest. Gouki takes the string of giant beads from the body of his brother and places them around his own neck. Ken and Ryu call out for their master but it is no good. They can barely hold themselves back but they know neither of them is remotely a match for Gouki. He warns them and then walks off. The memory remains with Ryu for a long time and now is the time to do something about it.

It is now the present and Ryu returns to Thailand for a rematch. Ryu and Oro pass a couple of teens farming near the temple. The villagers that Sagat saved many years ago are growing up. Sagat waits for Ryu, the battle between the tiger and dragon has been a long time coming. Sagat is stronger than he's ever been, Ryu has been training harder than ever. Of all the rivalries in Street Fighter this is the oldest. Nakahira tells us what happened between them during the SF III continuity. This is important because the beef was not settled in canonical terms or in the videogame, Sagat was not in III. Both Ryu and Sagat prepare for the fight with Oro and the teens acting as spectators. There is a storm brewing but neither Sagat nor Ryu will let the rain stop them. They square off and begin fighting when the lightning strikes nearby.

The battle is over in a few hits.

Both strike each other quickly, over and over, but Sagat manages to land a devistating knee. He sends Ryu crashing through a sleeping Buddha statue. Oro was the only one that was able to perceive the blows and know when each struck the other. Ryu looks beaten but Sagat takes a knee and concedes defeat. Ryu does not understand. Both men were capable of taking the fight much further. Sagat has taken a knee because his old wound has reopened. He knows now that the path of the warrior is not validated if he must fight to the death. Ryu learns that every battle does not have to end with him crippling or knocking out his opponent. He must take the fight as far as it has to go and no further. Ryu must not becomes that which he despises. Ryu and Sagat come to an understanding after that. Ryu and Oro leave Thailand. Sagat bandaged up again, the teens holding an umbrella over his head and watching an old adversary walking away. This might very well be the last time Sagat is supposed to be seen in continuity, the end of an amazing chapter in the history of fighting games.

Ryu and Oro make it to Japan where they reunite with Ken and Sean. Ken and Ryu prepare to end another chapter in the series. They set fire to their masters temple. It is a majestic castle that has been in the background of every Street Fighter game. Sadly this is the last time we shall see it standing. Ryu and Ken square off to determine who must challenge Gouki as their dojo burns in the distance. Ryu connects with one well placed strike. Suddenly the temple explodes and collapses. Gouki descends on a pile of rubble. The two great warriors pause to study each other.

In a way it is funny that the path Ryu has wandered on for years takes him back home. Gouki finds irony in the little boy he saved has grown into a capable warrior. They both laugh a little. It is the only time you will ever see a smile on Gouki, it is slightly unnerving. Ryu tries to catch Gouki with a dragon punch. Gouki grabs Ryu's hand and crushes it.

The fight is brutal and although Ryu has grown and learned a lot in the past few years he is still no match for Gouki. Gouki beats Ryu and hits him with the legendary Shun Goku Satsu or Instant Hell Murder. The finishing strike is a punch through the chest, just like he gave his brother and master. To make sure that Ryu is done for he drops a fireball from the hand that went through him. This explains the flash of light that you see at the end of the videogame version. Ryu spits up blood in the face of Gouki. He is wiling to return the favor in kind and do something that his master was not willing to. Ryu places his palm on the side of Gouki and shoots a fireball right through him. Gouki pulls his arm out and both men stagger back.

Ryu is bleeding profusely and wonders how Gouki can remain standing. Gouki tears off his gi and we can see the gaping hole in his torso. Gouki is hollow inside, he has been completely consumed by the Dark Hadou. All that remains is a rage-filled shell of his former self. Ryu curses the monster for killing his master and killing himself.

They strike each other once more. Gouki connects first. As soon as Ryu hits the face of Gouki he becomes consumed by fire. Gouki turns away from Ryu and staggers into the flames of the burning temple. The demon is defeated but at the ultimate price. Ryu collapses and Ken runs to his side. He is unresponsive as Ken yells his name. Ryu is dying.

The epilogue. We see Alex sitting in an alley, distraught. Earlier that day he had a match with Ken at Madison Square Garden. Alex was a big up-and-coming fighter in the MMA circuit. In SF canon he even knocked out M. Bison in a MMA fight. He gives Ken a good battle in the final but is ultimately defeated. Alex is disappointed in himself, not for losing to Ken but because he realizes that he is still not strong enough to fight Gill, whom he really wishes to battle and avenge his family. Alex's adopted family finds him sulking in the alley and helps him. A few days later Alex seems to be doing better when he runs into Ken and his family. Ken advises that the only way to get better is to go around the world and learn from the best. Little Mel reaches out and gives Alex the red headband of Ryu, knowing that Alex respects the legendary fighter greatly. Ken and Alex part ways.

We see Alex months later in the hills of Japan. We assume that he has already done extensive traveling. Learning from Birdie, Zangief and Adon as per the canon. He stops at the ruins that was formerly the temple where Ken and Ryu trained. It is a sad scene now, nothing but rubble remains. There is a pile of rocks marking a grave and a post. Alex kneels and ties the red headband to it. He wishes that he could have learned from the best, to have sparred with Ryu once.

We see a silhouette appear on the horizon. We don't know if it's a memory or Alex's imagination. He turns around.

Ryu is standing there, smiling. His hair unkempt. A large circular scar on his chest.

THE END.

Now do you know why I am so critical of the Udon books? Why can they not write or draw anything as epic as Ryu Final? So what can we make from the end of this book? Well aside from the near-impossible surviving from a punch through the chest we can take many things for the future of the series in canonical and videogame terms. His surviving a death blow was foreshadowed by Sagat at the beginning of the book. Ryu returns not as a messiah but as a true martial artist. Ryu has learned to harness the power of a killing strike in his Fist of the Wind and seems to have finally completed his journey. From this point on he should hold a place of great importance in the universe, the transition from fighter to master. From this point on Ryu is no longer the intro into the world, or should not be. I am speaking in manga and videogame terms. From this point on Ryu should be something more... What should we expect if Capcom creates a true Street Fighter IV and not a II.5? 

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Ryu Final, the real Street Fighter III and IV - A 1UP classic from January 30, 2008

Welcome back friends. We're here to talk about Ryu Final, the last book Masahiko Nakahira created for Street Fighter. The book was set in the SF III continuity, to be precise it is set during 2nd Impact: Giant Attack. Nakahira never did a SF II book for Capcom, those were covered by Masaomi Kanzaki and Mami Itoh. So how does Nakahira's story go? How does it progress? If you read it once then go back through you'll notice that everything that went into this story was done so deliberately. Every character, location, fight and moral was done with forethought. Nakahira is a genius when it comes to plotting the events of his book. He doesn't just plot out a linear story but carefully intersects flashbacks which keeping you turning the pages. The weakest part of his story is better than anything I've seen with Udon. Overall it is perfect storytelling and great art combined. Let's touch on the events of the first collected book.

This comic begins with a rock pile and a stick. It is a grave marker, but for whom?

Ken and Ryu are much older, stronger and wiser than when we last saw them. They are possibly at the peak of their abilities. Ryu begins the tale, he is training in the shadow of his old dojo. He remembers the lessons learned from his master Gouken. Nakahira presents Ken and Ryu younger than they appeared in the Zero books, as young as they appear in some Udon flashbacks. The sage advice is not lost on Ryu as he remembers, in Jedi style, that he and Ken are part of the living, breathing world, not apart from it. It is up to Ken and Ryu to catch a falling leaf, the task sounds simple but has profound meanings. In almost all the Nakahira books you see a big oak tree and leaves come up time and again. The leaves and lessons of Gouken also return in the ending credits of SF III: 3rd Strike. The cycle of growth and change, the eternal strength with roots deepening as they grow. The hard training of Ryu and the trees that shake with his blows are inspired by actual accounts of Mas Oyama's tremendous power.

Ryu is fully confident in his abilities and decides it is time for him to return to the circuit and prove himself. His first stop is San Francisco where the understudy of Ken, Sean, taxis Ryu to a yacht. Young Mel, the son of Ken and Eliza is crying because he's afraid that Ryu is going to beat his father. After a few formalities the classic rivalry gets underway. The outcome isn't even close. Ryu is soundly beaten by Ken and can't even manage to get a hit in. Somehow his best friend and rival has surpassed him. Ken has worked harder than Ryu and has become a true martial artist. The reason is told in flashback.

Ken had challenged the man-god Gill and was beaten within an inch of his life. He came to the realization of his purpose as he was lying in a pool of his own blood. He could not allow this defeat to happen, he would never allow himself to be defeated in combat by anyone. His life was not forfeit as he remembered his wife and son. They were his foundation and Gill be damned for trying to sever those ties. The fight became a stepping stone for Ken. From that point on Ken realized he was not only fighting for himself, but for his family and with that conviction he would never fail them. With his remaining strength he leveled Gill with a dragon punch and did the same to Ryu. A clear-cut victory.

The scenes and plot with Gill were covered in the shortest span of time. Nakahira knew the important part of the story was not in trying to explain the plot of SF III but instead allowing the reader to discover how much the cast had grown. Ryu walked away from the encounter a little humbled but grateful. He knew now that he had room to grow. So he said farewell to his friends and set out again. While sleeping in a park he was awoken by Oro, who was trying to walk away with his duffel bag. Ryu tries to teach the old man a lesson but is instead beaten by the aged master. To make things fair Oro even puts one hand behind his back and still manages to beat up Ryu. FYI: remember that Capcom has been trying to use a one-armed boxer in their series because their template for SF II, the Master of the Flying Guillotine sparked the idea. Ryu becomes progressively angry with his aged opponent and finally decides he's had enough. Ryu tries to counter with a fireball but he is instead knocked silly when Oro unleashes a massive Yagyou Dama, or two handed fireball the size of a Volkswagen Beetle. It turns out that Oro was testing him. Hoping to find a student worthy to train. Ryu is the one and from then on he is under the hard tutelage of the 140-year-old master. He begins by making Ryu carry a massive boulder on his back with Oro riding atop.

At this point of the story Ryu has pretty much hit rock bottom. This is important because he must be rebuilt as a person and as a fighter. The battles he has had in the past, against opponents like Sagat and Vega should have made more of him. Instead he is still locked in the rigid system taught to him by his master and unwilling to progress. It is up to Oro to show Ryu his true potential or kill him in the process. Somewhere in Germany Ryu's first battle turns out to be against the giant Hugo. The battle is brutal on Ryu as Hugo dominates him for most of the match. Pounding him into the ground and throwing him like a ragdoll, Hugo is a force of nature against Ryu. Nakahira uses exaggerated perspective to make Hugo appear 20 feet tall rather than the 7'8" he is. This is in the same dramatic technique that Tetsuo Hara would do to make gigantic opponents for his Kenshiro to battle. After losing for most of the match Ryu is able to defeat Hugo with a well placed dragon punch to his stomach.

It is not easy for Ryu to win battles. Unlike the Udon books where fan-favorites can knock out opponents in one hit, nothing comes easy in the Nakahira books. This importance of this fight is to show him, and the reader, that there will always be bigger and stronger opponents waiting for the challenge. Ryu will always bring out the best in his opponents and he can't always out-muscle them. The moral of the Hugo battle is that strength is tempered by technique. Ryu continues his training with Oro from there, having earned the respect of Hugo and Poison. He travels south and eventually encounters Yun and Yang. The brothers are brash and inexperienced fighters. The determination of the young kung-fu masters is a parallel between Ryu and Ken's legacy. Even though Yun and Yang are beaten by Ryu they will not quit. Ryu is reminded of how stubborn he was in his youth as well. Yun and Yang establish the core of the Ryu story.

In flashback we see a young Ryu, much younger than he's ever been presented. His build is skinny, his hair unkempt, but he has a determination that impresses Gouken. He wants to prove that he is worthy to learn under the master so he says he will strike out to chase away a bear terrorizing the local villages. Gouken discovers his bloody duffel bag a few days later. Gouken fears that the bear has killed Ryu. This adventure, like much in the life of Ryu is inspired by the fictional retelling of the life of Mas Oyama, better known as the Karate Baka Ichidai anime. In particular the battle here is between Ryu and a dangerous bear, the same thing that happened to Yoshiji Soeno in the cartoon. We catch up to Ryu in the woods and see that a bear is indeed slashing at him ferociously.

The bear pounces on Ryu and is about to finish him when he is struck from behind. The force of the punch travels through the head of the bear and stops inches from the face of Ryu. It is a wild-haired Gouki that has saved Ryu and killed the bear. Gouken arrives to take Ryu away. Gouki cares not for man or beast, saving Ryu was an afterthought. It was that day where Ryu saw the face of evil. He saw that the techniques he wanted to learn was lethal in the wrong hands. These were techniques that could easily be used to kill if left unchecked. In present time Ryu thanks Yun and Yang for the fight and hopes to see them again someday. Like they Ryu has room to grow and many more battles to come.

The next battle Ryu faces is nowhere near as easy as the battle with Yun and Yang. Dudley the boxer, the undisputed heavyweight world champion, wishes to challenge Ryu. You would think that with Oro as his new master he would have become a better fighter by now. Dudley beats the tar out of Ryu and has a counter for every move. Ryu is simply not fast enough to catch the champ with his guard down. Even his dragon punch is caught and countered. Round 1 goes to Dudley but Ryu will not stay down.

This is the abstract part of the book, the weakest reason for a character to be introduced. Elena is brought in an aside and doesn't fight in any way. She is in Africa, a continent away from where Ryu is. Yet she, like every other fighter in the world is connected. It all goes back to the lessons that Gouken planted into the young Ken and Ryu. They are part of this living world, their roots have grown deep and they have more potential than they realize. It is up to them to wake up to that and release their true potential. With that Ryu comes to his senses and catches his second wind. The leaves in the mighty oak tree in the background shake. Ryu plants his feet and prepares a new fighting stance. Oro and Dudley are intrigued at this newfound intensity in Ryu.

Oro wonders how Ryu will face his opponent now. Dudley is the culmination of the boxing arts, possibly the oldest fighting arts in the world, dating back thousands of years. Boxing is a refined sport, called the sweetest science by practitioners. Embracing the culmination of the art Dudley represents a fighter in the purest sense of the word. He is taller than Ryu and has a longer reach than Ryu, there is no way he can get caught by Ryu's blows. A pure fighter cannot be defeated by traditional strategies and technique. Ryu has learned that he is not fast enough for a special move, he has also learned that he can't always out-muscle his opponents. In order to evolve he must be willing to change his strategy. He decides to use the force of a killing strike but use it in a new way. In one strike they go at each other with everything they have.

Dudley was aiming for the head of Ryu and failed to notice that Ryu's punch was headed for his hand. Ryu has learned to harness the power of a killing strike but not in the way that was used against Sagat. The force of the blow destroys Dudley's boxing glove and breaks the bones in his arm. The force of the blow also travels through Ryu's arm and tears part of his gi off. Ryu remained grounded and the remaining energy returned to the Earth. Dudley concedes defeat. Ryu has learned the fist of the wind, a technique unique to him. He is now ready for an even greater challenge.

End of book 1.

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Street Fighter 6: A master class in game design, part 31

In an earlier blog I mentioned that the US had a terrible track record with adaptations from Japan. It didn’t matter how big the budget was, or how many writers, producers, or directors they threw at the project. If they didn’t understand the source material, and they didn’t meet the characters at their level, then the project would fail. To be fair the major US Studios couldn’t even get US comic, or cartoon properties right half the time. This was no where else more apparent than Capcom Studio 8 and their trainwreck called Final Fight Streetwise. Let’s start with the most obvious thing, the visuals.

I had been collecting Capcom books, and magazines for over 30 years. I especially loved the game guides. I could see the character art, and concepts as they were designed by my favorite art team. Final Fight, and the related titles always had a strong anime aesthetic. Bright costumes, bold colors, over-the-top designs. Everything was played up, there was nothing remotely serious about their approach. Even though the situations, and locations seemed serious, they were presented in a melodramatic fashion. It was something that not a lot of fans of the franchises understood. This was obvious in the writing, and direction of Streetwise. It was a dark game, very much in the vein of Beat Down from the year before.

The only difference between the two Capcom games were the character designs. One was created by a Japanese studio, and the other by a US team. Both were trying to capture the same serious look, and feel. Only the US team actually had the FF property to work with. A preview of how bad things would be were seen in the limited edition Streetwise comic. You could get one if you pre-ordered the game. It was Illustrated by Trent Kaniuga. The credits included; Story by Dave Ralston, Gerardo Sprigg, and Trent Kaniuga. Scenarios written by Tom Mason, Dan Danko, and Gary Reed. The comic introduced us to a character named Kyle Travers, the brother of Cody Travers. Right away my head snapped back. I was like what?!? I had played every game in the series, and was fairly certain there had never even been a mention of a brother. The comic was filled with smoking, drinking, realistic depictions of violence, sexual overtones, and gun play. It was the very definition of tell me you’ve never played Final Fight, without telling me you’ve never played Final Fight.

In the back pages of the comic we were treated to the concept art of the various locations in the game. As well as art of new, and returning characters. New faces like the tattoo-covered Lou “The Skin”, gangster-looking Simms, the Rasta-trope Reefer Madness, and the scummy Weasel. Returning characters included Poison, Sodom, and Andore. Cammy would even turn up in the game with a makeover as well. Everything was dark, and ugly. The streets, and businesses in Metro City were much worse off than they were in the original FF. The bright colors, and cartoonish designs of the Mad Gear members were absent. Instead replaced with the tough guys that would be found in an angsty teenager’s sketchbook. Learning that the comic creator, and writer also turned out to be the voice of Kyle suddenly made a lot of sense. This would the game industry's most expensive self-insert fanfiction.

The game would give realistic makeovers to the other classic characters including Mike Haggar, and Guy. If you played the game for any amount of time, and were familiar with pop culture then it was obvious the direction that the team was going. Capcom Studio 8 was trying to turn FF into a cinematic experience. It would be something more akin to the movies Fight Club, or Snatch. Both gave dark, and gritty portrayals of illegal underground fighting tournaments. This was opposite of Streets of Fire, the cult ‘80s film that influenced the development of FF. The shirtless Kyle Travers surrounded by drunks in a makeshift ring was a substitute for Brad Pitt from the aforementioned movies. Except Kyle looked more like Mickey Rourke, which to be fair he was the macho rugged guy that predated Brad. The dialogue in the game, and themes were very mature. They predicted where Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto series would be going.

The problem was that this was a Capcom game, not a Rockstar game. The developers were doing a major disservice to the source material. They were creating an action brawler that in, and of itself, was worth exploring. However by attaching it to the name Final Fight then audiences were expecting something similar to the previous four titles. If it couldn’t be similar then at the very least it should capture the spirit of the previous games. The move to 3D was not as jarring as the content. The casual drug use, swearing, and violence meant that it wasn’t aimed for general audiences. The combat was not well done, the dialogue poor, character development absent, and plot was nonsensical. A drug / stimulant was taking over the streets of Metro City called “Glow.” It acted very much like “Venom” the drug that Bane used to increase his strength, speed, and stamina in the Batman comics.

The climax of the game featured Kyle, against a Glow-overdosed Cody. What they did to the iconic character was as sad as you could possibly imagine. Every step of the journey reminded me how far the studio was walking away from the original. These were all conscious choices, this wasn’t their first rodeo. Capcom USA worked side-by-side with senior Japanese developers on Final Fight Revenge. They didn’t understand the quirky humor that was the basis for Mad Gear bosses. Such as Sodom, he was an obsessive Japanophile, however he couldn’t even write kanji correctly, or speak Japanese. They saw firsthand how the characters were designed, what the tone of the moves, world, and story was. They even had Zombie Belger doing Michael Jackson’s Thriller dance moves in the FF Revenge credits. If that didn’t explain not to take the world too seriously was then nothing the Japanese team could have said would have mattered to the US. It wouldn’t be the first time a western studio would try to rewrite the legend of a beloved franchise to fit their own vision.

In 2009 Grin released a 3D adventure game called Bionic Commando. Directed by Ulf Andersson, Produced by Ben Judd, and Designed by Anders Jonsson. It was based on one of the greatest classic games ever made. The original Bionic Commando I would consider one of my favorite games of all time. What audiences couldn’t understand was how off the tone, and design of the 3D remake was. This was especially jarring considering that the same studio released Bionic Commando Rearmed the year before. It was a 2.5D version of the classic title, and it hit all the right notes for fans of the original. It was a smash hit, and even the critics held it up as an example of how to properly adapt a classic NES game to modern consoles. A year later they said the full 3D version was an example of what not to do with a beloved IP. But I digress…

The Street Fighter 6 developers did not acknowledge BeatDown, or Final Fight Streetwise as being part of canon. Those games were missing from the tiles in Beat Square. The only one this did recognize was Final Fight Revenge. The SF6 team returned Metro City, the Mad Gear gang, and various cameos back to their full color lighthearted tone in the World Tour. I would argue that Capcom in Japan did sneak in a jab at the horrid western remakes. I’m convinced that the poster of Cody at the end of the subway cars was made to look like Patrick Bateman from the American Psycho film. As if this is the version of Cody that a US developer would have given us in SF6. 

Thankfully the Street Fighter, and Final Fight IP was back in good hands. The studio was keenly aware of how fan reactions from around the world were coloring the way the had to approach their designs. The growth of the internet made sure that audience feedback was instantaneous.  Japanese fans were being very vocal about their dissatisfaction of one of the most popular characters in SFV. What the SF6 team did to this character, and the rest of the cast was simply sublime. We will dig into it on the next blog entry. I hope to see you back for that. If you are a long time fan of Final Fight, or Street Fighter then I would like to hear your impressions of SF6. If you have never played any game previously then tell me your experiences in the comments section please. As always 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!

Street Fighter 6: A master class in game design, part 30

When the idea of a World Tour was brought up at Capcom HQ in Japan what do you think the team considered before settling on their format? I would argue that the first thing they had to discuss was whether or not they should have players follow around one of the named characters. Make an adventure game out of Ryu, Ken, or Chun-Li. I’m still convinced that a Chun-Li game using the SIFU engine would be amazing. But that would make it a side game, and not a proper numbered SF title. There wasn’t much precedence for this type of game. Not including Charlie Nash, and Cammy appearing in the shooter GunSpike / Cannon Spike in 2000. That title was co-developed by Psykio as well, so it doesn’t really count as a fighter. Focusing on just one character that already became a master of their specific style would be hard to develop a narrative around. We would need to begin with nothing, and build our character up. Even Kratos, and Link had to start with weak weapons, and low stats at the beginning of their respective games; God of War, and The Legend of Zelda. Focusing on a player-created avatar, and making them the star of the game, and then having all of the SF characters have a hand in training them was the best possible decision by the SF6 team.

Off the top of my head the only franchise game that tried to make a solo adventure out of a star character was Death by Degrees. It featured Nina Williams, one of the main characters in Tekken, and also one of the first 3D fighting game females. It was developed and published by Namco in 2005. The game made an honest case for turning the tried-and-true Tekken mechanics, and combo systems into a 3D adventure. Nina had already been presented for years as a spy, and assassin in the Tekken cutscenes, and intro cinemas. This time we would be following her on a James Bond-type adventure. The game was good in concept, but just didn’t work in execution. Namco discovered something that was a wild card for 3D fighting game design. How to you balance free roaming 3D combat? An opponent could easily sidestep an attack, and of course if your angle wasn’t dead-on then your attacks might not even land. Also how would a camera work in this type of system? Capcom knew better than try to make the SF6 World Tour a free roam 3D brawler. As soon as a confrontation started it instantly moved to a 2D perspective. Thus there was no difference between the Arcade mode, and the World Tour.

The late ‘90s saw several studios making the transition to 3D game design. Many shuttered further development on their 2D sprite engines, and got designers 3D workstations. Of all of the early 3D fighting games there were three that tried to show the possibility of story driven fighting adventures. Many from my generation had a soft spot for Tobal No. 2. It was a brilliant console game. Developed by DreamFactory, and published by Square for the Playstation back in 1997. It was a follow up to the groundbreaking Tobal No. 1, which was Square’s first game for the PS. It wasn’t just a well balanced 3D fighting game, with designs by Akira Toriyama (Dragon Ball Z, Sand Land), but also offered an adventure mode, like traditional RPGs. Then there was Ehrgeiz: God Bless the Ring by Namco from 1998. It was a well done fighter, featuring different level elevations, and dynamic environments, and also offered a quest mode. The peak of these types of 3D fighting adventures probably came with Power Stone. Produced by Capcom in 1999 there was nothing else like it in the arcade. The anime-style characters, special moves, random power-ups, and rapidly evolving stages had a sort of kinetic energy that you needed to play with a group in order to appreciate.

As fun as these games were they didn’t quite translate the feeling of a traditional fighting game into 3D. The most ambitious attempt at AAA 3D fighting adventure went to Sega. The studio was one of the first to use polygon graphics in racing, flying, and fighting games in the early ’90s. If anyone could crack the code it would have been them. Sega actually tried to build a 3D brawler franchise, starting with Dynamite Cop, and then creating SpikeOut. It was an excellent game, and one that I actively sought out when I saw an ad for it in a Japanese game magazine. It got a more fighting game friendly update called Spikers Battle in 2001, and a console exclusive sequel called Spikeout: Battle Street for the Xbox in 2005. As fun as the game was it highlighted the difficulties of trying to make a brawler in 3D.

Capcom wanted to be the studio to create a modern Final Fight. An urban brawler that was more mature in tone than other games. The Gen-Xers that grew up on the classic arcade hits were now adults, many with children of their own. They had gravitated to more serious titles. This was especially true of many in the US. The Twisted Metal, Grand Theft Auto, and God of War series demonstrated the look, and feel that a lot of players wanted to see. A developer named Cavia had created a dark, and gritty 3D brawler named Beat Down: Fists of Vengeance. You could recruit, or extort rival gangs on your quest to take over a city. Capcom published the game in 2005. That same year Namco also released an urban brawler named Urban Reign. It used the Tekken combo building mechanics, and the moves from various Tekken characters for your custom characters. Both titles allowed you develop your own movesets. Which was something new to the format.

Both games failed with critics, and audiences. They were average-at-best experiences despite some solid ideas, and decent character designs. Capcom knew that there was still a demand for brawlers, and fighting games. They decided to dig into their IP, and make a big push for the genre. In 2006 Capcom Studio 8 would release the first new Final Fight game in seven years. It would also be the first game created exclusively by their US studio. If anybody understood the western audience it would be the Team USA members. The game that came out left me bewildered.

Actually I wasn’t as bewildered as much as I was disappointed, saddened, and angry with the treatment of the IP. My reaction was all before the game even came out. I got a preview when I attended the E3 in 2005. I was looking at the early footage, and wondering what was going on. Why was this ugly Fight Club wannabe was getting passed off as a Final Fight game? I showed my brothers the video I recorded, and they were confused as well. I’m too upset to talk about it now. We will dig into it on the next blog entry. I hope to see you back for that. If you are a long time fan of Final Fight, or Street Fighter then I would like to hear your impressions of SF6. If you have never played any game previously then tell me your experiences in the comments section please. As always 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!

Street Fighter 6: A master class in game design, part 29

The success of the Street Fighter series could be chalked up to incredible planning, incredible luck, or a little bit of both. Earlier in the series I mentioned how different directors, and planners had a hand in shaping the franchise. It began with Takashi Nishiyama, the genius behind Kung-Fu Master / Spartan-X, Street Fighter, Fatal Fury, The King of Fighters, and the Rumble Fish. He was essentially The Godfather of fighting games. He left Capcom shortly after SF came out, so a new team had to come up with a sequel. Double Dragon was the breakout hit of 1987, so the Capcom developers decided to pursue the brawler format instead while creating Street Fighter ’89. Despite their contribution to the genre Double Dragon’s Directors Yoshihisa Kishimoto, and Shinichi Saito don’t really have as high a status as their Capcom rivals. Why was that? I think it had a lot to do with them retreading the exact same ground over, and over. Double Dragon II: The Revenge came out in 1988. The game had improved on the visuals, and stage designs, but it didn’t feel revolutionary. Worse yet the woman that you saved in the previous game, Marian was shot to death at the beginning of the sequel. Hunting down Willy, the leader of the Black Warriors, and making him pay wouldn’t be bringing her back. The game was difficult, and simply felt like an excuse to take your credits as fast as possible.

Capcom knew that they were working on something superior to the prior two Double Dragon games. The first thing they did after witnessing DDII’s soft debut was rename their game Final Fight. This allowed them to work on two franchises, a brawler, and a 2D fighting game. The Street Fighter II developers were tasked to create an actual sequel to Mr. Nishiyama’s game. Do you know what Technos did while Capcom was breaking new ground? They doubled down on their franchise. The least memorable of their arcade follow-ups was Double Dragon 3: The Rosetta Stone. It came out in 1990. They were now copying the competition, they introduced a third Lee brother named Sonny. Each of the brothers played exactly the same, as opposed to Cody, Guy, and Haggar’s unique skill set. They also introduced micro transactions where you could pay more credits for more gear, weapons, or other characters. I haven’t met any people that played that arcade release given how slow, clunky, and stale their franchise had become. It was retooled for Japan, and the shop was removed. By the time Technos realized the many mistakes they made it was too late. Street Fighter II had been released. The world was forever changed. In order to be relevant again Technos would have to create a Double Dragon fighting game, but that would be a blog for another day. 

The ‘90s saw tremendous growth for Capcom, and with it came an impossible demand for more. More fighting games, more consoles games, more of everything. Capcom began licensing out their IP, and looking for partners to help produce animation, and movies. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Hollywood did not have a good track record for adapting Japanese content. The studios thought they understood the culture, the audience, and a million other demographics according to their marketing people. I would argue that if they did not enter with an understanding of the IP then they would completely miss the mark. This lesson didn’t just apply to Japanese IP. Studio heads would put the wrong people in charge of massive domestic projects. From producer all the way down to director, writer, and actors. They each contributed to multi-million dollar failures. This could be seen in the colossal string of flops released by Warner Bros. in recent years. That studio owned the DC Comics IP, they had animation directors that were creating hit-after-hit using the very same IP. Unfortunately their live action teams were an entirely different part of the company. They had no interest on what the comic book, or cartoon writers, directors, or producers could do for them.

Capcom of Japan didn’t know, or care that Western adaptations had a spotty track record. They were experiencing rapid growth, and in order to take advantage of the market they needed to diversity their portfolio. This meant getting cartoons on TV, and toys on shelves. Whether the US writers, directors, or toy designers had any idea what they were doing was besides the point. Capcom would be aligned with the popular cartoon series G.I. Joe, and later on have a Vampire / Darkstalkers cartoon made as well. To say these were horrible shows, and forgettable toys would be an understatement. The anime, or manga style that drew the attention of audiences in the first place was substituted to more US comic book, and cartoon aesthetics. The look, and feel of the fighting games was missing from the very first episode. These efforts never gained momentum, and could be chalked up as losses for the company.

Capcom wanted, and needed to have a team in the US that could adapt their games to the western market. At the same time they wanted to assemble a team that could create original IP that would appeal exclusively to the west. This would make sure their portfolio could keep growing, and keep investors happy. This was how we ended up with Capcom USA, later renamed Capcom Production Studio 8. Their first game was Final Fight Revenge. It had a lot of input from Capcom of Japan, but was assembled by the US team. You could see it in the credits. It was directed by Yoshiki Okamoto, and David Siller. The producers were Tetsuya Iijima, Jim Wallace, and Mark Rogers. The lead designer was Tetsuya Iijima, and lead artist was Raymond Fung. Final Fight Revenge was released in 1999, and looked very blocky, very low polygon when compared to other 3D fighters of that era. It didn’t seem to have the same level of polish that ARIKA’s Street Fighter EX had from a few years prior. 

I cannot confirm who wrote the story, or selected the lineup for the game, but I think that it was the Capcom Japan studio. This was given how closely they mirrored the lineup, and villains from the original Final Fight. The other reason why I think it was the Japanese studio was because of how the final battle with Belger turned out. If you had never played FF the way the game ended (according to canon) was Cody had rescued Jessica from Belger, but had kicked him out of his penthouse window. Those actions were understandable. He knew that turning him over to the authorities meant he would escape justice. His lawyers would fight the charges, and the crooked cops would make sure Belger would be released that same day. Kicking Belger out of a window to his presumed death was the only way he could protect the woman he loved. Cody fought the murder charge given the circumstances, but was still sentenced to prison for involuntary manslaughter.

Despite the fall Belger actually returned shortly after. In the Famicom / Nintendo console game Mighty Final Fight (MFF) from 1993. It was a sort of kid-friendly retelling to the arcade hit from 1989. It was also released at the same time as the Super Nintendo / Super Famicom exclusive Final Fight 2. Capcom wanted to make sure that this remained one of their more popular franchises. Almost all of the characters returned in MFF, and allowed players to relive one of the great arcade adventures. In the end they faced off against Belger, who was kept alive with cybernetic parts. I guess we could tell which side of his body hit the ground first when he fell. I’m sure most of us were convinced that the character was going to stay dead this time after his second fall. Not to mention that FF3 would feature a new gang, and a new villain named Black.

Belger returned one more time in Final Fight Revenge. He was now kidnapping people from beyond the grave. The final battle with the character had him appearing as a zombie in the underworld. It was some sort of dark graveyard with a massive demon in the background. The character moved sluggishly, but could vomit poison, and stretch his limbs like Dhalsim. He could also pounce, and bite opponents. This over-the-top storytelling, and absurd gameplay highlighted the same tone that Capcom of Japan leaned into when they were creating Mighty Final Fight. The rest of the game was a passable fighter, even going so far as to give several of the cast members their moves from Street Fighter Zero / Alpha. I would argue that Capcom of Japan was getting Capcom USA up to speed on development. They were experimenting with how a Street Fighter game might look in 3D without using the main SF cast. After all, they wouldn’t want audiences saying that their 1999 3D Street Fighter was inferior to ARIKA’s Street Fighter EX from 1996. 

Capcom USA tried out new ideas for 3D combat, such as the cast being able to pick up weapons, and them use during a match. These reflected the same things you could do in the traditional FF titles. It was only at the reveal of Belger returning from the great beyond that we got to the punchline. The events of this game didn’t really constitute a Final Fight 4. It was just something to keep the IP fresh. The overall tone was a type of absurd humor that I don’t think the Capcom USA team got, or understood. The reason I say this was because Capcom Studio 8 would develop another fighting game that would not be acknowledge as part of SF/FF canon. We will dig into it on the next blog entry. I hope to see you back for that. If you are a long time fan of Final Fight, or Street Fighter then I would like to hear your impressions of SF6. If you have never played any game previously then tell me your experiences in the comments section please. As always 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!