CHUN-LI versus BLANKA

Battle 03: Recall (Tokuma)
Where: Street Fighter II #2 When: August 1994
Why: Masaomi Kanzaki How: Masaomi Kanzaki

The Story So Far...
The crime-riddled island of Shad is a modern metropolis that plays host to some of the greatest fighters in the world. The best among them will meet in the Third Annual Grand Fight, advancing to the stadium stage by proving themselves under the rule of street fights.

Only in the stadium will they face the reigning champion: M. Bison -- a man without a history, nation, or known fighting style. He is the rumored master behind the criminal organization Shadowlaw, responsible for flooding the streets with a pain-suppressing designer drug called "Doll".

Undercover Interpol agents work to thwart the scourge of Shadowlaw, but their ranks continue to disappear. Now one of their daughters, Chun-Li, fights to find answers, and with the boxer Balrog embarrassed by another newcomer, upheaval within the ranks of the Shadowlaw Lords could deliver her the man she seeks!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Blanka 4 (Enhanced)
Intelligence: Chun-Li 3 (Straight A)
Speed: Draw 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Blanka 5 (Marathoner)
Agility: Chun-Li 4 (GYmnast)
Fighting: Chun-Li 5 (Martial Artist)
Energy: Draw 3 (Explosives)
Total: Chun-Li 25 (Champion)

Chun-Li is the self-described "Strongest Woman in the World", but she'll find a physical match in the mutated Brazilian man-beast that is Blanka.

An outlier as the first "freak" of the Street Fighter franchise; Blanka is best characterized by his hunched muscular physique, wild hair, and typically bright green skin - a characteristic owed to his upbringing subsisting on skin-tinting plant chlorophyll, and maybe even radioactive materials, in the jungles of Brazil.

As the victim of a plane crash that left him to fend for himself in the wilderness, Blanka is a little bit like Tarzan, but his unusual appearance isn't the only product of his strange mutation. He also learned to imitate the techniques of electric eels, generating a shocking natural voltage that electrifies his opponents on contact!

Gamers will also know that his animalistic fighting style is complimented by an ability to launch himself like a cannonball into a fast-moving, flipping attack. The same kind of tumble you'd see Mortal Kombat's Kano utilize, but arguably with even more spectacular results.

That's a lot for Chun-Li to contend with, but the studious Chinese Interpol agent comes with extensive expertise in kung fu, and a fitness regime that keeps her incredibly fast, agile, and mobile, with an emphasis on powerful kicks and leaps.

Her lightning fast Hyakuretsu Kyaku kicks were on full display in the previous issue of the Tokuma Shoten series, and when she matched the physically imposing Birdie in Street Fighter Alpha Vol. 1.

Her powerful legs are also famous for delivering the inverted flying Spinning Bird Kick -- an attack similar to Ryu's Tatsumaki dragon hurricane kick. Like Ryu, Chun-Li can also harness her chi into a kiko-ken energy ball, helping her to defeat the blood-thirsty Vega later in the Shoten Street Fighter II series.

Despite his ferocious appearance, Blanka has fallen into a cuddly, comedic role later in the series, but in the 1994 Tokuma adaptation, he is a brutal enforcer for Bison's "Shadowlaw", with aspirations of replacing the defeated Balrog within the ranks of the Four Lords. Will he earn his place? Let's find out!

The Tape: Chun-Li Ranking: Chun-Li (#126)

What Went Down...

Face-to-face with the man-beast claiming to have killed Interpol Investigators that included her father -- Chun-Li begins to give in to furious emotions!

Her only desire is to defeat Blanka and make him talk -- and for a moment it seems as if that might be enough, but not everyone is convinced. From the audience, a mysterious Dhalsim notes that without Ryu's advice - she will lose.

The young agent launches into a furious barrage of kicks, getting her first inkling of doubt as Blanka blocks them all with powerful forearms.

Her leg blazes across the target to no avail, and as anger fuels her continued assault, Blanka's fanged mouth stretches to let out a tiny chuckle.

His goal is to gain the approval of Bison to become a new Lord of Shadowlaw and the energy it gives him is electrifying!

1200 volts super-charge the air and send Chun-Li jolting away from the buzzing body of Blanka as he unleashes a technique learned from observing electric eels!

He presses the advantage, reaching out with lightning fast punches Chun-Li can just barely block.

Blood begins to obscure her sight as Blanka closes in for a knockout blow that launches Chun-Li into the air!

She drifts between the reality of the fight and a fantasy of fighting crime side by side with her father. The vision urges her to stay strong. Cutting through the twilight is the voice of Ryu, who beckons from the crowd, "Concentrate on who you're fighting! Don't fight your memories! Your enemy is right in front of you!"

Her eyes widen with steely resolve as she fully awakens in freefall before her opponent -- and reaches for the ground with tensing wrists.

Blanka is baffled as Chun-Li's hands brace against the floor and she twists her body from a handstand press into a devastating whirlwind kick!

Her feet collide repeatedly against Blanka's face as her legs spin overhead!

Fanged teeth crack and break as Blanka falls to his back.

Chun-Li closes in quickly, delivering a furious punch to an already tenderized face, and as she reloads for another -- a friendly hand catches her wrist. It's Ryu. The fight is over. The crowd goes wild. Chun-Li is on track to make the Grand Fight.

The Hammer...

Even in 1994 you could tell the details were just a little bit off...

Parsing video game storylines sometimes took a bit of extra study back in those days. Obtaining information from fighting games, in particular, required playing multiple times to see character quotes and ending sequences, and sifting through various resources, such as magazines and trading cards, to find official sources describing additional details, biographies, and important backstory.

Street Fighter II came to arcades in 1991 rich with implied subtext in everything from sprite animation to backgrounds, and the subtleties of how characters moved and fought in gameplay.

Returning boss fighter, Sagat, implied an entire story with his fresh chest scar and the addition of the Tiger Uppercut move, which quickly became enduring pillars of the Street Fighter mythos, and storied rivalry between Sagat and Ryu.

Yet Street Fighter II was lacking in the basic forthcoming details of the following year's Mortal Kombat, which boasted immediately available in-game character bios, in addition to more informative character endings that fleshed out the world.

This meant 1994 would be a crash course in the good, bad, and ugly of multimedia adaptations, with Street Fighter receiving a dubious live-action movie, more beloved animated feature, and collected comic book series from Tokuma Shoten's American branch.

Malibu Comics had already attempted a truly awful American adaptation in late 1993, famed for its bizarre murder and scalping of Ken. Tokuma's Street Fighter II comics had the rub of being authentically Japanese, originally serialized in issues of Family Computer Magazine, but the translated & localized issues that rearrange, censor, and colour the artwork carry with them their own peculiarities inherent to one of the earliest serious adaptations of the game.

Writer/artist Masaomi Kanzaki makes an admirable attempt to consolidate details from the games into the unique world of the fictional island state of Shad -- one of the biggest apparent changes from the games to manga.

This crime-riddled modern Asian capital, reminiscent of Marvel's Madripoor and modern Hong Kong, serves as a practical means to anchor the action to a single location, but immediately strips the series of some of its globe-trotting appeal.

The name "Shad" appears to draw reference from recently identified primary antagonist -- Bison's international crime syndicate Shadaloo, frequently localized as "Shadowlaw" for English translations of the time. I find that name conceptually appropriate, but prefer the authentic originality of Shadaloo.

The complete "Shadaloo" name remained intact for the live-action movie, which may have adapted its war-torn South-East Asian country from the city-state of the manga, but it's difficult to be sure exactly how much the manga is an influence on subsequent aspects of games & adaptations, and how much it is itself a living document of what was intended to be fabric of the games' canon.

Shad is described as having been "built by an international consortium", which belies the difficulty Interpol's had in gaining traction to oppose the underground trafficking of Shadowlaw's synthetic drug - "Doll".

If you finished the game with Chun-Li, you already knew she was out to avenge the murder of her father by stopping Bison's drug trade. Subsequent editions, starting with Super Street Fighter II in late '93, modified her "life of a young, single girl" ending with two post-script options, one of which established the more familiar characterization of a committed Interpol detective.

The Tokuma manga, contemporaneous to the amended game, reflects both the shojo-tinged youthful heroine, and the aspiring Interpol agent, presenting her as a little inexperienced, but generally capable and determined. It isn't the definitive Chun-Li, but it's an understandable presentation within its place in time.

New, and ultimately unique to unofficial media, is Blanka's status as an enforcer for Shadowlaw. The SFII games never establish any connection between Blanka and the group, but various adaptations will take the convenience of the vast criminal organization to incorporate loose characters into their feature story.

It's honestly not a terrible way for Blanka to be better integrated into the main plot, but the implication of making him the one who murdered Chun-Li's father is a change that's just too dramatic. It alters both characters and their positions within the series wildly, and as a dyed in the wool fan, it's the kind of thing I hate.

The ensemble of fighting games is one of my favourite aspects, and storytelling within this genre is at its best when it's focused on the motivations and rivalries of individual characters, rather than connecting them all via a conventional narrative, and central villain. This is sometimes misunderstood as being insubstantial, but should be a familiar conceit to superhero comic book readers.

Blanka is difficult to justify in a lot of contexts, but I would generally rather see him drift to the periphery, as in the Street Fighter II animated movie, than occupy a misplaced position.

Details like this unravel the authenticity of the Street Fighter II manga, but I accept there wasn't a lot of opportunity to tell a story about a bizarre, bestial survivor of a plane crash, who is reconnected with his mother after competing in a world martial arts tournament. Not in this eight issue format at least, despite the characters' unusual popularity amongst young gamers at the time.

This is our first time documenting Blanka, who is now appearing with Chun-Li in the latest installment in the long-running fighting game franchise: Street Fighter 6. As a tenured fan, and gamer, I am incredibly excited about the way its honoring the past, while taking steps to intuitively go into a bold new future.

If you'd like to find more Street Fighter battles you can follow links throughout this post, or dive into the Secret Archive for a complete index of featured fights in order of publisher, series, and issue number. Just search for Street Fighter, or scroll through towards the bottom to find independent publishers & series.

Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has documented more than 700 battles and ranked well over 1,000 iconic characters! I'd love to get through all the Street Fighter comics & more and if you become a supporter on Patreon maybe I'll be able to! In addition to becoming a Tier 1 supporter you can sponsor featured content at higher levels, including the famous Rank & File Top 10!

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Winner: Chun-Li
#74 (+52) Chun-Li
#1007 (new) Blanka

CHUN-LI versus VEGA
Battle 08: Warrior (Tokuma Comics)
Where: Street Fighter II #6 When: September 1994
Why: Masaomi Kanzaki How: Masaomi Kanzaki

The Story So Far...
On the lawless urban island of Shad, fighters from around the globe are congregating to prove their mettle, and collide in a martial arts tournament held by criminal underworld figure and boss of Shadaloo -- M. Bison!

Joining the tournament, along with many others, is a timid Interpol agent from China named Chun-Li. Her motive for entry proves personal as she tracks the man responsible for murdering her father, a high ranking officer himself. Her journey proves to be one of self-discovery when she meets a Japanese fighter by the name of Ryu. Immediately struck by his power and confidence, Chun-Li finds a martial arts warrior to which she can aspire.

With a string of victories under her belt, Chun-Li quickly finds her wishes granted, as the tournament presents her with the challenge of entering the confines of an iron cage wherein waits the vainglorious Spanish assassin, Vega. Handed a list of data by the American soldier, Guile, Chun-Li learns a horrible truth about her clawed opponent. He is the man who killed her father, and if she cannot find maturity in the heat of battle, he will also be the man who kills her!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Vega 3 (Athlete)
Intelligence: Chun-Li 3 (Straight A)
Speed: Draw 4 (Athlete)
Stamina: Draw 4 (Athlete)
Agility: Draw 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting Ability: Chun-Li 5 (Martial Artist)
Energy Power: Chun-Li 3 (Explosive)


- A skilled student of the Tai Chi style, Chun-Li trained under the martial arts master, Gen, before becoming the Chinese fighting-dynamo of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).

After her father's death, Chun-Li is motivated to hunt and destroy the international crime syndicate, Shadaloo, when she learns it's leader, Bison, may have been responsible for the murder. Her pursuit for justice brings her into the company of US Air Force soldier, Guile, who is also seeking justice for Bison's murder of his best friend, and undercover agent, Charlie.

Chun-Li is an incredibly fast and agile fighter, whose greatest asset are her powerful legs. Trademark attacks in her offensive arsenal include the Kikouken chi fireball, spinning side kick aerial attack, and Hyakuretsu Kyaku; better known as the flurrying combo, lightning kicks!

- The street fighting arena provides convenient abandon for the blood lusting Spaniard called Vega. Harboring homicidal tendencies, the narcissistic psychopath in the protective mask made a name for himself as a matador.
Turning his natural swift and speed to the martial arts, Vega values nothing more than the source of his vanity - his beautiful features - and protects them as best he can, while exacting brutal violence with the aid of his clawed gauntlet.

Vega's speed and agility were particularly complimented by the underground practise of cage fighting. In this domain, few can challenge the matador, and many have tasted bitter defeat at the end of his blades. It was this killing instinct that made him the perfect assassin for M.Bison's Shadaloo operations.

Math: Chun-Li Ranking: Chun-Li (#249)

What Went Down...
Shaken by the confronting news that Vega was responsible for her father's assassination, the impetuous Chun-Li becomes blind with rage. The fire within her offers a strong start to the fight as she launches immediately into a charging fist that sends Vega sliding across the mat into the iron embrace of the cage!

Vega, a seasoned killer, fails to recognise the girl's claims of murder, but is more than happy to oblige her in an emotionally charged battle. The masked matador quickly turns the tables as the physical and mental struggle shifts. Springing with lightning speed off the cage wall, Vega slashes at Chun-Li's chest.

The blow strikes as mentally deep as it does physically, rattling Chun-Li enough to render her a sitting duck. Vega's next swipe is far less forgiving, plunging his claw deep into the young woman's vulnerable gut.

The experienced Spaniard takes time to enjoy his obvious psychological advantage. He mocks Chun-Li as she clutches her stomach, drawing aspersions about her suitability to the masculine art of fighting. Her claims of cheap cowardice do little to engender chivalry in the elegantly sadistic matador.

With Honda and Dhalsim watching helplessly from the crowd, Chun-Li is savaged by another wild attack from the claw of Vega! The yoga master recognises the moment as a crucial milestone in Chun-Li's journey from fighter, to warrior.
Desperate to succeed, Chun-Li pulls herself from the void of defeat, recalling the voice of the wandering warrior, Ryu. He compells her to focus on who it is she's fighting and it inspires her to resist.

Skidding to a halt, Chun-Li again pauses, face-to-face with the masked matador. The crowd takes no more seriously than he, offering only disrespect. Heckling and wolf whistles. As if feulled by the challenge of humilation, Chun-Li bursts with energy, and just as Vega flips to bounce off the cage for a finishing blow, the Interpol agent from China discovers a power within herself.

With her chi focused into a singular wave Chun-Li unleashes the kikoken!
The energy sends Vega hurtling back into the cage from which he'd sprung. The scarred warrior bleeds for all to see, unobscured by his mask. Though Chun-Li herself collapses from the effort, it is Vega who is unconscious. Defeated.

The Hammer...
The winner of this bout, Chun-Li!

In conjunction with the release of the already infamous Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, in cinemas, this was to be a comparison post against one of the most revered fight scenes in the Street Fighter canon. I am, of course, talking about the epic battle between Chun-Li and Vega, as depicted in the animated movie.

Unfortunately, after much delay, I was forced to admit defeat in the face of a DVD too stubborn to facilitate screen capture. Perhaps at a later date we will have an opportunity to "revisit" the milestone film, which is still regarded by many fans as the most triumphant adaptation of the Street Fighter II legacy.

Top 20 World Warriors
#1 Ryu (Japan)
#2 Dhalsim (India)
#3 Ken (USA)
#4 Guile (USA)
#5 R. Mika (Japan)
#6 Sagat (Thailand)
#7 Fei Long (Hong Kong)
#8 Akuma (Japan)
#9 Sakura (Japan)
#10 T. Hawk (USA)
#11 Rose (Italy)
#12 Abel (France)
#13 Chun-Li (China)
#14 Vega (Spain)
#15 Birdie (England)
#16 Balrog (USA)
#17 Gouken (Japan)
#18 Sodom (USA)
#19 Zangief (Russia)
#20 Dan (Japan)Adaptaing the tradition of one-on-one martial arts video games has proven a difficult one for many within the Hollywood fraternity. The trend hasn't restricted itself to the fighting genre, however. The Legend of Chun-Li joins a string of live-action feature releases that have garnered less than admiral review from mainstream outlets.

Mortal Kombat was the first video game franchise to really find success in cinemas with it's 1995 film directed by Paul Anderson. It followed the financial and critical failures of big screen versions of Super Mario Brothers, Double Dragon, and Street Fighter, all of which strayed considerably from the canon of their source material. MK was far from invincible, however, as was proven by the rushed 1997 sequel, Annihilation, which boasted considerably cheaper production values, a bloated cast, and key roles that did not feature reprisal from their earlier actors.

Like many of the superheroes that have found success in recent years; video game franchises house time tested plot and characters, sharing much with their four-colour counterparts.
Fighting games in particular have traditionally reached deep to quickly establish casts built of vivid characters. Often derived from a particular theme or concept, these characters are as colourful and bold as any Batman or Iron Man, sharing historic events in their story that build a larger universe around them.

The inherent situation of one-on-one fighting typically leaves little room for exposition. Street Fighter has particularly struggled to take ownership of it's canon, relying moreso on the imagination of gamers, and the complicated incorporation of interpretive storylines spun by the likes of Gisaburo Sugii, Masahiko Nakahira, and Masaomi Kanzaki.

Kanzaki's plot in the Street Fighter II serialized manga created a base for the canon that deviated wildly from what little was established in the franchise, whilst exploring basic elements of character and plot. The writer-artist introduced prevelant plot elements that included the brainwashing activities of Shadaloo, the introduction of Ken and Ryu's martial arts master (the now playable, Gouken), and also his subsequent murder (albeit, at the hands of Bison).

It seems reasonable to assume some level of cross-inspiration might have occurred during the development of the Street Fighter II animé, which was originally to have been featured today. Both feature prominent battles between Chun-Li and Vega, who, otherwise, possess little in common. No doubt this subsequently featured a similar battle in the feature film, where Taboo of the Black Eyed Peas takes on the role of the otherwise beauteous Spaniard.

Unfortunately, the purveying influence of these many different sources failed to galvanize a single canon within the Street Fighter source material. In the lead-up to the release of Street Fighter IV, Capcom faced heavy scrutiny for their decision to include certain characters and designs, seemingly positioning the fourth numerical instalment somewhere between SFII and the much maligned, SFIII.

Despite early announcements of fully animated sequences in the game itself, it was left to cross promotional animé and comic releases to further flesh out the plot surrounding SFIV. Thankfully, The Ties That Bind, the animated release included with Collector's Editions of the game, does quite a lot with it's meagre sixty-five minutes to flesh out the SFIV story. Set, it seems, prior to the events of Street Fighter IV, it introduces brand new antagonists, Crimson Viper and Seth, while also bringing back classic heroes like Chun-Li, Cammy, Sakura, Guile, Ken, and of course, Ryu. As with the SFII and Alpha animé features, one could arguably call this a better version of a Chun-Li film than Legend.

Though disappointing that more could not be included in the games to establish the narrative of the franchise as specifically as Mortal Kombat, it is still with confidence that these alternate products paint a universe of strong characters and key events. It takes very little imagination to spin an exciting tale out of these established sources, which could only be supported by a confident visual design akin to the manga reviewed today, or any other of the number of sources previously reviewed in the Infinite Wars.

The fact that Legend of Chun-Li, which was released the same day as the date of this post, completely strips the characters of their iconic visuals and distinct character, is a travesty. I constantly find myself returning to Iron Man, which, although somewhat unadventurous with it's narrative structure, makes a confident leap forward for the incorporation of comic book visuals in cinema.

Having spent such a long time in the dark, it now feels as though this post-9/11 world of film is begging for bursts of colour. Speed Racer might not have set critics aflame with passion for it's CG-heavy stylized visuals, but it makes a similarly stunning argument for the adaptation of bold colour and concept, just like the financially better, Iron Man. Street Fighter, actually arguably more understated than either of those examples, really deserved that grade of treatment and confidence in it's brand.

Springing from a relatively obscure 1987 arcade game, the adventures of Ryu and all who occupy this world of martial arts adventure, have become video game legend. In the canon of the industry, it is one of the most significant series to ever be released, defining a genre through production that has rarely been matched. Why it has thus far been so difficult to realise in live-action, I do not know. Let us hope, however, that if anyone should get a chance to revisit the brand on the silver screen, they show more bravery when they do so.

Tekken will be the next franchise to face the perilous journey to the big screen, mimicking Street Fighter with a double-whammy accompanying the August film release with Tekken 6 on home consoles. Alas, all early indications suggest yet another souless escapade into the world of martial arts, displayed by a less than significant cast who will fill out a variety of roles plucked from the games.

Let us hope, if nothing else, the gears of promotion give opportunity to a Tekken manga, comic, or animé. Something to rival the quality of the fine products we have referred to today.

The Fight: 4 The Issue: 4

Street Fighter II was originally presented as a black and white manga serialized in the Japanese magazine, Family Computer Magazine, in 1993. Tokuma Shoten later collected the series, and translated it for US audiences with colour and rearranged panels under their Tokuma Comics branch. The US printing has since become defunct, but UDON have snapped up the rights, translating uncensored and unedited art for English-reading audiences. Keep this in mind as you follow purchase links to Amazon, each of which helps sponsor future entries in the Infinite Wars! You'll find plenty more Street Fighter, and other books on sale, by exploring the depths of the Secret Archives!

CHUN-LI versus BIRDIE
Round. 1 (UDON/Capcom/Shinseisha)
Where: Street Fighter Alpha Vol.1 When: 2007
Why: Masahiko Nakahira How: Masahiko Nakahira

The Story So Far...
The legend of Ryu's defeat over the Muay Thai champion Sagat has spread across the globe, but for the wandering world warrior the victory has come at a terrible cost.

Working as a bodyguard for drug smugglers; Ryu finds himself despondent after the glory of defeating one of the world's most popular fighters. However, unbenknownst to the world, Ryu is also plagued with doubt, having resorted to a power forbidden by his master, Gouken.

Working in Thailand with fellow street fighter and British thug, Birdie; Ryu is about to become the subject of an anti-narcotics sting launched by Interpol. Over zealous intervention inevitably escalates to violence, and when the battle is done, this night of fighting is destined to change Ryu's life forever...

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Birdie 4 (Enhanced)
Intelligence: Chun-Li 3 (Straight A)
Speed: Chun-Li 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Draw 4 (Athlete)
Agility: Chun-Li 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting Ability: Chun-Li 5 (Martial Artist)
Energy Power: Chun-Li 3 (Explosives)


- A skilled student of the Tai Chi style, Chun-Li trained under the martial arts master, Gen, before becoming the Chinese fighting-dynamo of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).

After her father's death, Chun-Li is motivated to hunt and destroy the international crime syndicate, Shadaloo, when she learns it's leader, Bison, may have been responsible for the murder. Her pursuit for justice brings her into the company of US Air Force soldier, Guile, who is also seeking justice for Bison's murder of his best friend, and undercover agent, Charlie. Their

Chun-Li is an incredibly fast and agile fighter, whose greatest asset are her powerful legs. Trademark attacks in her offensive arsenal include the Kikouken chi fireball, spinning side kick aerial attack, and Hyakuretsu Kyaku; better known as the flurrying combo, lightning kicks!

- Hailing from England, the former pro-wrestler turned punk rocker, Birdie, is an undisciplined fighter with aspirations of joining the international crime syndicate, Shadaloo. In an effort to get noticed, this wannabe thug partakes in petty crime on the streets, while using his trademark chain as a weapon in street fights.

Birdie eventually used his reputation to reach the ranks of Shadaloo, but when the temptation of power leads Birdie to devise a plan to use M. Bison's psycho-drive as a means of overthrowing him, a subsequent team-up with Balrog leads to Birdie's undoing, and the alleged collapse of Shadalooo.

The Math: Chun-Li Ranking: Chun-Li (#170)

What Went Down...
In a leaky tugboat off the coast of Thailand; Ryu, Birdie, and a group of smugglers that have acquired their services find themselves sitting ducks as a cruiser and helicopters descend on them for a sting run by the Narcotics Squad of the International Criminal Police Organization -- Interpol!

Keen to get her man, new recruit, Chun-Li, descends from the hovering helicopter onto the tiny vessel. She informs the men on the boat of their situation, but the young woman fails to intimidate her prey. One of the smugglers grabs a knife from the bow and charges -- big mistake!

The smuggler gets a face full of foot for his troubles, and a bloodied nose at no extra charge. The explosive kick shows the smugglers exactly what they're dealing with, leaving the fight in the hands of the burly Brit, Birdie!

Despite her lightning quick attack and proficient legs, Chun-Li finds herself with yet another unintimidated opponent. The world weary Birdie takes a playful position with the Interpol agent, but suffers for it as she hones in on a weakness in the big man's stance!

With a devestating sweep she knocks the punker off his feet, taking full advantage of his lack of lower defense. Off balance, Birdie's ripe for the picking as Chun-Li again launches her fast and furious feet, this time with the devestating combo-hit of the lightning kick!

The gang leader summons Ryu, his hired bodyguard, to come to Birdie's aid, but instead gets a lesson in the honorable etiquette of the fight. Something both he and Birdie share, despite their many differences in life and philosophy.

As it happens, things aren't looking too bad for Birdie, who, despite toppling like an oak, is able to whip his chains out in an offensive maneuver. The big man wraps the danty Interpol officer up in their metal grip, using the vice to launch her into an assault that brings her crashing mercilessly down like a piledriver!

Enthused to hear the spirit of the warrior still inside the Japanese fighter, Birdie pauses to revel in the moment of battle, leaving himself open to sniper fire from the hovering Interpol agents. A trigger happy soldier opens fire, prompting Ryu to throw himself between his friend and the ammunition!

Ryu takes two slugs to the chest, falling limp in an instant.
A grizzly end to the inconclusive fight.

The Hammer...
... So, in a shocking twist, the battle comes to a draw!
It's kinda cheating, but I feel compelled to offer a secondary victory to Chun-Li for her thorough dismantling of the thugs, an event not technically involved in the fight with Birdie, with a very decisive end.

Across the blogosphere a cosmic deity seeks nourishment of a black and white kind! That's right, we're sharing the B&W mayhem as Bahlactus celebrates a full year of Friday Night Fights! Chances are we'll be revisiting the scene of this crime, as well as dipping into the B&W pond for other features that might otherwise be less likely to beat out some of the coloured competition. Yay comics!

Last month we had mixed feelings about the latest in the wave of new additions joining the cast of Street Fighter IV; El Fuerte. [Street Fighter Alpha Vol.1]
The conflict continues as news leaks of not only the eagerly anticipated return of Vega, and the expected but disappointing return of Bison; but also the emergence of a new character that might just be the least inspired yet: the morbidly obese, yellow jumpsuited, Rufus!

While it's still early, I should also note that Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li also began filming since last we spoke, and launched a brand new blogsite that's promised [semi-] regular updates on happenings from the set!
With so much Street Fighter to talk about, I'm thinking we might have to revisit the subject sometime soon to talk more about the movie, because I've been conversing with the gaming fanbase this week, and certainly have plenty to say about SFIV. Suffice to say, I'm excited to hear reports of Michael Clarke Duncan in action as Balrog, apparently "smashing shit up"!

So, what is it that has me so full of discontent?
I think it's fair to say that there's a pretty large portion of the comics fanbase that I don't see eye-to-eye with. I can't seem to talk comics with anyone without prefacing certain agreements with a sturdy "but," and although I find myself quite disheartened with this medium that's been so harsh to me and my endeavours; I can usually bounce back for love of the medium and the positives that flow as freely as any negatives, or disappointments. Afterall, for all the hubub, comics are a mature medium, and by sheer volume there's almost always a solution.

The charm and context of an on-going medium like comics is lost on video games. The gaps of time mean just as many of us have grown with previous systems of gaming, the current market share is returning to a young, new generation of gamers whose concerns are as immature as ours once were, albeit overloaded by the confusion of an established medium.

Street Fighter is a lot like comics. It is comics.
That's why we talk about the manga, comics, series, and movies here.
I get a lot of the same pleasures from games like Street Fighter that I get from the on-going adventures of the many characters featured on the site. I feel a childish joy for the mere sight of the characters, while measuring their exploits with a careful intellectual study, sometimes to my detriment.

Such is the emerging case for Street Fighter IV, which, despite early efforts to promote the cast of the original Street Fighter II (1992), grows increasingly distanced from everything I could romanticise about the series.

Amidst shakey confirmation that Street Fighter IV will abandon sequential standards to set itself shortly after SFII, word from the top comes that each installment in the franchise is intended to stand-alone, removed from it's surrounding chapters. Vague connections, like the carry-over of Sagat's scar earned in the little known first game [Street Fighter #1], should apparently be put down to little more than design choice and easter eggs, leaving any cohesion in the Street Fighter saga to external works by visionaries like Nakahira-san.

Those of you strictly dedicated to American comics will either appreciate the perspective from which I'm describing Street Fighter IV's predicament; or be entirely disinterest. Such is the split of the modern comics readership which, though well balanced, has probably seen a similar injection of youth into the readership over the past decade, leading to a mixed bag of theories and mis/understandings.

Like much of what you would expect from any major comic series; there are certain inherent qualities and ideas that make Street Fighter instantly recognisable. The rich cast of characters are at their best when identified by the building blocks of their design, usually drafted specifically from a martial art, and/or a nation of origin, painting broad strokes upon which life is carefully dabbed.

More often than not the true life of these characters comes from external mediums, highlighting perhaps the one area never quite conquered by the beloved characters of the Street Fighter game series: story.

Though their legend is epic, even the central character, Ryu, fails to find depth in his representation within the games. It is my first criticism of Street Fighter IV that it seems, at least at this point, completely devoid of the kind of story contemporary rivals, (like; Tekken, Mortal Kombat), boast as one of their primary features. Despite having enthusiasm enough to convince an apparently reluctant Capcom to pursue a new anniversary release for the series, project leader Yoshinori Ono and his recruited team seem oblivious to the fundamentals of what's made Street Fighter such an icon of fiction.

The careful detailing of classic characters seems entirely undermined as the team serves up uninspired designs like El Fuerte and the recent Rufus, while each character falls neatly into a vague and underwhelming plot point - amnesia, or a desire to discover a great new cooking technique through fighting... Grim, indeed.

Ono and his team appear at times to be groping around in the dark, shooting wide on any count to gauge a response. After the hysteria of the colouful, but lacking in grounding, Crimson Viper; the team turned in a purer vision of the classic model in Abel, albeit in a particularly bland form. A similar stutter came from the lazily designed El Fuerte, who, despite drawing from the colourful and exciting world of lucha libre, failed to impress from a design standpoint.

This flailing of the creative limbs feels so especially disheartening because of the strong pedigree established by the early games. The makers were smart enough to distance themselves from the infamy of SFIII's cast of freaks, but it almost feels like, at this early stage, we're fixing to do it all over again in a whole new way. Sure, El Fuerte and Abel have managed to bring it back to the broad notion of a good Street Fighter, but it all still feels so lazy, and insincere.

Missing from the design process seems to be perhaps the most obvious saving grace: a larger purpose to this game. Touted as a "New Beginning," there seems to be little defining quality to what is thus far little more than a successful romp into contemporary 3D gaming. While it's nice to leave the bad taste of the blocky Ex series behind us, that doesn't make a game for me, and it flagrantly ignores the advantages of a franchise that allow a strong central concept to provide branching inspiration for more characters.

While the story has always been vague and shifting in the Street Fighter canon, key plot points have been firmly established in the games. The destruction of M. Bison and Shadaloo is the key point of SFII, and the Alpha games [Zero in Japan] further contribute to that with elements surrounding Akuma and the dark hadou. From there we get a sense of progression in SFIII that pits the heroes against another evil organization, this time the cultish Illuminati.

Because Ryu has so successfully been the face of the series, I'd be very tempted to build the larger story around this character. Though potentially an unpopular decision given the milque toast qualities of the indomitable hero, it gives an opportunity to not only include that classic core to this new series, but also build toward a climax in the journey of this hero who has carried the series thus far.

Street Fighter III famously fumbled the ball by attempting to introduce a dominating cast of new characters. The speed of the introduction was almost doomed to fail, particularly as so many of the characters rebelled against the classic mould of characters with strong nationalized and fighting identities.

That said, as someone who fancys himself as a bit of a writer, I can't help but feel loathed at the idea of simply brushing these mistakes aside. Particularly as SFIII contained so many redeeming qualities, even in the most superficial sense. There's much to be salvaged from SFIII, particularly with the opportunity to do with these devices what that game failed to - introduce them organically.

The chronic female shortage could be lessened by the inclusion of the vibrant Capoeira style through Elena; while the powerful Oro offers a wise, sage-like muse well known to the martial arts genre. It seems almost a given that this character's presence be linked to the upper tier, perhaps even as a mentor to the increasingly powerful Ryu, whose battle with the dark hadou was never quite closed out to my satisfaction.

It strikes me that, despite the legend these characters have built within their own universe, there's never been a character intent on harnessing the dark energies of the hadou technique. This power, which has effectively defined Akuma's role in the series as a dark shadow, is a great point from which a new boss can be derived, and as such a lynchpin from which story can be hung.
It makes sense that Ryu's battle with the dark temptation be brought to a head by a fighter competent on his own terms, but intent on building new power through the accumulation of this style. As the unnamed ansatsuken technique used by Ryu, Ken and Akuma originated from Chinese master, Goutetsu, it seems a great opportunity to add that flair from references similar to the inspiration of Lei Fang; one of the more exciting new characters from Tekken 5.

I'm digressing into specific concepts that, you can probably tell, have krept to mind previously, but while I'm uncomfortable with the notion of fan-fiction, I like to think they help emphasise the point. There's so much directing concepts inherent to the material that it's utterly heart breaking to see this series continue without a strong creative direction. Though not obvious, it's even from concepts like this, and the strong sense of the universe that influences these characters, that could easily direct better references for the design and creation of new characters.

Not every character need be tied to the central plot, and I can think of plenty of reasons to include other characters in the game. The thought occurs that even SFIII freaks like the robotic Q character offer opportunities to build potential sequels, with unlikely ties to characters like Zangief, and many other sub-stories of varying significance. It's important to remember that while every character deserves strong motivation and some description of an adventure through the plot of a game, they don't all need to be out to save the world.
The context of Street Fighter, as we have so often noted, is that of a strong underground culture of fighting and the fighting spirit. The philosophy of characters can reasonably be something as simple as seeking to be the best, but for satisfactory treatment, there has to be some sort of developing plot that these characters enter into, even if they just want to be the best.

It's early days. There's still plenty to come from Street Fighter IV, and while I openly express my disappointment, it comes more from a very accepting audience that no longer aspires to great things of this franchise. Many Street Fighter fans are blissfully ignorant to the irony of their enjoyment in seeing references from SF descendents like the SNK fighters, or many other franchises.

Though it threatens to miscast the argument as one of stagnancy, there's a point I feel needs stressing. This is Street Fighter. This is the franchise that put the beat 'em up on the map, and for this game to be making a "new beginning" out of lacklustre visuals and a lazy dismissal of the trademark qualities of Street Fighter, is a travesty. This is the one the other games should be aspiring to, but without recognising everything that makes Street Fighter so identifiable, they run the risk of being homogenized in a sea of mediocrity.

Ono-san's direction right now feels flat and devoid of the supposed enthusiasm that won him the job of overseeing a franchise Capcom considered dead.
His track record is spotty at best, with Fighting Evolution a maligned faux pas of gameplay that introduced the hideously misplaced Ingrid into the SF roster. His designs reek of SNK, and even Capcom's defunct wrestling series, Saturday Night Slam Masters, albeit without the flair or contextual relevance of that game.

We haven't even had the opportunity to touch on the fact that the game has, despite Ono's promise to the contrary, become a total boys club. As slots continue to be filled in the playable roster, one can't help but feel the wrestling overtones of Rufus, and El Fuerte, didn't come at the cost of a return for a stronger female character, like Rainbow Mika. That, however, is a contextual debate for another day, perhaps when we have a clearer indication of what the final cast will look like. After poll results put SFIII's Dudley at the top of the most-wanted list, I hold out hope for less obvious returnees to the series.

Once upon a time negativity was undoubtedly the bane of the online community, but the flipside seems to have emerged as the new super power. The prevelance of Nintendo's family-friendly Wii, as well as the increasing trend to abandon story in video games seems indicative of the growing control a new, young generation has. It's perhaps here that the naivity and ill informed acceptance begins, but this shouldn't be license for the gaming industry to retract even further into itself. As more dollars ride on it, it's an industry already intent on rehashing and avoiding risk at all cost. A process that's potentially gradually feeding it it's own tail. Homogenization seems to be the enemy here, and Street Fighter deserves to hold on to, and market the flair that made it an international cultural phenomenon.

There's sure to be plenty to come, and I'll be watching!

EDIT: And watching I was! If you're a beat 'em up fan and you haven't heard the news, the apparent confirmation of Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe almost certainly puts any of Street Fighter's problems into perspective. You might expect a fight blog like this to be behind such a move, but if you read through the discussion in this entry, you'll probably be able to figure out why the Infinite Wars thinks this is terrible for both parties involved.

To cap off what is arguably a creative surrender from the MK franchise in the year that was supposed to redefine the series with the 'slate wiped clean,' this early render released on Mortal Kombat Online shows several steps back in MK's design approach. What I wouldn't do to get some thoughts from a Dan Didio, or someone else, right now. It's shocking to believe DC would've licensed their properties to something of this nature. I'm baffled, true believers!

The Fight: 4 The Issue: 6.5

With visionaries like Masahiko Nakahira showing exactly how strong and consistent the Street Fighter story and identity can be, it's especially embarassing to see the mistakes of the past repeated. If you want to find out more about Nakahira-san's cohesive version of the Street Fighter saga, and put your best foot forward in the debate about SFIV and it's new characters, you should head over to Amazon! They not only offer fantastic prices and deals, but when you use purchase links provided, you help fund future entries in the Infinite Wars! You'll find this, as well as other reviewed issues in the Amazonian Gift Shoppe, as well!

FANTASY FIGHTS: CAPCOM/MARVEL ROUND 4!
In the first round of Fantasy Fights from the Infinite Wars, Marvel proved their overall superiority in fifteen seperate battles that culminated with your vote deciding their fate. Now, with DC vanquished, the Marvel Heroes are back to tangle with some old enemies: The world warriors of Capcom's Street Fighter!

By popular demand the Fantasy Fights are sticking around for seven more rounds of non-stop non-canon action! When the characters met in the video games, they were united against common goals, but this time some of Marvel's greatest fighters will be initiated as they duke it out for supremacy over the SF classics!

CHUN-LI versus ELEKTRA
Strength: Draw 2 (Average)
Intelligence: Elektra 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Chun-Li 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Draw 4 (Athlete)
Agility: Draw 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting Ability: Draw 5 (Martial Artist)
Energy Powers: Chun-Li 3 (Explosives)


The Hook...
When it came to considering potential match-ups, a lot of characters came to mind. It's not at all surprising that the Capcom vs Marvel video games focused their attentions on popular Marvel characters, but there's always been that desire to see more pure fighters in the series. Lord knows it's a lasting disappointment that I couldn't find numbers to cram Batroc/Vega into the Fantasy Fights!

The solo movie left a little to be desired, but after Jennifer Garner's turn in Daredevil, Elektra has well and truly fullfiled both the popularity and the fighting skill for a scenario like this. Originally I considered her a match-up for Cammy, but ultimately I think there's more resonance between her and Black Widow.

Which means Chun-Li kinda gets left with the scraps here.
They're both expert fighters with some association to law enforcement, even if Elektra's turn with SHIELD does little to balance the ambiguity of her character against Chun-Li's role as an Interpol "goodie." If you really wanted to find thematic commonalities, there's also the fact that each have sought revenge for the murder of a father, Chun-Li's mission bringing her to Bison, while Elektra first came to blows with Daredevil under said circumstances.

Regardless of the trinkets of their character, this would always be a fanatstic fight between two iconic female characters!

The Math: Chun-Li Ranking: Elektra (#35)

The Battle...
If you go by the last round [Cammy/Black Widow] you can use that logic to steer to a pretty clean conclusion between these two, as well.

Behind the over-the-top qipao lurks a relatively subdued character in Chun-Li. She's the atypcial vendetta-cop, professional, but extra motivated by personal revenge. In the world of Street Fighter that could easily leave her without any kind of ki arsenal, but lucky for her, she's got some fireball action to go with the yup-yupping flurry of the super-fast lightning kick combo.

While equally bizarre in dress, Elektra is a little less flashy.
Her moves don't have fancy names, and aren't elaborate displays of martial arts or light shows. Elektra's an assassin of the highest degree, and when we refer back to the last battle of assassins, we come down to a basic representation of two-dimensional character traits.

Chun-Li, though a proficient fighter and lead protagonist, could not quite be regarded the 'best there is at what she does.' Elektra, on the other hand, operates on a premise of being, yes, prone to death, but when not dying, a master assassin with no equal. Ergo, you do the math.

Again, this is going to be a fiercely choreographed battle between two skilled fighters capable of throwing a wide variety of limbs in deadly ways. Elektra is presumably not going to be out to kill Chun-Li, but failing more specific descriptions, the lengths she is willing to go to may give her some edge.

The Hammer...
Okay, well, there's something to consider!
The math has failed to accurately calculate the last two results. After two years, could this be the first definitive signs of the patented Haseloff system cracking, or is this a betrayal of a higher order? One thing's for sure: You can help decide the fate of the Street Fighters and Marvel Heroes by voting in the poll!
There's only one more weekend before the finale, and though the Capcom characters are making a late charge, Marvel's dominance looks untested!

Interesting futures lie in wait for each of these characters, interestingly enough. Elektra, having already tasted feature film success, will be joined by a solo-faring Chun-Li when she breaks out the blue and yellow in a Street Fighter film unrelated to the previous! The film, starring Kristin Kreuk in the title-role, will presumably play closer to what we know of Chun-Li, placing the femme fatale on a quest for justice.

Likewise, in the comics, a new series of UDON's Street Fighter Legends will coincide with the film, and Street Fighter IV video game release, spotlighting Chun-Li. Hardly surprising that one of video game history's first major female protagonists would be at the centre of this new reneissance of Street Fighter action!

Meanwhile, over at Marvel, things are a little bit quieter.
While Elektra has had her time in the sun, the inevitable question being asked in the lead up to Marvel's Skrull Invasion line-wide event will be -- Where is Elektra, and when was she swapped? The answers may lie in the pages of the disgracefully delayed Might Avengers, but until those issues have caught up, we live in wonder [and joyous distain for Bendis!].

WINNER: ELEKTRA

2 versus 2

SADLER'S CYBORG versus RYU
Dr. Sadler's Ultimate Weapon (Group TAC/Capcom)
Where: Street Fighter Alpha When: 1999
Why: Shigeyasu Yamauchi, Joe Romersa, Reiko Yoshida, & Kirk Thornton How: Kane Kosugi, Hidenari Ugaki, Reiko Kiuchi, Kazuya Ichijô

The story so far...
Having been approached by a young Brazilian boy claiming to be his long-lost younger brother; Ryu embarks on a journey of self-discovery with his oldest friend; Ken Masters; and new allies, including Interpol agent, Chun-Li.

Struggling to contain the tempting dark hadou energies that represent the evil side of his ki-harnessing martial art, Ryu opts to observe from the sidelines at the street fighting tournament that has lured Ken Masters from his home in the US, back to Japan.

It's whilst fighting the hulking Russian wrestler - Zangief - that Shun suffers over whelming odds and begins to tap into the powers of the dark hadou, forcing Ryu to step into the combative arena and face his own dark energy. Though he is able to resist whilst defeating Zangief, a new opponent presents himself instantly, pulling Ryu once more into his internal battle.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Cyborg 5 (Super Strength)
Intelligence: Ryu 2 (Average)
Speed: Draw 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Cyborg 6 (Generator)
Agility: Draw 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting Ability: Draw 5 (Martial Artist)
Energy Powers: Ryu 3 (Explosives)


- The exact nature of the cyber-organic creature created and utilized by Dr. Sadler is unknown, but it's chief purpose is to antagonize the custom attacks of skilled ki fighters in an effort to absorb and gauge them.
To fullfil this role the cyborg was designed to be on the highest level of both resistance and physical strength. It's fighting arsenal includes focused energy beams, as well as simulated fireball attacks. Despite it's incredible size, the cyborg is deceptively fast and agile, which may suggest limited ki control.

Though controlled by Dr. Sadler, the cyborg exhibits limited degrees of independence in it's ability to strategize in combat. It appears capable of speach and emotion, although, this is typically replaced by an unemotive silent smile.

- Ryu is a Japanese fighter who was orphaned and raised by the master of the mysterious unnamed ansatsuken fighting style, Gouken. A life of training would develop Ryu into one of the greatest fighters in the world, utilizing Gouken's fighting techniques and mastery over the hadou ki energies.

Ryu is an incredibly well rounded fighter capable of harnessing his ki for trademark attacks such as; the Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku hurricane kick, Hadou-ken fireballs, the Sho-ryu ken dragon uppercut, along with an array of variations of each.

The Math: Sadler's Android Ranking: Ryu (#15)

What went down...
The metaphoric shadow of Akuma looms over him as Ryu probes the battered young boy who claims to be his younger brother. Before he is even able to digest the prospect that Akuma may have fathered them both, a new enemy descends through the dust, to resume the battle that Zangief lost. [Street Fighter Alpha]

The monstrous silver-haired fighter blocks Ryu's knee, but takes an airborne roundhouse kick to the side of the head. The move fails to phase him, allowing the giant to unleash a barrage of heavy swinging punches.

Ryu is nimble enough to dart around each fist and again launches a conversive response with his feet. Another roundhouse, followed by a leaping kick that finishes with a flip over the giant, again highlights his eerie strength.
Ryu gathers his energies for a devestating straight punch to the gut.

Though the punch fails to move the beast, it reveals his secret nature. A green scanning lense pops from the socket of his squinted eyes, recasting the Cyborg's dumb grin and hollow eyes as incidental, rather than any sign of true power.

The Cyborg launches his own offensive, firing off a crackling electric beam of green energy, which Ryu easily side-steps, leaving it to strike another piece of the already crumbling building they fight in.

Interpol agent, Chun-Li, having been but an unwitting spectator through the tournament and destruction, leaps onto the arena platform to join the fray.
She charges at the mechanical beast with her own energy attack, in the form of a kikou ken fireball. Alas, the Cyborg not only defends against the attack, but deflects it straight back to the source!

With Chun-Li skidding to a messy halt, the Cyborg allows itself to be distracted from Ryu, looming over the fallen fighter to deliver a devestating kick that sends her flying across the battlefield into a piece of crumbling wall.

No doubt motivated by both the woman's plight, and the safety of both he and his newfound little "brother", Ryu again waves his pledge to avoid combat, charging the attack that moments ago nearly swallowed him in darkness.

Despite Ryu's impressive powers, his hadou-ken joins Chun-Li's attack in failing to break the Cyborg's defensive capabilities, deflected harmlessly into the dirt.

The smiling Cyborg charges another electrical strike to respond in-kind, but this time the results differe grealty. Presumably fearing for his brother's readiness after the deflected attack, the young Shun leaps to his feet to absorb the impact of the attack.

Blood spatters from the boy's mouth as an ominous chuckle is prompted from the Cyborg's grinning visage. Shun tries to tell Ryu, "Big-- brother-- I'm not...", but before he can finish, slips into unconsciousness.

The injury to the young boy effects Ryu's heroic heart greater than any of the Cyborg's punches or energy blasts. With the boy cradled in his arms, Ryu is swallowed by the abyss of his dark desires.

Wind swirls and a pink hue takes the fight space as the dark hadou begins to grip Ryu's soul. The energies burn the Cyborg's jacket from his cyber-organic body, prompting an unlikely moment of discourse, "I'll give you a taste of that, too."

Charging his hadou, Ryu slowly stalks his way toward his inhuman opponent, who continues to boast his claims of victory. The Cyborg fires off four fireball attacks that are all easily dodged by the slow moving Ryu, who continues to charge his dark hadou powers into his fists.

Ryu edges his way directly infront of the mechanical beast, burning with an intense energy. Despite his non-offensive stance, the Cyborg appears unable to launch any preemptive attack as it's swallowed up by the dark hadou.

Ryu's powers blast through the Cyborg's core, enveloping it in the blue glow of the hadou-ken. Only a dark shadow from within the blast indicates the Cyborg's gradual decay from machine, to melted slag.

The blast destroys the remaining upper levels of the abandoned urban tower, leaving it exposed to a helicopter that soon descends. While an exhausted Ryu is incapacitated totally by the horror of his actions, a concerned Chun-Li is seperated from the wound young Brazilian boy by the Copter's gunfire.

Despite the best efforts of Chun-Li's partner, Wallace; the victory is made hollow by Shun's abduction by an escaping Dr. Sadler. Thus, the remaining heroic powers are left to contemplate their next strategy, freed of the Cyborg menace - for now.

The hammer...
With a welcome assist from Chun-Li (and Shun), (and the dark hadou), Ryu! Those keenly following the track exploits of our Street Fighter Sundays, which approach the opportunity for one of the SF characters to enter our top five rankings, will note that this puts Ryu right on course.

It's amazing, with one more Sunday left in 2007, to reflect not just on the staggering number of Street Fighter entries we've no had, but all the entries still available to us. Though I'll probably take a break to recover from fatigue; the lead-up to Street Fighter IV, and the much talked-about feature film that now boasts Kristin Kreuk in the lead role of Chun-Li, pose a lot of incentive to return to the Street Fighter universe.

Still untouched is the entirety of manga series, including; Street Fighter Alpha, Hang in there Sakura [Sakura Ganbaru], Street Fighter III: Final Ryu, and Versus SNK: Chaos. Also lacking representation is much of UDON's first volume; Malibu's ill-fated licensing product, complete with Sagat's infamous scalping of Ken; the US cartoon series; and last, but not least, the legendary SFII animated movie.

Y'know, coupled with remaining entries from SFA, SFIIV, and SFII, you can almost imagine an entirely seperate blog! That might sound like a subtle hint for 2008, but trust me, it's just the post-Christmas ponderings of someone who should really be catching up on sleep at 2am in the morning [as opposed to polishing off late blog entries -- this now being the 29th, for those just joining us].

With so much to draw upon, it's become a little disheartening, when reading new materials regarding SFIV, to see so much attention toward gameplay. Granted, it's always going to be a major part of the Street Fighter series, but for the most part, very little seems destined to change in the basic mechanics of the SF series. Even in it's darkest hours, Street Fighter has remained, to the unfamiliar picking up a joypad, unmistakable.

It's probably naive, after examining even contents from contemporary outlets like Ken Siu-Chong's work for UDON, to expect a more thorough examination of characters and their motivations and plot. It's this area, despite visually and conceptually brilliant characters, that has probably eluded Street Fighter from it's very beginnings, but in that respect, I thought it might have been the first to change.

Street Fighter IV goes up against genre mainstays like longstanding Midway rival, Mortal Kombat; and more recent contenders like Namco's, Tekken. Both share much in common with their founding father, but surpassed their predecessor in an era of 3D graphics, and character development that saw each telling their stories in unique ways.

Tekken, much like SF, struggles to expand it's story beyond it's chief protagonists, but compensates with a layer of self-relevant characterization that is very thin, but particularly enjoyable in high quality CG FMV.
Vivid characters remain key to Tekken's intrigue, and to further solidify it's qualities as inheretor to Street Fighter's throne; characterized fighting styles make even palette swapped character a unique experience to enjoy.

On the other side of the fence, Mortal Kombat has made shakey attempts to improve upon their fighter's individuality. Though not entirely freed of their past, the MK team developed motion capture based fighting techniques for their in-game dial ins. Intially styles exhibited great diversity in Deadly Alliance, but soon became more uniform exchanges in high kicks, high punches, and so on; stripping individuality from the fighter's moves to recall earlier MK outings.

The newest MK games have prospered mostly in their creativity, finally wrenching the colour coded palette swaps of games past, to tailor logic and individuality into it's cast of characters. Though stubborn fans have ensured the lingering presence of the ninja masked swaps, for the most part even characters like Sub-Zero and Scorpion have enjoyed divergence and originality in their new looks.

Likewise, as the appearances of characters has developed, the story surrounding them has gone deeper than ever before. The realm spanning battles of it's martial arts characters saw the development of one of the most involving storylines in video game history, full of character-based agenda, and universal influences of circumstance and convenience.

So; while Street Fighter IV is almost assured of it's place in history as a solid entry into the beat 'em up genre, what of the story? Popular belief currently suggests a return to Street Fighter II, with nothing specific to suggest any kind of elaborative qualities to the story. Then again, there really isn't much of any tangible information to go on right now, without picking apart translated quotes.

Some phrases suggest the incorporation of returning faces from subsequent installments of the series, with one quote said to be indicative of an effort to balance up the sexes. This could mean any number of things, such as; the inclusion of iconic fan-favourite, Sakura; in an SFII revamp, the inclusion of Bison's army of dolls, represented by Juni and Juli; baseless fleshing out with relevant cult characters like R. Mika; or maybe an insurgence of newbies.

Though inclined to be critical, I suppose it's only fair to reserve some hope, with plenty of information yet to come before the game's release in 2008.
Likewise, though not typical of what one would expect, you have to imagine that Kristin Kreuk's involvement with the feature film represents not only a step forward for her career, but a step forward for the movie's status.

While neither Chinese, nor particularly known for her exploits as an action star [I'm not sure a few spin kicks against Michael Rosenbaum counts, fanboy...], I tend to think there's at least a glimmer of hope for a solid story.
Again, I'm unfamiliar with any specific details, although the film is said to be part of a Capcom initiative to revive the series with film, television, and games.

Even with the bad taste of Generations lingering, I say, it's just great to see some effort going into it. And as reluctant as I am to play that card, anything's better than April "Ming-Na" O'Neal.

The Fight: 6 The Film: 5.5

You'd never know it reading through, but one of the delightful things about these reviews is that our accounts focus on the linear events pertinent to each fight. This means while you get a very good taste of the film/comic in question, there's plenty for you to discover upon further investigation, and fewer examples could be truer than Street Fighter Alpha.
Purchasing the film from Amazon not only gives you an opportunity to fill in the many conceptual/story gaps (ie; the unmentioned presence of Ken Masters and Sakura), but also presents the high quality art in it's fullest form, beyond the select few caps used to lure you in.