Anyone who opposes Bison shall be destroyed! Quick, everybody oppose him so we don't have to read this junk.
NOTE: I have been informed about my mispronounciation of Ryu's name. As I said in the review, not a follower of the games and I've heard it pronounced both ways, so if I did it wrong, sorry.
Funny how, before this episode went live, I just watched your video on Adamantium rage and then it was randomly inserted in this episode. Go figure
ReplyDeleteOf course!
ReplyDeleteYou mispronounced "Ryu." It's pronounced with an 'ee' sound, not an 'aye' sound. Just saying.
ReplyDeleteAnd in regards to the end... Oh, yes. It is ON now.
Street fighter, ugh There was a comic of this? I mean yay, street fighter it's a fighting game. The plot (as it is) is so hollow it's not true. Mortal Kombat always went that little bit further. Actually giving a plot, as crap as that is, to motivate the Kombat, or street fighting or… oh boy.
ReplyDeleteThey made the plot out of, well what? Nothing is the answer. The whole thing made very little sense. The problem with comics, and more classic style literary works, depicting action is that it is nye on impossible to capture movement without being silly. In some ways comics, with only a limited progression of stilted images to rely on, have more difficulty than the written word.
Basing a comic on fighting you either need to be exceptionally gifted as an artist or very cleaver with the way you use the fights. Unfortunately this mediocre rubbish was written by and for someone cashing in on the Street Fighter craze for a pay check. Now while that's not always guaranteed to be a disaster the difficulties are stacking up rapidly.
The writer needs to either be one of the best in the world or… or you get this. Mediocre, silly and dull. While I would like to see more I doubt it will be worth it.
Looking forward to October, it's going to start with Dr Who and end with AT4W. That's going to be a lot of fun!
Thomas
Why is Ryu a Jerk? Why is Chun Li so Horny? Why is Ken not hot blooded! Also
ReplyDeleteWhat are with this anti existence monsters? Can't the just wipe themselves out first?
I used to have this comic book back in 2003 and I am glad this comic was fridged for good. It might have been funny at several points but, alas, it was been too much like "Image Comics" to my own personal taste.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this blast from the past, Linkara!
And so it begins!
ReplyDeleteI'm just surprised it took the entity this long to get your attention
This is SOOOOOO not Street Fighter 1.
ReplyDeleteDo you still think the Van Damme movie was hideous? Even his acting is acceptable compared to this awful art.
ReplyDeleteMan this comic just got so many things wrong about Street Fighter...
ReplyDeleteARRRRRGH you tease seriously though loved it and can't wait till next week thank you again
ReplyDeleteThat scene with the kids saying "Like Ken! If I could be Ken!" was a reference to these commercials:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0AGiq9j_Ak
where did you get that book not story line wise but prop wise would love to have one.
ReplyDelete...
ReplyDeleteIt's 11P.M. where I live. And that ending is probably going to keep me from sleeping.
Good job XD
What? No Vega?! Come on!
ReplyDeleteI think Sagat's name is pronounced "Sa-Got" but I could be wrong.
Do you think Ryu could be like Loyax from Power Rangers Lost Galaxy in that he's just too far behind the times?
"Rayoo"?
ReplyDeleteReally Linkara?
"Rayoo" instead of Ryu (Ree-oo)?
Oh come on, it's basic knowledge!
Nice review Linkara, I'm glad you finally did it. You managed to pronounce well all the names of the characters, except for Ryu, it's ok, all media outside of the actual videogames made that mistake. It is pronounced ree-u.
ReplyDeleteThe main problem with the comic id that it failed to accurately portrait Street Fighter, to the point that Capcom stepped in and told Malibu to stop making SF comics. In my opinion, it wasn't that bad as compared to other 90's stuff, but compared to the updated story of Street Fighter, it comes off as lackluster.
And Street Fighter's story is a huge mess, it takes 3 games (the Alpha series) to understand what's going on in Street Fighter 2, and still you have to do some web research to solve all the continuity issues found in a particuar game of the saga (Alpha 3). At the time this comic was made, the Street Fighter story wasn't so developed, so it was done using whatever info was available and the rest was artist interpretation. The same can't be said for Issue 2, though.
The story from the first game is that Sagat held the tournament himself to prove he was the toughest warrior in the world. Ryu was his final opponent and he had seemingly beaten him and was helping him up when the Japanese marshal artist pulled a dirty trick on the tie fighter by delivering a dragon punch while Sagat was helping him up. Sagat is angry about the cheap shot and wants a clean rematch to prove who is better.
ReplyDeleteBison and Ryu do not really have anything to do with one another in the games ware Guile is the main protagonist and Chun Li is the secondary protagonist. However because Ryu is Japanese and appeared in the first game he is the most popular in that country so he is awkwardly shoehorned into the plot of most adoptions. (he still has legions of fans that claim he is the main character despite not really having anything to do with the main plot of street fighter 2
I hope this helps you some what with the story of the game.
I was going to comment on "Ryu", but something tells me that you already have 500 comments doing so already.
ReplyDeleteWhat ticks me off the most about this comic's art? All the Hadoukens are orange. Yeah, you can do that stronger variant with half-circle-forward, but it's just so much faster and easier to use the quarter-circle blue ones.
Not to be rude, but you mispronounced Ryu's name as well. Even though you pronounced it well in your Godzilla vs Charles Barkley comic review.
ReplyDeleteNice review Linkara, though that ending was really freaky. Guess some serious stuff will go down next month. I can't wait.
ReplyDelete"where did you get that book not story line wise but prop wise would love to have one."
ReplyDeleteMade it. I took a sketchbook and stained the pages - there are tutorials online how to do it.
I found it ironic that a Mortal Kombat ad is in a Street Fighter Comic due to well Linkara is more of a MK fan then SF hell I like both franchises but still odd nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteI will say practically everybody is out of character,Ryu is supposed to be honorable,respectable and a person that fights every fighter that comes his way. Not once has he denied a request for a match NOT EVEN FROM AKUMA(then again who would deny Akuma a match he'd kill your ass in a nano second)
Though the transition of The Entity during The Credits I'll admit it scared the crap outta me,well played Linkara well played.
Also..OF COURSE!
I'm pretty sure UDON did a much better job than this crap pile of a comic. I'd recommend it, they also made a Darkstalkers comic.
ReplyDeleteI think I actually have these. Udon's SF comics are way better.
ReplyDeleteLoL
ReplyDeleteThis was good this Malibu comic is bad.
I think this shows how good the writers at UDON are. They are able to take a paper thin plot like Street Fighter and make it into some good stories.
Street Fighter Legends: Chun Li
& Street Fighter Legends: Ibuki
I was looking forward to and fearing this review. As someone who knows the history of the series by memory I would have wailed on this comic alot harder than you did Lewis, but you still did a good job (mispronunciations aside).
ReplyDeleteI would love to share with you what the story of the Street Fighter series is, but it would probably take about an hour to read it all... and none of it really matters pertaining to this series.
This comic was published in the early nineties during Street Fighter 2's hayday, and at that point there really wasn't much of a story to it at all other than the characters nationality, and little tidbits like Sagats scar and Chun Li as an interpol agent.
The over arching plot and major events of the series didn't really get fleshed out until Capcom finally starting making other titles in the series (the Street Fighter Alpha and Street Fighter 3 series in particular).
In short, Capcom really didn't (and doesn't) write the story as the game is being made, it makes the game and then tries to explain it all later. So, even bringing up Street Fighter canon against this comic is a moot point.
Although why they decided to interpret Ryu as a Ha-douche-ken is still beyond me.
What's really sad is that I think it is possible to make a somewhat coherent story out of the game. Take the Anime movie for instance.
ReplyDeleteIn that, it was less like a bracketed tournament than a loose confederacy or league of fighters who occasionally fought each other to see who was better. Also, M. Bison wasn't running things. He was the leader of a terrorist organization and instead of killing the other fighters, he wanted to find the best ones to brainwash as assassins. You even see a brainwashed Cammie assassinating a foreign diplomat.
So a coherent story is possible. Why does every other adaptation fail at this so spectacularly?
Great review, as usual, but I wanted to answer one of your questions.
ReplyDeleteThe Hadokens and Sonic Booms are a result of the Street Fighters channeling their Chi, or what the Chinese call Life Energy. It is an extension of themselves, not something that happens because they say a Magic Word. It is them channeling their physical energy into their normal Punches and Kicks.
Man, that was some pretty lackluster artwork. I think what bothered me the most about the whole thing was the idea of Ken and Ryu shooting their hadouken just by yelling "Fireball!" That would certainly have made Super Mario very annoying
ReplyDeleteI'm almost surprised you didn't do a cross over review with Iron Liz. White Wolf's Street Fighter RPG seems right up her alley (And yes White Wolf did a pen and paper Street Fighter review and it's just as awesome as you'd think.)
ReplyDeleteYou know, Malibu did a Mortal Kombat series as well. (wink wink nudge nudge)
ReplyDeleteWow, and I thought the Malibu Mortal Kombat comics were bad. women's spines bending into perfect 90 degree angles have nothing on melty-faced M. Bison or asshole Ryu.
ReplyDeleteLove the movie references, though.
I have to agree with Mountain King, the lack of plot is one of the many reasons why I didn't get into Street Fighter, either; at least MK had a reason for the tournament happening and being about battles to the death. Street Fighter, on the other hand... I'm sorry, but a mishmash of background info does not a plot make; if there's not a reason for them participating in the tournament happening in the game, then why should we care about what they were doing years prior?
Speaking of, I'm still hoping you'll get to the Malibu MK comics soon. The bad art, nonsensical plots, asshole characters, and even the characters' tendencies to talk in the third person in this comic are just the tip of the iceberg for Malibu.
Guess what The Cinema Snob's fans are going to request him to drink on Brad Tries now?
ReplyDeleteCan't wait for the Silent Hill reviews. Christmas is coming early this year.
Just for curiousity, I don't know if they suck or not but there are comics that take place between the inFamous games on the PS3. I was wondering if you have any opinoin on the storyline.
Oh yeah, and the identity of the Entity is $*%R%@f09!.
"I need scissors, 61!"
Actually the main reason for the tournament in the game is to that M. Bison can use his "psycho drive" to mind control the greatest warriors in the world and turn them into his personal army...
ReplyDeleteCause Martial artists are a much more dangerous army then people armed with semi-automatic weapons.
The Street Fighter games have a plot but it's a bit hard to just go with "the plot of this game is this"...
Anyway There are good street fighter comics out there (mostly Manga or Udon stuios take) but I used to have a few issues of this... and yeah it's not great.
But the later issues I had didn't showcase the sexism of Ryu... he's really not like that in any other version that's kinda distrubing.
Also what's with his attempt to force his affections on her, to her offering herself to him deciding he doesn't want her... this comic only has a few plot pages and it uses them to contradict itself?
When you return to this comic I suggest looking at some of the GI Joe Street Fighter commercials from the 90s potential jokes like this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRzVPUHiqvc
Since you were a Mortal kombat fan, will you ever look at the Malibu MK series?
Oh my god....
ReplyDeleteThe Silent Hill comics coming up...
I should have realized, CHRISTOBELLA is the entity!
If this turns out to be true, Ill die laughing. Great review Linkara, though I found this comic far worse than some of the other stuff thats absorbed your venom over the years. And look, I agree Liefeld is no great artist, but when you say "bad art," this is the kind of stuff I think of. Not his work.
Is anyone else amused by the fact that the first issue of a Street Fighter comic has an ad for Mortal Kombat on the back cover?
ReplyDeleteI'm a little surprised that you didn't make a comment on there being a Mortal Kombat advertisement on the back of a Street Fighter comic lol.
ReplyDeleteYes I've noticed that Linkara. And apparently Capcom has too because they constantly pair those two as rivals in the older Marvel vs Capcom games. (They don't in 3 because M. Bison didn't make the roster obviously)
ReplyDeleteAlso, no one in this damn comic is in character. Chun-Li's a bit stereotypical compared how she usually is in the games, Ryu's an ass, and Ken's.....an even bigger ass.
Why does Ryu refer to himself in the third person?
ReplyDeleteTo paraphrase Daniel Jackson, "You know, referring yourself in the third person is a sign of mental craziness."
If you like Dragon Punch, you'll love Hadouken brand ale!
ReplyDeleteWhere this series really got bad is when Sagat decapitates (or scalps) Ken and sends Ken's head (or scalp) to Ryu in the mail.
ReplyDeleteMr. Green already covered where the "like Ken" line came from. It was a real groan-inducing line even back then. Plus, the problem with pop culture references is they have a limited shelf life.
Street Fighter has an overarching storyline of sorts, which begins with SF1, goes into Alpha, then 2, then 4 and THEN 3 (although it's BARELY connected at all).
ReplyDeleteStreet Fighter 2 was the first 'real' Street Fighter game and it doesn't have any ingame story to speak of, due largely to the limitations of the arcade machines of the time. It's basically just a random tournament sponsored for some reason by the head of the evil Shadaloo organization, M. Bison. The only thing of note that happens in it, from what I recall, is the fact that Akuma kills M. Bison for wasting his power or something, although Bison's spirit survives and returns in #4.
I think the biggest problem people had with this comic, apart from the artwork, is the way they screwed up so many little things. Ryu's Shoryuken doesn't have flame effects, Ken's fireball isn't orange but blue, and the personalities of Ryu and Chun-Li are just so WRONG. In the games, Ryu is the stereotypical lone wolf fighter, who's courteous and respectful, but driven to be the best fighter in the world.
Chun-Li is a sweet, kind, gentle young woman who only got into fighting BECAUSE of her father's presumed death. She and Ryu have NO connection outside of their love for fighting, not each oher, and never meet up outside the tournaments.
I doubt that you'll answer to this, but, Linkara, you don't happen to know about the Slender Man, do you? The Entity seems very similar; messes up technology, causes people to disappear, etc. I'm just asking this because this seems very Slender-Man like.
ReplyDeleteI also found a plot guide that breaks down the entire SF universe plot (including both the SF games and the Final Fight games)...
ReplyDeleteIt's a mess but if you want wade through it it's here
http://fightingstreet.com/folders/variousinfofolder/variousinfopages/streetfighterplotguide.txt
search pgIVSF2 to get to the top of the section specifically for SF2
It also uses Japanese names so...
American M. Bison = Vega
American Balrog = M. Bison
American Vega = Balrog
American Akuma = Gouki
Wow that comic didn't sound as bad as everyone made it out to be! The plot and setup so far sounds and looks alot like the anime/OVA of Street Fighter II they made in the mid-90s. There are differenices but not that much. Ok I know you called Ryu an Asshole a few dozen times in the comic but the Butthead for the artcard at the being made me think you were going to call him an Ass-Hat an old insult I've heard before(it's the same as calling some one a douchbag)!
ReplyDeleteI wonder since this series only lasted 3 comics if they wrapped up a whole story in that time? But, judging by how slowly the story is going in this issue i'm thinking not!
So you got a bunch of exstras on this one? would you sale them?
PS: Nice ending setting up for the end of the Entity story arc!
"I see you, Linkara... in the bathroom!"
kinda ironic that the back cover of the comic is a mortal kombat ad on a street fighter comic
ReplyDeletealso, i'm glad you didn't overuse the street fighter movie clips. can't wait for the comics coming up that are so bad, it's scary for october!
This comic was apparently so bad that Capcom themselves told Malibu to cease & desist with it, so that's why it only lasted three issues. The writers also had a little segment at the end of issue 3 noting their plans for future storylines, where they planned to justify the mirror matches in the games as evil clones that M. Bison created. Yes, I'm dead serious.
ReplyDeleteHere's a link to the 4thletter review of the Malibu SF comics, featuring the stuff I mentioned: http://www.4thletter.net/2006/09/malibus-street-fighter-comic-here-comes-an-old-challenger/
You know, what? Don't worry if you mispronounce the character's names in this comic. Because as someone who has plays Super Street Fighter 4, I can tell you that no one in this comic is who they say they are. They're just the video game equivalents of Bearded Idiot and Steve.
ReplyDeleteDamn, and I thought the Mortal Kombat comics could be bad. The sheer mischaracterisation of the characters, or in many cases them being dumbed down to one note figures, outdoes even the stuff from Legend of Chun Li.
ReplyDeleteAlso, effective ending. That last bit was genuinely creepy and something I did not see coming.
I have never played the games, but the fighting in this comic seems to be similar to that of Japanese martial arts manga, mainly in how everyone has some powerful chi based attack.
ReplyDeleteYou gotta love the back cover for Mortal Kombat on a Street Fighter comic.
ReplyDeletewow. I never knew these existed. thanks for this
ReplyDelete@Marc
ReplyDeletehuh I guess the comic I had was #3... It's been so long that I forgot what number it is and thought it had to be much later.
I remember The Ferret being in it and them all talking about Ken being dead seems like something that'd happen after much storyline build up... since it had all these characters talking about it.
But I guess not.
That's also a crappy way to end a series... maybe they were hoping they could change Capcom's mind.
But that passive aggresive sign-off wouldn't do it.
This review didn't click well with me. You didn't seem very knowledgeable on Street Fighter other than basic "HADOOKEN! SHOWYOUKEN!" stuff. Not to mention you kept constantly referencing the live action movie, which is the second worst source to getting your Street Fighter info (the absolute worst being the other live action movie, The Legend of Chun-Li). If you want a taste of what Street Fighter is really like, check out the animated Street Fighter II movie. Just a warning, though: there is a Chun-Li shower scene. Good for perverts, bad for feminists.
ReplyDeleteSo ͘yȩah͢, j͞us̶͝t ̀͢͞ś̴͢o̷m̴̵͟e̴thi̧g̛͞ ҉҉̛̕͘y̷̨͝o͜͏҉ù͡͏̢ ̨̀m̷̀͢ì̸͝g̶̸̛͝͠h͟͏ţ̸ ̶ẁ̸̸́̕a̛͞͞͞n̴̷̴͘͡ń̴̷̨a̴̶̧̨̕
Speaking of strangling Chun Li I'm surprised no one has referinced this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WzInvIKsz8&feature=related from Street Fighter II-V the anime series,again from the 90s. This show was bad but classically bad anime version of the Street Fighter mythos. You should watch it Linkara you'll get all sorts of matterial to use for clips in your reviews! Now it is slow movie like in Dragon Ball Z style lets drag out a fight for 3-4 epsidoes because we didn't have enough matterial to fill the 25-6 episode we need to maek a season.
ReplyDeleteAlso, in that series is it just me or does Bison in this series look like an evil Superman Nazi or General Zod from that one comic!? With the big cleft chin!?
The best clip from this I can see you, linkara, using in your reviews is the part after Bison just came out of his rage and drops the "dead" Chun Li and goes, "Oh, did I go Bezerk again!?" it fits a lot of those old 90s angry emo super-"heroes" that'd just go nuts and slaughter a bunch of villain flunkies!
Also, you could've referinced this series just on the fact they keep using Chun Li as possible attack/rape fodder!
Thinking about It i'm just surprised you didn't use any clips from the 90s American Street Fighter Saturday morning cartoon that was "loosely" based on the Van Damme movie! WTH!?
Ok, I'm done with my spill. Watch this series!
And, yeah like every one else you should've caught that MK ad on the back!
linkara review this comic...for america
ReplyDeletei am sorry, i couldn't resist
(Deep comanding voice) I demand the comment on the end about the comics, they always make me smile, and I can't go to sleep without the stinger!!!
ReplyDeleteB͝EHIN͝D͞ ̛Y̷OU͢
ReplyDeleteYou did a pretty good review. I grew up on street fighter. So it was never an issue with the plot. Ryu was the best character in the game, because he was fighter. He lives the challenge his skills. But the comic fails to deliver. Chun Li didn't fail the bechedle test so bad.(sorry for the spelling)
ReplyDeleteBut if you want a good Street Fighter story look at the two anime movies. Highly recommended.
But I like the review.
Oh BTW, Linkara since you claim you prefer Mortal Kombat, maybe you'd like to know that Malibu also made some MK comic books too.
ReplyDeleteOr did everyone already tell you that? (Unlike you, I don't have the time or energy to read every single comment)
Linkara, the Entity ate the credits.
ReplyDeleteLinkara, sometimes your reviews hurt. Last weeks Superman computer comic book was silly and it was watching point out the flaws and general silliness of the book. This time though, ugh. That Street Fighter comic book doesn't look fun bad. Just bad, like a lot of comics from the 1990s.
ReplyDeleteI remember this came out around the same time as when the Masaomi Kanzaki Street Fighter manga was being translated. I loved the Kanzaki books so I picked up one of the Malibu issues. After reading it I thought "This isn't Street Fighter".
ReplyDeleteI can't wait til you get to issue 3 because by that point things get really crazy. At that point they try to tie this book into Malibu's continuity by having their superhero the Ferret fight E.Honda.
Final note-Ironically Malibu's catalog is now owned by Marvel Comics who have done plenty of crossover games with Capcom.
Goddamnit, Entity, how dare you interrupt Guile's Theme. I love Guile's Theme, and on its own, too, not just because it goes with everything.
ReplyDelete...Although this kinda makes me hope Guile's Theme will undercut some part of whatever fight scene comes out of this.
Aha! I know who The Entity is! It's Slender Man!!!
ReplyDeleteGuess the entity just managed to p**s off the supporters it actually had by interrupting the credits. Man, entity, the evil overlord list is online. Read it.
ReplyDeleteYou know if it weren't for the whole "Entity finally shows himself" ending, I would have just called this "Raul Julia - the AT4W episode". Sure I prefer him in "The Addams Family" and still need to see "Kiss of the Spider Woman" I taped off cable (and have never seen the infamous Street Fighter movie outside the clips), but all his bits as Bison are just hilarious even with the bittersweetness that it was his last movie role before he died.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise a great episode, though somehow Sagat as a boxer going after Balrog was a bit...weird. And Chun...well, OK, I do sort of get some of it being before her story was way expanded by Alpha and a ton of stuff afterwards but I just don't see her ever being that connected with Ryu. Him and Ken is one thing (considering they were the main characters of the first game), but them being lovers just felt awkward. (though reading some of the later stuff added through Alpha, Chun was somewhat friends with him...but that was more a retcon)
Now for October...which means more Silent Hill, more Clone Saga...and finally put that Entity to rest!
Nice job! Easily your best review since Anita Blake. More like this, plz.
ReplyDeleteNot really your best, but that wasn't at all your fault. You really should avoid such fight heavy comics. Anyway, THE PLOT THICKENS.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I saw someone suggested Trail of the Gun in a comment on a recent video? I want to second that. Normaly I love Catwoman, but that was insanly preachy. I think the Robin comics had a "guns are bad" very special issue too. I guess with a mythos like Batman, his writers will always have an anti gun message at mind.
So does this mean that at some point in the battle with the Entity, Linkara will pose dramatically and hurl a fireball?
ReplyDeleteLewis, you might want to put your camera on fixed focus and get a lens with some depth of field. It's weird at the end of your videos, when you stereotypically storm off stage right ... and your autofocus causes the image to zoom in "dramatically" on ... the back cushion of the futon.
And so it begins . . . the multi-part showdown with the mysterious Entity, as well as bad Silent Hill comics and bad Clone Saga stories.
ReplyDeleteBTW, Great review on this lousy comic. Can't wait to see you do the other two you have soon.
P.S.: You should read the Street Fighter comics from UDON. They're the most faithful and totally awesome adaptation of the Street Fighter video games.
Great review and nice to see so many clips of the wonderful Raul Julia.
ReplyDeleteI was really hoping you'd splice scenes from Kickassia into the movie clips, such as Dr. Insano's 'You do realize you're just standing on your tippy-toes' after Raoul Julia's 'And it levitates...me!' line.
ReplyDelete"You are supposed to be Street Fighters, not children".
ReplyDeleteIn order:
1. Street Fighters are known for fighting you psycho.
2. I can't remember him ever referring to them as Street Fighters in the games.
3. That has got to be at least the third most idiotic reason to put the title in the story ever.
Also I thought that Bison killed Chun Li's father in her backstory. How the hell would Ryu know anything about her personality prior to that?
I get the feeling that the writers ignored what story there was and just threw in basic stereotypes to make up for it.
The Comic: Art work could be better. The story... Well, it is based off of a fighting game, so not even the writers had much to work with.
ReplyDeleteYour Arc: Oh. Crap.
Fiery Little One
She's not that thin, Chris.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think the Entity is female. Her smile is too pretty.
The thing about Street Fighter (and most other fighting series) is that there's usually more than enough background for each character to get a decent story out of following a handful of the closely-related ones. Udon's comics prove that, as a lot of other people have said. I think the difference from what's become the established SF canon, which Udon sticks to pretty damn closely, is part of why the Malibu comics are as reviled as they seem to be.
ReplyDeleteOne more thing. Sorry, Lewis, but I'm going to nitpick your grammar a little. At the beginning of this video, you mention an "amount of requests," and I've heard you say similar things in other videos with other countable nouns. With a countable noun, you should be using the word "number" instead of "amount." I don't want to bag on you too much, but I figure you're man enough to take a little constructive criticism.
Great Video, Linkara. I love all of the Street Fighter: The Movie clips used. My favorite is "For me it was Tuesday."
ReplyDeleteAlso I think that it is hilarious that the back cover advertisement was for Mortal Kombat!
Names are tricky. I continue to mispronounce some only because that's how I grew up hearing them. I always try to pronounce foreign words and names correctly, but it gets difficult if I've never even heard what it's supposed to sound like.
I never understood why in fighting games (and other media) combatants feel the need to loudly announce their attacks. Wouldn't that alert their opponents giving them a chance to counter? True it's hard to counter a Shoryuken to the face, but if one had the ability to they would as soon as the first "Sho" is uttered.
Ha! Sorry, I just had a side thought. In my first web "review" video I did a (very tame) fight seen. In alternate takes used in the credits as bloopers I performed a Shoryuken and also cried out "I am a man!" You are an inspiration to many, Lewis.
Most fighting games' story consist of: there's a bad guy putting together a martial arts tournament, you are joining, you fight people, you win. I guess they can't all be Enter the Dragon and have Bruce Lee turn into James Bond for half of the movie. Seriously, It's like he's a Chinese James Bond or something in that movie.
I can't wait for the showdown with the Entity. You've been building this one up for a long time. I'm sure the climactic battle will be a sight to behold.
Man, I don't think I've ever seen such horrible artwork and dialogue in a comic. I was kind of hoping that you would make a joke of the Mortal Kombat ad in the back of the Street Fighter comic.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Damn you, Entity, for interrupting the end credits w/ Guile's Theme. Fine then, FIREBALL!!! Wait, why didn't, oh right, Hado... uh, uh, uh, uh. K.O.
Again, Damn you Entity. If I couldn't beat you, Linkara will, and it will be delicious. He will pummel you into dust. YES!!! YES!!!
If you want to know about the last paragraph: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0j0lO7uQBo
"Tick tock goes the clock...even for Linkara..."
ReplyDelete-Ahem- Great review, and a pretty damn creepy ending. Loved all of the Street fighter gags, really easy targets though.
Personally as a fan of the games I can't find very much of a plot really, in these games everyone more or less has their own plot that leads to...something.
Still, I love this little story arc, and now it comes to a close, but whats if all going to? The mobile emitter had me intrigued. - My theory, something's going to happen to our favourite reviewer and we'll have an ERH (Emergency review hologram).
Nice to see the return of the "Of course!" A meme I think was getting a little tired, so naturally it slept for a while and came back when needed. Nicely timed.
And I think I have worked out who this entity could be - though perhaps a bit of a long shot. But I will wait until next week to see who it really could be....
... that whole "You dare spurn my affections? I ATTACK YOU!" bit is uncomfortably like attempted rape?
ReplyDeleteI don't now if anyone allready says...
ReplyDeleteBut after after Malibu cancel this comic....the editor in Brazil continue the comic...making the artwork and the history even worst.
I wouldn't worry about misproncing Ryu's name personally as its pretty much a word that can be pronounced as one or the other, heck I even I pronounce Ryu's name the same way as you. Sounds more right when reading his name.
ReplyDeleteAnyway I knew about the goofy and silly cartoon series but never about the comics (but then again comics are created/based on everything back then and today XD) I really enjoyed this review really made me laugh a few times and heck call me crazy but I too question the stories of fighters like Street Fighter even if people usually say "Its a fighter they don't need one" I would disagree a lot with it myself so it sounds like what I would say when questioning a story about something like Street Fighter.
Though mind you the romance between Chun Li and Ryu seemed to me completely tacked on and came out of nowhere, also talk about Ryu being a sexist, abusive, high and mighty fricker. But then again Ryu only looks for fights so I guess you insult a lot of people when you can for one XD. Anyway great job as usual Linkara and keep up the great work.
"Oh, It is on now!"
ReplyDeleteYeah! Never mind the fact that you've kidnapped some of my closest friends, but outright saying that you can see me? That's just going too far!
It's true: Guile's theme goes with everything.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to echo the recommendation for the UDON Street Fighter comics. They actually get the plot to make sense, the characters are fun and engaging, and the fight scenes kick major ass. The only real flaw is the art, which can be a little uneven due to the rotating roster of artists.
To be fair with regards to the pronunciation of Ryu's name just about everyone I knew pronounced it the way you did back in the SNES days. I'm told that it was pronounced that way in the Street Fighter movie as well, I haven't seen it so I don't know. Hell, chances are good that the writer of the comic thought that Ryu's name was pronounced that way too.
ReplyDelete""Rayoo"?
ReplyDeleteReally Linkara?
"Rayoo" instead of Ryu (Ree-oo)?
Oh come on, it's basic knowledge! "
He wasn't saying Rayoo. He was saying RYE-oo. Which is how most americans pronounce the word if they've never heard it pronounced in the proper accent before.
I pronounced it like that until the late 90s myself. A y after a consonant is most often a hard sound in english, and without context it's easy to make that mistake if you don't speak a language that does it differently. Y'know, like Rye bread. It's R-eye, not R-ee. :D
"Lewis, you might want to put your camera on fixed focus and get a lens with some depth of field. It's weird at the end of your videos, when you stereotypically storm off stage right ... and your autofocus causes the image to zoom in "dramatically" on ... the back cushion of the futon."
ReplyDeleteEvery time I have tried to screw with the focus on my camera and keep it fixed or adjust it to manual so it won't change, it ends up making the focus horrible and blurry. As such, I have simply decided to keep the autofocus on. As such, it has given my show its unique little ending where it blurs before the credits - it's deliberate these days.
Here is the basic outline of the Street Fighter story up through the start of 2.
ReplyDeleteSF1: Ryu, upset that Ken is more powerful than him due to natural talent and that he has to train incredibly hard just to keep up with him, decides to enter the World Warrior tournament, filled with the greatest martial artists on the planet, to better gauge his progress. At the final battle of the tournament, Ryu is about to lose to Sagat, the World Warrior. Sagat, being a good sport, offers a hand to help Ryu up. Ryu, enraged, unleashes the Shoryuken (or Rising Dragon First) on the unprepared Sagat, ripping open his opponents chest and destroying his right eye. Ryu wins, but is ashamed of what he did, and retreats into the wilderness to meditate on what he did wrong and to control the darkness within himself.
SF2: M. Bison, a former dictator in the Soviet Union, is a powerful psychic who manipulates governments and criminal empires through mind reading for blackmail material and mind-control on the weak willed. Using these powers, Bison creations his own sovereign nation to grant himself diplomatic immunity. He knows that Chi energy can counter his Psycho energy, so he hosts a new World Warrior tournament. After one of these great warriors is defeated, they are taken off for 'medical treatment', actually a brain-washing session to turn them into Super Soldiers to do Bison's commands. He is most interested in the form of Chi known as the Hado (Soul Way) and seeks to use its powers to make himself even more powerful than he already is. Only two practitioners remain in the world. Ken Masters, who due to natural talent and lack of training would be a poor teacher, and Ryu, his equal through sheer discipline and training. And Bison knows of just the powerful warrior who would be willing to beat the crap out of Ryu...
The part of art that bugged me the most was when Ryu backflipped away from Chun Li going from right to left, the speech bubbles continued left to right which meant his final comment was said when he was closest to Chun Li. I know it's pedantic, but it really takes me out of the comic when that sorta thing happens.
ReplyDeleteNevermind him getting the pronunciation wrong... What the ever loving f*** was THAT?!?!? And who wrote it? Cause he doesn't need to write anything else after this!
ReplyDeleteHejira Hayes, the entity is genderless, actually
ReplyDeleteYou know, I would have never expected you of all people to be a Mortal Kombat person
ReplyDeleteSorry if this is repeated, but...
ReplyDeleteAs far as I've learned from watching the games, the various anime, and just about everything Street Fighter, what I've learned is this:
Original Street Fighter:
- Sagat (SAY-GOT I've been told) holds the tournament to prove he's awesome. Loses to Ryu (REE-OO I've been told), claims it wasn't fair.
Street Fighter II:
What I've cobbled together was that M. Bison gathered some chosen muscle to work with his terrorist cell, Shadowloo. This was Sagat, Balrog and Vega. They helped him set up this second tournament to name the "World Warrior" in an effort to lure in the best fighters in the world.
This apparently has something to do with learning their abilities and how they access their "ki"/"chi"/"the force"/"the schwartz"/"whatever" so he can amp up his own power engine to grant himself unending power (hence the electric flying stuff).
Three and four sorta do their own thing, at this point.
In all honesty, Chun-Li and Guile are the main protagonists, due to them joining the tournament solely to take down Shadowloo, for both personal vendettas and for their respective political organizations.
Ryu's there because he's in a journey to become a warrior. His story arc comes from things unrelated to the tournament.
Honestly, I love the series. I do. The characters can be a LOT of fun, but sadly, the overall plot jumps all over.
Decent review, and I'm sorry you're getting assaulted by "it's REE-YOO, not RYE-OO" comments. ;)
For those making observations about the Mortal Kombat ad on the back of the comic. Please remember that Malibou was producing the comic. They mearly licensed the Street fighters. In order to do those things, they need money. Capcom was not making the comic. If Midway, or any other company had the money to buy add space, then the comic company could sell it. There could have been a King of Fighters, or any other game add there.
ReplyDeleteOutside the whole factor of "most of it really won't make sense until the backstory invented later", SFII was mostly just supposed to be a silly game with flashy characters to sort of amp up on the original. Heck, for no reason but the WTF of it, one ending has Zangeif dancing with Gorbachev. (and yes, this was done and released the same year the Soviet Union fell...probably the last time that Capcom decided to be that timely) Yeah there is a story but I guess the point of this was just to say "Malibu just wasn't doing it justice compared to...well, what came later".
ReplyDeleteAhha This review was delicious! I forgive you for not knowing the character traits but they are all so wrong in this comic. Ryu is looking for inner piece and is a quiet nice guy, Ken is brash and cocky but he's also a nice guy and keeps up with his training because once every year him and Ryu get together and fight to see how far they've come. Chun Li is not that! She's dutiful but also has kind of a childlike innocence to her.
ReplyDeleteGrab your proton pack Linkara! the entity is coming! Ah hell I got one, I'm coming buddy!
I always thought Street Fighter had no overarching plot. I mean, isn't the whole point of a "street fight" that it's unorganized and unplanned?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
ReplyDeleteYou know, I would have never expected you of all people to be a Mortal Kombat person
Well from what I've seen from Linkara's vids, his main beef is with super heroes that kill normal human criminals or fire guns big enough to destroy aircraft carriers, in the middle of a city. Mortal Kombat characters are not superheroes, they may have martial arts based super powers, some may be heroic, but thats where the similarities end. Hell, if you take into account his Doom review and his rant on how the BFG was messed up, you teel he was a fan of Doom. So what we can take from this is that Linkara view on violence in comics will probably depend on the genre. Its one thing for Wolverine to tear trough a thousand hand ninja, knowing that they'll commit suicide before capture, its quite another for Superman to rip Lex Luthor's head off and hold aloft while soaring over Metropolis. Feel free to correct where I'm wrong on your viewpoints Linkara
Not watched the video yet. However, I knew as soon as I saw this was Street Fighter that the comments would be full of the 'correct' way to say Ryu's name, all different.
ReplyDeleteIgnore them.
The truth of the matter is it varies from place to place. Where I'm from, everyone says Ryu to sound similar to "why-you", Americans tend to say it to sound like "Wee-oo" and so on.
There is also a crap ton of Street Fighter trivia to get wrong fanboys will pick you appart on.
Oh my God, that cover made me actually try to claws my eyes out. It's unusual when both the penciler and the colorist royally suck.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised that you didn't use the "killing fathers" joke from the TV series.
Funny, Sabre. I've been corrected by non-Americans (being American myself) in pronouncing it as "Ree-you". It's been "Rye-you" in every American media related material, so I assumed it was the American way to pronounce it "Rye-You."
ReplyDeleteSo…Ryu tries to strangle Chun-Li, calls her “woman,” tries to force himself on her, and makes sexist remarks to her. Chun-Li rightfully defends herself and then, once she has beaten him, she…flirts with him and makes out with him? What?
ReplyDeleteWas the whole thing just a role-playing game for them? How the heck did Ryu get from “You will be mine, woman!” to “You have changed so much, Chun-Li”?
Entertainer13- Again, it depends on where the person is from. Some places say Ree, some say Rye, and some say something else just to be awkward. It's a bit like Minotaur. Some say mino-tor, miner-tor, mino-tar, and so on. To say that one is the always correct because it's what is said where you live seems to be silly as we all know what mythical creature you are talking about.
ReplyDeleteIf I, as a none American, were to correct you again and say "The right way to say it is 'Rye-you'" would that mean you have to change back to Rye-you being the correct way? Why would one person have athority over another?
Also worth pointing out. There is a game called Recettear. The game flat out says the correct way to say the name. Racketeer, but change the A to an lower case E. Somehow, people still have arguments over the name. (Re-shet-eer being the other)
I think Linkara should say whatever he wants in his videos. If he's getting picked appart for rye vs ree, something that even SF fans can't agree on, then what's going to happen next time he brings up Silent Hill 4: The Rum? Perhaps get some southern England types to complain about his comic buck reviews? :P
Sabre-
ReplyDeleteWhen Im being corrected by a japanese gamer, and all his japanese gamer friends, about how to pronounce the name of a japanese character in a japanese game first released in japan, yes... I give them authority.
You know, this is going to sound weird but I'm going to sort of defend the stupid streetfighter plot. It's still dumb but not as dumb as you think. The game, not the comic.
ReplyDeleteThe idea almost makes sense if the point of the tournament is to identify the ones that are powerful enough to be threats (you know the guys who do well) so he knows who to kill or subvert.
Since he has badly defined mind control powers, he doesn't even need to kill them all.
It's still stupid,mind you. And the comic is much, much worse.
I used to practically worship Street Fighter.
ReplyDelete-7 hit super combos with KEN.
-Lockdown air-fireball with AKUMA.
-Psychic final atomic buster with ZANGIEF.
-Reverse Dragon-punch (RDP)
-Chip damage. Cheese KO. Throwin' is cheap.
Yeah, I've played Street Fighter II. Went to tournaments. Good times.
You should review one of the three comic book series based on the Tekken games: Tekken Saga (Knightstone Comics; 1997), Tekken 2: Mishima Family Values (Knightstone; 1998), and Tekken Forever (Image; 2001).
ReplyDeleteAll three series lasted one issue each, so those will make for excellent reviews!
I never actually thought too much on the fireballs being legal bit.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, the main problem is there all horribly out of character. Ryu is fight obsessed, but hardly an asshole, plus he treats female fighters as seriously as male fighters. Ken... well, he's not too bad, though he did seem a bit foppish, Chun-Li and Ryu's scene made no real sense given there characterization, though it is true Chun-Li works for interpol (something Ryu has never degraded that line of work. For the villains... we barely saw them so I can't tell, really.
Sorry, just felt the need to add this.
Street fighter DOES in fact have a story. in street fighter 2, the tournament is organized by m. bison (vega in japan) and his organization of shadowloo. sagat, balrog (m. bison in japan) and vega (balrog in japan) are all generals and the final 4 bosses in sf2. it was all going well for m. bison til akuma killed his smug ass with "the power of muderous intent." yet he managed to survive and get a new body, to boot. then in street fighter 4, shadowloo intimidation network (S.I.N.) emerges with another tournament, this time headed by Seth (who was supposed to be m. bisons new body but went rogue) the canon really is up in the air, but thats the general plot of 2 and 4, which are connected.
ReplyDelete