Street Fighter: The Later Years

Street Fighter: The Later Years

If you grew up in the 90's and really enjoyed the fighting genre of video games, you probably recognize the name Street Fighter. The original game first debuted in 1987 on the Nintendo Entertainment System(NES) and did OK to be one of the pioneers of the 2D fighting game genre; however, this games success was nothing in comparison to how a later version of the game did. Street Fighter II is the game that put street fighter on the map. This game had five total variations of the same game. There was Street Fighter II, Street Fighter II: Champion Edition, Street Fighter II: Turbo, Super Street Fighter II, and Super Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting. These games were really the same game over and over again; however, the games offered either new characters, new moves, super speed fighting, new storyline's, or all of the above. There are more incarnations of the Street Fighter series that evolve the main characters into more interesting and dynamic individuals, but this adaptation of the game based their storyline on the characters from the first version of Street Fighter II. While it is true the same characters appeared in Street Fighter II and Street Fighter II: Turbo, I conclude that the series is based off of the first adaptation because in the second version of the game Chun-Li, the only female character, is able to push out a fireball from her hands and she does not do this at all in this series; although, it must be said the final episode has not come out yet so Chun-Li could reveal some new powers yet!

The Game

To understand this series, however, you need to have a basic understanding of the game and so I will explain Street Fighter II. The game was a 2D tournament style fighting game. Once it starts the player(s) chooses one of eight characters, for a one on one battle, and the "winner" of the tournament would be the one who could beat all other 11 characters. There were a total of 12 characters Ken, Ryu, E. Honda, Chun-Li, Blanka, Zangief, Guile, Dhalsim, Balrog, Vega, Sagat, and M. Bison each with their own special and unique abilities. With the exception of Ken and Ryu, each characters moves were completely different and everyone had their own strengths and weaknesses. After defeating the last character, M. Bison, the player would have won the game and gets to view their own special ending.

The Street Fighter Series

Street Fighter: The Later Years takes the twelve main characters from the game and takes a brief look at their lives 10 years later. The series treats the tournament played in the game as an actual event and after Ryu won it, all the characters separated. Each continuing with their own lives in their own way. The first episode starts off with Zangief, the wrestler of the game, mopping up the floor in what appears to be a video game arcade. He begins crying because there are two kids are playing Street Fighter II and one of them is playing as Zangief and loosing miserably while complaining about how bad Zangief was. Coincidentally, the battle is Zangief versus Dhalsim, the yoga master, and after loosing his job Zangief, runs into Dhalsim who's working a "Sh@#!y" job and they discuss getting the old gang back together in a "new tournament." Dhalsim is reluctant at first but after realizing his powers hadn't left him completely, he decided to give Zangief's idea a shot.

This is the basic idea throughout the series. For a short time the episodes follow Dhalsim and Zangief tracking down all the other street fighters. Bison is a foulmouthed old man, Ryu, is a prominent business man selling his special moves from the game, E. Honda is dead, Sagat a drunk, non-depth perception having traitor, Vega a failed actor, and all the characters have mediocre lives.

The Problems

The problems with the film for fans would be the degradation of some of the characters. Since the game there have been many incarnations of Street Fighter and the characters have been developed in many ways. The version decided to re-invent the characters in new ways. These new ways aren't exactly edifying nor true to the the characters in the game, and the newer narratives. Also, there isn't evenly distributed screen time for all the characters. The series starts off following Dhalsim and Zangief but as it progresses, it starts following Ken. Also it appears as if Ryu, a favorite character, is evil. Fans may be disappointed to find out that Capcom (working with Ryu) is the bad guy behind the primary plot of the series. Capcom, in fact, may be disappointed about that. There are also a couple of plot holes. Dhalsim talks about getting roalty checks, but Bison and Guile mentioning that he never received any money, and Sagat being given a mission as a traitor but never executing it.

For the Fans

The fans, hopefully, would be pleased to see a street fighter film with clear super moves being performed such as Ryu's and Ken's hadoken (fireball), Chun-Li's Spining Bird Kick (an upside down kicking attack), Guile's Sonic Boom (a forward flash of a yellow boomerang like light), and Blanka's Electro shock attack (self explanatory). Sure the fightings not the fast, action-packed battling you'd truly want from a street fighter film, but when you consider the circumstances, I think, the fightings OK.

Negative Note

For the politically correct, this show is a smörgåsbord of offensiveness. First off Dhalsim, from India, is a Taxi Driver, Chun-Li, from China, works at a dry cleaners, Blanka, from Brazil, is an electrician and happy to have a job, and Guile, the ex-soldier, spits out various obscenities and curse words. This line says it all, "You orientals look alike!" There is also vulgar visual humor; Blanka and Chun-Li...showing their love. Also, if anyone who is from Brazil or knows about their language could be offended by the fact that Blanka says "Sí" in the third episode, but Portuguese is the national language in Brazil so he really should have said "Sim".

Positive Note

There are, however, many funny moments in this piece that aren't, well shouldn't be in my opinion, offensive and are pretty amusing. Little kids running around throwing hadokens, Vega refusing to take off his mask during shooting a soap opera, Balrog asking "what's a kick" (his character could only punch in the game), Chun-Li telling Bison "I'll get those blood stains out" and he promptly responding "What blood stains" before a battle ensues, and Ryu telling Ken that this may be the street fighters Final Fight, Honda's men see this as a Mortal Kombat, they have the Killer Instinct (these are references to other video games). There is even a That 70's Show opening with the street fighter characters at the beginning of episode 5.

*********WARNING SPOILER'S below**************
highlight below section to reveal.

There is good plot twist like Ryu turning out to be E. Honda in disguise and the real Ryu being locked up in his old temple. Ken also doesn't have his ability to use his fireball, but gains it back at just the right, corny moment, and Ryu shows up after Ken saves Chun-Li from Blanka trying to kill her to face off against E. Honda.

***************SPOILER OVER*******************

The Conclusion

Overall I think this series is decently done. It has all the central things a good story needs. It has dynamic, back stabbing characters, jokes that appeal to new audiences as well as old, and of course super moves! I think this series is worth checking out and the best thing about it is it's free! If you need a little more convincing, check out the preview from the college humor website: happy watching!