Street Fighter 2

Publisher
Kodansha Comics (Japan)
Artist
Masaomi Kanzaki
Country of origin
Japan
Year
2000

Street Fighter 2

By Rob Argent
24th May 04

Everyone knows Street Fighter. Everyone has played at least one of its many incarnations - 0, 1, 2, 3, Alpha or EX. So this series is perfect material for manga: take the well known/much loved characters and make them fight, with the occasional explanation of why they fight thrown in for people who like narratives. So get ready for Ryu, Ken and the others to give you a good, old-fashioned scrap, manga style.

Created specifically for British audiences in the mid-nineties, this manga centred primarily on the fighters from Super Street Fighter 2, along with certain secondary characters being revealed (Ryu and Ken's mentor is shown for the first time, as are more of Bison's henchman). Based in the fictional city of Shadaloo, a sprawling island with characteristics similar to larger Asian cities, Ryu enters a martial arts tournament and uncovers a plot by Bison concerning the use of a powerful new drug that turns fighters evil. Aided and abetted by the likes of Guile and Chun Li, he battles Sagat, Vega and all the other bad guys in true street fighting style: with over the top martial arts and explosive fireballs and energy blasts. Fights take a page or two out of Dragonball Z's book, with pre-fight monologues and big, full-page frames (but thankfully without mid-battle pauses and lots of people standing around thinking).

The reproduction of a straightforward beat-'em-up as a fully-fledged manga has been handled well by the lesser-known artists. Each page is bright and colourful, with a variety of different colour schemes being used to emphasise the mood (in particular, check out the dark, sinister background art as Ken reveals his hidden agenda). All of the characters are believable and seem true to their original designs, even down to the fact that they wear the same costumes all of the time (because to become a Street Fighter is to abandon such luxuries as clean clothes and any other possessions).

Due to its limited run, the story keeps a decent pace and builds up rather well for the final battle, even if we all know who is in that fight (come on, Ryu and Bison is the final fight in EVERY Street Fighter spin-off, what makes you think it would be any different in this?). This is one of the examples of the creators falling back on obvious plot devices, such as having Ken turn evil in order to fight Ryu. In fact, this series was made shortly after the Street Fighter anime was released in Japan, but before it was released over here, which is why there are certain similarities. However, you can read this in it's own right and still enjoy it for what it is - a solid, action-packed reading of one of the videogame industry's biggest creations. Perfect for fans, fun for everyone else.

7/10

-- Rob Argent 24th May 04