World Warrior Round-Up
Man, I take a little time away for the holidays and WHAT THE DAMN??? A whole lot of shit goes down. Mostly in the world of Street Fighter. So lemme do a little bit of a World Warrior Round-Up…
BIG NEWS: Street Fighter IV in-game footage released!
My first impressions? I’m very impressed. It’s just the 2D fighting gameplay that I was hoping to see. There is a bit of camera movement, but it’s used mostly for subtle effect. I’m still not sure I understand the tentatively-named “Save System”, but I think that’s something that I may not completely get my head around until I get my hands on it.
One of my favorite parts of the 1UP video above is when they kinda confront the guy who produced Capcom Fighting Evolution. He about half-way apologizes for that game, but gives the excuse that the project was handed to him by one of the head designers just as he was on his way out and that he knew the whole time that getting those characters and gameplay systems to work together was a tall order from the get-go.
Street Fighter: Legend Of Chun-Li
Apparently, the up-coming Street Fighter movie will be centered around Chun-Li. It will star Smallville’s Lana Lang, Kristin Kreuk, in the lead role and is set to begin filming in March of 2008 with a theatrical release later that year.
Now, lemme tackle the main premise first… Chun-Li has always been a staple character in the Street Fighter franchise; I can’t deny that. But if you’re going to produce a film based on that franchise, it’s best to start out by focusing on it’s lead star(s), Ryu or Ken. In the 1994 movie, the movie was centered around Guile, which I can understand since it’s an American-made movie, so naturally the lead hero is going to be the American soldier (even if he’s played by a kick boxer from Brussels). But I think we’ve progressed a bit in our culture, especially after the booming popularity of Asian martial arts films in the past 10 years. Give Ryu the lead. Save Chun-Li’s movie for the sequel or a straight-to-video release. (Right now thousands of Chun-Li fans are cursing my name.)
Secondly, Kristin Kreuk is cute and all, but she looks way too young for the part. Chun-Li is “the strongest woman in the world”, not the strongest girl. The actress originally announced for the role, Jessica Beil, may not have looked Asian enough, but certainly more age-appropriate. If this were a Street Fighter Alpha movie, I might be more inclined. But also, Kristin Kreuk is way too thin! She’s a stick girl! If filming begins in March, she has less than three months to hit the gym to beef up and train!
2008 is the year of Street Fighter revival!
Overall, 2008 will be a big year for the franchise. Super Street Fighter II HD Remix is due out. Street Fighter IV is aimed to be ready by then. There’s the Street Fighter movie going into production. Udon is gearing up to produce comics based on Street Fighter again (after their long, hard work on the aforementioned games). Lord knows what other projects and merchandise will also come out next year… I’m very excited. There’s been a lot of hype and attention around Street Fighter this past year. I hope that it genuinely brings new gamers into the fold and revives this suffering franchise.
