More reviews coming up and we return to Street Fighter.
I said in my Street Fighter Alpha Movie review that there was a great movie hidden inside the franchise and while it still hasn't materialized yet I do remember that this series, Street Fighter II Victory had a good go at really making a good series.
It starts off with Ryu and Ken reuniting in America after so many years as the two were training partners under the same master, but after a bar brawl which ends in both characters being defeated brutally by Guile, the two realize that their training hasn't fully prepared them for the world so they take a journey around the world to fight the world's best fighters which eventually leads to them crossing fists with Shadoloo.
A few things differ drastically from other films and shows such as the designs of the characters not being accurate to the game, but while some redesigns are great like Chun Li who is less muscle woman and more cute fighter girl while others like Sagat who looks like a completely different character altogether.
Also the action can be a little bit hit and miss, some fights are really brutal while others kind of hold back a bit too much leading to some moments when clashes are defined by flashing lights so this series isn't for people with epilepsy.
The dub was so messed up that they ended up with two different dubs and one of them had to replace actors half way so I'd stick with the Japanese.
And finally the pacing is dismally slow, the moments when the characters have to endure painfully long dialogue or go through shopping montages or showing scenes of endless travelling before every fight scene can be off putting.
Not all the characters are used either, of the 17 characters at the time, E.Honda, Blanka, T.Hawk and Deejay aren't used while Akuma is reduced to cameos.
But I do forgive a lot of it's short comings because this is the perfect way to tell Street Fighter's story. The story understands that Ryu and Ken are Martial Artists before they are anything else and the only way to achieve a path of strength and resolve is to travel and seek other fighters who are like them and should only cross Shadoloo by chance rather than be forced to get involved by the villain abducting everyone, and while that does happen, it happens near the end and doesn't disrupt the story too much and were not subjected to too much of the fighting genres horrid pitfalls and cliches either.
Final Verdict: While it suffers with poor pacing, questionable art choices, horrid dubbing and giving people epilepsy it does come up with a good story that suits the Street Fighter universe better than it's other animated shows, live action movies and even some of the games.
