7/22/2008 - Street Fighter IV anime clip

It's funny... I'm so anticipating the release of Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (let's call it Street Fighter II HD from now on), is Street Fighter IV itself. The thing is, even though IV will be so much more technically advanced than II, having 3D graphics and all, I'm still looking forward to SF2HD more because it's a game I'm so familiar with having played it for years. And now with the ability of playing others online to see if my old school skills are still up to snuff makes me want to develop my thumb callous all over again before the game's release.

I mean it's GREAT that SF4 will still have somewhat of a nostalgia feel in that the gameplay will still be in 2D and the inclusion of the original 12 World Warriors helps too. See, Capcom is definitely catering to us old school gamers with the Street Fighter and Mega Man franchises. I mean, the fact that they would make a Mega Man 9 with 8-bit graphics is basically a love letter to me... and I'm ready with the roses and champagne.

Even though I'm looking forward to SF2HD more, Capcom released something a few weeks ago that brought SF4 back to my attention. It's a little anime cutscene that will be included in the home versions of the game. It depicts a fight between Akuma and Ryu, and of course it is epic. It's not something totally different than the excellent Street Fighter II Movie (anime), but the inclusion of Ryu's stage music made me drool... literally:



You know what's sad, though? Given the recent news that there will be no Ryu or Ken in the next Street Fighter live-action movie, this little anime clip is guaranteed to be better than the upcoming movie. It's also light years ahead of the 1994 Van Damme embarrassment of a movie.