BitSnark

Here we go as promised =o)

Genre: Martial Arts Combat
Director: Ikuo Kuwana
Distributor: Manga Entertainment
Duration: 45 Minutes Approx.
Production Creation: 2005

Plot Synopsis

Pausing on his quest to become a master of the martial arts, Ryu returns home to pay homage to the memory of his old master, Gouken. Gouken was killed many years ago by Gouki, a twisted user of the forbidden Dark Hadou, a method of converting dark karma, anger or bad chi into an immensely destructive force.

Drawn inexorably toward a showdown with his master’s killer, Ryu soon discovers that as powerful as the Dark Hadou is, it will only be his street fighting skills and sheer determination that will allow him to have any chance against the demonic Gouki.

The Review

Some six years later we finally arrive at this, the follow on to Street Fighter Alpha, a tighter sequel than its predecessor in many ways, it will still only appeal to fans of the genre, and those fans? Well dive in.

The story follows the exploits of perennial Street Fighter hero Ryu in his quest to become the ultimate fighter, and in doing so to also defeat the demonic martial artist Gouki, who murdered his old master. Thankfully, because the scope of the story is relatively small, it all fits nicely within the forty-five minute running time, which to be honest I wanted to be a lot more. The reason why this disappointed me was because I wanted the production team to explore more of the Street Fighter Alpha mythos as there is still a lot of creative potential waiting to be tapped, especially in regards to the other fighters from the popular beat em up series and their respective stories.

Although such an approach would have resulted, more than likely, in a less focused feature, I’m sure that they have learnt their lessons from the cameo crammed Street Fighter Alpha anime. Which is why I’m thankful in some ways that this newest OVA is nice and compact as it feels likes a breath of fresh air in some ways. As the short running time coupled with the tight story feels a world away from Alpha’s somewhat wasted potential, with its silly sci-fi lab experiment storyline, pointless character cameos and horrid liberties taken with the Street Fighter canon.

Quite thankfully, this is not the case with Generations, as the story itself mainly focuses on the history of the Dark Hadou and provides some good insight into the histories of Ryu’s and Gouki’s respective masters without ever really straying from the Street Fighter canon.

Like Alpha, we obviously get the token over the top fighting scenes, complete with trademark moves and shouts, but they remain pretty much top notch as they always have, this time however with cool blurring effects and perspective shots for even the most basic of moves. In comparison, some of Alpha’s fights like positively toned down when compared to those found in Generations. Yet as good and explosive as these fights are, for a fighting fan, there simply isn’t enough of them, and only the final fight between Gouki and Ryu, really approaches the pulse pounding climax of the two-on-one climatic showdown of the Street Fighter II movie.

In terms of the characters, Ryu obviously gets a whole load of screen time, but also so does Gouki . In particular, we get some good Gouki back story as we see him as a young martial artist doing his thing, but being chided by his master for using the Dark Hadou when there are reasons why he shouldn’t. Naturally I don’t want to say anymore than that, but it is indeed a cool thing for a Street Fighter fan to finally watch the evolution of the demon and see how he became so twisted and merciless.

Old time Alpha favourites Ken and Sakura also appear as supporting characters but don’t really spend much time in the limelight, Ken fans especially will have a hard time swallowing his limited role in this feature, but the less said about that the better.

I guess that what I’m trying to get out is, that as much fun as I found Generations, and as interesting as the back stories of Gouki and the Dark Hadou were, I just wanted more. As I said there is just so much of the Street Fighter Alpha mythos to explore and tap it’s untrue, and after six years of waiting for an Alpha sequel, I feel a little short changed by what Street Fighter Alpha Generations has put on the table. Ultimately a tasty morsel that leaves you hungry for more.

Recommended to Street Fighter fans and fighting fans, but lets just hope that we don’t have to wait another six years for another Street Fighter Alpha feature.

Ratings Summary

Animation: B
Art: B
Music: B-
Content: C+

Overall: B-

Review by: JP Jones

Suitability for children

The fights although short, do tend to get quite violent with a fair amount of blood (particularly at the start of the feature). There is however no swearing whatsoever or sexual factors to worry about so therefore this is watchable by those aged 12 years plus.

If you liked this why not try…

Street Fighter II V TV Series – Manga Entertainment
Street Fighter Alpha – Manga Entertainment
Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie – Manga Entertainment

NB: You will not BELIEVE the amount of times I typed ‘Akuma’ instead of ‘Gouki’!