Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie Review

Hi guys. Sorry about the delay. I've been busy helping out a friend, and I've had an interesting bit of news come my way. More on that after a bit, because It's now time for a review of one of the most classic anime movies of all time. Here now is the review for Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie.

Released back in 1994 as a adaptation of the Street Fighter II games by Gisaburo Sugii, and dubbed just a year later, Street Fighter II's story almost plays out like a Street Fighter game would. M-Bison, leader of the Shadowlaw crime organization, is capturing and observing fighters for all over the world in order to create the perfect warrior. Already, he has the powerful fighters Vega, Sagat, and Balrog under his control, as well as the sexy Cammy. When Sagat has been bested in a fight against Ryu, Bison becomes obsessed with capturing him, and goes as far as to capture his friend Ken and temporarily convert him into one of his goons.

At the same time, Interpol has been tracking Shadowlaw's movements and activities. Chun-Li, one of Interpol's greatest and sexiest of agents, comes into contact with U.S. Army colonel Guile in hopes of a joint operation. It doesn't work well at first, since Guile himself has been hunting down Bison out of revenge. After getting wooped in a fight with Chun-Li, he reluctantly agrees to the partnership.

In the midst of all this criminal activity is Ryu himself. He on a journey, looking for the best fighters he can find, and challenging them to a match. He eventually gets caught up in what's going on when he shows up in America, and joins up with Chun-Li & Guile. Throughout the entire time, action stands around every corner.

As for the show's animation, I can say that it's pretty impressive. I've been a big fan of 90s anime the past couple years, and that makes me a little bias, but this movie really does look splendid. All the guys (well, most of them) are built like tanks, and could crush just about anything their hands touch. Although there are only 2 girls in the movie (Cammy & Chun-Li), they are lithe, sexy, and could kill you with just a blink of their eyes. The landscapes are impressive. Capcom easily captured the opulence of America, the majesty of Thailand's mountains, the despair of India's slums, and the royalty of England's state buildings.

One interesting note about the fight scenes is that they were choreographed! It doesn't look like it, but it was. K-1 founder Kazuyoshi Ishii and the late Andy Hug performed a couple of fights, which were later put into the film. In this day and age, it's easy to do for an animated film, but for the early 90s, it was hard as hell.

The sound effects, especially during the fight scenes, are also well done. When you hear a punch or a kick, you can almost feel it yourself. The soundtrack is also good, with western bands like Korn and Alice in Chains being used along side the original Japanese Soundtrack. Although some dubbing during the 90s wasn't the best (I'm looking at you Sailor Moon!), that's not the case for this movie. In fact, for any Vic Mignogna fans out there, this was his very first voice acting role. As Vega no less! In regards to the rest of the characters, they all sound pretty good as well.

On a final positive point, Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie happens to still be fairly available, despite it's age. The 1997 film still has copies out there. I got my 1997 version for free at a cosplay picnic swap meet, but you can find used copies on Amazon for as little as $1.11. There is also a much newer edition of the film that got released back in 2006, with new copies costing as much as $9.68 and uses copies going for $4.92. In either case, it isn't expensive to buy, and is worth the purchase.

Now, onto the bad things about the movie. Fortunately, there are only 2 things wrong. The first is the characters. Pretty much every character from the first games are there: Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, etc, etc. However, some characters have much more screen time. Cammy, for example, appears only in the beginning of the film, and a little bit in the middle. In fact, a few of the popular characters, like Blanka, Zangief, and even Deejay are only given moments of screen time. Although to be fair, Blanka & Zangief does have a minute or so on screen during their fight. I'm willing to forgive the animators for this, since I'm not a massive fan for the series in general, and that it may have been impossible to give everybody a chunk of time given the 96 minutes that this movie lasts, but hardcore Street Fighter fans may be disappointed by the amount of time their favorite character may be on screen.

Next is the censorship, and this is where things get a bit interesting. When Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie was dubbed, it was released on VHS and Laserdisc simultaneously. Regardless of what it was released on, there was a tame PG-13 version, and a uncensored version that had Chun-Li's complete shower scene, and even this was still censored from the Japanese edition. When the 2006 edition was released, it was a dual-sided DVD, with the Japanese edition on one side, and the English dub on the other. The US & UK dubs are still slightly censored, with the word "Fuck" (sorry if I offended anybody with that word) cut out of two scenes in the US version. Strangely enough, the only edition of the movie to not be uncensored at all was the Australian edition, and I haven't found a copy of that yet.

Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie gets a 8 out of 10. The animation looks great, the sound effects were awesome, and the availability (as well as it's pricing) is decent, but the length of time for some characters, as well as the censorship, may drive some fans crazy.

Before I sign out, I wanted to tell you the interesting news that came my way. A couple weeks ago, my mom found me a part-time job. This job involves helping out an older woman with her gardening before the winter comes in, which isn't all that different with what I do now. I might not get much money from it, but at least it will help me out for a month or two.

Until next time, stay Otaku!

Duke Nukem Forever Review

Hey guys. I'm terribly sorry to say this, but it looks like I won't be able to get an interview from Jon St. John. However, do not despair! I have something that might just be as good, and I hope you like it. Now, presenting for your viewing pleasure, a review of Duke Nukem Forever.

Having been in development for over 12 years, it was picked up by Gearbox Software in 2009 after the whole 3d Realms/Take Two legal battle, and finally released on June 14, 2011, Duke Nukem Forever tells the story of good old Duke kicking back in Las Vegas after kicking alien asses back in Duke Nukem 3d. Since that time, he's acquired fame, fortune, and women (not necessarily in that order), and notoriety as a man's man. The aliens finally show up in Sin City, and at first, they seem to be non-hostile. After a call from the president of the United States, telling Duke not to get involved since he's in a peace treaty with the Cycloid Emperor (yeah, that guy), said alien forces begin attack Las Vegas. Since Duke won't allow aliens to destroy on of his favorite cities, and his women getting taken away, he cracks his knuckles and starts on his journey to kick ass and chew bubblegum, and he's all out of bubblegum.

Now, before I go on with the rest of the review, I do have a few words. I'm going to be as neutral as possible when I'm writing. There's some very strong opinions about this game, with people saying it's amazing, and people saying it's the worst pile of garbage that has been released in recent months. As for me, I have both positive and negative things to say about Duke Nukem Forever, and I hope that I don't appear to be favoring either side.

First thing to talk about are the graphics. Duke Nukem Forever uses the latest the Unreal graphics engine, and for the most part, looks very good. Gamers really haven't seen enough of Las Vegas, or a interpretation of it at the very least. Duke's Hotel & Casino, the Ladykiller, looks like something you'd find in Sin City, complete with interactive slot machines and other gambling devices. As you fight the aliens, the building becomes damaged with all kinds of collapses and fires, creating a battlezone inside a otherwise happy environment.

Once Dukes exits the hotel, he sees a city in ruins. The Earth Defense Force has been doing the best it can to fight back, but they're getting whooped a new one until Duke arrives. Despite the destruction, Las Vegas still looks good. You can see skyscrapers in flames, and alien ships flying overhead. After a big romp through Sin City, Duke takes a trip to the Hoover Dam, where the aliens are siphoning energy to fuel a giant portal to their dimension. As he travels across the interstate and deserts of Nevada, Duke travels on the roads of the interstate, as well as going through abandoned mines, plains of sand, and even a old western town to get fuel for his monster truck.

Duke eventually arrives at the Dam, and it's a mess. The EDF have been fighting on without him, and are getting severely creamed. After a mini-boss on the top of the dam, Duke repels down to hook up with his commanding officer. The Dam has seen better days, as they are ruins all over the place. At this point, it's apparent that the aliens didn't show up for peace, as certain parts of the dam have become infested by the alien goop, as well as tentacles (not those kind, you perverts). After going through a bunch of levels (some of which are underwater. More on that later), Duke acquires explosive to take out the entire dam. After killing a underwater boss, Duke heads back topside, and has to escape before the whole damn collapses. He makes it out, but with no weapons. Luckily, the Cycloid Emperor arrives, as well as his gun-toting minions. From there...well, you can guess what happens.

As the player travels through Duke Nukem Forever, he or she also comes across some of the most disgusting aliens ever created. The pig cops also make a comeback, only this time, they got a bit more firepower than they used to, and some of them area bit taller than they used to be. The old grunts come back, complete with teleporters and jetpacks. Just about every alien that you can think of that was in Duke Nukem 3d is in this game, complete with new looks while somehow managing to feel old school.

Now onto the sound effects, and this is where I may get a little one-sided. I can't stress enough how badass Jon St. John still sounds. Duke's voices hasn't tarnished a bit in the years since Duke Nukem 3d, as he still has a sack of quips, insults, and pop-culture comments that he can use at a moment's notice. In addition to his voice, the other denizens of Duke's world sound pretty good themselves, as they got their own personalities and quirks to add to the game. Even the aliens have their own audio qualities, despite the fact that you can't understand anything they're saying. As for the weapons, rays make pings and pows, rockets and pipebombs have a satisfying blam behind them, while the old shotgun still has that thunderous roar we're all familiar with.

The length of Duke Nukem Forever is also a plus. If you've never been through it before, it will take a player 10 to 12 hours, which is pretty good. Gamers who've been through it before with probably take 8 to 10 hours, which still isn't that bad. On top of the length, there are numerous objects Duke can interact with. Many of these object can boost Duke's Ego, like weights and game machines, while other objecst are there just for shits and giggles. I'll leave that last comment to your imagination.

One more thing before I get onto the bad stuff, and that is the guns. In addition to the classic weapons from Duke Nukem 3d, DNF includes some newer firearms to put to good use. Below is everything that there is to use on the alien scumbags.

AT Laser
AT Captain Laser
Devastator
Enforcer Gun
Freeze Ray
Laser Tripmine
Colt M1911
Pipe Bomb
RPG
Railgun
Ripper
Shotgun
Shrink Ray

Compared to Duke Nukem 3d, this is a much bigger, and more colorful, amount of firepower.

Now, having gotten the good things out of the way, it's time to get into what mars this otherwise decent game. For starters, Duke Nukem Forever suffers from a bit of console-itis. Instead of save points, you now have checkpoints, which are spread out enough so that if you're playing on a moderate difficulty, it isn't a complete pain. There is also no more health, just a bar that regenerates ala Halo. Perhaps the biggest console influence is the amount of weapons you can carry. Despite the armory that exists in the world, you can only have two weapons on you at all times, in addition to the pipebombs, trip mines, beer, steroids, and holoduke in your inventory. As of a month and a half ago, there was a patch released, allowing you to carry 4 weapons instead of 2, which made things a lot easier in terms of carrying variety. Including all of these is an exclusive problem to the consoles. Loading on the PC isn't a big hassle, but console sometimes have to wait a bit before a level loads up.

Secondly, the development for this game is ridiculous. I know it's been beaten to death, but it deserves to be mentioned. I understand that games sometimes take a while to make. With all the work that gets put into a game during it's development, a delay can occur. However, constantly switching one engine for another simply to stay ahead of the crowd can damage your career. On top of that, fans of said game could become turned off of it, and no longer enjoy it. 12 to 14 years is a long time to wait for a game, and I was certain that I would never live to see it. When I finally got the chance to sit down and play Duke Nukem Forever, I was definitely disappointed by it's faults, but overall, I had a fun time.

Duke Nukem Forever gets a 7 out of 10. It's fun to see the King once again, graphics & sounds are up there in terms of quality, and the weapon rock, but the console-itis, along with the time it took to develop this game, will turn off most PC users.