Street Fighter is considered Campcom’s flagship series (46 million units sold worldwide in total as of March 31, 2021), one of the highest-grossing video game franchises of all time, and the highest-grossing media franchise of all time based on a fighting game (at $12.2 billion).
The first game in the series was released in 1987, followed by five other main series games, various spin-offs and crossovers, and numerous appearances in various other media.
- Street Fighter (1987)
- Street Fighter 2010: The Final Fight (1990)
- Street Fighter II (1991)
- Street Fighter Alpha (1995)
- Street Fighter EX (1996)
- Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo (1996)
- Street Fighter III (1997)
- Street Fighter IV (2008)
- Street Fighter X Tekken (2012)
- Street Fighter X Mega Man (2012)
- Street Fighter V (2016)
Will there ever be a Street Fighter movie? Surprisingly, there are many Street fighter movies.
How many Street Fighter movies are there? There are over ten live-action and animated Street Fighter series and film adaptations as of 2021.
As you may imagine, today we’ll be focusing on the other type of media: adaptations to movies and series (animated and real-life).
Everything About Street Fighter (1994) Movie
Production, Release Date, and Reception
Steven E. de Souza (Die Hard and Commando) wrote and directed the first film adaptation based on the Street Fighter series. It was produced by Amblin Entertainment, Capcom of America, HarMoviesMony Entertainment, HOG! Pictures Unlimited and Virgin Interactive.
Then distributed in the United States by Universal Pictures and internationally (December 23rd premiere) by Columbia Pictures, one year after the release of the Super Mario Bros film.
Street Fighter (1994) Trailer
Despite negative reviews, the film was commercially successful and did make a profit, grossing three times its production cost (a return of $165 million, with $66 million worldwide and $33 million domestically of profit, out of $35 million of budget).
Cast and Characters
- Jean-Claude Van Damme (Guile)
- Raúl Juliá M. (Bison)
- Ming-Na Wen (Chun-Li)
- Damian Chapa (Ken)
- Kylie Minogue (Cammy)
- Simon Callow (A.N. Official)
- Roshan Seth (Dhalsim)
- Wes Studi (Sagat)
- Byron Mann (Ryu)
- Grand L. Bush (Balrog)
- Peter Navy Tuiasosopo (E. Honda)
- Jay Tavare (Vega)
- Andrew Bryniarski (Zangief)
- Gregg Rainwater (T. Hawk)
- Miguel A. Núñez Jr. (Dee Jay)
- Robert Mammone (Charlie / Carlos Blanka)
- Kenya Sawada (Sawada)
Plot/Synopsis
Based on Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, the film focuses on the efforts of Colonel Guile to bring down General M. Bison, the military dictator and drug kingpin of Shadaloo City who aspires to conquer the world with an army of genetic supersoldiers, while enlisting the aid of street fighters Ryu and Kento to infiltrate Bison’s empire and help destroy it from within.
Review and Opinions
Despite the outstanding success Souza was having in the 1980s as an action screenwriter, it was proven that maybe he wasn’t ready to become a director (at least not one that could handle the tight and constant demands from Capcom).
The film was clunky and dumb, even for action movies of that era.
Playing the devil’s advocate: working with budget limitations (modest $30m) and an impossible shoot schedule (10 weeks) might have ruined the first attempt to lighten up the franchise’s branding.
The team’s biggest mistake could have been, abandoning the fighting tournament out of the plot to add as many characters from the game as possible, in extremely unconventional ways. For example, in the movie, Ken and Ryu are trying to steal money from criminals.
But there’s one clarification to be made: Raul Julia almost saved the Street Fighter flick. His Bison role was his last before dying from stomach cancer. Even weakened, he performed better than Van Damme and everyone else.
Cindy White of IGN: “Compared to a waste of celluloid like Alone in the Dark, Street Fighter looks like a work of artistic genius. That doesn’t excuse the film’s many, many flaws, but it’s not an excruciating mess either.”
Emanuel Levy of Variety: “A messy, basically plotless big-screen rendition of the popular multimedia game. Avid users of the video game and Van Damme’s loyal fans may embrace the film out of curiosity.
Everything About Street Fighter II: The Movie / Sutorīto Faitā Tsū Mūbī (1994)
Production, Release Date, and Reception
Gisaburō Sugii directed and Kenichi Imai wrote the first Street Fighter anime film adaptation, produced with the help of Group TAC and firstly distributed in Japan on August 6, 1994.
The theatrical release took place in the UK, France, and Spain, as it was dubbed and subtitled for Animaze, Toei Company, and 20th Century Fox to distribute in other countries.
Street Fighter II: The Movie (1994) Trailer
The film was announced by Capcom Japan at the Street Fighter II Turbo tournament held on August 19, 1993, at Ryōgoku Kokugika. This one, this time, was a critical and commercial success: grossing approximately $28 million in Japan only, out of a $6 million budget.
Then the home video release sold around 500,000 copies of the unrated and PG-13 version in the United States.
Cast and Characters
- Ryu (Japanese Voice: Kojiro Shimizu / English Dubbing: Hank Smith)
- Ken (Japanese Voice: Kenji Haga / English Dubbing: Ted Richards)
- Chun-Li (Japanese Voice: Miki Fujitani / English Dubbing: Mary Briscoe)
- Guile (Japanese Voice: Masane Tsukayama / English Dubbing: Donald Lee)
- M. Bison – Vega in Japan (Japanese Voice: Takeshi Kusaka / English Dubbing: Phil Matthews)
- Sagat (Japanese Voice: Shigezo Sasaoka / English Dubbing: David Conrad)
- Vega – Balrog in Japan (Japanese Voice: Kaneto Shiozawa / English Dubbing: Steve Davis)
- Balrog – M. Bison in Japan (Japanese Voice: Jouji Nakata / English Dubbing: Joe Michaels)
- E. Honda (Japanese Voice: Daisuke Gōri / English Dubbing: Patrick Gilbert)
- Dhalsim (Japanese Voice: Yukimasa Kishino / English Dubbing: Don Carey)
- Cammy (Japanese Voice: Yōko Sasaki / English Dubbing: S. J. Charvin)
- Fei Long (Japanese Voice: Masakatsu Funaki / English Dubbing: Bryan Craston but credited as “Phil Williams”)
- Dee Jay (Japanese Voice: Ginzō Matsuo / English Dubbing: John Hammond)
- T. Hawk (Japanese Voice: Shōzō Iizuka / English Dubbing: Richard Cardona)
- Blanka (Japanese Voice: Unshō Ishizuka / English Dubbing: Tom Carlton)
- Zangief (Japanese Voice: Tetsuo Kaneo / English Dubbing: William Johnson)
- Eliza (Japanese Voice: Hiromi Tsuru / English Dubbing: Toni Burke)
- Ryu and Ken’s Sensei (Japanese Voice: Hideyo Amamoto / English Dubbing: George Celik)
- Senoh (Japanese Voice: Chikao Ōtsuka / English Dubbing: Murry Williams)
Plot/Synopsis
The Shadowlaw corp run by Bison has been kidnapping and brainwashing fighters to carry out his evil schemes. Chun-Li, working for Interpol, has been tracking Bison’s plans, so she starts to recruit brawlers to take on their minions.
In between both sides of the conflict, there’s Ryo (a Japanese fighter who travels around Asia competing in tournaments) and Ken (an American playboy who trained at Ryo’s dojo).
Review and Opinions
Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie delivers good fighting scenes, which is the minimum of what a fighting game adaptation should do. Different from the games, all the magical attacks (Hadouken, sonic boom, lightning kick) are rarely shown and it sticks to realistic martial arts.
Most US critics highly praise the Western version of the soundtrack. While the original soundtrack is not bad, the US-focused features memorable rock and metal artists like Silverchair, Alice In Chains, and KMFDM, mixed in a much darker, grittier selection.
Sebastian Zavala Kahn of Más Gamers: “One of the most faithful video game adaptations to date.”
Felix Gonzalez Jr. of DVD Review: ”Although this won’t challenge your intelligence, this film stands head and shoulders above the live-action, Jean-Claude Van Damme fiasco.”
Everything About Street Fighter: The Animated Series (1995 – 1997)
Production, Release Date, and Reception
Produced by InVision Entertainment, the “Animated Series” aired two 13-episode seasons (a total of 26 episodes) on the USA Network’s Cartoon Express and Action Extreme Team lineups from 1995 to 1997.
Street Fighter: The Animated Series (1995 – 1997) Trailer
Ironically, it suffered from negative reception but still got two full seasons, which is what Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm and Darkstalkers lasted, combined. It also became the source of many internet memes, such as the Bison’s “This is Delicious!” and Yes! Yes!”
411Mania included the series in their “The 8 Worst Street Fighter Franchise Failures” list and GamesRadarmentioned it as “a terrible abomination that would have made our list if Darkstalkers hadn’t knocked it off.” on their “truly horrendous” video game cartoons list.
Cast and Characters
- Michael Donovan (William F. Guile, Zangief, and The Crimson Crawdad)
- Donna Yamamoto (Chun-Li Xiang and Jessica Haggar)
- Scott McNeil (Carlos Blanka, Ken Masters, Rolento, Hugo Andore, The Great Oni, Wo Fat (Season 2), Lord Zing, and Rory)
- Richard Newman (M. Bison)
- Tong Lung (Ryu Hoshi)
- John Payne (Escher)
- Paul Dobson (E. Honda, T. Hawk, Vega, Balrog, Birdie, Fei Long, and Dee Jay)
- Kathleen Barr (Dr. Lucinda “Cindy” Davila)
- Lisa Ann Beley (Cammy White)
- Lynda Boyd (Satin Hammer)
- Jim Byrnes (Guy, Raul)
- Garry Chalk (Dhalsim, Wo Fat (Season 1), and Burke)
- Michael Dobson (Sawada, Cody Travers, Thrasher, and El Gado)
- Michael Dorn (The Warrior King)
- Saffron Henderson (Sakura Kasugano)
- Mark Hildreth (Raymond Wang, Holly Wood, and Chun-Li’s father)
- Janyse Jaud (Celia)
- Dale Wilson (Akuma (Season 1) and Mike Haggar)
- David Kaye (Akuma (Season 2)
- Blu Mankuma (Jumbo Flapjack)
- Robert O. Smith (Viktor Sagat, Gouken, Sodom, and Belger)
- Teryl Rothery (Rose)
- Venus Terzo (La Lupa)
- Alec Willows (Master Quinn and Gunloc)
Plot/Synopsis
The story starts with and follows Guile that looks to defeat M. Bison and his horde of minions, continuing the live-action film’s plot. Here, Guile is the leader of the international but undercover peacekeeping force of “Street Fighters” formed by martial artists.
Review and Opinions
The Saturday morning cartoon of the same name was an entirely different matter — what we’ve got here is more/less the cartoon adaptation of the live-action Street Fighter movie.
I’ve never liked these. At least, only have enjoyed a small number of them (still while being a kid). So, I can’t do much justice. Still, the truth is, Capcom was experimenting as if X-men and G.I. Joe were their inspirations for this – and that’s exactly what they released.
If you’re into the Street Fighter lore but feel the movie fell short (especially the crew’s acting), then you’ll probably enjoy this one.
Better to start with the 1995 animated series and then continue scaling to Alpha, Generations, Round One – Fight, and The Ties That Bind.
Nick Chester of Destructoid: “This show is an abomination. Is spectacularly awful.”
1UP.com: “[W]hile SF fans love to quote the Street Fighter movie … they are usually less enthusiastic about the Saturday morning cartoon.”
Street Fighter II: V (1995 – 1998) Trailer
Two English adaptations were produced. The first was made by Animaze and Manga Entertainment dubbing groups and released as VHS tapes in Australia and North America.
The second English dub was produced by ADV films and exclusively released in the UK.
Cast and Characters
- Ryu (Japanese Voice: Kouji Tsujitani / English ADV: Brett Weaver / English Animaze: Skip Stellrecht)
- Ken (Japanese Voice: Kenji Haga / English ADV: Jason Douglas / English Animaze: Stephen Apostolina)
- Guile (Japanese Voice: Tesshō Genda / English ADV: Rob Mungle / English Animaze: Kirk Thornton)
- Chun-Li (Japanese Voice: Chisa Yokoyama / English ADV: Tamara Lo and Junie Hoang / English Animaze: Lia Sargent)
- Fei Long (Japanese Voice: Kazuki Yao / English ADV: Andrew Klimko / English Animaze: Randy McPherson)
- Sagat (Japanese Voice: Banjō Ginga / English ADV: Andrew Klimko / English Animaze: Peter Spellos)
- Dhalsim (Japanese Voice: Shōzō Iizuka / English ADV: Mike Kleinhenz / English Animaze: Steve Blum)
- Vega (Japanese Voice: Kaneto Shiozawa / English ADV: Vic Mignogna / English Animaze: Richard Cansino)
- Balrog (Japanese Voice: Tomomichi Nishimura / English ADV: Werner Richmond / English Animaze: Joe Romersa)
- Cammy White (Japanese Voice: Yōko Sasaki / English ADV: Carol Matthews and Shawn Taylor / English Animaze: Debra Jean Rogers)
- Zangief (Japanese Voice: Kenji Utsumi / English ADV: Markham Anderson and Mike Kleinhenz / English Animaze: Tom Wyner)
- M. Bison (Japanese Voice: Kenji Utsumi / English ADV: Markham Anderson and Mike Kleinhenz / English Animaze: Tom Wyner)
- Inspector Dorai (Japanese Voice: Rokuro Naya / English ADV: John Swasey / English Animaze: Michael Forest)
- Charlie Nash (Japanese Voice: Ryōichi Tanaka / English ADV: Jay Hickman / English Animaze: Dean Elliott)
- Zoltar (Japanese Voice: Matsuo Matsuo / English Animaze: Milton James)
Plot/Synopsis
In 1995, Ryu and Ken met each other in a bar. Ken starts a fight with the boyfriend of a girl he was hitting on. This leads them to Guile, who brutally defeats them, due to being friends with the boyfriend.
As an alternative consequence, they also get swept into a criminal conspiracy, involved with the criminal syndicate Shadowlaw, as they start to learn the code of the Street Fighter.
Review and Opinions
I must admit it was a pleasant surprise to see both main characters full of personality, differently from their video game incarnations. Ken is a spoiled-but-loyal brat, while Ryu has its emotional treats (mysteriously similar to Goku).
As a 90s show, the animation is dated (which can be omitted and enjoyed) but the music is mediocre. Both the dubbed themes and background music screamed “low budget kung fu movie” as it also relied on annoying flashbacks and recap footage.
Everything About Street Fighter: Alpha / Zero (2000)
Production, Release Date, and Reception
Either known as Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation, Street Fighter Zero: The Movie, or ストリートファイターZERO; it’s an OVA film based on Street Fighter Alpha 2, directed by Shigeyasu Yamauchi, and released in Japan in 2000.
The English adaptation was produced by Manga Entertainment and released in 2001 for the 10th anniversary of Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (1991).
Street Fighter: Alpha / Zero (2000) Trailer
The film is not a prequel or sequel of a previously made Street Fighter movie or series, but a non-canon, independent installment.
It gathered enough mixed reviews to earn a 58% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Cast and Characters
- Ryu (Kane Kosugi / Skip Stellrecht)
- Ken (Kazuya Ichijō / Steve Blum)
- Shun (Reiko Kiuchi / Mona Marshall)
- Chun-Li (Yumi Toma / Lia Sargent)
- Dr. Sadler (Daiki Nakamura / Peter Lurie)
- Rosanov/Sadlerbot (Hisao Egawa / Tom Wyner)
- Akuma (Tomomichi Nishimura / Keith Burgess)
- Sakura (Chiaki Osawa / Michelle Ruff)
- Rose (Ai Orikasa / Carolyn Hennesy)
- Zangief (Hidenari Ugaki / Joe Romersa)
- Adon (Wataru Takagi / R. Martin Klein)
- Vega (Kazuyuki Ishikawa / Richard Cansino)
- Birdie (Ryûzaburô Ôtomo / Michael McCarty)
- Dan (Kazuyuki Ishikawa / Bob Papenbrook)
- Kei (Miki Nagasawa / Sherry Lynn)
Plot/Synopsis
Ryu reunites with his estranged young brother after he is possessed by dark energy and becomes the target of a mad scientist who wants to use that power for his good.
Review and Opinions
The idea behind this movie would rarely work. Despite having the title, characters, setting, and look of the Street Fighter Alpha series, the story is completely separate and non-related.
The mentioned artwork was a hit and miss. It remains loyal to the game’s designs but the animation and choreography feel more like a typical anime TV series from the time being (more of a Dragon Ball, than a Street Fighter).
Everything About Street Fighter Alpha: Generations (2005)
Production, Release Date, and Reception
This Japanese anime film was released in 2005 by Manga Entertainment. It’s based on Street Fighter Alpha 2 but is unrelated to the 2000s production of Group TAC.
Alpha: Generations was not as critically and commercially successful as its predecessor.
Street Fighter Alpha: Generations (2005) Trailer
This one was produced specifically for the English-speaking market and was not officially released in Japan. At least not until its inclusion as a bonus feature in the DVD release of Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li.
Cast and Characters
- Ryu (Japanese: Yasuyuki Kase / English: Richard Cansino)
- Old Master (Takeshi Aono / English: Simon Prescott)
- Akuma (Japanese: Daisuke Gōri and Yasunori Matsumoto (young) / English: Keith Burgess)
- Fuka (Yuri Amano / English: Susan Marque)
- Sakura Kasugano (Mao Kawasaki / English: Michelle Ruff)
- Gouken (Tadashi Saito, Ken’yū Horiuchi (young) / English: Dave Mallow)
- Sayaka (Yuri Amano / English: Stephanie Sheh)
- Goutetsu (Kinryū Arimoto / English: Michael McConnohie)
- Ken Masters (Eiji Hanawa / English: Steve Cassling)
Plot/Synopsis
Generations focus on the relationship between Ryu and Akuma (Gouki), before the events of Alpha. Ken and Sakura encourage Ryu to take on Gouki’s challenge to a duel.
But Ryu didn’t expect to be consumed by the evil energy Satsui no Hadou during the battle.
Review and Opinions
There’s one good thing and one bad thing about Street Fighter Alpha: Generation.
Fans of the series would love to see more characters introduced, with greater participation.
But on the good side, the animation from this movie is much better than the first Alpha film.
Everything About Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (2009)
Production, Release Date, and Reception
The second live-action Street Fighter film was released in theaters on February 27, 2009.
This one was not well received by anyone. Both critics and fans were harsh with it, expressing how much they dislike this movie on film-scoring websites. Rotten Tomatoes listed the movie at a “4% rating (out of 100%), with 50 negatives and 2 positive reviews.
Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (2009) Trailer
Most people believe that this movie took the only good thing about the live-action adaptation, which was the corny-but-funny scenes, and became the worst Street Fighter adaptation to date. The data speaks for itself: it grossed less than $9 million against a $50 million budget.
Weirdly enough, plans for potential sequels with Ryu and Ken as leads were once leaked on the official Street Fighter Movie Blog, but it seems like that won’t happen anytime soon.
Cast and Characters
- Chun-Li (Kristin Kreuk)
- Charlie (Chris Klein)
- Balrog (Michael Clarke Duncan)
- Vega (Taboo)
- Gen (Robin Shou)
- Detective Maya Sunee (Moon Bloodgood)
- M. Bison (Neal McDonough)
- Huang – Chun-Li’s father (Edmund Chen)
- Young Rose (Elizaveta Kiryukhina)
- Cantana (Josie Ho)
- Zhilan (Cheng Pei-pei)
Plot/Synopsis
The film focuses on Chun-Li: a lovely pianist student and Wushu martial artist.
It didn’t help when one day, a Bangkok kingpin broke into her family’s house and kidnapped their father, while she tried to protect her sick mother. This only leaves her crushed, empty, and enraged. That’s until she receives a letter from a mystic teacher who offers to train her.
It is Gen who offers to mentor Chun-Li to help her become a mighty warrior, capable enough of breaking down the villainous scheme of Bison.
Review and Opinions
I’m a big fan of side stories and Chun-Li’s one is something that I’d be into… Only if it makes sense, of course. But it doesn’t in this film. Instead, it mixes every ingredient from the “bad martial artist movie” (training montages, mentor declares protagonist ready, evil kill mentor).
The casting is the only thing that makes sense on The Legend of Chun-Li. Protagonists Kristin Kreuk and Robin Shou are of Chinese descent and play a Chinese role.
Rob Nelson of Variety: “Neither the best nor the worst of movies derived from video games, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li at least gives action fans plenty to ogle besides the titular heroine.”
Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter: “Other than a few reasonably well-staged fight sequences, the proceedings are dull and visually uninspired.”
Everything About Street Fighter IV: The Ties that Bind / Aratanaru Kizuna (2009)
Production, Release Date, and Reception
Jiro Kanai directed an animated movie adaptation that’s only available as supplemental material on the PS3 collector’s edition of Street Fighter IV and as a DVD inside the Street Fighter 25th Anniversary Collector’s Set released in 2012.
Street Fighter IV: The Ties that Bind / Aratanaru Kizuna (2009) Trailer
Not much is said about it. Only that it probably boosted sales of Street Fighter IV copies by a lot. Even more after casting the same voice actors from the game, for The Ties that Bind.
Cast and Characters
- Ryu (Hiroki Takahashi / Kyle Hebert)
- Chun-Li (Fumiko Orikasa / Laura Bailey)
- Guile (Hiroki Yasumoto / Travis Willingham)
- Crimson Viper (Mie Sonozaki / Michelle Ruff)
- Ken’s Secretary (Yurino Yasushi / Laura Bailey)
- Ken Masters (Yûji Kishi / Reuben Langdon)
- Cammy White and Eliza Masters (Miyuki Sawashiro / Caitlin Glass)
- Vega (Jun’ichi Suwabe / Doug Erholtz)
- Seth (Akio Ôtsuka / Michael McConnohie)
- Sakura Kasugano (Misato Fukuen / Brittney Lee Harvey)
Plot/Synopsis
Cammy, Chun-Li, and Guile suspect a detonation blast originates from Shadaloo, so the trio set out on a voyage through the Amazon to discover the natural cause of the energy blast.
As soon as they arrive, they also discover that martial artists from around the world have been disappearing mysteriously. And this, somehow, is related to Maya, the Crimson Viper.
Review and Opinions
Can you imagine a Street Fighter movie with more dialogue and monologues than fighting itself? Well, this is it. And the worst of it is that these are delivered mediocrely.
It reduced the number of fighters and increased the number of flashbacks the only few have to talk about their feelings, as an attempt to deepen the narrative with pure nonsense.
But there’s something that I would see back again from Capcom’s adaptations: such a simple animation style that makes the characters look genuinely human.
Everything About Street Fighter: Round One – Fight (2009)
Production, Release Date, and Reception
This 68-minute straight-to-DVD “animated comic”, released on February 3, 2009, is based on the UDON comic book series. It presents comic book art in a slightly animated fashion. A sequel (of which we’ll talk about in a minute) was produced in the same format.
Street Fighter: Round One – Fight (2009) Trailer
Cast and Characters
- Ken Masters (Adam Kasprowicz)
- Cammy (Alexis Martino)
- Gouken (Bern Sundstedt)
- Sakura Kasugano (Hannah Church)
- Guile (Jesse Kuntz)
- Ryu (Mike Vanderwyst)
- Chun-Li (Vanessa Prokuski)
Plot/Synopsis
Ryu and Ken investigate the murder of their martial arts master, Gouken.
They’re led to Japan in search of answers, only to find out that M. Bison and his minions (Cammy, Vega, and Sagat) keep a close eye on Ryu.
Col. Guile and Chun-Li find out about Bison’s plot and immediately seek to assist Ryu.
Review and Opinions
I have to admit that the panning effect with all its blinks and zooms results interesting at first sight. But then, all this creative comic-book-like manner gets extremely boring (even for Street Fighter fans).
Everything About Street Fighter: Legacy (2010) Fan Film
Production, Release Date, and Reception
This live-action short fan film received Capcom’s “blessing” to produce the film, so Joey Ansah, Owen Trevor, Jacqueline Quella, and the team of Streetlight Films reunited to direct it and release it on 6 May 2010. It’s rumored that a fan-made series is being made.
Street Fighter: Legacy (2009) Trailer
Cast and Characters
- Ryu (Jon Foo)
- Ken Masters (Christian Howard)
- Akuma (Joey Ansah)
Plot/Synopsis
While walking in the forest, after having a nightmare about Akuma, Ryu finds out he’s being followed by someone in the woods. It’s not more or less than Ken’s Masters, who’s an old friend and sparring partner. The short film focuses on a match full of signature moves.
Review and Opinions
Fan films are not my “thing” but everyone seems to agree that this is possibly the first time that the actual style, moves, and stances of Street Fighter are captured in detail.
Everything About Street Fighter: The New Challengers (2011)
Production, Release Date, and Reception
This is the straight-to-DVD “animated comic” sequel, also based on the UDON comic book series, that I was talking about. It was released on September 6, 2011, two years after predecessor Street Fighter – Round One: Fight!
Street Fighter: The New Challengers (2011) Trailer
Cast and Characters
- Ken Masters (Adam Kasprowicz)
- Ryu (Isaac Newberry)
- Cammy (Alexis Martino)
- Guile (Jesse Kuntz)
- Gouken (Bern Sundstedt)
- Benny (Robert Rice)
- Satsuki/Kei Chitose (Brenny Rabine)
- Sakura Kasugano (Hannah Church)
- Keith Wolfman (Shawn R. Morgan)
Plot/Synopsis
Cammy discovers her past takes “unexpected” turns at the same time Ryu travels around the world. Chun-Li is also dragged from Brazil to Hong Kong with the mission of investigating Shadaloo and Vega. Sakura, Guile, Blanka, Balrog, Gen, and Fei-Long are also part of it.
Review and Opinions
It seems like they made this sequel more fluid but took most of the beautiful scenery from the first one. One internet user even commented that it looks like the intro of a Newsground’s flash game… And that’s accurate.
At least they added more familiar faces and deepened into their stories.
Everything About Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist (2014)
Production, Release Date, and Reception
Joey Ansah and Christian Howard developed this live-action martial arts web series that premiered on Machinima’s YouTube channel on 23 May 2014. It was also released in TV, DVD/Blu-ray, and IFC Film formats later the same year and in January 2015, respectively.
Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist (2014) Trailer
Capcom and Machinima.com announced the airing of the series after worldwide online content rights were open for a short window and private backers funded the Kickstarter crowdsource campaign.
The 13-episodes show features one of the most exhaustive Street Fighter back-stories to date.
Cast and Characters
- Gouken (Akira Koieyama)
- Young Gouken (Shogen)
- Ken Masters (Christian Howard)
- Ryu (Mike Moh)
- Goutetsu / Goma (Togo Igawa)
- Gouki (Gaku Space)
- Older Gouki / Akuma (Joey Ansah)
- Sayaka (Hyunri)
- Mr. Masters (Mark Killeen)
- Senzo (Hal Yamanouchi)
Plot/Synopsis
Ryu and Ken Masters live a traditional warrior’s life in secluded Japan. They are the last practitioners of an ancient fighting style known as Ansatsuken (Assassin’s Fist) which has a tragic and dark legacy that they didn’t know about.
That leads them to learn more about the advanced techniques of this style and about the mysterious past of Gouken, their master, among many other things that are not explained in the games themselves.
Review and Opinions
The eleven episodes of Assassin’s Fist have all been viewed more than 750,000 times, with the most popular installment accruing nearly three million views to date.
In comparison with the previous live-action Street Fighter adaptations, Assassin’s Fist has been acclaimed as the best and most faithful adaptation of the franchise.
Shehzaan Abdulla of Continue-Play: “Balancing in-jokes and fan service with humble, down-to-earth storytelling aren’t easy. Go too far in one direction and you end up with a hokey, pandering mess; go too far in the other, and you have a feature that feels disconnected, and uninspired by the source material. Assassin’s Fist walks this line almost perfectly.”
Everything About Street Fighter: Resurrection (2016)
Production, Release Date, and Reception
What happens after Street Fighter Assassin’s Fist? Is there Street Fighter Assassin’s Fist 2?
A sequel series (Street Fighter: World Warrior) was in development but later scrapped, and the live-action web mini-series Street Fighter: Resurrection was developed by the director, fight choreographer, writer, actor, and martial artist Joey Ansah, instead.
Its release coincided with that of Street Fighter V, in 2016. Weekly episodes were released specifically from March 15, 2016, to April 5, 2016, via Verizon’s go90 app, but it was later uploaded to Machinima’s YouTube channel on December 19, 2016.
Street Fighter: Resurrection (2016) Trailer
Cast and Characters
- Ken Masters (Christian Howard)
- Ryu (Mike Moh)
- Charlie Nash (Alain Moussi)
- Laura Matsuda (Natascha Hopkins)
- Decapre (Katrina Durden)
- Kolin (Amy Olivia Bell)
- M. Bison (Silvio Simac)
- Guile (Bong Revilla)
- Matt Furlong (Alexis Rodney)
- Agent Daniels (Cengiz Dervis)
- Agent Amari / Mr. Aziz (Amed Hashimi)
Plot/Synopsis
One decade after the events of Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist, Ryu and Ken reunite once again to face their most lethal threat yet: Charlie nash who was formerly presumed dead, but instead, targeting other Street Fighter champions for unknown reasons.
Review and Opinions
If Assassin’s fist felt like a proper feature film, then Resurrection feels like cheap webisode series, because that’s what it is. The amateur cinematography, bad “cosplaying”, and confusing timeline could have been saved by the Ken and Ryu actors from the prequel.
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