(AfroGamers.com) While looking through films we’ve looked at here on AfroGamers, I noticed that we never really dedicated something to Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie.
We’re diving into it now as this anime film was very important to the first anime boom. Actually, I’d put it up there with Akira, Ghost in the Shell, and Pokémon: The Movie as the four most important films in the early boom between 1995 and 2000.
The main selling point of the film are the fights. Let’s dive into this one as we look at the fights of the film!
Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie
Before we do that, just a bit on the film. It’s all about M. Bison finding the best fighter to bring into Shadaloo. He sends out cyborgs to scout the world’s greatest fighters. These fighters actually have a rating system which documents their “Battle Potential”.
Most are spanked by the fighters including the one that came after Ryu who has the highest BP of all scouted fighters. M. Bison wants this guy and aims to use Ken Masters to lure him in as Ken was also scouted and showed high potential.
Ken is hypnotized and this obviously lures Ryu who eventually hears about what happened to him. The other story is of Guile wanting revenge against M. Bison for killing Charlie Nash—a character in the Street Fighter Alpha series.
Chun Li—a Chinese police officer/Interpol member—joins him as M. Bison’s Shadaloo killed her father. E. Honda joins them along the way. Now let’s look at these fights!
Ryu vs. Fei-Long
This was the first fight of the film and is actually the most even fight in the entire film. Ryu is busy in his endless training and during a trip through Hong Kong, he encounters the top Jeet Kune Doo expert and actor Fei-Long.
The actor is taking a break from filming to take on challengers when Ryu answers the call. This bout is a good introduction to the kind of hot-blooded action to expect in a very mid-tempo anime film.
I will say that this fight is a bit disappointing in that it wasn’t that long and ends in convincing fashion after Ryu puts Fei-Long’s brain to sleep with the Hurricane Kick. The two would bond after Fei-Long finds out that Ryu is actually the man who critically wounded and scarred Sagat, the top Muay Thai fighter in Thailand.
It kind of sucks that there wasn’t a Street Fighter: The Animated Movie which details the beginning of the franchise. Everything really kicks off for the franchise with Street Fighter II while the original game is basically the Ryu vs. Sagat backstory. No other character mattered before SFII.
All of that aside, it was cool to see this fight in animated form. It’s kind of like seeing an animated version of Bruce Lee vs. Mas Oyama.
E. Honda vs. Dhalsim
Another early-in-the-film fight, E. Honda and Dhalsim face off in a street fight before spectators with a passing Ryu. Having a deep love for fighting, Ryu watches the fight where Dhalsim pretty much evades E. Honda and escapes his grasp.
Dhalsim uses his mental power to slow down and subdue E. Honda until he is thrown by the sumo wrestler and takes an elbow drop. While E. Honda is getting ready to throttle Dhalsim, the Hindu yogi fighter gives up as he senses someone with a strong fighting spirit—Ryu—nearby.
During the fight, they are being scouted by Shadaloo cyborgs. After the fight, there is a cool action scene involving the Shadaloo agents and Ryu beating them up. E. Honda would split the winnings with Ryu as Dhalsim threw the fight because of him.
This wasn’t a bad fight at all and it’s my third favorite of the film.
Ryu vs. Ken
One of the final fights of the film, Ryu faces a hypnotized Ken but is hesitant to go all out against him. He knows that Ken isn’t in his right mind and just can’t bring himself to beat him down. When Ken snaps out of M. Bison’s control, the fight becomes Ryu vs. M. Bison in a very one-sided fight.
This fight would’ve been better served if it had more screen time but the ending stretch is rushed and every fight that could’ve been stretched in the final ten or fifteen minutes was just piled on in the end as a big melee.
Ken and Ryu vs. M. Bison
Building off the last fight, M. Bison boots Ken out of the fight and takes on Ryu alone. Now, if you play any SF game, M. Bison is easy to mild work on any difficulty using Ryu. That is unless you’re playing against someone who knows how to use M. Bison.
However, in Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, Ryu was getting spanked by M. Bison and his psycho power. Again, not enough time was given to this fight and it took Ken and Ryu’s combined efforts to take him down.
M. Bison isn’t killed as he pops up in an 18-wheeler while Ryu is walking down a road at the end of the movie. I was anticipating another SF II film after this but that wasn’t the case.
Chun Li vs. Vega: The Best Fight of the Film
I will forgive vouch for the Chun Li vs. Vega in this movie. This is hands down the best fight of the whole thing and the one that got the best amount of time. Vega dominated in this one and was better than Chun Li in every sense: speed, strength, skill—you name it.
This was compounded by Vega getting the drop on her after she exited the shower. While she avoided his initial assassination blow, she held her own and didn’t go out like a punk but she was definitely on the defensive.
The turn-around in the fight really came after Vega took a whole couch to the face and started eating kicks from Chun Li. She got the win after Vega—his back to the wall—ate a vicious Lightning Kick barrage to the point that Chun Li was able to kick him clean through the wall and out of the room.
This guy—my favorite fighter in the franchise—plummeted as if he took a brutal combo in Killer Instinct and was knocked off the building! Again: best fight of the film.
Staff Writer; M. Swift
This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.