It is a tale as old as time, one that any fan of any major video game franchise knows all too well, yet the fear all the same: if a video game is popular and successful enough, it will mostly get adapted into many other things, including the dreaded movie adaptation. These things have been coming out for the longest time, and while nowadays we are somewhat lucky with these, getting some pretty good, or at least decent adaptations every now and then, this was pretty much a death sentence back in the 90s, such as when it comes to Street Fighter, which got its own handful of films over the years, including the infamous original live-action film. I won’t go into detail about how I feel about the movie, because I have already done that, but if you are a big fan of Street Fighter, you definitely have seen this film at some point, or at least heard of it in some way. However, what you may not know about it is that, around the time it the film was originally released, there were actually a handful of video games that were made in order to help promote the movie, with these games confusingly being known as Street Fighter: The Movie.
I had known about this game for quite a while now, and while I never played it, I had always assumed that it was GARBAGE. I mean, seriously, it was already bad enough that it was tied to an already bad movie, but the fact that it changed up it’s look and style didn’t boost any sort of confidence in me either, so I wasn’t really looking forward to checking this one out. But hey, it still could’ve turned out to be good: after all Capcom was still the ones responsible for the game (to a degree), and they know how to do fighting games, so I figured they would know what they were doing with this. Thankfully, this turned out to be true, as while this isn’t quite as good as some of the other Street Fighter games so far, this is still a pretty decent entry in the series as a whole, one that gives you what you want out of one of these games while slightly changing things up, and one that is also HILARIOUS to play because of its new style.
The story is… pretty much exactly the same as the movie, with some new extra details thrown in there for the characters, and it works out well enough, especially for those who are a fan of the film’s plot, the graphics are… interesting, as it takes on the MK style rather than the typical sprite-based style of the previous games, having all of the characters played by their actual actors from the movie (with an exception here or there), and needless to say, watching them move and perform SF moves in this game is gloriously stupid, while also sporting pretty decent animations and backgrounds, the music is alright, having plenty of tracks that you would expect from a fighting game of this style, but it definitely isn’t the kind of music that I prefer to listen to from SF, and the gameplay is exactly what you would expect from a Street Fighter title, with the extra bonus of all the cheese from the film that you could possibly expect, and some twists on how the game plays as well.
The game is your typical 2D arcade fighter, where you take control of one of 14 different characters, ranging from ones featured in the SF movie or completely new additions to the lineup, take on many different opponents in many of the “exciting” and “memorable” locations that were seen in said film, throw out many different punches, kicks, special moves and what have you to take down your opponent, depleting their HP all the way down to nothing, make sure to dodge, block, and counter at all of the right times to make sure that you sustain as little damage as possible, and stand tall as the true champ amongst all of the others, while also laughing at how ridiculous Jean-Claude Van Damme looks in this game. Any Street Fighter fan knows what to expect from this game, as well as any regular fighting game fanatic, but you will notice right away that, aside from the style, this game does do things somewhat differently from other entries, making it an interesting one to try out if you are familiar with the series.
In terms of the original arcade Street Fighter movie game, you get the usual serving of content here: just the standard arcade mode, where you fight all of the other characters one by one before you win, but here, again, you get a different experience for the series. The game’s fights have a speed that is similar to that of SSFIIT to a degree, along with all of the features that have been brought into fighting games in years prior, such as special moves you can pull off, desperation moves to get you on equal footing with your opponent once again, and various other crazy moves that you can pull off to get an advantage on your opponent. Despite the fact that this game is just meant to be a tie-in to the movie it is based on, it does still play very much like your typical SF game, giving you the same fast and fun gameplay you have come to expect, even it can be pretty stiff at times. Not to mention, with plenty of different opponents to fight and play as, including others that weren’t in the movie like Akuma, you will have plenty to do and mess around with, and what you do get is very fun to mess around with and learn at the same time.
Alongside all of this, given the different style that it tackles, the game also handles things like combos and damage differently as well, which could play a huge factor into how much you like this game. Rather than past games, where there was a limit to how much you could hit an opponent with your combos (to a degree), there are plenty of additional chances that you have to deal out damage here, allowing you to dish out MANY hits onto an opponent at once, and you can even juggle them in plenty of instances as well, even after they have already been KO’d. I managed to get plenty of combos in this game, sometimes even reaching double digits, because of this, and I usually SUCK at pulling off combos, especially in Street Fighter, but I was able to do it in this game, and it felt pretty good to do. What also helps is that, at the same time, while you can dish out a lot of pain, it doesn’t feel too overpowered. Your combos don’t do as much damage as they would in other SF games or fighting games in general, meaning that if you get hit with a devastating combo or special move, it doesn’t automatically mean that you have basically lost, as you can bounce right back and have the opportunity to strike to even things out with the opponent. I managed to get out of plenty of tight situations like this where in many other fighting games, I would just be straight up screwed, so I definitely appreciated that at least.
Despite all of that though, at the end of the day, this is (say it with me now) another typical arcade fighter. Nothing about this game makes it stand apart from any other game in the series, except for the fact that it now uses a digitized style for all of the fighters, and that it uses clips from the movie it is based on. It is your typical SF experience all the way through, one that doesn’t compare to the flashiness and load of fun that you could have with some of the previous SF games, even it is still very enjoyable all on its own. Not to mention, fighting game syndrome is present here as well, so if you aren’t quite ready for some of the matches later down the line, then get ready for the possibility of being beat up by Jean-Claude Van Damme or Raul Julia……. not too many can say they have gotten beaten up by them, that’s for sure.
Overall, despite a major lack of change and some annoying fights here or there, Street Fighter: The Movie: The Arcade game is a pretty decent tie-in game that manages to hold up surprisingly well after all this time, giving you the same kind of fast-paced gameplay that you know and love, while also having the undeniably stupid and silly charm of all the digitized actors and movie clips to help make it stand out among the rest. I would recommend it for those who are big fans of the other Street Fighter games, and even for those who are fans of the movie, because while it may not be as good as SSFIIT or future SF games, you can still have a lot of fun beating up your friends with it, and I think that is all that matters. But, before we go, I do wanna briefly go over the other Street Fighter: The Movie game that was released on the PS1 and Sega Saturn shortly after this game, because TECHNICALLY, it is a completely separate game from the main arcade game, even though it is mostly just the same as you would expect.
In terms of what changes with this game, there are additional modes you can try out now, such as a Movie Mode that has you playing as Guile the whole time, while having branching paths that determine who you fight, and a Trial Mode, where you beat up as many other characters as you can before the time runs out to see if you can get the highest score. There is a lot to do here, and there are additional characters here that weren’t in the original arcade version, which is pretty cool, but there is one problem with the game: it plays like ASS. I wouldn’t say it is completely terrible, cause I have played Doomsday Warrior, but this feels significantly worse to play then that of the arcade version in almost every way. Your movements feel a lot more sluggish and stiff, you jump as if you are on the moon, attacks don’t feel kinetic or satisfying to pull off at all, and the graphics and animation quality have obviously taken a hit as well. Sure, it does include a music video that was made for the Street Fighter movie, which is hilarious, but it doesn’t make up for the shitty gameplay here, making this the inferior version without a doubt. It isn’t terrible, but trust me, you should just stick with the arcade version over this anyday, as you will have a much better time with it overall.
Games #631 and 631.5
I had known about this game for quite a while now, and while I never played it, I had always assumed that it was GARBAGE. I mean, seriously, it was already bad enough that it was tied to an already bad movie, but the fact that it changed up it’s look and style didn’t boost any sort of confidence in me either, so I wasn’t really looking forward to checking this one out. But hey, it still could’ve turned out to be good: after all Capcom was still the ones responsible for the game (to a degree), and they know how to do fighting games, so I figured they would know what they were doing with this. Thankfully, this turned out to be true, as while this isn’t quite as good as some of the other Street Fighter games so far, this is still a pretty decent entry in the series as a whole, one that gives you what you want out of one of these games while slightly changing things up, and one that is also HILARIOUS to play because of its new style.
The story is… pretty much exactly the same as the movie, with some new extra details thrown in there for the characters, and it works out well enough, especially for those who are a fan of the film’s plot, the graphics are… interesting, as it takes on the MK style rather than the typical sprite-based style of the previous games, having all of the characters played by their actual actors from the movie (with an exception here or there), and needless to say, watching them move and perform SF moves in this game is gloriously stupid, while also sporting pretty decent animations and backgrounds, the music is alright, having plenty of tracks that you would expect from a fighting game of this style, but it definitely isn’t the kind of music that I prefer to listen to from SF, and the gameplay is exactly what you would expect from a Street Fighter title, with the extra bonus of all the cheese from the film that you could possibly expect, and some twists on how the game plays as well.
The game is your typical 2D arcade fighter, where you take control of one of 14 different characters, ranging from ones featured in the SF movie or completely new additions to the lineup, take on many different opponents in many of the “exciting” and “memorable” locations that were seen in said film, throw out many different punches, kicks, special moves and what have you to take down your opponent, depleting their HP all the way down to nothing, make sure to dodge, block, and counter at all of the right times to make sure that you sustain as little damage as possible, and stand tall as the true champ amongst all of the others, while also laughing at how ridiculous Jean-Claude Van Damme looks in this game. Any Street Fighter fan knows what to expect from this game, as well as any regular fighting game fanatic, but you will notice right away that, aside from the style, this game does do things somewhat differently from other entries, making it an interesting one to try out if you are familiar with the series.
In terms of the original arcade Street Fighter movie game, you get the usual serving of content here: just the standard arcade mode, where you fight all of the other characters one by one before you win, but here, again, you get a different experience for the series. The game’s fights have a speed that is similar to that of SSFIIT to a degree, along with all of the features that have been brought into fighting games in years prior, such as special moves you can pull off, desperation moves to get you on equal footing with your opponent once again, and various other crazy moves that you can pull off to get an advantage on your opponent. Despite the fact that this game is just meant to be a tie-in to the movie it is based on, it does still play very much like your typical SF game, giving you the same fast and fun gameplay you have come to expect, even it can be pretty stiff at times. Not to mention, with plenty of different opponents to fight and play as, including others that weren’t in the movie like Akuma, you will have plenty to do and mess around with, and what you do get is very fun to mess around with and learn at the same time.
Alongside all of this, given the different style that it tackles, the game also handles things like combos and damage differently as well, which could play a huge factor into how much you like this game. Rather than past games, where there was a limit to how much you could hit an opponent with your combos (to a degree), there are plenty of additional chances that you have to deal out damage here, allowing you to dish out MANY hits onto an opponent at once, and you can even juggle them in plenty of instances as well, even after they have already been KO’d. I managed to get plenty of combos in this game, sometimes even reaching double digits, because of this, and I usually SUCK at pulling off combos, especially in Street Fighter, but I was able to do it in this game, and it felt pretty good to do. What also helps is that, at the same time, while you can dish out a lot of pain, it doesn’t feel too overpowered. Your combos don’t do as much damage as they would in other SF games or fighting games in general, meaning that if you get hit with a devastating combo or special move, it doesn’t automatically mean that you have basically lost, as you can bounce right back and have the opportunity to strike to even things out with the opponent. I managed to get out of plenty of tight situations like this where in many other fighting games, I would just be straight up screwed, so I definitely appreciated that at least.
Despite all of that though, at the end of the day, this is (say it with me now) another typical arcade fighter. Nothing about this game makes it stand apart from any other game in the series, except for the fact that it now uses a digitized style for all of the fighters, and that it uses clips from the movie it is based on. It is your typical SF experience all the way through, one that doesn’t compare to the flashiness and load of fun that you could have with some of the previous SF games, even it is still very enjoyable all on its own. Not to mention, fighting game syndrome is present here as well, so if you aren’t quite ready for some of the matches later down the line, then get ready for the possibility of being beat up by Jean-Claude Van Damme or Raul Julia……. not too many can say they have gotten beaten up by them, that’s for sure.
Overall, despite a major lack of change and some annoying fights here or there, Street Fighter: The Movie: The Arcade game is a pretty decent tie-in game that manages to hold up surprisingly well after all this time, giving you the same kind of fast-paced gameplay that you know and love, while also having the undeniably stupid and silly charm of all the digitized actors and movie clips to help make it stand out among the rest. I would recommend it for those who are big fans of the other Street Fighter games, and even for those who are fans of the movie, because while it may not be as good as SSFIIT or future SF games, you can still have a lot of fun beating up your friends with it, and I think that is all that matters. But, before we go, I do wanna briefly go over the other Street Fighter: The Movie game that was released on the PS1 and Sega Saturn shortly after this game, because TECHNICALLY, it is a completely separate game from the main arcade game, even though it is mostly just the same as you would expect.
In terms of what changes with this game, there are additional modes you can try out now, such as a Movie Mode that has you playing as Guile the whole time, while having branching paths that determine who you fight, and a Trial Mode, where you beat up as many other characters as you can before the time runs out to see if you can get the highest score. There is a lot to do here, and there are additional characters here that weren’t in the original arcade version, which is pretty cool, but there is one problem with the game: it plays like ASS. I wouldn’t say it is completely terrible, cause I have played Doomsday Warrior, but this feels significantly worse to play then that of the arcade version in almost every way. Your movements feel a lot more sluggish and stiff, you jump as if you are on the moon, attacks don’t feel kinetic or satisfying to pull off at all, and the graphics and animation quality have obviously taken a hit as well. Sure, it does include a music video that was made for the Street Fighter movie, which is hilarious, but it doesn’t make up for the shitty gameplay here, making this the inferior version without a doubt. It isn’t terrible, but trust me, you should just stick with the arcade version over this anyday, as you will have a much better time with it overall.
Games #631 and 631.5