>Pic will focus on the game's most popular female fighter, Chun Li, but the exact storyline is being kept under wraps.

It's that good, folks.

Clearly the animated movie is the only decent one - it actually managed to get a story out of the idea of it being a fighting tournament that brought a number of diverse characters together for different reasons.

Also : Chun Li in the shower.

Look at it this way - this film has every chance of being that rare beast : a sequel that's better than the original.

> Also : Chun Li in the shower.

The bastards cut that from the version I have.

It just strikes you as the most staggeringly pointless of enterprises. When was the last time a new Street Fighter game came out and was successful (and no, I don't mean endless Anniversary Collections)? When the godawful live-action flick came out, the series was at the height of its powers - Super SF2 had just come out on the SNES, with people paying up to sixty quid for it, and it was the beat-em-up franchise to beat. To us lot, it will always remain definitive (go away with your Mortal Kombats and Eternal Championses), but in this Tekken and Dead or Alive-driven world, how is SF2 relevant to the current generation of young gamers?

I mean, it blatantly should be, but I don't think it is...

Also, does anyone else bloody hate the apparent fear of definite articles that runs throughout Variety's prose style? It's like "Hey, look, we're too busy and this industry too fast-moving to dwell on words like 'the', let's just pretend they don't exist". Pricks.

Definite article is ridiculously inefficient as any good Zangief would explain. Simply fill in gaps with brain!

I too, clicked on this article wishing to point out the confused nature of releasing a Street Fighter film roughly 10 years after anyone cared about it. I'll be first in line, but I can't imagine it'll be a very big line. Unless Capcom know something we don't...

> (go away with your Mortal Kombats and Eternal Championses)

But Mortal Kombat is more varied and interesting than any of the mindless Street Fighter button bashers. FACT.

One of the most hilarious things about Street Fighter: The Movie is that it spawned a game for the Saturn that was utter shit. Wrap your noodle around that one!

> But Mortal Kombat is more varied and interesting than any of the mindless Street Fighter button bashers. FACT.

Did MK allow you to smash up a car with a Sumo wrestler? I THINK NOT.

> Did MK allow you to smash up a car with a Sumo wrestler? I THINK NOT.

Nope, but it did allow you pull off a variety of gruesome and amusing 'Finish Him' moves, as well featuring fun scenery interaction AND pull off a combo (oooh, pardon) was far more satisfying.

But Mortal Kombat is more varied and interesting than any of the mindless Street Fighter button bashers. FACT.

Spoken like someone who can't beat Sagat.

MK is the original Pallette-swap king of all fighting games. Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Reptile, Smoke, Noob Saibot...To the lesser mind of the Mortal Kombat fan, this appears to be variation, however, to fans of SF2, the truth is clear.

I think you're underestimating the brand name status of Streetfighter. Sure it isn't the leading light game wise it once was but back then it actually had a reletatively niche market. Thanks to the endless re-packing, compilation and anniversary editions the name itself has been kept in the market and those of a young age will at least be 'aware' of it, even if they don't possess the same passion. In addition those of us who fondly remember that golden era will likewise prick up our ears at the mention of Streetfighter. Plus the new movie will no doubt get coverage and free advertising via the games press so this time round it'll have a much wider demographic.

It'll still be a bit poo though.

To the lesser mind of the Mortal Kombat fan, this appears to be variation, however, to fans of SF2, the truth is clear.

Not least because ALL the characters move in EXACTLY THE SAME WAY and at EXACTLY THE SAME SPEED. Yet MK fans actually hold this up as a GOOD thing, having never witnessed the glory of a Zangief vs Chun Li/Vega/Cammy fight...

I can take the hit of having the characters moving at the same speed for the added on bonus of MK looking better and being far more fast paced and entertaining. Along with the aforementioned variety in 'Finish 'Him' moves and the *multitude* of character specific special attacks you get in MK3.

So fucking NER to the lot of you.

looking better

Balls it does. There's a reason why digitised graphics disappeared so quickly, you know.

far more fast paced

Again : balls it is. Street Fighter is insanely fast and smooth. MK is like wrestling in treacle.

the aforementioned variety in 'Finish 'Him' moves

Gimmicks are no substitute for solid gameplay, enduring and varied character design, and gorgeous 16-bit colour-packed sprites.

You seem to judging the entire franchise on the first game there. It didn't look the best and it was quite slow, but 2 and 3 blow those problems completely out of the water. And the 'Finish Him' stuff int he first game is brilliantly expanded upon to bring in tonnes of special moves and some of the best, fast-paced combos in ANY beat 'em up.

Having said that, I'd still say MK1 is better than SF2, but that's more personal preference, and I'm unlikely to justify that with FACTS. The other two games are a different matter, though...

> (go away with your Mortal Kombats and Eternal Championses)

I liked Eternal Champions, though I never got to play the Mega CD version.

The newest Capcom beat 'em up I've got is Marvel vs Capcom 2 (Dreamcast version), which is good fun even though I'm rubbish at it despite its "dial-a-combo" nature. Unfortunately I've never played Street Fighter 3: Third Strike, which a lot of fighting game fans reckon is the very best fighting game, but I've seen quite a few videos.

So for anyone who hasn't seen that clip yet here's a link to the amazing event. Plus, it now has a sequel! Ode to the 2-hit combo" is also worth watching.

I actually think that Mortal Kombat 2 and 3 are vastly superior games over MK1; if anything, it's MK2 that probably makes a better argument against SF2 than the first one.