Ryu is weird because he's simultaneously Street Fighter's most generic and most recognizable character. Asian guy in a Gi with a normal haircut and a headband doesn't scream ORIGINAL. Fortunately, Capcom's cartoony art stylehas always managed to keep him looking interesting;SFIV gave him huge feet/hands and some other stylistic touches that made him look pretty neat. Unfortunately when he gets run through Tekken's Gener-o-matic style machine, you end up with this:
Above: Why doesn't Ryu just order a sleeveless gi?
Not to hate on Tekken, but their characters have always skewed towards a far more realistic visual style than SF's, which has always made them look a little dry. Seeing Ryu wearing Paul's gi and looking like an angry commuter isn't that exciting. It does look like they let him hang on to his sasquatch-esque eyebrows though:
Above: SF4 Ryu is not pleased with Tekken Ryu
In fact, this style reminds me of another Street Fighter crossover you may have forgotten, Street Fighter x Playstation Home:
Above: "Hello Ken. Hello Chun-Li. Please enjoy looking at my new figurines. On this table. In my home."
Notice the vacant eyes and bolt upright pose. Of course this is a very earlyprototype and far from final, soexpect some more flourishes in the future. Tekken lead developer Harada stressed that this render is in its infancy and fans shouldn't bombard his Twitter accountwith complaints just yet.Bland Ryu model aside, the fighting fans in the office are still excited for Tekken x SF; we're very eager to see howSF's cast will be managed in a 3-D fighting game while still maintaining the characters' play style.
Above: "Ugh I just cleaned the windshield too."
Even more interesting is the game's inclusion of what appears to be Evil Ryu in the background, a character who hasn't been involved in a Street Fighter game since Capcom vs. SNK 2. While it's uncertain if he'll be playable, it seems like he'd be a perfect match for Jin or Kazuya's Devil side. Of course if you're interested in seeing what other characters we think would make good matchups, check out this article right here.
Aug 19, 2010
