TV Review - Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist

What do video game movies and McDonald's breakfasts have in common? One you can only face when you're drunk and the other when you're hung over. I'll leave you to guess which one is which. Any Street Fighter fan who grew up in the 90s will remember the disastrous Jean Claude Van Damme movie. Superficially, it had lots of promise; it centred around Guile (played by JCVD) and his squadron of marines trying to take down Bison (played by the brilliant Raul Julia in his final role) and his Shadaloo organisation. Throw in Ming-Na as Chun Li (also on the hunt for Bison), Roshan Seth as Dhalsim, Wes Studi as Sagat and a young Kylie Minogue as Cammy and you'd be forgiven for thinking it had a solid mix of physical prowess and acting chops. However, much like the Super Mario Bros movie of the previous year, Street Fighter: The Movie was so poorly executed and deviated so far from the source material, that fans were bitterly disappointed. We had to wait decade and a half for the next live action SF movie, but sadly, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li (starring Kristin Kreuk as Chun Li, Taboo off of the Black Eyed Peas as Vega and not much else) was even worse. That said, by its release in 2009, gamers were used to bad movie adaptations, not least because of a certain German director.

When Mortal Kombat and Silent Hill rank among the better movies based on video games, we gamers have had little reason be hopeful about any others. So I was pleasantly surprised by Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist, a budget web series, which made its way to Netflix earlier this spring. On seeing the mock posters for Assassin's Fist one thing immediately caught my attention: it showcased Ryu and Ken, who have been sorely under utilised in any previous live action translation. Before watching it I looked it up online and discovered it was made by the same team that produced the 3 minute short, Street Fighter: Legacy, about five years ago. I did watch the short when it first came out, but it subsequently escaped by memory. If you haven't already seen Legacy, you can check that out here. But while that short showed the team had some physical talent and decent special effects, it was by no means proof they could pull off an actual story. But by being careful and restrained, I think they have done the impossible: make an authentic Street Fighter series that isn't completely corny.

As stories go, Assassin's Fist is a stripped back, bare bones affair. I suspect this was done for reasons of budget, but necessity is the mother of invention, so the result is a focussed tale of Ryu, Ken, their master Gouken and his brother Gouki, who is seduced by the dark power of Satsui no Hadou and becomes the demon Akuma. Although there are a few other characters in the show — most notably the old master Goutetsu and his daughter, Sayaka — there are no other characters from the games. 

Gouken teaches the kids how it's done

The story begins in 1987, with Ryu (played by Mike Moh) and Ken (played by Christian Howard) learning the martial art Ansatsuken (Assassin's Fist) under the guidance of a middle-aged Gouken (played by Akira Koieyama) at a dojo in the remote Japanese countryside. The show spends a little time explaining how the two friends ended up at the dojo, under Gouken's care and training, before getting meaty with the plot. 

When Ken starts complaining about the lack of progress in their training, Gouken takes the young men to the dojo where he and his brother trained, under Goutetsu (Togo Igawa), decades earlier. Here Gouken begins to teach them how to produce a Hadou (those annoying fireballs cheap players lob at you constantly). Before long, Ryu's is outpacing Ken, much to the frustration of the American fighter. Then one day, in a boarded up room of this old dojo, Ken discovers a book that explains how to perform the Satsui no Hadou. Gouken is no fool and on seeing Ken's new technique, he realises the boy must have uncovered something that should have stay buried. 

Ooh-ohwa your fist is on fi-yer!

This then leads to a long sequence of flashbacks, where we learn how the young Gouken (played by Shogen Itokazu) and Gouki (Gaku Space) are taken in by Goutetsu, after their father is killed in battle. Like Ryu and Ken, Gouken and his younger brother are torn between their love for one another and their rivalry. This rivalry extends to also winning the affection of Goutestu's daughter, Sayaka (Hyunri Lee). When his older brother proves himself to be the better warrior and the more eligible bachelor, Gouki is lured towards the darkside of Ansatsuken and the poisonous effects of Satsui no Hadou. This story then takes up the bulk of the series, with us only occasionally checking in on the boys in the white and red jammies. Assassin's Fist was originally released online last May as a series of shorts, but for the Netflix version it has been turned into a 2½ hour movie. While I've not seen the serial, I suspect it probably works better in that format than as a movie. For example, we spend a long time in a cave in the woods, as Gouki slowly transforms into Akuma (played by Joey Ansah). This is an important part of the Street Fighter canon, but viewing these slower paced pieces of exposition as stand alone 20 minute episodes may be an easier way to digest them, rather than slowing down an entire movie with scenes where not much is said or done.

Akuma meditates in a cave for much of the film

Overall, the script and acting are fine; they are a step up from any original content cooked up by the SyFy channel and miles ahead of any Uwe Bollocks. Howard and Moh are not the best actors by any means, but the script (written by Howard and Ansah) does not demand too much of them. In many ways, the true stars of the show are Koieyama/Itokazu, Space and Igawa, who benefit from being allowed to act in Japanese. This mix of English and Japanese also lends authenticity to the series, which it might not otherwise have had. Most importantly for fans of the games, the combat is well choreographed, with many key moves well represented - even if the shoryuken looks a little silly. 

What about non-SF fans, will they enjoy it? Maybe my love for the source material is clouding my judgement, but I think they might. It compares well with many of the epic martial arts movies that emerged following Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon's release in 2000. So if you enjoyed that or films like Hero and House of Flying Daggers then you may well enjoy this too. The reason I say this is simple: at the heart of it all is a classic tale of love, rivalry, corruption and betrayal, which is are the cornerstones of so many other classic stories.

Highs

• Tight, focussed story that does not stretch itself too far
• Mostly great casting. Christian Howard's Ken is as good as I think we'll ever get.
• Great choreography that does the game's action justice
• Better acting than you might expect from a low budget web series
• The most authentic Street Fighter story to date

Lows

• The Gouken/Gouki flashbacks are a little long and may lose any non-SF fans along the way
• Mix of languages may put off lazy viewers
• Ken's hair piece

Verdict

Proof stories from games can be translated to movies/TV series and an interesting look into the core backstory of Capcom's iconic series. The convincing combat, focussed script and competent acting mean that this really feels like Street Fighter. 

Anyone on Netflix can get to the series using this link: http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/80016891

Homage Review - Twin Tiger Shark

Twin Tiger Shark? Was that an arcade game? Why does that name sound familiar?

Perhaps because this World War I-themed vertical scrolling shmup, the latest by indie developers Wide Pixel Games, is inspired by a number of Toaplan's shmups from the late 80s and early 90s. To name just a few, this is a homage to games like TWIN Hawk, TIGER Heli and Flying SHARK. I discussed a number of these games in my A Brief History of  World War II shoot 'em ups article a few years ago and they form an important part of the history of arcade gaming.

However, Wide Pixel's game goes beyond being a mere homage, if anything, this is a clone, almost a bare-faced rip off (in much the same way Locomalito's brilliant Hydorah ripped off Gradius). But do not let that stop you checking this one out, because unlike the dozens of Flappy Bird clones that flooded the iOS and Android markets after the original was yanked, Twin Tiger Shark is a quality product from top to bottom.

While I enjoyed the Twin Hawk/Cobra and Tiger Heli games, I was never a massive fan of the Shark games. They were okay, but they were not the best Toaplan had to offer, nor did they live up to their nearest rivals, Capcom's 194x series. Thankfully, while Twin Tiger Shark looks like Flying Shark, it plays more like Toaplan's other shmups. It features all the key ingredients: three weapon modes, bombs, a squadron of helpers (a la Twin Hawk), a play field that scrolls partially left and right, even medals (in the form of stars) to collect after destroying enemies. The enemies themselves are generic World War-themed bi-planes and tanks, but what stands out are the game's great enemy patterns and tight controls. Despite being hard, it rarely feels unfair, because of those last two ingredients. Mistakes are yours, not because the game is cheap and that only encourages you to keep trying.

All told there are 6 stages, but in true hardcore style, it's very difficult (even in the so called "Easy" mode) and there are no continues, so you have to get good if you want to finish the game. This is something I have not done yet, but that's often the way with these games and its not going to stop them being fun. There is some innovation here too. When you upload a high score it displays a QR code for you to scan with your phone or tablet, which will take you to the web page for the world wide leader boards. It's a nice way of overcoming the lack of built-in leader boards for XBLIG games.

So should you bother with Twin Tiger Shark? Absolutely and not just because it's only around 69p. I have not done a game review since the Xbox 360 port of Akai Katana, almost 2 years ago, but I had to let people know this one is out there waiting to be played. Anybody who knows their stuff will see the connection here (least of all the setting), so it says something that I feel compelled to write about this blatant copy cat. I'll be honest, I actually think this could be a better game than many of Toaplan's shmups from the 80s and 90s. It looks a lot older and it has an old school mentality but there is a quality here, a smoothness and precision, that only modern games offer. It is as tight and rewarding as some of the best shoot 'em ups around and is probably the best indie shmup I've played since Final Form's superb Jamestown. The only serious criticism I have is the lack of co-op play, everything else is great.

Oh, and if you're one of those crazy people who bought an Ouya, you can also get it on that.

Plays like

• Twin Hawk
• Tiger Heli
• Flying Shark
• Anything else by Toaplan

Highs

• Tight controls let you weave through the well structured enemy patterns with skill -- if you have it
• Authentic 8-bit arcade experience. The music is particularly brilliant.
• Arguably a better playing game than some of the games that inspired it
• Innovative use of QR codes for high scores
• Costs less than a Mars Bar.

Lows

• Not for the faint-hearted
• Despite the name, this is not a two player game. 

Twin Tiger Shark is out on XBLIG and Ouya priced £0.69.

Worth a Look - February 2013

The first Worth a Look of the year and it's all about arcade nostalgia, some of which comes in an unusual form.

Capcom's Arcade Cabinet

Developer:	Capcom
Publisher:	Capcom
Platforms:	XBLA, PSN
Price:	400MSP/£3.99 per pack
Demo available:	Yes

I saw the logo for Capcom's Arcade Cabinet about a month ago and guessed what it would be. When the first videos appeared it looked like the classic arcade manufacturer was trying to do single-handedly what Atari, Konami, Intellivision, Krome and of course Microsoft, failed to do as a joint venture with the ill-fated retro gaming service Game Room, but it's actually something more akin to the Vintage Collections Sega have been putting out recently. Basically, if you loved old Capcom arcade games like 1942, Black Tiger, Side Arms and many, many more, then Arcade Cabinet gives you access to them either individually or in packs of three. They are promising to release new packs on a regular basis and the first few offerings are probably better than most of what was on Game Room anyway. The interface is elegant and and emulation seems spot on. If legal emulation is your thing (and it ought to be), then check it out on your Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3.

Arcadecraft

Developer:	FireBase
Publisher:	Microsoft
Platforms:	XBox Live Indie Games
Price:	240MSP
Demo available:	Yes

One of my many fantasies as a kid was owning my own arcade, along with being the lead singer of a heavy metal band, being a movie star, being a pro wrestler and being a ninja. Now, thanks to FireBase, we can all live out that fantasy in Arcadecraft. If you've every played Theme Park or Railroad Tycoon, you'll have a pretty good idea of what this game is about. Buy machines, lay out your arcade, alter settings for price, difficulty, etc and make your business a success. Sadly, although FireBase went to the effort of dreaming up fake manufacturer's and machines, you cannot actually play any of them, just profit from them. It's still fun, but I feel that extra step could have made this amazing.

Super House of Dead Ninjas

Developer:	Megadev
Publisher:	Adult Swim Games
Platforms:	PC (Steam)
Price:	£4.99
Demo available:	No

Based on a Flash game of the same name, Super House of Dead Ninja fast-paced 2D platform beat 'em up that begs you to have another go when it inevitably beats you.  You play the part of the Crimson Ninja, who must make her way down through the randomly generated floors before the time (30 seconds per check point) runs out. It's a combination that would have made it a very successful arcade machine. It's also one of many indie games out there that strives to look retro, whilst ultimately doing things that could not have been done in the implied era. It's brisk, challenging, graceful, gory and would not have looked out of place in an arcade 25 years ago. Although there is technically no demo on Steam, you can still play the Flash version here.

MTW

Wreck-It Ralph

Disney's Wreck-It Ralph is an upcoming 3D animated movie about the baddie from a fictional arcade game called Fix-It Felix, who declares at his local Bad-Anon meeting that he does not want to be a bad guy any more — much to the chagrin of Clyde the orange ghost, Bowser, Dr Eggman, M. Bison and Zangief. Yes, you just read that list right and they are far from the only arcade and video game references in this trailer. In fact the references go so far back into the annals of gaming history, it makes me think this has been made by people with a genuine love for the medium. Dad's like me will certainly appreciate the fact they have kids young enough to justify going to see this when it comes out later this month.

MTW

Worth a Look - July 2012

I never wanted to make this into a review site and the few reviews I have done have taken more time (and money) than I'd like, so instead I'm introducing a new, ad hoc feature, Worth a Look, where I take a handful of new arcade-inspired games and put them in the spot light.

This month I have a Space Invaders clone, a Breakout/Arkanoid clone and a modern fighting game that inspired this feature in the first place.

Skull Girls 

Developer:	Revenge Labs
Publisher:	Autumn Games/Konami
Platforms:	XBLA/PSN(PS3)
Price:	1200MSP/£10.99
Demo available:	Yes

What is it?

If you like Guilty Gear or Blaz Blue, check out Revenge Labs's debut, Skull Girls, which actually hit Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network for PS3 a couple of months ago. There may only be eight combatants, but Revenge Labs have done a great done of making sure they are as different from one another as possible. There's also a pretty solid tutorial mode, which Revenge hopes will teach people who are new to fighters how things like combos, launchers, cancels and juggles work.

Titan Attacks

Developer:	Puppy Games
Publisher:	Steam/independent
Platforms:	PC
Price:	£2.99
Demo available:	Yes/No

What is it?

Almost as soon as it was released in 1978 people started copying Space Invaders' formula. Most of the time developers do nothing to distinguish themselves from the pack, but Puppy Games manage to be both be highly retro and brilliantly redesigned at the same time. As well as the usual wave-based, single-screen action you'd expect from a Space Invaders clone, Titan Attacks includes an upgrade shop, which appears at the end of every level. If you simply want to survive you can top up your shield after each wave, but if you want to power up your tank, you need to save your coppers for several levels. Whether it's worth the wait is entirely up to you.

WoOOPup 

Developer:	Bedroom Studio Entertainment
Publisher:	Independent
Platforms:	XBox Live Indie Games
Price:	80MSP
Demo available:	Yes

What is it?

Breakout clones are even more commonplace than Space Invaders clones, but good ones are rare. WoOOPup! by Bedroom Studios is easily the best on Microsoft's Xbox Live Indie Games service. While not as distinctive as Shatter, WoOOPup has very high production values and a few new ideas of its own, including coins that appear when you break a block and can only be collected by the ball, stackable power ups and coin collecting bonus rounds.

That does it for this month. Check the Worth a Look tag in the coming months for more tasty, arcade-inspired treats.

MTW

Homage Review: Sine Mora (XBLA)

King of quirky game development, Suda 51, lends his talents to a new Xbox exclusive shoot 'em up, but can it deliver on its promise to revitalise the genre?

The Xbox 360 has become the console to own if you like shoot 'em ups. As well as numerous arcade classics, ranging from Defender and Millipede to Radiant Silvergun and Death Smiles, it has several original titles, including the brilliant Omega Five and Geometry Wars. You can now add Sine More to that list, a traditional sidescrolling shoot 'em up, which is reminiscent of arcade classics P-47, UN Squadron (AKA Area 88) and, in particular, Cave's sublime Progear (a game a PlanetMGC forum member first switched me on to).

For a shoot 'em up, Sine Mora has a surprisingly dense plot, which is told in non-sequential chapters for reasons best understood by developers Grasshopper Manufacturer and Digital Reality. The gist of it is that the planet Seol is being ravaged by civil war, one that is seemingly without end, because the anthropomorphic animals that inhabit the planet can manipulate time. The story is delivered through lots of screens full of text and dialogue bubbles, which often pop-up right in the middle of you dodging flak. As you play through the game you take on the role of different pilots, each with their own weapons and upgrades. Unfortunately, in story mode your power-ups do not carry over from level to level, because you are constantly jumping between protagonists.

Sine Mora is Latin for "without delay" and this is a reference to the various ways the game plays with time. The central conceit is that instead of lives or a shield you get a timer, which is constantly counting down. Taking damage knocks off bigger chunks of time and if you run out of time altogether, it's game over. You can earn time by shooting down enemy aircraft; the bigger the enemy, the more time you get back. While this reduces the chance of a one-shot death, it also means you can scrape through a mid-level boss encounter, then die a few seconds later because there's no enemies around. This can make hard-fought victories into something to resent, rather than celebrate, as you are at risk of dying without making any further mistakes.

You can also slow down time for a limited period, which can be used to avoid complex swarms of bullets or focus your fire on a boss's weakspot. This is a mechanic that has been used in games for over a decade, going back to the Matrix-inspired bullet time of the Max Payne games and it's still used today, with The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim having a bullet time perk for shield bearers. You can also slow time in the Xbox indie shmup, Redshift, which actually came out about a month before Sine Mora.  Again, this idea puts me in mind of Progear, which slowed your fighter if you held the fire button, allowing you to move through sprays of bullets with more precision, even though nothing else slowed down. Combine all this with the artstyle and you would be forgiven for thinking footage of Sine Mora was actually footage of a Progear HD remake -- if only that were true. Sadly, there are other problems that blight what could have been a great game. Although most of the bullets are bright and colourful, but there are some dark-coloured missiles that are hard to see, even on my 37" plasma. Likewise some of the fighters themselves blend into the background at times and there are also times when the scenery blocks almost half the screen, such as during the tunnel sections on the second level. Finally, Sine Mora's weapons take far too long to power up, so you spend most of a level with what feels like a pea-shooter. This is in stark contrast to, say Satazius, which manages to make you feel powerful from the get-go and still provide rewarding upgrades. And once you do get powered up, the level ends, you jump into the shoes of a different pilot and have to start from scratch -- argh!

I was so excited when I first saw footage of this game, because it is gorgeous. In fact, it is without doubt the best looking shoot 'em up ever made. However, once I played it my enthusiasm started to wane. It's not a bad game, but it is so similar to Progear that it's difficult to play Sine Mora without comparing it to Cave's classic -- and it's the older game that comes out on top every time. If you think that is just rose-tinted nostalgia talking, then I have a confession for you all: the first time I played Progear last year, when I posted A Brief History of  World War II shoot 'em ups.

If I was going to spend 1200 on an XBLA shoot 'em up, I would spend that money on Radiant Silvergun or R-Type Dimensions before Sine Mora, although I would buy this game before Raystorm HD or Trouble Witches Neo. I feel it's only fair to point out several top game magazine's have raved about Sine Mora; IGN, Games(TM), Destructoid, Joystiq and Eurogame all awarded it around 90%, which I think is a little generous. I don't do scores in my reviews (I'd rather people read the text), but if I did it would not be nearly that high. There is a demo though, so download it and check it out for yourself. Oh and if you can, use an arcade stick, it really helps.

Plays like

• Progear
• P-47
• UN Squadron/Area 88

Highs

• Gorgeous 3D graphics.  This could be the best looking shmup ever!
• Tries to inject some life into one of gaming's oldest genres.
• Plenty of options for fighters and pilots.
• At around two hours to play through the story mode, this is a good deal longer than most.

Lows

• The weapons feel weak, do nothing interesting and in some modes do not carry over between levels.
• The heavy-handed story telling gets in the way of the action -- often literally.
• Poor visibility leads to frequent frustrating deaths.
• Dying because there's nothing to shoot to top up your time/life just plain sucks.

Sine Mora is out on XBLA now, priced 1200 Microsoft points.

Homage Review: Satazius (PC)

Capcom enters the indie scene by backing a cracking Gradius homage.

The indie game scene is thriving these days and it's not surprising that most of these bedroom developers are making modern versions of classic arcade games. One genre that is benefiting the most is the shoot 'em up, which is great, because I love a good shoot 'em up (in case you didn't know).  Now coin-op legends Capcom are promoting these small, independent developers and one of the first games they've published is Gradius-inspired shmup Satazius, by Astro Port.

The set up for the game goes as follows: The battle cruiser Agano is on patrol near the planet Satazius when it's attacked by pirates, intent on stealing the assault ship 'Trafalgar' being transported aboard the battle cruiser.  As the Agano crashes to the surface of Satazius, the Trafalgar blasts off to take out the pirates.  While that's not much of a plot, it's all a game like this needs.  There are bad guys in spaceships, you have a flying cannon, so get out there and blast 'em!

The presentation in this game is a bit of a mixed bag.  The audio is spot on, with its hyper-active, melodramatic music, sizzling laser blasts and shuddering explosions.  However, the game has 16-bit art style and a native resolution of 640x480, which, when stretched out to a typical modern resolution, really does not scale very well.  Astro Port would have been better either upping the resolution of the artwork or just going full-on retro and create something that looked more 8-bit.

In terms of gameplay, it may not be particularly innovative, but it is very well done.  A rarely-seen feature of Satazius is that the weapon load out you choose at the beginning of the game (a la Gradius) you get to keep all the way through, even if you die or continue.  Instead of changing weapon types mid-game, each one can be powered up 8 times, with death taking each active power up down a notch.  When you continue you get to reselect your weapon load out, which means you can either choose something different and or use the same load out as before, which may still be partially powered up.  Unlike a lot of these games, you still feel powerful with a basic set of guns.  Don't take that to mean it's easy.  It's actually really tough, but it's not a bullet hell shooter in the vain of a Cave or Treasure game.  Instead it's challenge comes from great level design and an emphasis on environmental obstacles, much like the game that inspired it. Likewise the boss encounters will be familiar to anyone who's played a Gradius game, although generally speaking you do not have to target a "core" as you would in the Konami games.

In summing up Satazius I find myself in a tricky position. There is very little originality to be found here and if you're the sort of sneaky person who plays arcade games on MAME you will find better games, however there's a charm and accessibility here that find highly appealing. There's a demo available through Steam which will give you the first level, so give it a go, you may be surprised.

Plays like

• Gradius 
• Darius

Highs

• Having a full arsenal from the get-go is incredibly empowering and encourages you to keep playing even after you get a kicking.
• The combination of unlocking and upgradable weapons eggs you on too see what else is available and how new weapons will then work on subsequent playthroughs.
• Gameplay focuses on environmental obstacles and does not resort to cheap bullet hell tactics.
• Incredibly satisfying shoot 'em up action.

Lows

• Native resolution is only 640x480 and the artstyle means it does not scale well.
• Only support analogue joypad input, despite ship movement being digital, but this can be overcome using JoyToKey.

Satazius is available from Steam priced £4.49.  For more info check out Gamespot's review.

MTW

Attack of the Clones

Years before I ever played games like Asteroids, Pac-Man or Defender in the arcade I played a number of very (very) similar games on my older brother's BBC Micro B. Only, they weren't called Asteroids, Pac-Man or Defender, they were called Meteors, Snapper and Planetoid and they were some of the many clones created by companies like Acornsoft, Micro Power and Superior Software. I never questioned the similarities at the time, but thinking about it now, the BBC B had rather a lot of blatant rip o— ahem, I mean clo— err, I meant homages to classic arcade games. And although I cannot speak for many other computers and consoles of that era, I'm pretty sure systems like the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum had their fair share of clones too.

Here are a few of the BBC B games I can remember — see if you can work out what arcade games they were based on:

 

 

 

I think you'll agree, all rather blatant and I doubt, in today's more copyright conscious society, Acornsoft, Micro Power or Superior Software could have got away with it. Still, as my memory serves, they were generally pretty good clones.

For more classic BBC B games check out http://www.bbcmicrogames.com

MTW