Reviews// Capcom, SNK & Sammy revive the 2D beat 'em up

In terms of character design, we are firmly entering Japan-land with what these characters represent. Although many will be so familiar with the Street Fighter cast that they appear almost normal, you can’t forget the fact that Dhalsim is actually an Indian rubber man who can float and breathe fire. And Blanka is a radioactive, green fleshed wolf-man scientist from Brazil. Microsoft or EA wouldn’t even know where to start with conjuring up that visionary sort of imagination.

But the weirdness peaks with Guilty Gear, partly because we are newcomers to the series and so the characters still carry considerable novelty. And on top of that, Sammy has outdone itself just by being really very peculiar. For instance - Bridget: a feisty young nun armed with a yo-yo and explosive teddy bears; and May, a member of the Jellyfish air-pirates (surely that requires no further explanation). And then there’s what these characters say, which in translation, makes everything even more surreal than it is already. As Anji Mito, a Human-Japanese martial artist with blood type B, observes as his particular story-mode unfurls “Regardless of his intentions, the danger of leaving a Japanese man unattended is profound.” Well, indeed, they might end up writing a script like this…

Bridget: “To me, every man other than Johnny is called Pops…”
Anji: “Well, at least check out my dance before you make up your mind…”

“Fight!”

As much as we’d like to see the storyline’s author nominated for the gaming equivalent of the Booker Prize, SPOnG still tends to swing in favour of the Street Fighter camp, mainly because the series has been given enough exposure to gather a genuine following in PAL territories, where SNK had only ventured with its uber-exclusive Neo Geo range. As such, there’s been a little longer to develop firm loyalties. However, personal preferences aside, Capcom’s Street Fighter Anniversary Edition for the Xbox is probably the chunkiest, hardest hitting title out of the crowd anyway.