Street Fighter Alpha: Generations – Review

Street Fighter Alpha: Generations follows Ryu when he returns to pay homage to his deceased mentor. He is tormented by disturbing memories of his master’s killer. In a quest to become a true martial arts master, Ryu sets out to hone his street fighting skills and to deliver himself from the haunting legacy of the Dark Hadou. Sadly, instead of continuing from Street Fighter Alpha to part 2 we are presented with a 45 minute prequel which is obviously not aimed at any street fighter fan. I really really wanted to like it, as I am a hardcore Street Fighter fan. This movie had so much potential that it never reaches… I almost feel like the creators made this movie strictly with the thought that it would do well just because of the Street Fighter name, and didn’t care about the quality. Another weakness in this anime is that it revolves nearly exclusively around Ryu and Akuma. I would have loved to see other characters get explored more thoroughly or at least get some minimum screen time.

Hopefully the next time a SF anime is made, the creators will actually put in some type of effort to make it a worthwhile purchase. This won’t be a positive review and my fanboyism for the Street Fighter Universe was nearly ruined because of this film.  However there are a few good points which can make me recommend you viewing this. I liked that it was only 45 mins. long, unlike some of the other anime that’s too long and so it drags. This anime gets right to the fighting and the story, while not that progressed, still was awesome how it showed the struggles against the Dark Hadou. Fan favorite Ken Masters comes in for a scene near the end but and I would’ve liked to see him given a more important role.

Overall, Generations is fun to watch. If you’re not a Street Fighter fan, avoid it. That I can assure you. The story is interesting but for those who know the mythos of Street Fighter there are some inconsistencies but those are forgivable to an extent. When I say it is interesting, I mean, the danger of using the Dark Hado is that it exposes one’s soul to dark chi which attracts demons. If one uses the dark hado for too long you will eventually be overwelmed by those dark forces and become possessed. Turns out Akuma was someone who at heart was good but wanted to be a great fighter so badly he didn’t understand the full consequenses. Being an old Street Fighter fan, knowing the origins and expanding upon the universe, even if breifly, was still cool to witness.

Upon leaving the Alpha Movie, we know that Ryu can definitely hold his own against any opponent. It seems to me that Generations attempted to be a stand-alone story as well, yet because of this, it makes the movie redundant. The animation wasnt too bad actually and I thought it looked quite smooth although Akuma looked terrible, and the voice overs were wrongly cast for the most part. All in all a very bad film, I really am disappointed, they should have countined it on from where Alpha left off, and used the same writer/director. The good thing is there are other quality Street Fighter animes out there so if you haven’t seen any yet, don’t start here as a starting point. To everyone else, after reading my review, you should know what you are getting into before viewing it. Also, leaving on a good note, there isn’t much demand to track this anime film down as I occasionally see it on television from time to time.