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1. Ninjutsu – From the shadowy men in black pyjamas, Ninjitsu disciples are schooled in espionage,
stealth, guerrilla warfare and unconventional combat practices that include both armed and unarmed fighting
techniques.
2. Lerdrit – Taught to the Royal Thai Army, Lerdrit harnesses all the brutal aspects of Muay Thai into one
uncompromising, unarmed fighting technique. It utilises open hand strikes, knees, powerful kicks and grapples.
3. ValeTudo – With its origins in Brazil, the English translation means anything goes. Well, that kind
of sums it up perfectly really. An unarmed method of fighting, Vale Tudo draws influences from many different
martial arts.
4. Systema – The Germans called their Russian
opponents ‘super soldiers’ during WWII, and it’s hardly
surprising if they were practising this. Systema focuses on
the weak points of the anatomy with an emphasis on both
single and multiple opponents.
5. Krav Maga – This Israeli self-defence technique was designed to be used
on the streets and really isn’t for the faint-hearted. There are no rules, just survival; hit the
vulnerable parts of the human body and keep on hitting them, until you can either escape or
kill your opponent.
visit GAMES FEATURE
56 FEBRUARY 2016
GAMES
is generally a considerable roster of characters
to learn – and eventually master. When it
comes to deciding which to roll with, Ono-san
advises against pigeonholing your roster.
“Personally I would encourage people to
diversify," he offers. “In any martial art where
you face off against an opponent, you can’t
win just by your own actions. You need to
understand your opponent’s style in order to
truly be a master."
Although the SFV roster is down to 16
characters on release, as opposed to Ultra
Street Fighter IV’s whopping 44, there will
be an additional six fighters added post-
launch, so there’s always somewhere to
improve. Ono-san confirms there’s no need
for ‘real money’ to get your hands on the new
characters: “As previously announced, you
will be able to earn Fight Money and use it
to unlock these characters for free without
spending any real-world currency”.
With so much competition in this genre's
marketplace, Street Fighter relies on humour
to differentiate itself from the competition, as
well as its continued reformatting, according
to Ono-San.
“Most game series have each main title
build on the existing gameplay of the previous
one, but Street Fighter has a new system
per title, and that means that we are also
in the unusual position of having a separate
community for each of our major titles."
In addition to the game's release in
February, an accompanying live-action
miniseries will also be aired.
“Assassin’s Fist was made by some great
creators who love Street Fighter, and as it’s
been officially sanctioned by Capcom, I’m
sure you’ll agree it has that feeling of being
an official quality production," says Ono-san.
“When I read the script, I thought to myself,
wow, this is good enough to make official.
The story and background of Street Fighter is
something that I think each player is invested
in and thinks about in different ways, so I’d
like for each player to interpret each character
in whatever way they feel."
It is this innate story continuity that has led
to the high return rate of its playerbase, as
well as the dedication fans have to the series;
lore is just as important as gameplay to some.
Almost three decades on, Capcom’s
beloved franchise doesn’t look to be
slowing any time soon. Ono-san recognises
the impact it has had on the video game
community, and acknowledges its "great
history of providing a tool for old and young
alike to compete against each other”.
And we can certainly look forward to
further Street Fighter titles in the years to
come. “I’d like to see the brand continue
to expand and attract players from around
the world of all ages," hopes Ono-san, "who
can play together, be they parent and child,
college students playing as if it were their
home sports team, [or] casual players treating
it like kicking a soccer ball around on a Sunday
in the park”.
Five
Brutal
Martial
Arts
You need to
understand your
opponent’s style in
order to truly
be a master