I am a stickler for detail, when SF characters are launched I like to find out everything that went into their design, from the colors that are associated with them all the way down to the way they stand. If you remember back to my deconstruction of Abel, I mentioned that many fighting game characters today lack the basic elements that make them look and move like fighters. These are the basic elements that work in the context of Street Fighter. It upsets me to think that the modern designers do not see this, or had not bothered to do any research on the fighting arts.
When it comes to the best games in the SF series and even the most memorable films like the Street Fighter II anime movie, the best material was always pulled from a real understanding of the fighting arts. For example the SF II anime movie had fight advisors and K1 legends Andy Hug and Kazuyoshi Ishii helping with the choreography. Can you name a SF animated project whose fights left as much of an impact? The further the producers and animation directors distanced themselves from the fighting arts and instead focused on fireball spectacles, like the latter SF II V and SF Alpha films, the weaker the material became.
The stance for example is one of the most important features in real martial arts. A martial artist / boxer / wrestler, will tend to stand on the balls of their feet. In this way they can move, turn or strike much more effectively than if they were flat-footed. Even athletes in other sports like soccer, basketball or football know to always stay on the balls of their feet or they will fall during quick turns or get bowled over by the opposition. This detail has been carefully exploited in all of the SF games.
Have you ever noticed that Ken and Ryu stand with a shoulder forward, arms clenched closely to their bodies? How they have a certain bounce in their stance, jumping on the balls of their feet? Or how Dudley turns his shoulder, wrist and forearm slightly as he bounces on his feet, like a real boxer does? Notice how Zangief (used to) have a wrestling stance, Chun-Li a very poised Kung Fu stance or Dhalsim an obtuse yoga pose? El Fuerte has an odd animation style as he dances and places his feet ahead then behind his shoulder width, taking him out of balance. It certainly looks fancy on screen but is not very functional. It also makes his animation cycle from dancing into an attack look awkward. The way the characters stand are little details that the SF team used to put into the series as a nod to the real martial arts.
Please watch this video very carefully, play it back a few times if you can or have the time. Make some observations and lets compare notes.
Here is additional footage of El Fuerte's other moves from YouTube as well. In the video El Fuerte is bouncing all over the screen like a man possessed, of course I think it absurd that Rufus is just as fast as El Fuerte, but again I digress. Something in keeping with tradition is that El Fuerte can bounce off the edge of the screen as if were ring ropes and he also has a very quick splash attack. These moves work in the context of the game and are inspired from reality. Initial posters on YouTube say he reminds them of the ninja Guy. His frenetic pace and ability to jump off of walls would validate those claims. El Fuerte's leaping grapple moves are more "floaty" and rapid, they remind me of the weightless neck slash of Heidern from King of the Fighters. Overall he has a few quirky wrestling attacks but doesn't seem to have any of the great 3D wrestler moves like the spiral DDT of Street Fighter EX character Darun Mister or the unique wrestling attacks from the Muscle Bomber characters, but more on them later.
The biggest problem that I see, the flaw in El Fuerte's abilities, are his special moves. For one of his grapple special moves he grabs his opponent, spins around them without moving them, then suddenly lifts and drops them on their head. This special attack isn't based on any real lucha libre move. Even strong characters should move when a wrestler grabs onto them and flips around their body. Grapple attacks that look good on screen include movement with the opponent. When a smaller SF character like Dhalsim remains solid while El Fuerte swings around him it looks very out of place. This detail was what reminded me of the Heidern neck slash attack.
El Fuerte's super move is comically absurd. He leaps onto the shoulders of his opponent and rolls them into a faceplant. But without explanation he and his opponent are suddenly standing up again as he leaps into the air, pulling his opponent by the head with his feet, where he then flips backward and locks his opponent into Tajiri's signature "Tarantula" (6:30 into this clip) and then flips forward into a tumbling piledriver.
El Fuerte's moves go above and beyond the "willing suspension of disbelief" issues that I brought up while deconstructing Abel. It is beyond belief that El Fuerte can jump on someone's shoulders and pull them into the air with his feet for a grapple. Even more absurd is that he can stop a rotation mid-air and then rotate the opposite way instantly. Through this super attack, as well as some of Abel and Rufus's physics-defying moves it makes me question the current SF team's ability to make the moves as timeless as SF II's.
Granted, like my Abel blog I said that Street Fighter is a universe filled with amazing fighters that can do fantastic things like turn their chi into a fireball or use psycho power to fly around the screen. However at some point in the creation of these characters and their moves there was a real-world inspiration. Ryu's famous tatsumaki senpuukyaku "hurricane kick" was based on the Yoshiji Soeno's aerial triple kick. The characters of Ryu and Sagat were even amalgamations of Yoshiji Soeno, Mas Oyama, Reiba and Black Cobra respectively. Where Street Fighter succeeded was in making caricatures of these martial artists and their fighting arts. Adding some artistic liberties that turned an uppercut into a lethal destructive force that could split boulders in two. The game was not too realistic and also not too fantastic, but a perfect balance of the two. El Fuerte would then need some exaggerated lucha libre-inspired moves to fit better into the universe.
A critic could say that there was no way Capcom could make high flying wrestlers work in the game without breaking the balance between realism and fantasy. They've already tried lucha libre moves in SF with the character Rainbow Mika. To many she ended up coming off cheesy and cartoonish. A wrestling ring would move into frame just so she could do her aerial attacks. This looked very much out of place and confused many players. Doing the same thing for El Fuerte would also be absurd, however he can bounce off the edge of the screen as if it were a top rope. It certainly makes more sense in the game.
The SF Zero / Alpha team at least had some knowledge and respect for Japanese female wrestling. They made sure to let fans know that R. Mika was pure "puro" as the Capcom Secret File for SF Alpha 3 (titled: Sweat Smelling Zero Three) was a parody cover of a popular Japanese wrestling mag (titled: Weekly Puroresu).
I certainly didn't get the same connection and attention to detail while watching some of El Fuerte's other moves. As far as 3D moves go it would be hard not to create a character that draws immediate comparisons to Virtua Fighter's El Blaze, but to think that the Double Hurricanrana is the only eye-catching move that you could assign a wrestler as fantastic and over the top as the Spinning Piledriver would mean that Capcom had not invested enough time studying lucha libre moves.
Rey Mysterio Jr. is not the be-all and end-all of modern luchadores. He is a great enmascarado and extremely popular around the globe but he is using only a fraction of the moves that he used to perform. Due to the danger involved with some of those moves he is now limited to what he is allowed to do with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It is nice to see that Rey is referenced so much in modern fighting games and nicer yet that Tajiri, or at least some of Tajiri's moves get referenced in SF IV. But it's simply not enough because Capcom (or Sega) could have referenced more high-flyers and incorporate what makes them great. They could have let themselves be inspired by true lucha libre moves rather than make up nonsensical abilities.
Something else that Capcom and SF fans should notice is that although the above mentioned wrestlers are "high flyers," they all have different styles. The way one wrestler performs, even in the same weight class and format can be completely different than the way another performs. Yes, El Fuerte could "perform" as a ninja like Guy but I doubt that is what the people at Capcom had intended. Just as Ken and Ryu share one common form of karate each character performs the moves slightly different. Other karate practitioners in the universe have variations of their own. Dan Hibiki studies under the Saikyo Ryu school and Makoto under the Rindoukan form of karate, both of those characters control and play unlike Ken and Ryu. Developers need know the subtleties of a wrestler's style and ability and then bring that across to gamers. The impression of El Fuerte that I get is that of a speedy character that bounces off of walls and can lift people by the neck with his feet. Actual lucha libre moves are few and far between.
A true luchador is adept at a number of grappling techniques such as the mat skills that are more popular in the USA and England. However the defining characteristic for the luchador is the ability to fling himself with reckless abandon, to turn his body into a projectile and make up for his lack of size against larger / stronger opponents. This is what makes lucha libre, which translates literally into freestyle fighting, unique when compared to traditional wrestling or any other fighting art featured in Street Fighter. While purists admire the technical ability of the luchador on the mat, they are critical on the high risk maneuvers that define the culture. To them the risk of performing these moves to win a fight is not "worth it." To enmascarados the risk is everything. If I could advise the developers I would say that El Fuerte should have more of these amazing moves.
El Fuerte would be a better character if he had an assortment of absurdly insane leaping attacks inspired by actual enmascarados. Moves and abilities, that if you think about, have been sorely lacking in the SF universe. Moves that you as a player can activate from a crouch or roll, while dashing or recovering from a fall. Most importantly moves that can be done from a jump. El Fuerte does have some of these attacks but more air-based moves would be welcome in the series. This would change the game from being so lateral in it's left and right limitations and allow players to learn new strategies against or with aerial assaults.
The issues that I see with the look and move selection of El Fuerte are two of his great detractors. What upsets me the most is his purpose. How did the team at Capcom and DIMPS come to include El Fuerte in Street Fighter IV? I agree with all my heart that an enmascarado has belonged in Street Fighter for some time but if he lacks purpose, if he lacks understanding of the art he represents, then Capcom is doing a disservice to the game. Please come back tomorrow for the next part in this series. As always comments are encouraged!
Welcome back friends. Before we begin this part I have to mention how this Spanish Capcom fan-site broke down the origin of El Fuerte months ago. If you cannot read Spanish I will make many of those same observations here. I would like to mirror some of what was said on Capcom-Town.es and enlighten you as to how important it was for Capcom to present a masked wrestler right. Let's start with the most obvious thing, the appearance of El Fuerte.
El Fuerte breaks from traditional lucha libre designs in a few, not so obvious ways. Some of these changes are acceptable given the evolution and look of the modern-day wrestler. Rey Mysterio Jr. is undoubtedly the template for popular enmascarado designs in fighting games. He does have classic lucha libre training and is considered one of the best high flyers of all-time. His look is very contemporary, as he wears pants instead of tights, sports an open mouth mask and is covered in tattoos. Traditional enmascarados would never dress or present themselves in this way. El Blaze from Virtua Fighter steals the most cues from him.
However I do see something added for the sake of the game instead of lucha libre. The sash worn as a belt for both El Blaze and El Fuerte was added to show movement in the game engine. Not many wrestlers wear loose garments like that as it is very easy to get tangled on a rope during a high risk maneuver. As far as videogames go a sash is a way in which our eye can be drawn to motion. The pants of El Fuerte are odd, as they are neither traditional tights nor Mysterio pants. They look more like gaucho pants than anything. Perhaps the people at Capcom were going to give him the pants of a matador only to realize that they had already given those design cues to Balrog / Vega. For whichever reason, the designs of El Fuerte's costume are not consistent with lucha tradition. His mask is obviously the most important part of the look and if Capcom didn't get that right it was going to hurt the impact of the character.
The mask is the identity of the wrestler, it is the source of his pride and his power. Enmascarados spend as much time as they can protecting their mask and identity throughout their career. Very few last long enough to retire with their secret intact. Most lose their masks to the next generation of superstar in the legendary mask vs mask match. This is done in order to help them build a reputation.
The mask of El Fuerte doesn't ring true to the heritage. Although on the surface it seems to be consistent with the popular idea of enmascarados, it is actually bland and borderline comical in lucha circles. It is very plain and unassuming in white with simple details around the eyes and mouth instead of a contrasting color. Aztec warrior masks and helmets wore bright contrasting colors so they could be picked out in battle. In the case of a lucha libre mask, the contrasting colors and designs were so that fans in the cheap seats could keep an eye on their favorite luchador. Three tiny stars are the only decoration on the otherwise plain El Fuerte mask. The ponytail sticking out of the back of the mask is non-traditional, very out of place. There are open-top masks in lucha libre and lucharesu however not many with little holes for a ponytail. The only popular wrestlers that I can remember as having ponytails were puro stars Takuya "Yo****une / Shanao" Sugi and the Great Hayabusa.
Seeing a ponytail on an enmascarado makes me think that the designers were grasping at straws, ways to make the mask unique, or they were using the hair as a way to show movement like the dreadlocks on the new Bionic Commando. The shape of the eyes and the use of stars on his mask are either by divine intervention, or dumb luck. They harken back to the days of the legends and the "chosen ones" of lucha libre.
El Santo "the Saint" was the biggest wrestling superstar of all-time. He was one of the few enmascarados to be buried with his mask on, never losing it in a match. He created an iconic character that still resonates with many Mexicans and Mexican-Americans today. His nickname was el enmascarado de plata (the silver masked man), his mask and silver outfit became a trademark and currently his son keeps the tradition alive. The upturned eyes on the mask of El Santo seems to be mirrored in the mask of El Fuerte. Although his mask, like that of El Feurte's, did not have a contrasting color around the eyes, nose or mouth it was still a glittery silver. It was not the matt white of El Fuerte's mask. It was easy to spot El Santo from a mile away because his mask sparkled.
While Fray Tormenta (Father storm) is not the true heir to the Santo legacy, he is a bit of a literal "spiritual" successor. Fray as you might know was the basis of the movie Nacho Libre. He was an actual priest that wrestled to raise money for his parish. The movie isn't nearly as interesting as the true story, and if you ask me quite an insult to the legacy. But I digress, Fray wore a mask of gold with red lightning trim. Something of a balance to El Santo's silver.
A couple of generations later a new high-flying enmascarado showed up on the scene, the new chosen one was not Rey Mysterio as many believed, he was Mistico and he was "ordained" by Fray Tormenta. His mask was an equal mix of gold and silver, his title "the Prince of the Silver and Gold mask" was a way bringing the iconography of both legends together.
I cannot overemphesize the importance of the faith that these masked men stood for. They weren't simply "technicos" but absolutely represented the best qualities in humanity. Some, like El Santo, Fray Tormenta and Mistico had a lot of spirituality behind their look and name. They represented the ideal qualities of man and acted as living symbols of faith. El Sagrado (the sacred one) and Mascara Sagrada (the sacred mask) were other wrestlers that purported a spiritual path. Their roles were to be great performers and never succumb to the dirty tactics of the rudos. El Sagrado in fact was supposed to be the modern "chosen one" but he did not seem ready for the limelight so he was held back until fans warmed up to him. Mistico was an instant hit with audiences so the torch was passed to him instead. But I digress...
If lucha libre represents the eternal fight between good and evil then fans would want to see the absolute best representing the path of righteousness. Wrestlers like El Santo, Mistico and El Sagrado were famous because of their ties with the Catholic faith. They were very popular in the highly religious small towns of Mexico and even more so in the secular big cities. I mention these legends because there is a chance that El Fuerte takes some hints from them with the color of his mask and shape of the eyes. Whether Capcom understood the cultural significance of them or not has yet to be determined. More likely El Fuerte has only a passing resemblance in regards to the legends... but what about those stars? Where did the stars on the mask come from?
If you know your Street Fighter history then you remember that a masked wrestler was on the drawing board while SF II was in development. They had at least two separate looks for this "Maskuman" (Mask Man) early on. One that looked very much like the legendary Tiger Mask and one with a more generic star mask. Undoubtedly Tiger Mask was a character that many of the developers had grown up with, especially since he was a masked wrestler that started off as a bad guy and became a good guy. Tiger Mask proved a popular character in manga and even had his own anime series.
Japanese culture provided a lot of the SF II character influences, Ryu looked more like Kenshiro from Hokuto No Ken than Mas Oyama. It was easy to imagine that the designers wanted an over-the-top masked wrester in the game that had as much personality as any of the characters or bosses in the SF II. Read the InsertCredit.com Making of Street Fighter II feature to see some more concept art. El Fuerte sports some stars on his mask and also on his pants. It is possible that these details are an homage to the original masked man.
Here is where Japan's wrestling influence, and especially the masked wrestler variety differ from the enmascarado; Japan does not have the cultural relevance of the enmascarados. It would be very odd to see a masked person walking around the streets in Japan, unless it was a surgical mask to prevent the spread of colds. They do not have the same cultural significance as the luchadores have in Mexico. They do not have the same religion, myths and folklore that support the symbolism and tradition of elaborate masks. To them a mask is just a mask and it is the wrestler that defines the character. During the development of Street Fighter II Capcom was just drawing masked characters from pop culture without really understanding their origins.00 Possibly for this reason Maskuman never made it past the planning stages.
As the lucha style began gaining popularity in Japan in the late 1970's-early-80's so too did the masked wrestler. Possibly just as famous as Tiger Mask was Jushin "Thunder" Liger. The look of the masked wrestler in Japan began to evolve to fit their culture. Since they could not draw cultural significance from the masks or costumes of Aztec warriors they instead began taking cues from henshin and sentai, the popular superhero and science fiction characters. The look of Thunder Liger is somewhere in between Ultraman and a Power Ranger. Interestingly enough in Mexico the enmascarados like Psicosis also began experimenting with this new look.
However these masked men in Japan did little to preserve their identity or maintain kayfabe (the illusion of their character). They did not go to extreme lengths to preserve the sacred title of an enmascarado because the cultural significance had no precedence. Even one of my favorite masked Japanese wrestlers of all-time, the Great Hayabusa, would remove his mask after matches so photographers could take pictures of his face. The ego had superseded the symbol in Japanese wrestling.
The wrestlers that wore face paint were closer to capturing the spirit of an enmascarado. They were a little closer in recreating the ideal following in Japan. Some of the most famous Japanese wrestlers, like the Great Muta, wore face paint and sometimes masks during their matches. Many wrestling fans believe that this was because Japan had a well established tradition in theater. Kabuki theater in particular with the dramatically painted faces of characters was an easy comparison. This translated well to Street Fighter II.
Look at how the kabuki paint was used on E. Honda. From my understanding this was to make Japanese characters more appealing to US audiences. Many sumo purists saw this as a slap in the face, as wearing makeup in the sumo ring is almost sacrilegious. However E. Honda managed to win over enough fans to become the iconic sumo in the universe. As Maskuman ended up on the cutting room floor, he was compensated in some way by a kabuki-painted sumo wrestler, a more "theatrical" traditional athlete.
As you may know from reading the InsertCredit.com feature, there were many characters designed for SF II. Most didn't make the first round of cuts and some of the icons evolved with a few changes. The Russian sailor Vodka Gobalsky was turned into a wrestler, like E. Honda, the newly formed Zangief picked up some of the wrestling slack from the missing Maskuman. The sailor theme wasn't lost to Capcom as a similar character named Drake ended up in Final Fight 3 a few years later.
A lot changed in the 18 years since SF II went into development. The face of puro changed dramatically. Lucharesu captured more and more fans in that time and eventually the audience began to recognize the importance of the enmascarado and their secret identity. Possibly the most famous Japanese enmascarado, who worked on keeping his mask on at all times, was the Great Sasuke. Even when he won a spot in politics he still kept his mask on to preserve the honor and tradition of the sport.
Japan had come full circle and had earned the respect of Mexican enmascarados.
Like Liger before, the Great Sasuke had a contemporary in Mexico named Octagon. The newer generations of masked wrestlers began influencing each other. It was becoming okay to wear karate gi's and even pants in place of tights for these "martial arts" superstars. I can't say for certain which came first, I do know that both Sasuke and Octagon worked well in Mexico and Japan and their design is what I emulated in my "Karateka" illustration.
Unfortunately it seems that the look of El Fuerte lacks a complete understanding of lucha libre or even lucharesu. Which is sad because the team at Capcom and DIMPS had much more wrestling tradition to draw from. They could have dug much further into the culture than any developer before them ever could. What they seemed to do with El Fuerte was update the masked wrestler to fill our current tastes and what the arcade fighting scene looks like.
Tiger Mask was an epic character 20 years ago but today he is a dated legend and would not work in Street Fighter IV. Putting him in the game would be an anachronism, akin to putting Gorgeous George or El Santo in the lineup. To appease fighting game fans and a new generation of gamers, the character has to be more relevant. Thus the template comes more from the high flying Rey Mysterio Jr. than a character from the days of black and white film. Unfortunately after El Fuerte made his debut many gamers only saw an El Blaze clone.
El Fuerte could have worked better in the context of the game had his uniform looked more like a traditional luchador. It would have put some distance between himself and El Blaze if he had looked more traditional. The classic world warriors all had uniforms that were simple and in keeping with the fighting arts they represented. For example Ken and Ryu wore traditional gi's, Sagat wore boxer shorts and Zangief wrestling trunks. El Fuerte should have been dressed like a straight-forward enmascarado. Lose the ponytail and sash belt, do not allow any hair to poke out from under the mask, use a contrasting color around the eyes, nose and mouth and replace the gaucho pants with tights. Keep the star theme consistent on his mask, tights and boots as well.
Notice that the blue and white motif works because it is very traditional. A blue-themed wrestler is obviously the opposite of the red-themed Zangief. This explains why Rainbow Mika, the female masked wrestler in SF Zero / Alpha 3 wore blue. However Abel is a powerful mixed martial arts figure that was also assigned blue in SF IV, using the same color combination on two characters in SF IV would be redundant. Plus, years earlier, the blue and white color scheme was used for the Mexican enmascarado El Stingray / El Stinger from Muscle Bomber / Saturday Night Slam Masters. Three grapplers had been done with the same palette so the artists at Capcom assigned El Fuerte more white, deep red, black and gold coloring.
White is a weak primary color for a costume, apologies to Ryu. Had the artists done just a little more research they could have given El Fuerte a silver and gold palette instead. Those in the know would see the El Santo / Mistico homage while casual fans would be grateful that he does not look like El Blaze. Gold and silver are also regal colors and would make El Fuerte seem like an important wrestler from Mexico. If he is important, if his mask and costume has some unique qualities to it, it makes him special. Then the player has a reason to want to know what he looks like underneath the mask. These are the suggestions that I would have made in the design stages of El Fuerte. What are your thought on this?
Aerialgroove over at FightingStreet.com clued me in to the creation of Street Fighter II, the World Warrior. He has an interview with SF II producer Noritaka Funamizu where he mentions that 35-40 people worked on the game and 20 people were designing the characters. 20 on characters is an absurdly large number for a fighting game. However the more eyes looking over the designs, the more insight each could bring to the process and help evolve the look. This explains why the characters, their moves and appearance were timeless in SF II yet seem to lack that impact in IV. I am not certain how many people were working on SF IV characters, but 20 would probably be far over budget. I am not convinced that any of the artists, or the main artist on SF IV, Daigo Ikeno, were truly familiar with lucha libre. As such El Fuerte has missed the "look" in my analysis. This is only part of my complaints with the character. What about the moves themselves? Does El Fuerte have the moves of a lucha libre star? Please come back tomorrow for the next portion of this series. As always comments are welcome and encouraged.
Hello friends, this marks my first original series for the Capcom BBS rather than a reprint from my 1UP blogs. I hope you don't think this deconstruction as pretentious but I am just passionate about character design in videogames, especially in Street Fighter. I don't mean to pick on Yoshinori Ono or Capcom as much as I want to see the best from him and his team. The Street Fighter series is so epic that I am fascinated with the influences that went into it and how they are reflected to the gamer. I am a firm believer that Street Fighter can always be better but in order to find room for improvement we have to be willing to recognize that our window into the world, the avatar, or fighting game character is the most important design element that Capcom creates. If I spot an inconsistency I will call Capcom on it. I don't pretend to know everything there is to know about character designs and the martial arts but I do have enough insight to know why a character doesn't work for me. I will do so by deconstructing El Fuerte as featured in Street Fighter IV. There are three reasons why I feel the design of El Fuerte fails my SF universe litmus test. Those three things are his appearance, his move selection and his purpose in the game. As part of the deconstruction we have to look at the history of not only the game but also of lucha libre, for which El Fuerte represents.
In case you couldn't tell from my illustrations and blogs here on the Capcom BBS I am a big fan of wrestling and have been following its inclusion and evolution in the Street Fighter series. When it was announced that there would be a luchador in Street Fighter IV I was both excited but also skeptical. Just because there was a masked wrestler in the game and just because he was Mexican, it did not make him a true enmascarado (masked luchador). There are a few things that Capcom of Japan, Capcom of the USA, and developer DIMPS should recognize about wrestling culture in order to make El Fuerte "right."
Most people don't realize that there are many different types of pro wrestling. The pro wrestling seen in the US has many variations, from traditional to bloody and violent "hardcore." Those are slightly different than the high-flying lucha libre seen in Mexico. In Japan the style of wrestling they perform is a little stiffer, as in the hits they perform are a little harder and they go through more "finishing moves" than either the US or Mexico. They even have a unique name for their format of pro wrestling called puroresu or puro for short. Japanese puro has been heavily influenced by both the USA and Mexico formats. Japan's love of lucha libre even resulted in the creation of lucharesu, a combination of lucha libre and puroresu. What makes the sport unique is how different cultures interpret it and make it their own. I feel that El Fuerte is not consistent with true lucha libre, or even lucharesu. I think that Capcom and DIMPS introduced a character based on a surface knowledge of the sport and masked athletes rather than a deep understanding of it. Let's get under the mask of El Fuerte and understand the ideals of lucha libre, how or why the character came to be and what he should represent.
The most obvious distinction of lucha libre are the masked characters and high-flying acrobatics. To many in the US they view these "gymnastics" with disdain, saying that pro wrestling has a history connected to trapping and grappling of catch wrestling and of course classic Greco-Roman wrestling. The type of wrestling performed in Mexico is seen as too acrobatic or choreographed to be taken seriously. Lucha libre as we know it is around 80-years-old and no, not every luchador wears a mask. Salvador Lutteroth is the man credited to bringing wrestling to Mexico. He saw some matches in El Paso and noticed how a masked performer worked well with the crowd. He thought this secret identity would be very important and go over well in Mexico. Needless to say he was right! I would suggest you watch a short but very well put-together lucha libre podcast from the George Eastman (as in Eastman Kodak) house explaining some of the history and charm of these masked characters. Lucha libre certainly has a long and established tradition that deserves some respect, especially in videogame form.
The closest thing that I could compare the masked luchadores, the enmascarados in the USA to would be superheroes. The elaborate masks, tights (and sometimes capes), are all part of their costume. Their secret identity is as important to them and their fans as it is to the fictional characters in comic books. A true enmascarado never, ever goes out in public without his mask and protects his identity to the best of his ability. He never does anything to bring shame to his name or his mask. An enmascarado does not go into the lifestyle casually but with all his heart and conviction. Believe it or not the true enmascarados in Mexico never leave the house without their masks, even when they are out with their friends and family. To the public it's all part of tradition and they do not think twice about seeing a masked man.
The reason for what we would consider "odd social behavior" is actually seeped in tradition.
These men are seen as daring fighters, mythical warriors. The physical ability to perform all sorts of crazy moves is part of the spectacle but the bond between the audience and the luchador goes deeper than performance fighting. The good guys are called "Technicos" they fight by particular guidelines and always have to uphold the rules of clean combat. The bad guys are called "Rudos" and are free to use every dirty trick in the book. The matches they engage in are very much a live battle between good and evil.
Audiences are drawn to these morality plays like moths to a flame. With the good guys and bad guys so clearly defined it becomes hard not to choose a side. Kids will their heroes to overcome the obstacles and win the fight even when faced against insurmountable odds. A huge reason why enmascarados go over so well in Mexico, as opposed to in the USA or Japan, is because of cultural relevance.
Mexico is predominantly Catholic but with lingering traditions, including folklore and myth, from the natives. The battles between good an evil are an every day occurrence for those with strong superstitions. The warriors that perform in these battles harken back to the pre-columbian world. The masks themselves are inspired by iconic images. The Aztec warriors went into battle with brightly colored uniforms and headdresses so that generals could watch their exploits in battle. These were known as Caballeros Aguilas (eagle riders) and are symbolic of the fiercest warriors of ancient society. The design of the caballero aguila can be seen on the mask of the villainous Dr. Wagner Jr and Canek "El Princepe Maya" (the Mayan Prince).
One of the most famous and successful of all wrestlers, Mil Mascaras (a thousand masks), even has a costume in the jaguar pattern, similar to what the ancient warriors would wear in battle. Here is an excerpt from the Sun interview with enmascarado El Hijo Del Santo explaining the origin and importance of the mask.
"The Sun: Can you describe the importance and history of the mask to Mexican wrestlers?
El Hijo Del Santo: I believe that when lucha libre started, it all began with a wrestler that came from the American circuit.
He [the masked wrestler] got a lot of attention from the Mexican crowds and as Mexican wrestling is a war of good v evil, the masks have an importance with the roots of our culture, like the Aztecs, Olmecs and Teotihuacans. They always wore masks of animals when at war, the most significant were the jaguar, wolf, the eagle, snake, as they believed they would get the animal’s powers in combat. I think lucha libre adopted this belief and the luchador looks for a name that suits his personality from say nature, animals, the heaven like El Santo or hell like Demon. Many years ago, my father Santo took the mask off Black Shadow in a match with wagers, that day the importance of the mask took a new dimension, to lose a mask became very important and an opportunity for promoters in Mexico to present something new that doesn’t happen in the USA."
Unless you were raised in this culture it is very hard to identify with the wrestlers and understand why their masks and style of wrestling is important or why lucha libre means so much to Mexico's cultural identity. This is why when I heard that a Mexican masked wrestler was being added to the lineup of SF IV I was hesitant. Did Capcom add him knowing the history, legacy and importance of enmascarados? Or did they add him as a "flavor of the month," a character to balance out the popular El Blaze from Virtua Fighter? I was not certain in either regards but after a few months of reading about him, and thanks to the Street Fight Club, finally having a chance to play as him, I learned that Capcom and DIMPS had not gotten the enmascarado 100% right. Please return tomorrow for part 2 of this series and leave a comment if you have any questions about lucha libre.
Hello friends, I'm writing to let you know what went down at the Capcom booth during the San Diego Comic Con 2008. I stopped by on Friday to see the sites and get some video. Didn't really capture any footage of Street Fighter IV, but I did manage to get three clips for Capcom fans in general.
The one I'm most eager to pick up, aside from Street Fighter IV, is Bionic Commando. Honestly, who doesn't love a good game with just enough science fiction and gunplay to keep things interesting?
The "swag" that I got were some posters for Bionic Commando and Street Fighter IV. The SF IV poster is autographed by Producer Yoshinori Ono. Artist Mark Brooks and colorist Christina Strain were autographing Friday as well so I made sure to pick up their fantastic poster as well.
I took an issue of Arcadia Magazine with me to get signed as well. Some might not remember that one of Mr. Ono's original titles for Capcom was the fantasy army fighting game known as War of the Grail. It was the first time I had seen him interviewed in print and wanted to show him that I had been keeping tabs on even rare Capcom arcade titles.
Mr. Ono was kind enough to oblige the audience with a Q&A session. I didn't catch all of the questions as I was playing some Street Fighter IV but here is what I did get for you.
Last but not least were some of the cool people that showed up for the cosplay contest. You'll be seeing more pics turn up on the Community site over the next few days as well as on the Moderator RedVirtue's CapCosplay Blog. I did promise Mr. Ono to deliver a special El Fuerte blog for the team and community to ponder. I will finish that up shortly and have it ready no later than Monday. In the meantime I hope you have a great weekend and look forward to seeing y'all again next year!
I'm bringing together the ideas that are floating around the fighting game community and how we should try to avoid the traps of escalation. In order to prepare my final thoughts I wanted to share three very important passages from the book The Eight Pillars of Greek Wisdom by Stephen Bertman, PhD. These are passages designed to be read and assimilated not only by my friends on 1UP and the Capcom BBS, but also to the community members that argue on message boards about what Street Fighter "needs." Before we can put in our two cents as armchair Street Fighter designers we have to acknowledge that our culture is inherently flawed.
Worlds Apart: We live in a technological society driven by speed. Because of this we lack the opportunity to think and reflect on the meaning and purpose of our lives. Indeed, speed discourages us from thought and reflection by denying us perspective. Instead it gives us the exhilaration of sensory stimulation...
Though our computers are crammed with data, they are devoid of wisdom. We have all the answers we'll ever need; it's the questions we lack, the missing questions that, if found, could lend meaning and purpose to all the empty facts we possess.
Material and technological progress teach us that what is old is obsolete and useless. So we avert our eyes from the past and thus turn away from the very countercultural lessons that could serve as the means to our personal and social liberation. - Stephen Bertman
When I first began the series on escalation I thought that I could break everything down in one sitting. I was gravely mistaken. The first thing I learned was before I even began talking about escalation. I brought up the old saying about "those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it." It is something that I hold very close to my heart as a long-lost rule of game design. The best have always learned from the past, be it their own work or that from another person. A designer or player that knows their history and applies it accordingly will have more insight than a casual gamer or lay-person.
As game players we can become fanatical about our point of view and defend it vehemently online and in forums. The problem is that in defending our opinion we sometimes not only ignore another valid argument but go out of our way to tear it down. This race to be the first person to post a story or article, or even comment, has weakened the validity of many arguments in the quest of "newsiness." The internet is not often thought of as a place to exchange in some intelligent debate but rather a place to grief and start flame wars. It is tough to find perspective on what the argument is when it seems that many people online suffer from very short attention spans. The few days I've spent on this topic has probably been a lifetime of different stories, threads and articles for the data-obsessed. This brings me to the second major idea from Dr. Bertman.
The Death of Permanence: We live in a hyperculture, a culture moving too fast for its own human good. We are governed by the power of now, the power of insistent present, uncompromising and uncompromised by any other dimension of time. It is the now of swift and unfeeling electrons.
In such a society, few things last or were ever meant to last. Instead, we are surrounded by flux. In such an environment, there are no grounds for passionate commitment, for there is nothing permanent to be committed to. Rare is a sense of obligation to anything that lies beyond the transitory self.
What we are witnessing in our time is the death of permanence, the death of those permanent things that were a source of comfort to people in ages past and a source of moral direction for humanity.
Even the past itself is being forgotten as our remembrance of history steadily declines. Afflicted by this cultural amnesia, the social equivalent of Alzheimers' disease, we are lost and confused among familiar surroundings.
Everywhere we go we are oppressed by urgency. But it is not a natural urgency to find our way again. Instead, it is an artificial urgency that impinges on our lives, and electronic urgency that requires us to respond at the speed of light to every external demand. And it is the same false urgency that is tearing at the fabric of our lives. - Stephen Bertman
With many impassioned people debating online the hard part is sifting through the claims and finding if there is any truth to the argument. Often times posters use conjecture to justify their argument. Worse than the cultural amnesia that Dr. Bertman discusses, ignoring the related issues just to validate a point. As Dr. Bertman said there are no grounds for passionate commitment, for there is nothing to be committed to. We've seen multiple versions of Street Fighter, do we hold one above all others or do we hold the series up for criticism? Everything is relative I suppose, and the old saying about the internet is true, opinions are like a-holes, everybody has them and they are all full of... but I digress.
The argument that I have been building to is whether or not there is a solution to escalation. Is there an approach that Capcom could take that pushes Street Fighter forward without relying on giving the main characters or bosses the power of gods? At the same time without losing the connection that we as humans have with our electronic persona(s)? What I will try to avoid is the knee-jerk reaction that most fans have, namely to begin a debate about who would win in a fight? This solves nothing and only demonstrates how little we really know about the narrative arts, how escalation works or how the themes are used in videogames.
What we have to break is the trend happening to Street Fighter and most Japanese fighting games in general. Gamers believe that escalation is the only path because that is the only path that has been explored in the past few versions of SF. While in a previous blog I stated that the Ryu in the game and the Ryu in canon don't match up, he is still the character for which the game revolves around. He is the Indiana Jones of his world and we wait with baited breath to experience his latest adventures even as a decade passes between them. At the end of each encounter, in both canon and the games we have seen Ryu grow in strength and abilities. Fans of escalation would remind us that it is part of an ongoing trend with the character.
After all, Ryu was not only strong enough to defeat Sagat, but he also gained the strength to defeat Vega and Gouki. Vega, a military madman that possessed enough power to fly for short distances and slap aside fireballs as if they were gusts of air. Or what about Gouki? A demon personified by a man, distorted to a grotesque fascade by his awesome power and murderous abilities. If Ryu was able to step up and defeat these bosses, and Ken defeat Gill in canon, they clearly they have grown more powerful from year-to-year. Those characters have overcome some amazing challenges over the past 20 years. At some point they would expect to see Ken and Ryu rise above the fighting crowd and begin taking on demons and demigods. Perhaps it is time to concede to the demands of the internet public and turn Street Fighter into the second coming of the King of Fighters. Then again it could be time to scale things back before going overboard.
In canon we've explored a number of classic themes, some with great revelations. For any one game there are dozens of interpretations. Many forum posters make it their job to explore every "what if?" and try to sell the community on what they see. Ryu facing the murderous side of the Dark Hadou, in the Zero / Alpha series is one of those major themes. In it Ryu was going through an internal conflict. The set up was perfect, Ryu had the potential to become the next Gouki. In order to make the transition complete he would have to have killed Ken, in much the same way as Gouki killed his brother. Ryu overcame that side of his personality and power and even Ken was prepared for the worst during that arc. He would have killed Ryu rather than let him be "turned to the dark side."
The SF Zero series tied together the ideas that the team was pursuing between SF II and the original concept for SF III. In the games Gouki is the ultimate boss, but not everybody fights him. Even if Gouki is defeated he leaves to challenge the player some day in the future. It is assumed that SF III is the last appearance for Gouki. In this way the game answers the idea of escalation because none of the bosses are epically more powerful than the last. The purpose of the game was exploring the themes of change within the cast itself. How one of Ryu's hardest battles was against himself rather than a randomly-generated super boss. Escalation was not the only way to present the characters and game and still have it be entertaining and leave many themes open for discussion, debate or sequels in game or anime form. Zero was one of the series that answered the dilemma of escalation well.
However this idea was not enough for some fans. There are people online obsessed with the ideas presented in one game and want to connect those with another title. There are some that believe that Ryu never got "over" his Dark Hadou and Ken still has to put him down in SF III. That Sean and Ken's son Mel are supposed to be the only returning characters in a "real" Street Fighter IV and that Ryu has replaced Gouki as the ultimate source of evil. How the fans online are able to reach such conclusions, without understanding the basic plots in the first place, defies logic. At the same time fans support their conclusions by pointing out that escalation has lead us to this inevitable outcome.
I do agree that something major has to happen with the next "real" numbered Street Fighter. I do not agree that it is the pre-ordained path that forum posters are obsessed with. As escalation has lead us to a stronger Ken and Ryu and even bosses for four numbered Street Fighters (and a couple of Zero's and EX's) there is more than one way to tell the story, present the game and shape the future that doesn't involve escalation. This brings up the third point from Dr. Bertman's book that I wanted to share with you.
Reaching the Summit: In emulating the ancient Greeks and symbolically climbing Olympus, we must recognize that those who preceded us never attained the summit. The ancient Greeks were humans like ourselves, filled with imperfections. But, also like ourselves, they aspired to become something better than they were. It is that determined effort that inspires us today.
In fact there is no summit, no final point that will mark the end of our struggles. Even if there were, life would be too short for us to reach it. Instead climbing Olympus means to climb on. It is the continual process of becoming - rather than the fact of having become - that must be our aim.
The ancient Greeks do not offer final answers. That is not their legacy to us. Their gift is the gift of enduring questions: What does it mean to be human? What can it mean? What do we owe ourselves? What do we owe to others? What are the limits to which we can go? What is the price we must pay to get there?
These questions defy the borders of space and time, of nationality and history. The classical tradition has lived on for more than two millennia because each successive generation heard these questions speak directly to it, and found in classical literature a pertinent commentary on its own times. That is true because the classical tradition is rooted in the quest to understand human nature and is therefore universal. - Stephen Bertman
Ryu has been walking a path for a long time. He has been searching for the meaning of a true martial artist. In a way we are constantly reminded that the path is more important than the goal. We are reminded through the adventures of Ryu that the world of Street Fighter is a rich tapestry of characters and stories, interwoven through shared battles and common experiences. "What are the limits to which we can go? What is the price we must pay to get there?" Look at what Gouki had to do in order to reach his goal? Look at how ugly and deformed he became for succumbing to his art. The world of Street Fighter is persistent and much larger than most fans realize. Relationships are made through canon and game. Street Fighter has transcended the simple fighter, the entire concept of a "button masher" that media labels the genre with. As the premier resident of this world, Ryu has filled many roles. Save one. That of the master.
Like his masters before him, he sought purpose through battle. Like his masters he was neither perfect nor divine. The outcomes of the fights were never pretty. No one knows for certain who Goutetsu fought but all agree that they must have been epic battles. His student Gouken was laced in scars, each symbolizing that he too had survived some amazing encounters. The beads of the master were passed from Goutetsu to Gouken. In a fit of jealous rage (and a whole lot of Dark Hadou) Gouki killed both Goutetsu and his brother and assumed the status of master. Even Sagat, who was once the most feared fighter in the world was covered with grizzly reminders of the deadly arts he pursued. In a way Ryu has been building up for this moment. A title which was rightfully his after defeating Sagat and giving him his final scar.
Manga artist and writer Masahiko Nakahira put the cards on the table and played his hand well. He looked at the SF series as a whole and was able to make sense of the ideas that were floating around in canon as well as from the legendary designers Yoshiki Okamoto and Noritaka Funamizu. Nakahira was able to get to the heart of the story without relying on predictable plots or cheap gimmicks like "potential fighting capacity." He focused on the main character of the series and how he was part of a long-established tradition.
The original master, Goutetsu studied and distilled the assassins fist and turned it into the greatest form of karate the world had ever known. So secretive were these techniques that he could only trust (or take on) one understudy. Gouken further refined these techniques but Gouki mastered their dark origins. Nakahira wrote that Ryu too was challenged with figuring out his own path. On the way he contributed to the form in the way that his predecessors had. Ryu had mastered the fist brought from China through Goutestsu. Ryu tempered the technique to sword-like precision like Gouken. He even overcame the trappings of the Dark Hadou that Gouki had succumbed to. Yet in canon he was not as powerful as his masters. He had not become aware of his full potential.
Rather than rely on escalation to magically give Ryu more power, in the manga Ryu Final Nakahira broke the character down and put him under the wing of the oldest living master, Oro. Ryu learned much in his SF III-timeline adventures. He did not grow more powerful at that time, he did however become aware of his peak. Nakahira delivered a plot where Ryu's "battle ranking" did not increase exponentially. What Nakahira taught us was that the fight was part of the path itself. The outcome of the fight was not the goal, the lesson was transcending the concept of winning and losing. It was then that Ryu discovered his purpose and contributed own advancement of the arts. As his masters had brought forward the shoryuken, hadoken and tatsumaki senpuukyaku, and as Gouki had unleashed the shun goku satsu, so too did Ryu contribute something brand new. Ryu invented the kobushino kaze or "fist of the wind." At that moment Ryu did not surpass Gouki. What Nakahira did instead was say that Ryu was now equivalent in technique. The next battle between the two would not be about escalation, where Ryu now had awesome powers to "lord over" Gouki, like Son Goku would lord over his rivals in the DBZ stories after becoming Level 9 Billion SuperSayajin. Instead Ryu discovered that he had a fist that countered the murderous techniques of Gouki.
The fist of the wind was the symbolic counter to the shun goku satsu. Instead of being born from the bloody handed techniques, or the assassin's fist that Goutetsu brought over from China, Ryu's technique was born from the other strength of man. For one hand was symbolically evil, it was the hand that struck the blow, it was the hand of hate. Ryu instead harnessed the hand of good, the kind hand that raises families, the hard-working hand that turns the soil, raises crops and generates life. A fist that flows and changes like the breeze. A striking technique that is gentle enough to caress the leaves yet strong enough to rip down a mighty oak. It was the path Gouken had set down but never found. It was the path that Ryu discovered on his own.
There was equal strength in the living hand as there was in the killing hand. This was the sublime plot that Masahiko Nakahira laid out and was ultimately the answer to escalation. No hand was greater or worse, no technique or power superior. Like the "Force" from Star Wars mythos, there was a dark side and a light side, one wasn't stronger than the other but both balanced each other out. Mitachlorians be damned!
Ryu came to his own conclusion about what it means to be a true martial artist in much the same way the Greeks challenged us to discover our potential and find out what it means to be human. Ryu and Gouken cancelled each other out. The respective masters in the entire SF world could not outdo the other. It was up to Ryu to embrace his fate even if it meant death and understanding that the powers of Gouki must be undone.
In this way Nakahira challenged both the developers and the fans of the series to approach the game from a different POV. We should be able to appreciate the game not as an endless cycle of escalation but as a continuing narrative of the martial arts. We should not keep ratcheting the characters, their powers and bosses up and up and up. That only serves to distance ourselves from the tiny seed that SF grew from. And while a tree does indeed grow, it also branches out. There is as much potential in moving the characters laterally than vertically on the power ladder.
Rather than having superior bosses, cheap bosses, instead make them "fulfill the potential" of the main cast. With unique techniques and abilities making up the differences between them and "normal" characters rather than raw power. A boss that isn't cheap and powerful but instead balanced and believable. This is harder for developers to create than simply a stronger boss, but the easy path isn't the reason why SF is held in such high regards. Street Fighter trumps any fighting series ever made. It succeeds because of the exaggerated presentations of real techniques, caricatures of real personalities brought forth by some of the best artists in the world and sublime balance by some of the best programmers in the business, but most important; Street Fighter succeeds in the realization of our own untapped human potential.
For the game is best enjoyed and only understood when played. Escalation is not understood if the gamer has not played through every incarnation of the series. The canon cannot speak to the gamer unless they are participating. As players we do not know the full potential of the characters until we find out for ourselves. Even then we will never know all of the nuances. We cannot predict the outcome of the battle, no matter how hard we train and prepare ourselves. The game is proof that you can play for a lifetime yet never master it. There is always somebody better on the horizon, someone to learn from. Only when we join the community of dedicated gamers, in much the same way as we commune here on 1UP, will we find the path. Only then do we learn to play to the best of our abilities. Being the best fighter we can be is paramount to the plot of SF. Escalation creates a false sense of challenge, it turns the chess-like game of SF into checkers, one consumed by the masses but not as appreciated. Dumbed down just to sell a few more copies. I would rue the day that Street Fighter becomes as formulaic as King of the Fighters, as insipid as Mortal Kombat or as chaotic as Super Smash Bros.
I want you to remember this the next time you play Street Fighter, even it it's your first time. Try to enjoy it on as many levels as the designers put in. Look for hidden clues and details that tell the story about the world the fight takes place in. If you were put in the producer's shoes what would you have done differently? I know that C. Viper, Abel and El Fuerte would have gone through a major makeover if I were directing SF II.5. As for Rufus... I've said all I'm going to say about that guy. Have a great day and let me know what you think of this wandering blog.
