So, I'm back again with another look at one of Capcom's amazing art books. This time I'll be looking at Street Fighter, Eternal Challenge. Released here in North America by Udon (purveyors of AWESOME comics based on Capcom properties), this is more than just a lot of nice pictures. Eternal challenge is the compendium of all things Street Fighter.

It starts with a list of every game (except 4 which wasn't announced at the time of publication) and the release dates of same.

There is a great section of character specific art in many different styles that shows just how many different ways these iconic characters have been conceptualized:

I especially like this pic of Ibuki done in traditional Japanese style.

You'll also find an amazing collection of all the promotional artwork and cabinet graphics from the arcade era.

The sections on the individual characters are fantastic, with lots of pics of each one.

There's also a fantasic concept art / sketch book chapter. It's a great chance to see some of the rough concept works and early (pre cleanup) stuff that we normally don't. I personally have always liked the rough sketch type art, it's very visceral and raw.

Now we get into the meat and potatoes of the book. The complete history of the Street Fighter series, game by game. This section obviously has less art and more text, but is amazingly well researched and put together. For any serious fan who ever wanted to know everything about the series, from the first arcade game of "Street Fighter" that had the pressure sensitive buttons (the harder you hit the button, the harder you hit the other player) to the many incarnations of Street Fighter EX, Alpha, Turbo and all the rest.

We of course can't have a book like this without seeing a section of Swag! :D

Much drool worthy goodies to be coveted and dreamed about.

There it is in a nutshell. A fantastic book and an absolute MUST have for serious fans of Street Fighter. It's even available in the Capcom store. :D