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Street Fighter Week: The evolution of Ken and Ryu

Two of gaming's most iconic fighters are dissected, game by game

Words: Tyler Wilde, GamesRadar US

Table of Contents
Street Fighter | Street Fighter II | Alpha series | Street Fighter III | EX series | SF: The Movie and Gem Fighter | Marvel vs. Capcom series | SNK vs. Capcom series | Misc. games | Sprite comparison | SSFIITHDR and Street Fighter IV | Comics, films, and more 

SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium - 1999

Match of the Millennium is a quant Neo Geo Pocket Color game, and the first game to mash up SNK and Capcom characters. Don't let the simple art fool you, this is one of the most feature rich and popular handheld fighting games ever made.

The characters look a bit similar to the Karate Champ inspiration we mentioned in reference to the original Street Fighter.

 

Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001 - 2001

While the sprites in Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 are ripped from Alpha, Capcom redrew Ken and Ryu for Capcom vs. SNK 2, and the resulting appearance is something like a combination of Alpha, SF II, and SF III. They are slightly thinner than their Alpha and SF III counterparts, and have slightly more twisted torsos in their ready stances. There's also a bit more muscle definition, and Ryu's hair is back to brown.

Trivia: Mark of the Millennium 2001 is known as "Millionaire Fighting 2001" in Japan. Why? Hell if we know.

SVC Chaos: SNK vs. Capcom - 2003

SVC Chaos was not received particularly well by the media, but what interests us is that it was developed by SNK instead of Capcom, meaning Ryu and Ken take on a never-before-seen style. The characters are darker, leaner, and haven't ironed their uniforms in some time.


 

SVC Chaos is also known for its strange dialogue, possibly as the result of poor translation.


 
8 Comments
Order Comments: Newest First | Oldest First
Grundler24  - 9 months 7 days ago 
First???
The arcade version of this is amazing, i've gotten the chance to play it
at an arcade in china town and my friends grandpa owns it so i got free tokens and played it forever. SF never seems to end its reign of ass kicking.
Bigpapa360  - 9 months 2 days ago 
Second.
Man I love seeing how all these games get their start.
Auron00  - 9 months 2 days ago 
Not that anyone will really care too much, but, just to keep this retrospective a bit more clear, Ken Masters was never an actor, he is a world famous martial arts tournament champion in america (multiple times over even) and his father is the third richest man in the world (in the SF world anyway).
Sonneilon  - 9 months 1 day ago 
Reading thru all these, feels like I should get a degree with all this SF knowledge now!
WiqidBritt  - 8 months 30 days ago 
what? no mention of Violent Ken in SVC Chaos?
Arukami  - 8 months 27 days ago 
All beatiful recalls....aboveall th first SF! and SFII with that big pic with Vega with his hands open...i'll Kill you!!!!!! U understand me!!! I'll kill you Vega! XDDD!
Great article!
beoftw  - 8 months 21 days ago 
lol street fighter 2: the animated movie shold have gotten alot more praise than it did. imo i thought it was alot better than the otheres.
jackrabbitslims  - 8 months 8 days ago 
"and apparently a variety of nuts in his cheek to consume later" LMAO. Great article, I love catching up on the history of street fighter.
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