New Street Fighter character! I’m so excited I think I may have just wet myself!

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March 13th, 2008 posted by Ajax in Rumors / Speculation

Kotaku reports that the latest edition of Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu is showing off a picture of another new Street Fighter IV character, the snappily-named El Fuerte. What with the name and the fact he’s wearing wrestling tights and mask, it comes as no surprise that he’s a wrestler, carrying on the grand new trend of having Lucha-Libre-influenced characters in fighting games (you know, the one upheld by such luminaries as King, R. Mika and La Mariposa, the true giants of fighters. Ryu? Ken? The Kazama family? Fuck that, my money’s on Rainbow Mika!). This announcement comes hot on the heels of the debuts of Abel and the Crimson Viper, the former being described as a “man without a past” and proudly boasting a full-blown case of amnesia. In his defense, he does look like a badass motherfucker, but I’m not here to praise them.

We already know that, along with these three, all eight of the original World Warriors - Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Dhalsim et al - as well as Balrog and Sagat will be returning to battle, causing two things; one, it makes me wonder where, if anywhere, SFIV will fit into the already pretty sketchy canon of the series, and two, the rumours are that Sagat has already been banned from competitive play, though unsubtantiated, sound like something the community would do. If he’s anything like his SFII incarnation, I will support that move until the ends of the earth because sometimes, in my dreams, when everything around is quiet, I can faintly hear the shouts of “TIGER TIGER TIGER TIGER TIGER TIGER TIGER TIGER UPPERCUT” over and over in the distance, driving some other poor soul to madness.

Anyway. The new characters got me to thinking who else needs to be in and, coupled with temporarily being without my lovable 360, I stuck in my copy of Street Fighter III. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, it is INSANELY difficult, but that’s not what this is about. As I played, it dawned on me that, if they’re seriously committed to making SFIV a success, why not just bring in the cast of SFIII as well? Some of the characters, admittedly, are just remakes of the originals - for example, Remy has a Sonic Boom-esque projectile and a somersault kick special move, making him nothing more than a French Guile with a far shittier hairstyle - but even after you eliminate the clones there are still plenty of possibilities. For one, Q. I don’t think a single thing about his background was ever expanded upon, making him just as mysterious as the three newcomers, but it would be a crying shame if someone as cool as him were just disposed of. He’s a man in a metal mask and a big-ass trenchcoat who breathes like Darth Vader, hits like a shotgun and looks like a cyberpunk Inspector Gadget. Even if they didn’t want to keep old Q, fucking make him into a cyberpunk Inspector Gadget! And another thing, why make another wrestler when Alex is going begging? Or Hugo? I mean, they could well be preparing to do exactly what I said above and ship the entire cast of every Street Fighter game into SFIV, I really am just pissing into the dark at the moment, but I’m a big fan of the series’ third iteration - no, I don’t count the Alpha games. I am NOT getting into that convoluted mess without a Coke - and I really don’t want to see it consigned to the virtual scrapheap. It’s too good. I compare the poor thing to the third child in a family of four - the first is long gone into the world, the second is making a success of itself but, now the fourth newborn has joined the family, the thirdis just going to get less and less attention.

As a final note, if Dudley doesn’t make it I will be PISSED. Not just because I main Dudley, but look at him! He’s a rich, black, British boxer who has a butler who flies in by helicopter! He would absolutely destroy Balrog if the two of them fought, you know this. And yes, being so excited over El Fuerte I had an accident was indeed sarcasm. I restrict my unbridled bouts of enthusiasm for characters I know are going to rock (i.e. Snake, Ness, King DeDeDe. Hey look, they’re all from SSBB).

[Link] - Kotaku: “New Street Fighter IV Character Leaked”