 Goto [ Index ] |
Man, I loved Street Fighter II when it was new. Actually, I still love it. And I still play it -- it's the main reason I keep my old Super Nintendo around. In fact, I love it enough that I even bought the Street Fighter II anime movie -- which may not sound like a big deal until you realize that I never buy a movie I haven't rented first, and that I can't freaking stand most anime.
Not only was I pleasantly surprised in that the anime was actually really good (aside from the whole Guile/Chun-Li part of the story accomplishing exactly nothing in terms of plot), but I found a little coupon included, advertising a role-playing game based on the Street Fighter universe. I wasn't really expecting much, but it was Street Fighter after all, and I had some money to blow, so I went ahead and ordered what I was fully expecting to be as disappointing as the live-action Street Fighter movie.
Imagine my surprise.
The book is small as RPG rulebooks go, but it's printed in full color, and the art is some of the best I've seen in an RPG. A few clunkers here and there, but for the most part, great, very dynamic artwork -- even a couple of fully-painted pieces. In fact, the whole look of the book is pretty dynamic -- headings, sidebars and tables are all skewed just a bit to give the impression of a violent impact, bright colors are used in large doses, and in general every page is laid out to look as exciting as possible, even without being read.
As most White Wolf RPG's do, this one opens with a slow, meandering prelude story that, while not bad, mostly just eats up time and pages before you get to the good stuff. It features some new character you've never heard of and will never hear from again (though a few established characters are at least given a passing mention). It's entirely skippable.
Naturally, the first "real" chapter basically comes out to "what is role-playing?" and an example of play. But it's understandable, given that the book was being marketed to a video-game-and-anime-video crowd, rather than hardcore role-players. It's a decent intro for people who need one, but nothing special.
After that, things start to pick up. The setting is based on the video game, so it's not terribly detailed, but since it's basically the real world, it doesn't need to be. Take the world we all know and love, add a huge public fascination with illegal, underground martial-arts matches and a massive international crime cartel, and you've pretty much got it. It's a kung-fu movie. If you've played the video game (and who hasn't?), you've got a pretty good idea.
The rules system is pretty much a simplified version of White Wolf's standard Storyteller system; Physical, Mental and Social attributes, combined with abilities, form a dice pool of buckets and buckets of d10's, which are rolled in an effort to score as many results of 6-plus as possible. If you've ever played Vampire, Werewolf, Trinity, or anything else from White Wolf, you'll find nothing too different here.
Oddly enough, one of the cooler parts of the game is character creation. I'd have thought this part would be one to skip, kinda like how nobody ever makes their own character when they're playing a game based on, say, Marvel Comics. It's always a group consisting of Captain America, Ghost Rider, Wolverine and Nightcrawler -- never an original character. But in Street Fighter, the character creation system actually makes you want to make a new figher -- think of those create-a-wrestler modes in all the WWE video games that have come out in the last few years and you'll have a pretty good idea. Choose your fighter's traits (attributes, skills, backgrounds, etc.), martial-arts style, and techniques (punch, kick, grab...), and build him/her from the ground up. Thankfully, given all the point-spending and table-referencing involved in creating a White Wolf character, there's a two-page "Character Creation Chart" included to make things easier.
Abilties (skills in most other games) are kind of interesting; Not only are there standbys like Alertness, Drive and Computer, there's stuff in there like Mysteries (knowledge of all the unknown stuff in the world, like bigfoot, aliens, and ancient scrolls containing lost secrets of a forgotten fighting style) and Style Lore (so you can tell that the ninja you're fighting is from the clan that killed your master, based solely on the way he curls back the pinky toe of his left foot when the throws a roundhouse kick). There's also a Renown system in place that keeps track of your standing in fighting circles based on earned Glory and Honor points.
Stats are included for all of the video games' "World Warriors" (except the last three bosses -- Vega, Sagat and M. Bison -- who were detailed in a leter supplement, I'm told), including the characters who were added for the "Super" version of the game (Fei Long, Dee Jay, T. Hawk and Cammy). The designers were really thorough, making sure they hit everything they could. Along with the Warriors, descriptions are given for the martial-arts style each one uses -- everything from the standard Kung-Fu and Karate to more esoteric stuff like Kabaddi and Sanbo. One nice thing about the World Warrior profiles is that instead of a cramped, hard-to-reference-in-game stat block, they're each given a full-page character sheet -- kinda nice when you actually want to use one in your game. I should mention, however, that these guiys are elite -- Chun-Li alone will mop the floor with an entire group of starting characters.
The chapter on special maneuvers is, as one might expect, quite meaty. There are hundreds of moves in here, including all the cool stuff from the video game, from Ken and Ryu's Dragon Punch to Guile's Sonic Boom to Zangief's Spinning Piledriver. There's even a section on extending your fighter's limbs like Dhalsim! Plus, there are all kinds of new moves, too -- including the dreaded Dim Mak Death Touch. Another cool thing: There's an optional rule wherein the player actually has to yell the name of the move he's using in order to pull it off. There's very little in gaming that's more fun than sitting around a table with your friends yelling "Sonic BOOM!" at each other.
The combat system, as one might expect, is where this game really shows what it can do. Movement is performed on a hex map, and every character's moves are written down on "Combat Cards" (which can be photocopied from the back of the book). Each move has three traits -- speed, movement and damage -- that are figured based on the character's traits and the move's individual specifications. Each round, the combatants each pick one of their cards and announce the speed of the maneuver (but not anything else, including the move's name). The fighter with the lowest speed starts performing his maneuver (usually by moving into position first), but anyone with a higher speed can "interrupt" the move at any time to perform their own move. Once the quicker combatant is done, if the slower one is still able to complete his move (i.e., the intended victim is still within range, the slow combatant is still conscious, etc.), he does so. If moves are set up as a combo, the character gets a bonus to his speed when using each successive move in the combination. It's surprising how simple, quick and easy combat is after you spend a fight or two getting used to it. It makes for a very exciting fight -- a great translation of the pace of the video game to an RPG format. The combat system in this game gets my highest recommendation.
The chapter on storytelling (the fancy White Wolf term for GMing) is pretty standard fare; mostly just advice on running a game; plot, setting, atmosphere, and a few adventure ideas. Not bad, but like the beginning of the book, nothing special.
There's an intro adventure in the back of the book, in which the players get to meet Guile, take on Balrog, and uncover a conspiracy (it's left sort of vague to let the GM craft his own campaign), which is... decent. It's got info on using boxing as a fighting style, and a few cool new characters, but overall it's good, not great. Makes a decent startup point for a campaign, though.
The appendix in the back includes a couple of sample characters, but the most useful part is the stats for generic "mook" types that the players may end up facing down over the course of a campaign -- thugs, cops, ninjas, and more. Very useful. I wish more games included stuff like this.
Overall, I was very impressed with this game, and it's still one of my all-time favorites. The combat system is absolutely my favorite of all time. If you can find a copy, I recommend this for anyone who wants a great martial-arts game, and any RPG player who still gets excited at the thought of showing E. Honda who's boss.
Help support RPGnet by purchasing this item through DriveThruRPG.
