In the long history of Video games, Many anti-heroes have appeared. Especially In this generation of gaming where anti-heroes are as popular as ever. Travis Touchdown however is by far the most interesting of them all. Travis is the protaginist of the NO MORE HEROES Video game series created by Goichi Suda and Grasshopper Manufacture (Killer7 , Shadows of the damned). NO MORE HEROES is one of the few violent and mature rated games for the WII system. The game features much of the same wacky humor and Over the top style that Killer7 did. Travis’story is far from complex or thought provoking which makes him instantly likeable. Travis is a hardcore otaku. The motel room that he lives in is covered from wall-to-wall with anime,video game, and pro wrestling stuff. After realizing he is completely broke, Travis takes on a job given to him by Sylvia Christel. The job was supposed to be a simple assasination. However, after the job is done Sylvia gives him the 11th rank in the UNITED ASSASSINS ASSOCIATION. After coming to the conclusion that he has unknowningly made himself a target for other asssasins , as well as the hope of having sex with Sylvia, Travis decides to climb the ranks of the UAA to become the number one assassin. Travis ‘ main mode of combat is a custom fighting style incorperating self taught sword fighting techniques learn from watching videos and pro wrestling throws. His main weapon of choice is his trademark beam katana that he won in an online auction.Personality wise Travis acts much like any other anti-hero. Brash,arrogant, hot tempered,blood thirsty and merciless to almost eveyone he fights, it is very rare that he spares anyone during battle. given his otaku nature, these character traits give travis a entertaining quality. I would definitely say Travis is by far the most badass otaku character in video game history. Hopefully the video game world has not seen the last of him .

Odd fact: in KOF 1994 when each team represented a country (I am glad they did away with this) the womens team represented england. which did not make sense considering the team: King is of french nationality and both mai and Yuri are japanese

Team themes/Background music: The womens team themes have mostly leaned toward big band and swing style jazz tunes. however they ventured from this once awhile. namely their 94 theme “NE!” and 2000 theme “come up smiling”. these songs went for a more pop rock sound. while not as memorable as their jazz tunes, these themes are still fun tracks to hear during the game.

theme list:
1994-NE!
1995-ground creeping bass
1996-get’n up
1997-team themes were not used
1998-fairy
1999-sha la la
2000-come up smiling
2001-the queen of fighters
2002-masquerade
2003- I’m hot for you
XI- team was not present that year
XII-team themes were not used
XIII-who is queen?

Roster: for the first installments of KOF the womens team stayed the same with what is considered the core of the Womens team. 1996 the third installment began a trend of consistant member changes for the womens team.
Core members:

King(pictured on left) first made her appearance in the first art of fighting video game as a bouncer in the L’amour club. After battling with Ryo sakazaki she then joined the search for Ryo’s kidnapped sister Yuri. She has always been one of my favorite characters to use in KOF. A player could easily switch between Zoning tactics or rush in to unleash devasting combos. Next up is Mai Shiranui (pictured right/top) the self proclaimed fiance of Andy bogard. Mai first appeared in Fatal Fury 2. Much like King , Mai can easily go from Zoning to close quaters combat with ease. I primarily use mai in KOF 98. After that installment i barely touched her. Then we have Yuri Sakazaki (pictured right bottom). Yuri has a interesting story. From damsel in ditress in The first art of fighting to trading punches with the best of them. Yuri was a case by case character for me personally. There was installments that i never used her, then there were some that she was a character I frequently used.

after KOF 95 the womens team roster began a trend of consistantly swapping out a member.

Kasumi Todoh was the first of the new recruits for the Womens team. Kasumi made her debut in the third art of fighting game and is the daughter of AOF 1 character Ryuhaku Todoh. Kasumi would fight on the women’s team three times. The first time in KOF 96 when Yuri was force to fight on the Kyokugen karate team in place of her father. The second and third times was in KOF99 and 2000 due to the new four man team rule introduced in KOF99. However in a interesting twist, In KOF XI kasumi instead fought along side the Anti-Kyokugen team with Eiji Kisaragi and Malin.I heavily favored Kasumi everytime she was in a KOF game.

Chizuru Kagura was the 1996 tournament host and one of that year’s boss characters. Chizuru is a member of the third family that aided in the defeat of the god Orochi and is trying to convince Kyo and Iori to put aside their rivalry and prepare to stop orochi again. Chizuru fought on the womens team in KOF 97 so that she could keep a eye on Kyo and Iori. She would not appear again in the series until KOF2003 where she fought alongside Kyo and Iori to find out who was disturbing the seal of Orochi. I barely used Chizuru at all. Her playstyle however seem to lean more towards ranged attacks.

Li Xiangfei made her debut in Real bout fatal fury 2. Xiangfei has fought on the Womens team twice, once in 99 and and again in 2001. Xiangfei was a close range heavy hitting character. I wish i would have actually put more time into using her.

Blue Mary was another fatal fury female that somehow found herself on the womens team. She would fight for the womens team twice. Once in KOF 99 and again in 2003. Mary first appeared in fatal fury 3. Mary was a odd mix of grappling and close quaters combat. despite this i found her playstyle very fun and amusing. Mary had previously fought on the KOF 97 special team with Ryuji yamazaki and Billy kane.

Hinako Shijou was by far the most out of the ordinary character ever placed on the Womens team. making her debut in KOF 2000, Hinako cought a lot of players off guard. A petite girl that useds Sumo as her fighting style. Snk definitely got points for originality with her. Hinako had two KOf appearances. the second one being on the High school girls team in KOF 2003 with Malin and Athena Asamiya.

Final thoughts: The Womens team has always been around in KOF. I was overjoyed to have them brought back for KOFXIII. A KOF without them should not ever see the light of day. I definitely think they could use a rival in the KOF world. A secondary Women’s team of young upstarts would be a interesting choice. Especially since their Story mentions a article where B.Jenet was interviewed and labelled part of the new “Queen of fighters” and the original womens team getting furious over the idea of being considered a thing of the past.

1.Mutant League Football.

Mutant league Football was a shining example of what you could do with a sport and a little imagination. MLF blended the tactics of any other football title and combined them with a unique arcade like atmosphere. rather than playing as real athletes, MFL used an array of trolls, skeletons, and robots to compete with. To go along with the nature of the game, the fields themselves had unique twists to them. Pitfalls, landmines, ice fields are a normal thing while trying to make it to the endzone. Even on defense you had to be wary of more than just the enemy scoring. A interception could end with the ball exploding and killing several of your players. In a time where Madden dominates the Football games and realism in sports games is a must, I believe mutant league football would be a welcome alternative for those who just want to have fun with a sports game and not get caught up in real world statistics

2.Sunset Riders

Western influenced games have always been hit or miss.It seemed like no one could get the formula right until Rockstar games released Red Dead Redemption. However, in my opinion before RDR there was one game that got it right at that game was Sunset riders. Sunset riders story was pretty simple. you and band of bounty hunters traverse through the wild west hunting outlaws. If you played run and gun games like contra then you will feel right at home with this game. shoot anything in your way and avoid enemy fire. Sunset riders did a great job capturing the feel of a western with its level design including some levels where you go through them on a horse. Boss battles in this game were a mixed bag.The most difficult one appearing later in the game in the form of Chief Scalpen (changed to wigwham in the genesis version). Scalpen literally could not be hit if he was standing still forcing the player to shoot at him while he was flying through the air throwing machetes at you. Sunset riders at the least deserves a HD remake.

3. Comix Zone

I am sure you have heard the phrase “_____ was ahead of its time” before. In the case of comix zone this was very true. You played as Comic author/artist Sketch turner whose own Villainous creation mortus comes to life when ligthting strikes his latest comic “comix zone”. mortus then hurls Sketch into his own comic believing that if he can kill sketch in the comic world then he will become real. Comix Zone’s presentation was definitely mind blowing. Seeing the bright colors commonly used in superhero comics and watching Sketch leap through the pages of the comic was an interesting sight. The arcade action gameplay was a perfect fit. Although the game was heavily criticized for being overly difficult and too short, It received numerous amounts of praise for its gameplay, graphics, and soundtrack. Definitely another canidate for an HD remake

4.River city Ransom.

My favorite Side-scrolling action/Beat’em up game ever. The story of RCR was your typical go save the princess storyline. Alex’s girlfriend has been kidanpped and with the aid of his friend ryan are going to tear through every gang in the city to get her back. RCR was the first Beat’em up style game to incorporate RPG elements into this genre of game. By eating and buying items players enhanced their stats and gain new special techniques. as many of you know this game has already received an remake in the form of River city Ransom EX and a true sequel is in development. But i always wondered what a 3D RCR would look like. Imagine running around river city being able to walk in shops or throw a enemy threw a shop window.Basically a RCR game that played similair to the Yakuza games would be amazing.

5.Road Rash.

motorcycle racing games are a rarity. I can only count five of them off the top of my head, one of them being Road rash 2. If you played the Sega game Hang-on you might have also come across this game further down the road during the era of Sega genesis. The aspect that made Road Rash standout amongst other Motorcycle racing games was that combat actually played a huge part in winning. PLayers could use weapons or there own hands and feet to attack other riders. Sometimes the only way to get 1st place was to knock the rider of his bike and pray he stays down long enough for you to cross the finish line. Many years ago Road Rash randomly appeared on the 3DO, N64, and PS1 systems with mixed reviews. I think its about time the world got another does of this interesting racing game.

Finally Mike Haggar makes his long awaited fighting game debut. Now if only we could get poison into a fighter. I definitely plan on using haggar every once in awhile. so far from his gameplay vids his playstyle seems to be your standard grappling character. Next we have Crimson Viper from SFIV. two words capcom “Too soon” , I actually like crimson viper and think she is one of the better characters introduced in SFIV. I just don’t think she belongs in MvC3. Then we have Akuma. I very much dislike the fact that he is in this game. we have Ryu. that should be enough for the Shoto/ansatsuken fighters.if you were going to add another street fighter character i would have went with Rose. finally rounding out the capcom cast is Hsien-ko/lei-lei from darkstalkers. definitely a surprise but a very lackluster final character to reveal. i never got to use her when i played darkstalkers but i will definitely attempt to use her.

Marvel:

Storm was definitely one of the characters i was expecting to return. her fighting tactics in MvC2 have been well documented and she appears to play exactly the same way in MvC3. Phoenix was probably the biggest shocker on the Marvel side. I see her becoming popular primarily because of her dark phoenix transformation when her health gets depleted (must have five super bars). you pretty much are getting a extremely powerful 4th member by picking phoenix. I will admit i had no idea who Taskmaster was when he was revealed. after some research into the character and watching gameplay vids. I am definitely going to be using him. He appears to be a good mid to close range fighter. and Finally sentinel, huge ( no pun intended) waste of a character slot. If they wanted a huge character i say put Blackheart or Mephisto. once again, very upset that there is no Punisher. when will frank castle get his time to shine?

every once in awhile in the world of Manga and Anime, A truly classic and timeless tale comes along. Ah My Goddess is one of those stories. This series easily fits into the Comedy/romance genre of anime, but a person could also say that it is a modern day fairy tale. The story begins with the central protagonist Keichi Morisato. Unlike most central male protagonist of this genre of anime, Keichi is pretty much your everyday guy. goes to a university, belongs to a auto club, lives in a dorm, and has crushes. even when things spiral downward He remains cheerful and optimistic. It is because of this that Keiichi is granted Heaven’s blessing which is a single wish. When Keiichi attempts to make a phone call one night, his call is intercepted by the goddess help line. Right before his eyes the Beautiful Goddess Belldandy appears. After explaining why she appeared before Keiichi and reassures him that this is not a prank. Keiichi then skepitcally says the very words that will change his life forever, ” I wish for a Goddess like you to be my side forever” . To his surprise, his wish is granted and belldandy is to remain with him for the rest of his life. Despite this situation, Ah my Goddess manages tells a wonderful and sometimes profound love story. most of the first part of season mainly focuses on Keiichi’s day-to-day life with Belldandy. This includes Finding a new place to live (he gets kick out the dorm for violating their “no girls” policy) to explaining earth customs and holidays. However the couple must also deal with the occasional jealous pursuer or Malevolent spirit. Most of the shows Comedic aspects are brought about by the inclusion of Various secondary characters. My personal favorite of these Characters is Belldandy’s Older demon-goddess hybrid sister Urd. Urd basically wants Keiichi and Belldandy’s Blossoming romance to progress to a more intimate and physical nature. Urd uses numerous shady and strong arm tactics to achieve this goal whether its offer her own body to Keiichi to get him comfortable with a women’s body, or Mind controlling him into attempting to seduce Belldandy. The show also does a good job of balancing out the Comedy and Emotional aspects of the story. I am very glad they did this. Most cases these kind of stories tend to become overdramatic and boring. Another aspect of the show that i think needs to be mention is the amazing english Dubbing. Some anime fans would much rather listen to anime in its native language, however i definitely would recommend a viewing of the show in english. Eileen stevens does a amazing job of capturing the purity and serene qualities of Belldandy. I am sure anyone watching this series in english will instantly fall in love with her voice. Ah my Goddess remains at the top of my list of favorite animes. I would highly recommend picking it up.

Side note: Belldandy over the years has become a extremely popular character over the years. whether its her beauty and compassionate nature or her getting drunk off cola, she has manage to win the hearts of fans across the world. Although some small circles of people have critized the character stating that Belldandy represents a negative stereotype of women. most people tend to percieve Belldandy in one of two ways, indentured servant or the perfect example of graceful femininity.

Thoughts: Of course the holy Quartet of CAPCOM fighters (Ryu,Chun li, Morrigan, Felicia) was obviously going to be in this game. although i am sure there were some fans hoping Dimitri would be in the game instead of Felicia. From this point on the CAPCOM’s roster gets a even split of being predictable and unexpected. I am sure most fans were anticipating Viewtiful Joe’s entry into the game seeing as he was included in capcoms latest crossover fighter Tatsunoko vs.Capcom . plus since CAPCOM can just port over the 3d model it would cut down development time. Amaterasu was a decent surprise although i admit i was not very excited at first about the inclusion of Amaterasu. I knew it would be safe to assume that there would be atleast 2 Resident evil characters. Chris was definitely going to be one since RE5 came out last year. i originally guessed that the second character would be either Leon kennedy or Jill valentine. Instead we were given Albert Wesker, A pivotal character within the RE games. for now i am withholding judgement on Wesker. Dante was another predictable inclusion. However i am definitely baffled at the choice to go with DMC3 dante instead of classic Dante from the 1st DMC game. I guess its cause the DMC 3 dante had more attitude. Also from the DMC universe we get Trish. She is another character that i have mixed feelings about. while trish is definitely a cool character, i believe someone else could have been added in. Arthur was a answered prayer from the older fans that could remember the ghost n’ goblins series. ever since seeing him as a assist character in the original MvC, Fans have been rallying for a chance to fight as Arthur. I am excited to see tron bonne return. i admit she was not one of my main characters i used in MvC2 , But tron definitely brings something interesting to the table. I disagree with the inclusion of Nathan spencer. I was not a fan of the Recent Bionic commando game so obviously seeing Spencer in MvC3 is heartbreaking for me.

Representing MARVEL is:
Captain America
Thor
HULK
Iron Man
Deadpool
Spider-man
Wolverine
X-23
Doctor Doom
Dorammu
Magento
Super skrull
M.O.D.O.K

Thoughts: Marvel’s roster was a lot easier to predict. Obviously the Iconic MARVEL characters were going to make it in the game( Spiderman , Wolverine, Doom, HULK, Captain America , Magento) . MARVEL’s line up has a few interesting (for better or worse) Choices for its characters new to MvC franchise. With his recent surge in popularity, Deadpool was a obvious choice for MvC3. I am interested in seeing how CAPCOM will incorporate Deadpool’s fourth wall breaking antics into the game. X-23 has gotten the most mixed reaction of any of the new characters announced for MvC3. Being a X-23 fan, i am glad she was picked to be included. althought i admit there is the danger of her playing to similiar to Wolverine. Dorammu is definitely a odd choice for MARVEL. When he was revealed i had to do some heavy research to find out who he was. yes he is that obscure of a character. And lastly we have the 2 biggest disappointments in the entire game so far, M.O.D.O.K and Super skrull. I could care less for both of them. i could make a 4 page list of way more qualified MARVEL villains.

so now there is only four roster spots left (2 for each side). i am not sure who will be included but i have a few hopes/predictions for the remaining roster spot.
Capcom:
Frank west (dead rising)- i think he will definitely be one of capcom’s last to remaining spots,plus porting his 3d model from Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom will cut down production time.
Zero (mega man X)- see above
Mike haggar (final fight) : DAMN IT CAPCOM!!!! GIVE US HAGGAR!!!!
Megaman ( classic or X) : i hated Volnutt. so i am crossing my fingers and hoping he will not be in MvC3
Gene (Godhand) : Capcom seems to be throwing in mostly characters that have appeared in recent years. so why not throw gene in to form the Clover studios trio ( with Viewtiful joe, Amaterasu)
MARVEL:
Ms. Marvel- Marvel’s side is extremely lacking in female representation. i think she would be a great inclusion
Carnage- with carnage making a come back sometime this month in Amazing spider-man, i would hope that Marvel would want to get the character some air time.
The punisher : Frank castle not making a appearance in any of the Marvel fighting games or the crossovers is a huge crime that needs to be atoned for immediately.
dazzler: not sure why but i would love to see her in another game.
Psylocke: i have high hopes that she will be included.

UPDATE: 11/30/10
couple of changes – roster has been upped from 30 to 40 characters. 4 more characters have been revealed since my initial post.
MARVEL: She-hulk and Shuma gorath(DLC)
CAPCOM: Zero and Jill valentine(DLC)
She-hulk’s additon to the roster was a huge surprise to a lot of gamers. I am a fan of she-hulk so i am excited to play as her. still holding onto hope that Ms. Marvel will be included too. I never liked Shuma Gorath. i always thought the character was boring and uninspired in the comics and the capcom/marvel fighters. I Expected Zero to be included. I still would rather have the original Mega man or Mega man X . I am split 50/50 on the inclusion of Jill Valentine. I loved her MvsC2 incarnation, but i am guessing she will have a different play style since this is her RE5 incarnation. there is still more characters to be revealed so lets hope Capcom will give us some more surprising but wanted entries. ( HOWARD THE DUCK!!!)

Street fighter 3 3rd strike definitely went in a creative direction with its soundtrack. featuring a unique blend of hip-hop , jazzy & techno tunes which blend perfectly with the backgrounds and the action on screen.
favorite tracks: Jazzy NYC 99( Alex& ken’s theme) , beats in my head(elena’s theme) , twilight(ibuki’s theme), killing moon(akuma’s theme) , the longshoreman( sean& oro’s theme)

Shadow of colossus’ soundtrack was just as brilliant as the game itself. quiet and ambient when you travel the large open terrain , Powerful and melodic as you fight the colossus.
favorite tracks: Revived power , counter attack

Suikoden 2 has a well crafted soundtrack mixing various classical stylings from several different cultures around the world.
favorite tracks : orizzonte, due fi umi , theme of a moonlight night

the King of fighters franchise has some of the most memorable tunes in fighting game history. it is because of this that i could not pick a single incarnation and instead chose the entire franchise. K.O.F used many different stlyes of music over ther years from hard rock all the way to classical music.
favorite tracks: ground creeping bass (women team 95), arashi no saxophone 2/the stormy saxophone 2 (yagami team 96) ,Esaka!?( japan team 96) , psycho soldier “KOF version” (psycho soldier team 94) ,Terry115 (fatal fury team 2000) , wild party (korea team 2000) , Tears (kyo kusanagi 99 ) , Cool jam (iori yagami 97,

the guilty gear series exploded onto the fighting game scene with its amazing gameplay, graphics , and intense heavy rock influenced soundtrack. out of all the multiple versions of the game’s soundtrack, the “Heavy rock tracks” version is by far the best.
favorite tracks: Babel nose( jam’s theme) , blue water blue sky (may’s theme) , a solitude that ask nothing in return ( venom’s theme) , keep yourself alive 2 (sol’s theme) , kagematsuri/ shadow festival ( I-no’s theme)

using the same composer as the guilty gear series was a wise decision for BLAZBLUE. Blazblue’s sound however tends to lean more toward symphonic power metal tunes mixed with more faster pace heavy rock.
favorite tracks:Rebellion ( ragna’s theme) , lust SIN (jin’s theme) , oriental flower (litchi’s theme) , marionette purple (carl’S theme) , reppu (Bang’s theme)

I introduce you to Hakan the turkish oil wrestler, the latest new additon to the Street fighter roster. Lame design all around. i did not think capcom could come up with anything worst than rufus. Needless to say they proved me wrong. I viewed videos of Hakan’s arsenal of moves. After several views i came to the conclusion that not only is Hakan one of the worst characters in Sf history, but one of the worst designs ever in fighting game history. why waste space on lame joke/gag fighters when you have a vast library of awesome fighters at your disposal. So i came up with a list of characters that are way more deserving of Street fighter 4 glory than the lame trio (fuerte, rufus,Hakan) that capcom has givin us.

1. Mike Haggar (Final fight, saturday night slam masters)

Almost everytime i see a character request thread on a message board the name Mike Haggar pops up. Seriously he is the only character that was in all 3 final fight games. Guy and cody have already made the leap to the SF universe. I am pretty sure capcom could make up a plausible reason for Haggar to have appeared in SF 4.Reunite the original final fight trio!

2. Shoma Sawamura (rival schools)

Out of the entire rival schools cast Shoma seems to be the crowd favorite. His baseball inspired arsenal would definitely hold its own against the veterans of SF. Plus his hot blooded personality would provide various reasons why he would enter the world warrior tournament. Sakura made a appearrance in rival schools so why can’t Rival schools fighters appear in SF?

3. Kurow kirishima (Rival schools)

Kurow was another awesome character from the rival schools games. One look and you could tell this guy was going to be evil. Kurow was part of a group that was brainwashing students, sounds like something S.I.N would do . easy fit.

4.Rolento (final fight, Street fighter alpha 2)

why Rolento is not present in SF 4 is pure insanity.He definitely brings a unique play style to the Sf universe. much like Kurow, Rolento could easily have been a new recruit for S.I.N. Rolento’s super where he hangs his opponent would make a great ultra move.

5. Zaki (Rival schools)

Definitely one of the best designs Capcom has ever made. Zaki’s outfit is pretty original and uncommon amongst Female fighters in fighting games. Zaki ‘s fighting style and highly aggresive attitude brought something different to the table. its a shame she was overlooked by alot of players.

6. Doctrine dark (street fighter ex)

Street fighter could use another psychopath. D.Dark gets points for using unorthodox methods such as using trip wires and bombs during battles. D.Dark also has the advantage of being creepy looking. i believe he had some vendetta against guile. I think he would make a decent wild card throughout the Sf 4 story.

7.Kyousuke kagami (rival schools)

Kyousuke was another popular character to use in Rival schools. His appearance in capcom vs. SNK 2 was very welcome by the fans. Kyousuke’s ending in the last Rival schools game left alot of players questioning his whereabouts. in his ending he was forced to kill his brother who was possesed by the demonic spirit of their father, afterwards Kyousuke vanished. maybe SF 4 could bring him back into the spotlight and aid him in dealing with his brother’s death?

8. Karin Kanzaki (street fighter alpha 3)

Karin was Sakura’s rival in the Sakura Ganbaru comics. later she was brought in as a actual character in Street fighter alpha 3. Karin’s counter attacks were something unseen in street fighter games and kept players on the defensive. I think she would have made the transition to SF 4 very easily. Sakura needs her rival. after all, Rivals always bring out the best in each other.

9. poison (final fight)

Poison is definitely one of the most famous NPCs( non-playable characters) ever. long story short, Poison is a transsexual. something the videogame world has not really explored. this fact led to her removal from the home versions of final fight. poison appears alongside Hugo in the Street fighter 3 games . poison was also set to appear in the ill-fated capcom all-stars game. Since then some fans have asked for Poison’s inclusion in SF 4. The issue was actually addressed by the producer of SF 4 stating that poison’s region specific gender( U.S: post-op, Japan :pre-op) would cause too much confusion.

10. Edge (rival schools)

I have a soft spot for knife wielding characters. Edge’s wild streak and knife skills could give any fighter a difficult fight.
Edge is a brawler and would need very little reason to fight making him easy to come up with a story for his entrance into the world warrior tournament.

and finally

11. Skullomania (street fighter ex)

If capcom so badly wanted to include a wacky character in the SF 4 line-up then Skullomania was perfect. A hero for justice, Skullo’s inclusion definitely would have been to destroy S.I.N. while not my favorite of the EX cast, Skullomania was a interesting design appearance and fighting style wise.

The introduction:
Sean Matsuda

Sean made his first appearance in Street fighter 3: the new generation. In the original concept of street fighter 3 ken and Ryu were not to be included in the game (hence the new generation tagline). Sean was supposed to be the only ansatsuken fighter in SF3. However fan demand convinced capcom to change their mind and Ken and Ryu were included in SF3. Sean is Ken’s student and has fought alongside Ken in various tournaments. a running joke in the SF 3 series is Sean always getting beaten in his endings. Much like his master, Sean wears a standard karate Gi into battle although choosing to wear gold than his masters famous red Gi (most protege characters tend to dress like their teacher/mentor). For some reason some fans consider sean a joke character due to his endings and the fact that he mentions not wanting to be compared to Dan during the series.

Sakura kasugano

Sakura Kasugano was first introduced in Street fighter alpha 2. Sakura became a Big fan of Ryu after witnessing Ryu win the first world warrior tournament (SF1). after watching various fights that Ryu was involved in Sakura began to train herself in ansatsuken by copying Ryu attacks. Eventually she seeks out Ryu for official training. However, Ryu tells her that he is unable to train her since he is still training himself. Sakura took the fighting game world by storm and quickly became a popular character within the capcom universe. Sakura is a frequent in the many crossover games that capcom does within its own universe (super puzzle fighter, pocket fighter) and with other companies (marvel vs capcom games, Capcom vs. Snk) . Sakura was also featured in capcom’s high school fighting game Rival schools. Sakura wears a School girl sailor uniform into battle instead of a standard Gi like the other ansatsuken fighters.

Fighting style : Sean
Sean has a unique variation of his master’s style. Like ken, Sean has various powerful and flashy kicking techniques. most notable are his overhead falling crescent kick and sean’s variation of the classic hurricane kick. Sean’s variation of the Shoryuken is also notable. In SF3 Sean’s shoryuken began much like the standard Shoryuken. however after the initial punch connects, Sean spins around in mid-air and does and follow-up punch with the other hand. Later in SF3 : 3rd strike Sean’s shoryuken was changed. In this version of the SF3 Sean’s shoryuken was renamed to “dragon smash” and performed differently. instead of a rising uppercut followed by a mid-air punch, the dragon smash used both fist while rising from the ground getting rid of any follow-up attack. the most unique aspect of sean’s fighting style is Sean’s inability to throw projectiles (hadouken) as a standard special move. Sean can only throw a single projectile when his super gauge is filled (hadou burst). this was a vary odd thing especially when you consider every other ansatsuken fighter is capable of throwing constant projectiles.

Sakura:
Since Sakura never recieved any offical training unlike Sean, most of her moves are a custom variation of what she has watched Ryu do in his fights. Sakura’s Hadouken size and strength can be changed depending on how many times the punch button is pressed when the command is performed. Sakura’s variation of the shoryuken called the Shouoken was very inventive at the time. the attack would begin with Sakura charging her opponent and then finishing with the leaping uppercut like the standard Shoryuken. Her version of the hurricane kick called “Shippu kyaku” was useful for avoiding projectiles amd low attacks due to the attacks rising and descending arc motion. the most noteworthy super attack of Sakura’s is her “Haruichiban” super attack. the Haruichiban starts hitting low at the beginning of the super attack which is something vary rare in 2D fighters even till this day.

closing thoughts:
If i were to choose one over the other i would pick Sakura. She was alot more fun to use than sean. not mention she shows way more personality than Sean. I celebrated when capcom annouced Sakura’s inclusion into Street fighter 4. guess that shows the power of a Fighting school girl.