Ryu

Original MSRP: 21,600

It is really surprising to me that it has taken this long for me to get any kind of Street Fighter action figure.

See, I was slightly insane over Street Fighter II (Called SF2 from here on in).

Back in high school, we all used to hang out at this little arcade called Mr. G’s in Pelham, New Hampshire. The small, one room arcade was on the second floor of a strip mall, above a rental center and next to a gun shop. In this place, Mr. G had placed a few coin operated pool tables, and maybe a dozen video game cabinets.

It was in this arcade that I was introduced to Street Fighter II. Not the turbo edition, just straight SF2.

The four or five of us began playing the game, and each of us began gravitating towards specific characters. Jeff was into Chun-Li, Bill liked Guile, and I was a big fan of Ken. In those days, there were a lot of arguments as to who was better, Ken or Ryu. I liked Ken’s power, but Ryu had speed. If you played one, you could play them both, but there was a subtle art to mastering each one.

Jeff and I formed quite a rivalry with his Chun-Li vs my Ken. We knew each others moves inside and out, and our matches were lightning quick, and fairly even.

With the introduction of Street Fighter 2 Turbo we kicked it up a notch. We began going to different arcades like Fun World in Nashua and Grand Prix in Tewksbury. These arcades were the hot spots on Friday and Saturday nights, and people would get in line to play. Quarters would line up to assure your place in the queue. If you were good, like we were, you rarely had to pay for more than one or two games.

After a while, you began to notice regulars. Other people would hop from arcade to arcade, looking for challenges. I remember this one guy who was really great with Blanka – he could annihilate anyone.

I remember perfectly good dates ruined by the introduction of street fighter machines. I really didn’t want to beat them, but I couldn’t help myself. I was addicted to Street Fighter.

Years went on and various incarnations of the game came and went. We were super excited to get SF2 on the Super Nintendo – that wasted countless hours. Arcades were still the way to play but we found that younger kids were coming into the arcades and handing us our asses. 10-year-old Cambodian kids at that little arcade on University Ave in Lowell would kill us, usually by playing cheap, but it was an exercise in frustration.

Other fighting games came and went, and we tried them all. Dark Stalkers. Marvel Vs. Capcom, Virtual Fighter. Mortal Combat. But none had the allure of SF2.

On my first pilgrimage to Japan, one of the things I had to do was go to a Japanese arcade and play Street Fighter II. I ended up in a giant SEGA arcade, floors upon floors of smoke filled arcade games. And then I found it – the row of SF games. I sat down at a vacant one, because I was too intimidated to challenge a Japanese player. I dropped in my 100 yen coin, and began to play.

I got my ass kicked. Either this Japanese machine was set to super hard, or I had lost my touch.

That was the end of Street Fighter for me. I had come full circle – from being a teenager in and arcade in New Hampshire to playing the game in the motherland. I could go no further.

So what does this all have to do with the Revoltech SFO Ryu? Not much. I just thought I’d give you a little background about my relationship to the Street Fighter franchise.

Street Fighter Revoltech Ryu arrives courtesy of HobbyLink Japan

This version of Ryu comes from a unique on-line game called Street Fighter Online Mouse Generation. This Japanese game has slightly revamped versions of some classic characters plus all-new fighters. One interesting twist to the game is that your characters are actually Revoltech figures – joints and all.

I’ve never played it, so I don’t know if it is any good, but I can’t imagine it is.

Still, it looks basically like Ryu, maybe a bit more muscular. The traditional elements of his outfit are there including gloves and headband.