There was a time when the 'extras' that you would get on DVD's and Blu-ray's were a vital part of the entire movie owning experience. They were often a deal breaker when it came to which version of a movie you wanted, which company offered the best package. But with the advent of the internet and YouTube the once highly regarded extras have fallen to the wayside somewhat as content creators made their own. Of course these will vary in quality (and length), but overall with SO many options available at your fingertips, it kinda feels like you don't really need extras on a disc anymore, at least it's not essential.
Myself, I watch LOADS of YouTube content from all sorts of people when it comes to videogames and movies. Many I follow with my own channel, many I stumble across purely by accident, and of course many simply lead on from a previous video I have watched as you fall (or spiral) into a potential, unintended, never-ending video watching binge.
So with that I come to this, the latest (Kickstarter) offering from one such YouTube creator I watch from time to time, Oliver Harper. Over the years I have watched Oliver's work progress from being more of a loose comedic look upon movies with his previous counterparts, to his now more Barry Norman-esque approach which I feel is a bit too laboured if you ask me (bit too obviously wanting to be the next Norman). Much like myself (although I am a bit older), Oliver clearly grew up loving movies and videogames whilst being highly influenced by them. Seemingly following the same route as myself in genres (JCVD, Arnie, action, & SF2 worship), and took that a step further into the world of YouTube (something I always thought I should have done, missed the boat I guess). Hence Oliver also has, or had, a videogame retrospective channel on YouTube where he often played games with commentary.
Anywho, Oliver has been involved with other feature-length movie retrospectives (documentaries?) in years prior with the somewhat underwhelming 'In Search of the Last Action Hero' retro which spawned the EPIC 'In Search of Darkness' trilogy, and 'In Search of Tomorrow'. All of which turned out way better than the original 'Last Action Hero', oddly.
But is this Street Fighter 2 retro worth your time? Well, in short, yes, yes it is. For starters the presentation is very nicely done with lots of SF2 visuals and sound effects slamming you in the face right from the get-go. Expected? Yes. Nice? Oh yes. Every step of the Capcom/SF2 saga is broken up into segments and delved into with much love and respect. The conception and origins of the game, character designs, soundtrack, stage designs, moves, specials, tournament culture, arcade culture, home conversions, animated series, movies, Manga, art, merchandise etc...It's all here, every detail is covered and dissected to some degree.
But it's not just about how the game was created; the retro also delves into how the game influenced everyone and everything around it. How Capcom's revolutionary game affected kids growing up at the time. How it went from creating a crazed phenomenon in the arcades to life-altering rivalries in bedrooms around the world. How this one game virtually spawned an entire videogame genre that in turn spawned masses of other fighters that themselves became phenomena in their own right. How the gaming industry was changed forever by this one single fighter from Capcom, and they tweaked it to perfection time and time again.
This Capcom Street Fighter 2 love fest is an admirable retrospective worthy of any fan's attention for sure. In all honesty, it might not offer lots of original insight into the game, that purely depends on how knowledgeable you are on SF2 and Capcom (or how many YouTube videos you've seen). Inevitably some things you will know already like any extra content, but I found most of this highly informative and engaging. Of course, if you're a regular YouTuber in the movies and videogame sphere, then you'll also probably recognise the little cameos from other well-known YouTubers (didn't see or hear Kim Justice though).
Is this better than other retros? (docs?) Can you find better offerings on YouTube? Again, in all honesty, yes you probably can. This is a solid feature-length retrospective that covers lots of ground, BUT, I have seen many similar offerings on YouTube (that I didn't need to get a Blu-ray to see) for other games. In fact, I have seen some excellent, equally long, retros on 'Mortal Kombat' especially. So I wouldn't say this is a definitive look at Capcom's Street Fighter 2 franchise, but its not too far off. Like seriously, the only thing I can think of that they didn't appear to look into was who was behind all the audio clips throughout the game. Who uttered all those iconic quips? 'HA-DO-KEN!' 'SONIC BOOM!' 'TIGER!' etc...You can actually find some very interesting YouTube videos that explain and translate everything said in the game, did you know that? (gotta love YouTube).
So bottom line, if you grew up throughout the 80's and 90's and experienced the videogame revolution, then this is probably for you (depending on your gaming tastes of course). This is definitely for the fanboys (and girls) of the game only. If you grew up loving and playing 'Sim City' or whatever then maybe not. Youngsters of the current era may or may not engage with this because they no not of pixel excellence, something that bewilders me (pft! Kids). Gotta admit, I actually got a little emotional at times with the fond memories this brought back alongside the retrotastic soundtrack. Much like some movie experiences, the fact that we'll never see anything like this again is sobering. Definitely one of the best gaming retrospectives I've seen for some time. Fully appreciated the hard work put into it.
8/10
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