Calming the Raging Demon

Since its release in 1994, I've been mystified by Super Street Fighter II Turbo's ultimate antagonist, Akuma. At the time, SSF2T was only available in arcades; but since none of my local hangouts seemed to care about Street Fighter anymore (perhaps rightfully so) I never did get a chance to do battle with the gee-clad killer.

The only time I'd seen this screen was in the pages of Gamepro magazine.

A few years later, the Street Fighter collection was released for the original Playstation, consisting of Super Street Fighter II, SSF2 Turbo and Street Fighter Alpha 2 Gold. I was more interested in the Alpha series back then, so even though I finally had access to the elusive Super Street Fighter II Turbo for the first time ever, I just didn't play it much.

Thanks to my undying love for Chun-Li, Ryu, Guile and the gang, I often revisit the Street Fighter II series. Since I prefer the older CPS1 entries, anything that begins with "Super" is usually not at the forefront of my fighting frenzies. But the other day I popped Super Street Fighter II Turbo into my PS3 with the intent of meeting and defeating the walking powerhouse that is Akuma. It was a street fighting challenge 16 years in the making.

I'm not going to make it seem like it was epic - it wasn't. The Ancient One is just  Ryu with an air fireball and a highly mockable haircut, just like we've all known for years. But even though I had the game set to the easiest setting, that despicable demon still threatened to make my teeth into necklace of bloody Chiclets. A few lighting kicks and kiokens later, I had managed to take him down. And then... it was over.

The last great mystery of Street Fighter II had been explored. I still feel a little empty inside, like the day after Christmas or the morning after a big, drunken party, preferably with pinatas.

We trade wonder for knowledge. Sometimes it just isn't worth it.

Still, I totally kicked Akuma's palette-swapped hiney. Not for nothing, that's a pretty nice consolation prize.