Street Fighter II Turbo #8 Review: Let the awesomeness begin!

It has finally happened! The big tournament, the most important event in the Street Fighter mythos, has just begun in the latest Street Fighter II Turbo issue. With the 16 characters from the hit Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo game participating in this glorious event, expect tons of fights, surprises, and WTF moments that will sure make you remember the SF2 Turbo comics Maxi series.

The issue starts with the 16 fighters riding a boat to Shadaloo secret base where the tournament will be help away from the eyes of the world governments and military. The issue does not take long to explain the rules of the tournament which will be a single elimination event and the three last standing contestants will fight against the shadaloo kings (Vega, Balrog, and Sagat) and whoever wins against the shadaloo lords will get ot fight bison in a 1 vs, 2vs 1or 3 vs one final match.

The current Tier is as follow:

I am also taking this opportunity to announce that from now until Issue #9 comes out we will be discussing the fights that have occurred in the tournaments and the different matchups as well as predicting the outcome of the fights to come, and I am counting on you guys to discuss with in the comments section.

The issue also marks the first time where Ryu meets Chun-li (could you believe they haven’t met yet???) in an interesting panel that was cleverly felt ignored. Dhalsim is also looking to be an important character in the tournament which might make things a bit more interesting

The fights are gorgeous looking and while they are bit short, a little bird told me that the fights will be getting longer as we get less people left on the tournament.

Chamba did a fantastic job again, and his Ryu is as badass as ever. Although the backgrounds can be a bit empty, the action does make up for it, and if you have been reading the comic you will know that when drawn by chamba, the action looks like its popping out of an anime or movie.

And as bonus to this buffet of awesome, street Fighter II Turbo #8 includes a backup story of the fan favourite young ninja Ibuki. The story is a fun ride drawn by Omar dogan and it makes Ibuki more lovable than she already is.

Street Fighter fans around the globe, this without a doubt is the best most exciting issue of the Street Fighter comics we have seen in years, and this is just the beginning of the tournament. I really did not want the issue to end and was mad to realize I have to wait for a whole month before getting the next issue. I salute udon for the great job they did in this issue in both writing and drawing.

And just in case you did not get this issue yet I tell you this: “are you insane? GO get it NOW”

Score: 10/10 (a must have)