YMMV / Street Fighter EX

See also:

• Awesome Music - Street Fighter
• Memetic Mutation - Street Fighter

Index:

Games

• Main Page
• Street Fighter
• Street Fighter II
• Street Fighter Alpha
• Street Fighter III
• Street Fighter IV
• Street Fighter V
• Street Fighter 6

Other Media

• Street Fighter: The Movie
• Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie
• Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation
• Street Fighter Alpha: Generations
• Street Fighter II V
• Street Fighter IV: The Ties That Bind
• Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li
• Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist

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• Broken Base:
  • The series itself, for making Street Fighter 3D in the first place. There were resounding cries, particularly in EX's infancy, that going 3D would forever sully the franchise's good name even though battles remained confined to a 2D plane.
  • Whether or not the characters introduced here should become Canon Immigrants or not. The issue cooled down over time as the series slowly became Vindicated by History, eventually leading to the CFN website for Street Fighter V revealing Zangief entrusted one of the chess pieces necessary for stopping Bison's master plan to Darun Mister for safekeeping, thus suggesting that, though they may never be playable in a mainline title, the EX characters are indeed canon to the greater Street Fighter universe.
  • Due to Arika and Capcom jointly owning the rights to the EX-exclusive faces but Capcom having no desire to do anything with them, the question is occasionally raised as to if Arika would be better off forgoing a fourth EX game in favor of a fighter that includes only the EX newcomers (and the cast of Fighting Layer). With the announcement (later release) of Fighting EX Layer and the hotly debated quality of Street Fighter V, both during the latter half of The New '10s, the argument picked up traction once more.
• Common Knowledge: Much misinformation has been spread about the series' storyline due to it not being well known overseas. Some of the things that have been considered canon by fans are:
  • Blair and Sharon are sisters. ^note Blair is the heiress of a wealthy European family, while Sharon was orphaned as a child and never knew her real parents. Likely spread because Sharon was introduced as a substitute for Blair after the latter's bussing, complete with some of her kicking techniques.
  • Hokuto and Hayate are lovers. ^note Hokuto and Hayate have nil to do with each other, although Hayate does end up being paired with a shrine maiden in his Japanese EX2 ending.
  • Skullomania and Shadowgeist are twin circus performers. ^note Skullomania is a Japanese businessman, while Shadowgeist is a vigilante from an unknown dystopian nation.
  • Shadowgeist is Skullo's evil supervillain of an older brother and the heroic Skullomania must put him down. ^note Despite the similarities between their movesets, this isn't the case. Plus, Shadowgeist — who is a vigilante much like Skullomania — is an anti-hero at worst. For added humor, Fighting EX Layer would reveal Shadowgeist is related to another member of the EX cast: He's Sharon's father.
  • Kairi kills Akuma. ^note Akuma simply disappears from the series after the first EX, with no explanation given for his absence. Kairi, who already played like Akuma, would gain a few more of his gameplay quirks starting in the second game, furthering the misconception that he was responsible for a Bus Crash.
  • Garuda is Goutetsu's third student. ^note Originally, Garuda was an evil spirit created from the souls of fallen warriors killed by the Satsui no Hado. However, he was later retconned into an evil spirit created from humanity's negative emotions. Either way, Garuda lacks any of the signature moves a practitioner of that martial art would be expected to know.
  • Hayate was killed off, which is why he doesn't appear in EX3. ^note No explanation was ever given as to why Hayate was removed from the series, until Fighting EX Layer revealed that his body was taken over by Garuda. That, and the whole issue with releasing the game in South Korea where anti-Japanese sentimentalism reigns, and considering what Hayate is... Sources that mention Hayate's death as the reason for his removal often attribute his death to Bloody Hokuto, in conjunction with the above misbelief that the two are romantically involved.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: EX is the darkhorse of the entire series, a status that extends to most of its characters:
  • Skullomania. To this day, he still shows up on a disproportionate amount of character wishlists for future SF entries and even crossover titles.
    • It reached its peak at EVO 2017 when Skullomania was finally revealed for Arika's fighting project, Fighting EX Layer. It garnered one of the loudest positive reactions from the audience present at the event, close behind the announcement of BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle and the reveal of Geese Howard as Tekken 7's second Guest Fighter. Considering how Tekken is the most successful and popular 3D fighter on the market and how large the individual fanbases of the IPs featured in Cross Tag Battle are, it's pretty damn impressive that Skullo can generate that much hype after all these years.
    • Capcom held a character popularity poll in late 2017 that actually included the cast of the EX series. Skullomania actually managed to come in at #16 out of 109 characters, with him being the only EX series character to make it into the top 20, with next in line being Garuda, at #47.
    • Among Skullo fans, there's also Skullolady from EX3. Mentioned once in his ending, but never actually appears. Many years later, though, Skullomania would make a guest appearance in SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy, where he is put through a Gender Bender and essentially turned into the fabled Skullolady.
  • Cracker Jack. Mainly because he was Balrog - negative stereotypes - stupidity + cool. In other words, he was the original (albeit less gentlemanly) Dudley. It's died down with the years, but Dudley's inclusion in SSFIV had fans wanting to see Jack and Dudley go at it.
  • Pullum Purna, mainly for her looks and personality.
  • Garuda and Kairi, for appearance and coolness factor. ^note To an extent in Garuda's case, as he comprises one half of EX's Big Bad Ensemble alongside Bison. Naturally, the two of them were among the first three characters revealed for Fighting EX Layer (the third being main protagonist Hokuto).
• Fanon: Aside from the examples found in Common Knowledge, a common theory claims that EX is meant to be a retelling of Street Fighter Alpha/Street Fighter II. The presence of certain characters on the roster, their appearances, and their motivations do lend more support to this idea than not, though. For example, Sagat still being in Shadaloo and wanting revenge on Ryu, Blanka trying to find his mom, Akuma seeking out a strong seeker of the Killing Intent, and Bison having access to his Shin form (as well as a majority of the Alpha voice cast being used for most of the roster).
• First Installment Wins: Although EX2 (specifically its Plus revision) is typically held up as an Even Better Sequel due to its expanded roster and gameplay mechanics (notably the addition of Meteor Combos and the series equivalent of Custom Combos in Excel), it is the original that has the most recognition among the wider Street Fighter fanbase. Almost all of the beloved new character themes originated here^* EX2 instead opted for (still good but not quite as iconic) stage-specific music outside of the boss characters whereas EX3 used the arranged soundtrack from EX Plus α where applicable along with repurposing some of the EX2 Plus AST and throwing in a few new tracks and while the EX newcomers are collectively well-liked, the most popular faces are those who made their debut in the original EX. The first EX was also the only game to feature Allen, Blair, Akuma, and (in EX Plus α) Sakura; the first three were retired in all subsequent installments while Sakky had a Long Bus Trip that only ended with her return in EX3.
• Game-Breaker: Ace from EX3 is one in theory, since his moveset is built by mixing-'n-matching techniques from the rest of the cast — including the long gone Allen, Blair, and Akuma. Simply put, Ace is as good as you want him to be.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Skullomania became this in 2009, where we got Kamen Rider Skull, complete with a scarf and the letter S on his forehead. Personality-wise, though, he's pretty much Skullo's opposite.
  • The Cycloids become a bit more amusing when you compare them to Seth (making his debut in Street Fighter IV), who does the exact same moveset mimicking as them and (due to his appearance) somewhat resembles Cycloid-γ. Heck, he's even been dubbed "Cycloid Seth" on several occasions.
• Older Than They Think:
  • The EX series could honestly be referred to as an earlier version of Street Fighter IV, as many of the gameplay features used in the latter originated in the former. Several characters in IV even had a few of their moves from EX transplanted to their movesets in IV.
  • While the tag system in EX3 invited the expected comparisons to Tekken Tag Tournament, the general fast pace of tagging in and out mid-battle, as well as the myriad combo possibilities it presented in an already combo-heavy game, actually resembles a prototype Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, as noted by several players after Infinite's release. To that end, the Critical Parade feature (which brings in both team members to fight simultaneously, complete with infinite use of Super Combos for its duration) can be likened to the Soul Stone's Infinity Storm, though that mechanic likely was based upon the similar Variable Cross/Duo Team Attack from the original Marvel vs. Capcom.
• Sequelitis: Even with the EX series being vindicated in the years following the release of SFIV, you'll find very few supporters of EX3 compared to the fanbases of the first two games. The third (and currently final) entry is usually praised only for its soundtrack (most of which is reused from the arrange versions of EX Plus α and EX2 Plus) and tag battle mechanics. And even that perspective has been challenged somewhat over the years as players, such as Maximilian Dood, have spent more time with the game and discovered just how deep the combat system in EX3 goes. Fighting game enthusiast and historian GuileWinQuote would even upload a video in May 2023 pushing back against the generally poor perception of EX3, highlighting the game's shortcomings and strengths while offering up theories as to why it was so negatively received at launch.
• Suspiciously Similar Song: Ace's theme, "Harem Beat," sounds like something you'd hear in a Mega Man game. More specifically, it sounds like a rock-heavy version of Gravity Man's theme from 5. Inversely, it also resembles Shang Fenghuang's theme from Fighting Layer (an arcade-only game also developed by Arika in 1998, nearly two years before EX3), albeit sped up. Others mention that it's really close to "Bad Moon" by T-Square.
• Vindicated by History: Much like Street Fighter III, nearly every aspect of this trilogy was controversial, from the polygon models to the new characters to Capcom handing off development of the series to a (then) newly formed third-party company (which, ironically, was founded by Street Fighter II director/designer Akira Nishitani). The only thing most could agree on about Street Fighter EX was that the music was exceptionally good. Although EX and EX2 were modest successes despite this, many were ready to move on when Capcom closed up shop with EX3 (which had the misfortune of releasing as a PS2 launch title with no arcade ports and fierce competition from both DOA2: Hardcore and Tekken Tag Tournament). It was only much later, after Capcom's own jump to the third dimension with Street Fighter IV, that people were willing to give EX another chance. Fighters once decried as ill-fitting were now seen as creative and interesting complements to the SFII crew, the gameplay mechanics — some of which would go on to influence future Capcom ventures — were similar enough to the already established Alpha sub-series to not be alienating while giving the titles a unique identity overall, and the music direction still shined. Though far from perfect, fans view the EX series more favorably these days than they ever did before. It's perhaps because of the these games' salvaged reputation that Arika went on to make Fighting EX Layer, a Creator-Driven Successor to the SFEX games featuring some of its original characters.
• WTH, Costuming Department?: Vulcano Rosso's outfit◊, best likened to a patchwork quilt business suit held together with zippers provided by Tetsuya Nomura and worn over a turtleneck sweater/bodysuit. All of which is accentuated by zebra-colored Elvis hair. And yet, many believe that he somehow manages to pull it all off.

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