Street
Fighter Round 3
GEN
Gen is an aged Chinese assassin, highly skilled
in the traditional martial art of kenpo. Despite his abilities,
he eventually falls to disease. Rather than submit passively, he
looks for a worthy challenger to fight him to the death.
Gen was one of the original Street Fighters from
the notorious first game. Back then, he was very much just a
stereotypical "old man fighter" character. You've seen them in
anime before. They look like they're 200 years old, act like
hermits, and fight like demons.
Capcom revived him along with some of his other
SF1 comrades like Birdie and Adon for the Street Fighter Alpha /
Zero series, where he became a playable character for the first
time. Unlike most of the others, Gen had a very unique playing
style that relied on timing and combos, and could switch between
two fighting techniques: the Kiryuu and the Souryuu, each with
their own special moves.
There's a short history to this Gen figure.
Being an old man and all doesn't seem very good for sales (I'm
sure Hasbro has many stories to tell when it comes to Star
Wars). Gen was once bumped from his spot in this wave to an
online exclusive, with Dimitri from Darkstalkers taking his
spot. Thankfully, Dimmy's gone to join his fellow Darkstalker
brethren for a new series coming soon, and Gen's back where he
belongs.
Gen comes with the usual extra head. The
difference being that the other head has a wry-eyed smirk, which
I think was done to resemble his Street Fighter Alpha 3 player
portrait. I can't think of another suitable expression (Gen is
one of those strong, silent, inexpressive types) so it works,
but there's been some feedback that the change is a bit too
subtle. Overall, I feel that his head, while recognizable, could
have been a little sharper and dynamic, sculpt-wise.
So, at first glance, Gen doesn't seem very
impressive. He's in a stuffy Chinese garb, and he's old. Why
would you want such a figure?
The simple answer is: because he rocks. Now I
don't like Gen much as a character, and I don't play him a lot
either, but as a Kung fu fan, and a toy fan, this fella is
sweet.
For one thing, Gen comes with 3 sets of hands
(count em!). You get the generic open and closed fists, as well
as his crane-like pose that is part of his signature fighting
style. That makes for a lot of mixing and matching! All his
hands look aggressive and action-ready, so it should be easy to
find a set and a pose that you like. A slight irk for some may
be that you can't put his sleeves together. They don't reach
each other, and they point the wrong way.
Add to this, a very wide range of articulation!
I know I'd be ticked if an agile character like Gen ended up
being stiff and unposeable, so it's really appreciated that SOTA
went in the opposite direction. He does feature the usual joints
in the same places, but certain parts were specially sculpted to
allow a wider-than-normal range of movement. This is most
noticeable with his hip joints. Gen's hips have a much much much
much higher cut than any of the other figures currently out, and
because of that tiny improvement, boy, can he kick high!
Compare that upskirt shot of Gen with Adon, and
look at the rest of the pics! He does almost 90 degrees on his
leg lifts! It's really something new for SOTA. That's right! You
could say that Gen's got balls and he's not afraid to use em!
:-p
Perhaps the justification is that Gen's robe
covers the "ugly" ball joint, but hey, I'm the kind of guy who'd
gladly have it ugly if it gives my figures so much more range of
movement. I mean, most of my Marvel Legends look like that
anyway.
And for those who do like to find all kinds of
neat little things like sculpted detail in uncanny places, lift
that skirt and look. They went the extra mile and added texture
to the inside! They didn't have to, since it's literally a place
where the sun don't shine (much), but they did. I'll say it
again: SOTA's really stepping up on the plate and bringing their
stuff up to the next level.
If there is one thing that spoils Gen (and I'm
being anal here), it's that his tiny feet can't support his
weight very well. I mean, while I'd really like for him to stand
perched on one leg, as he tends to do in official artwork, not
every figure can achieve that. Figures like Adon and Ryu have
little problems because of their big feet. Gen has tiny girly
feet, and there's no way that he'll be able to. I know. I spent
a whole hour trying. But more than that, my Gen figure tends to
buckle at the knees, so he has some problems with bent-knee
poses. He stands fine straight, but if I want him in a
half-squat, I need to use the bottom of his robe to help support
the figure. Kinda like a quadru-pod.
Like Adon, Gen isn't an A-list character that
fans will snatch up fast. But he's another very strong ACTION
figure (stress on Action!). Don't pass him by just because
you're not sure you like him. Buy one and take him out to play.
He's very worth the cash.
And for you guys who have always wanted a
kick-ass, super-articulated kung fu figure, what are you waiting
for??
Gen will be available in 5 colours. One regular, and 4 variants
based on his palette swaps in the Alpha game.
Purple Gen - Regular mass retail version, packed 2 per case.
Blue Gen - Exclusive to various online retailers.
Red Gen - Exclusive to various online retailers.
Tan Gen - Exclusive to various online retailers.
Black Gen (see main page) - Exclusive to Japan, &
SOTA's website
Variant pics courtesy of SOTA toys.
Coming up next: The individual reviews! Click on
the links to read em!
Adon
Gen
Guile
Sakura
Balrog
Back to Street Fighter Round 3!
Got a question or feedback? Think I suck at this? Do let me know... -Dare
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