What Street Fighter 5 almost looked like; concept art and hyper realistic images from early in the game's development

Posted by John 'Velociraptor' Guerrero • February 29, 2016 at 4:27 p.m. PST

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As we found earlier today, Capcom originally wanted to make Street Fighter 5's art much more realistic. While they ended up scrapping this idea, there was some development in this avenue.

We've discovered a few images depicting concept art from the early days of SF5, and things looked drastically different. We get a glimpse of Ryu, Bison, Karin, Nash, Chun-Li and Birdie, and some of them looked absolutely awesome.

Check out what could have been in the gallery below.

Click images for larger versions

We'd love to hear your thoughts on these concept sketches and images, so please share in the comments below.

Source: Andrew // エヤスルーナ@MHX. Thank you to UpUp for the submission.

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Comments

BizBringeR said on February 29, 2016 at 4:30 p.m.

When is the DLC coming out in march? Tomorrow?

SaiyanMexican said on February 29, 2016 at 4:30 p.m.

The whole from when Ryu was Evil Ryu will probably never be explained. You can see from the Concept Art they had it in mind

AK47 said on February 29, 2016 at 4:31 p.m.

That actually looked pretty good. Wonder why they didn't go this route?

RebornOdin said on February 29, 2016 at 4:32 p.m.

Reply @SaiyanMexican #2

It was explained, but just barely. It's implied that Oni gave Ryu the hole in his chest which turned him into Evil Ryu. None of this is canonical of course, but still. That's why Oni's Ultra 1 acts the way it does at close range.

roiwa said on February 29, 2016 at 4:33 p.m.

I mistook it for a Tekken game at first. Probably best they didn't go that route because it looks unrecognizable.

gigantor21 said on February 29, 2016 at 4:34 p.m.

Cyborg Ninja Nash is godlike.

Mac_Gargan said on February 29, 2016 at 4:35 p.m.

This stuff was way cooler.

RedLantern said on February 29, 2016 at 4:36 p.m.

Wow that Ryu looks terrible, good thing they changed it

Fallenrose777 said on February 29, 2016 at 4:38 p.m.

I actually like that Bison costume. They should add that one in later. I don't really like the Nash ones but I like the cyborg arm. I would rather have that then FrankenNash.

Infinity_Venom said on February 29, 2016 at 4:38 p.m.

Bison looked cool....and Nash with the Winter Soldier arm lol

#10

triplefierce said on February 29, 2016 at 4:38 p.m.

Too- tekken/DoA/VF-ish. They made the correct call in the end. I hope SF always maintains the exaggerated art style, the photorealistic route is too generic.

#11

BlueFast said on February 29, 2016 at 4:39 p.m.

That long haired Ryu reminds me of Miguel from Tekken. Some of these concepts wouldn't be half bad for costumes.

#12

real_MAHVEL_god said on February 29, 2016 at 4:39 p.m.

really nice. but i prefer the current style. but is there anything stopping them from creating this as a costume?

we should be getting tekken x SF soon anyway

#13

LeonX said on February 29, 2016 at 4:40 p.m.

Reply @SaiyanMexican #2

It was explained on Street Fighter III: Ryu Final http://streetfighter.wikia.com/wiki/S...

#14

SpadeHand said on February 29, 2016 at 4:41 p.m.

Ryu with that Geostigma, Nash looking like the Winter Soldier. Hope Cyborg Ninja Charlie's a costume down the line.

That said, I'm super happy they didn't go photoreal on this game. Anyone can do realistic, but Street Fighter's already got its own style. Best to use a style like this in an animated short, or something.

#15

Technically_BetR said on February 29, 2016 at 4:42 p.m.

Okay I know I've been moaning about lack of detail in the backgrounds bar a few stages as of late in this game but holy sh!t this is actually GOOD! reminds me of the Honmaru stage from Tekken 4.

This would of shook things up real nice had they gone this artistic route. Sigh....so how many years again?

#16

Doh_Simpson said on February 29, 2016 at 4:42 p.m.

It looks totally refreshed, it's something different and it's a good different, like the transition from 3s to IV. Health bar looks boring but everything else would've totally been brand new in terms of design.

If they weren't adding new characters every month I would've said I'm already tired of this game, it's just not flexible like IV. . . it's almost like MKX in a way except the combos aren't in the command list combos aren't everything but the combos in this game make it stale I'm just looking forward to Alex guile and balrog.

#17

KarbyP said on February 29, 2016 at 4:43 p.m.

This Ryu looks more like Diego Umejuarez than Ryu.

I really dig M. Bison's look though.

#18

Aluppoj said on February 29, 2016 at 4:46 p.m.

I'm very glad they went the route they did. SF5 is visually stunning.

It feels like SF3 (my previous favorite) in 3D.

#19

Logic said on February 29, 2016 at 4:46 p.m.

Thank god this didn't happen.
That Ryu costume doesn't even look like Ryu.

#20

Yuru_Juri said on February 29, 2016 at 4:48 p.m.

I hope some of those come back as alt costumes.

#21

Marquistador said on February 29, 2016 at 4:49 p.m.

I hope they come out with that disco Birdie skin.

#22

AdaWongLover5 said on February 29, 2016 at 4:50 p.m.

Would like an Alpha Birdie somewhere down the line. Not that I hate fat Birdie, I just grew up with the Alpha series so... yeah, it'd be nostalgic.

#23

kabal31082 said on February 29, 2016 at 4:50 p.m.

I think this actually could have worked under the EX brand for the game, had the costumes been more in line with the character's traditional looks.

Would like the see the Chun-C and nash-C costume show up at some point.

#24

diddykv said on February 29, 2016 at 4:51 p.m.

Before Capcom gave Namco Akuma, who knew Namco had already offered Capcom Jin Kazama.

#25

X_Axel said on February 29, 2016 at 4:52 p.m.

Reply @AK47 #3

Agreed, this concept looks cool

#26

Neoxon said on February 29, 2016 at 4:53 p.m.

Interesting that they were considering SFV Ryu to be still recovering from his time as Evil Ryu (thus making Evil Ryu in SSFIV:AE & USF4 canon).

#27

halodork said on February 29, 2016 at 4:55 p.m.

Karin looks kind of bad in that. Glad she came out way better looking then this concept art. I hope none of it becomes DLC for her otherwise I am sticking with default forever.

#28

real_MAHVEL_god said on February 29, 2016 at 4:55 p.m.

i really wish they put stuff like this in the game. some games have concept art in their games but thats if youre lucky.

#29

SaiyanMexican said on February 29, 2016 at 4:59 p.m.

Reply @RebornOdin #4

Oh no, I know why it's there. I meant whatever happened to the whole itself. I remembered now that you mention it that Oni & that particular E Ryu isn't canon

#30

SaiyanMexican said on February 29, 2016 at 5:01 p.m.

Reply @LeonX #14

That manga's release predates SF4 by a looooong time. I actually read that manga & it's Alpha Prequel. Evil Ryu's concept & Karin were derived from those works if I remember correctly.

#31

messias_89 said on February 29, 2016 at 5:03 p.m.

good they didnt choose this art style,it looks like tekken or virtua fighter,sf always had that cartoonish artstyle,no need for such a dramatic change imo.

#32

yellerdog said on February 29, 2016 at 5:03 p.m.

Prince of Persia: World Warrior Within, more like.

#33

Wulfsten said on February 29, 2016 at 5:06 p.m.

Like the Karin and Chun concepts. It'd be kind of cool to get a buff Birdie again too, although that might mess with hurtboxes.

#34

GrasshopperBabby said on February 29, 2016 at 5:08 p.m.

A lot of the designs look really neat, but it's not immediately recognizable as Street Fighter. So it's probably for the best that they passed it by.

#35

Sir_Kenjamin said on February 29, 2016 at 5:14 p.m.

I'm glad they didn't go this route. This looks very unspired. Plane colors and very dark. I very much enjoy the route they took for two reasons. 1) it is bright and vibrant and really makes the action pop. 2) this art style will attract more people, namely younger players that will grow the scene.

#36

fusion said on February 29, 2016 at 5:18 p.m.

Should have done a mix of this and what it is now.

Currently the art direction is too 'american cartoon' with ugly black outlines like SF4 focus gfx.
Also sometimes the colours get too overpowering. Try Necalli vs fang in the shadoloo boss stage.
Had to change the stage after a bit as my eyes were straining.

#37

Chaos15 said on February 29, 2016 at 5:18 p.m.

Can we please get those Chun-Li as DLC alts? PLease.

#38

himura said on February 29, 2016 at 5:19 p.m.

not going to lie, it looks awesome.

I get why they didnt go that route but....
I probably wouldn't mind to have a complete redesign of the game's aesthetics

#39

Ninjagoon said on February 29, 2016 at 5:21 p.m.

Nash and Guile reminds me too much of Cap America and Winter Soldier's relationship.

#40

Existent said on February 29, 2016 at 5:25 p.m.

Thank God they didn't go with cyborg ninja Charlie.

#41

BluegrassNutmeg said on February 29, 2016 at 5:28 p.m.

Agreed that it's too Tekken-y. I like the more colourful/playful models personally.

#42

GiBGUN said on February 29, 2016 at 5:28 p.m.

Concept art looks great as always, but the actual renders look a bit generic and lacking in charisma. It almost looks like a KI pretender.

#43

chemicalBirdkick said on February 29, 2016 at 5:30 p.m.

i wouldn't mind chun'li b

#44

spectral_delusion said on February 29, 2016 at 5:31 p.m.

Frankenash apparently was the best they could come up with...

Chun-Li's last look is more of a sophisticated Mai Shiranui.

Karin's design is all over the place, the current design is a far better choice. Does the last design remind you of Area?

Ryu had a really sexy look there, doesn't really suit him though. Reminds me a bit of Kairi.

Birdie had a Doll uniform... hmm interesting.

#45

stillgaming said on February 29, 2016 at 5:31 p.m.

Hmmmmmm, wouldn't be surprised if this actually is the customisation concept art for Tekken X SF

#46

Heretic said on February 29, 2016 at 5:41 p.m.

They should definitely make these costumes dlc

#47

PranksterWD said on February 29, 2016 at 5:45 p.m.

As much as I love the fat Birdie design, that Alpha 3 Birdie wearing the doll outfit is too cool! I'd kill to see that as DLC somehow.

#48

player_20 said on February 29, 2016 at 5:46 p.m.

Ponytail Chun Li?!?! Give me that and you got my money!

#49

xRELLIKx said on February 29, 2016 at 5:47 p.m.

Eh I'd honestly prefer leaning towards this concept art. SFV isnt bad at all, though it leaves me desiring Capcom to "change" things up more.

#50

EveryManJack said on February 29, 2016 at 5:56 p.m.

Good thing they changed it. "Realistic" graphics never she well. Those Birdie designs are pretty awesome though.

#51

CaptainHowdy said on February 29, 2016 at 6 p.m.

I wish Street Fighter V looked like this. Just needed a bit more color.

#52

Meo177 said on February 29, 2016 at 6:04 p.m.

I thought it looks pretty good jus fix the stuff here n there and adjust the graphics, i dobt want ryu looking the same after the game has been around over 20yrs

#53

Lets_Get_It_Mat said on February 29, 2016 at 6:06 p.m.

that bison costume is hideous imo

#54

OhYouDontSayThat said on February 29, 2016 at 6:06 p.m.

haha that red flannel shirt just keeps popping up! someone was determined to fit it in somewhere lol

#55

EXCh33ky said on February 29, 2016 at 6:07 p.m.

I woulda been more hype for this. Woulda been a nice change...but that nash-c...godlike

#56

70desubels said on February 29, 2016 at 6:09 p.m.

Good thing they didn't go with the realistic art direction. It had zero personality.

But hey, office lady/sexy librarian chun looks really good

#57

badjab326 said on February 29, 2016 at 6:21 p.m.

I want Metal Arm Charlie and Bottom Right Buff Birdie as DLC costumes.

#58

Sage_Liebert said on February 29, 2016 at 6:21 p.m.

I knew people would comment, talking about how awesome this could have been. This didn't look good at all. If they would have actually went through with this, you all would be mad as hell.

#59

LeonHartEX said on February 29, 2016 at 6:26 p.m.

YO DAT WINTER SOLDIER NASH THO! PogChamp

#60

sidechar said on February 29, 2016 at 6:29 p.m.

I kinda wish they take the Xrd route. It'll be Alpha/Zero again...

#61

PseudoPlox said on February 29, 2016 at 6:33 p.m.

Woulda been nice if they kept that style for another time, but the anime-like aesthetics have always been the Street Fighter schtick.

Oh yeah, and the cyborg-arm and sword-wielding Nash look cool af.

#62

xShonuffx said on February 29, 2016 at 6:36 p.m.

Yeah as cool as it looks, the Street Fighter identity seems lost behind the realism. But Akuma translated to Tekken 7 well so its definitely possible. Can't wait for TxSF.

#63

Daikuza said on February 29, 2016 at 6:36 p.m.

Normal foot and hand sizes? Awesome!
The rest of it... not so much.

#64

skid5jack said on February 29, 2016 at 6:44 p.m.

This looks ugly as sin. So glad it didn't happen.
I do love Sex pistols/Doll Birdie. That is quality.

#65

AS_Columbo said on February 29, 2016 at 6:54 p.m.

well. sfv may have many flaws but at least i'm glad it looks great.
this style is for MK players.

#66

phifedawg said on February 29, 2016 at 7:01 p.m.

Nash B looks so innocent and joyous, bless him

#67

Jon_NYC said on February 29, 2016 at 7:09 p.m.

This looks god awful. Thank god they changed it.

#68

ninja_philosopher said on February 29, 2016 at 7:24 p.m.

This Ryu looks great. I hate SF4 Ryu's idiotic face, facial expressions and hair style. Even though SF5 Ryu is not as bad as 4, but still based on that concept and still looks like a joke in some scenarios.

#69

Sushi said on February 29, 2016 at 7:30 p.m.

Horrible.. just absolutely horrible..
Karin and chun concept are look alright but everything else is so bad.

One thing i'd like them to take from that is the stage tho, that looks good.

#70

aoi said on February 29, 2016 at 7:32 p.m.

yeah get that sh!t out of here, if I want to play Tekken I'll play Tekken

#71

hotpinkfighter said on February 29, 2016 at 7:32 p.m.

The pic of Ryu "recovering" from hole in chest confirms he "overcame" the satsui no hadou. That's why no Evil Ryu in SF3. I don't like any of the Karins but I like Chun Li-C and Nash-C. Ninjas are cool! Please bring back Guy!

#72

brerrabbit said on February 29, 2016 at 7:34 p.m.

Karin-B is my wife

#73

irrenmann said on February 29, 2016 at 7:52 p.m.

Those cutie patootie Karin and Chun designs are welcome back, and Birdie dressed as a Doll is lol

#74

Chunners said on February 29, 2016 at 7:53 p.m.

Glad they didnt go this route.

#75

CaptainN2 said on February 29, 2016 at 8:06 p.m.

As a veteran Street Fighter fan, and a fan of Capcom and their illustrators, they totally made the right call in going down the cartoony route. These visuals, while nice, would betray the spirit of SF and also make it look much more generic. We already have Tekken, DOA and Virtua Fighter. But there's only one Street Fighter and one Capcom. The current painterly style follows the proud legacy of Bengus, Akiman, Kinu and all the other artists that made Capcom's games so magical.

#76

Caius said on February 29, 2016 at 8:07 p.m.

Chun's got me feeling a certain way...

#77

TarTurtle said on February 29, 2016 at 8:10 p.m.

this is why i don't want ono to make SF anymore...
at least on the artistic end

#78

solidoutlaw said on February 29, 2016 at 8:20 p.m.

Reply @SaiyanMexican #2

It's a reference to the Ryu Final manga, referring to a wound Ryu receives in the final battle of it. To say more would be a spoiler but I recommend reading it if you can find it.

#79

DeePhenom said on February 29, 2016 at 8:28 p.m.

Never realized that so many people were against photorealism artstyle. It seem like in other genre's that its praised but in fighting games its generic? Ehh, seems like people judge 3D fighting games to harshly not only in arstyle but animation as well. I think most of the criticism is unwarranted. Speaking personally I think SFIV aesthetics were good but nothing mind blowing but it was way more better than SFxTK artstyle. The characters in SFXTK looked too bulky and the colors and character models seemed off. Comparing SFV to SFIV and SFxTK it def looks better and more hyper realistic. I think Capcom found a good balance between keeping it "anime'ish" and "realistic" but I guess we'll have to see how it ages in a couple years. Also I think the photo's above don't look as realistic as Tekken or Virtua Fighter. It still looks cartoony in a way.

#80

revoltriot said on February 29, 2016 at 9:18 p.m.

Reply @real_MAHVEL_god #29

A gallery mode. This is one of the things I wish they include in this game. This would work perfectly with an arcade mode. You play through arcade to get new colors, taunts, music, videos, images and thumbnails.

#81

revoltriot said on February 29, 2016 at 9:36 p.m.

Capcom, keep the SF spirit. We already have MK, VF, Tekken and such for this.

I like some of these concepts. Really loved Chun-B and Karin-C concepts. Birdie Doll is cool too.

I don't like the X-man Charlie (B) and the G.I. Joe/Cobra Charlie (C), but it looks like a lot of people liked these concepts.

Capcom really should use these concepts to create new DLC costumes for the characters.

#82

SSJ3X said on February 29, 2016 at 9:47 p.m.

This artwork looks like something out of a 1996 Edition of Game Pro magazine.

#83

el_Principe_de_Lety said on February 29, 2016 at 10:03 p.m.

Literally everything in the concepts looks better. I'm sadder for having seen them cause they're not in the game

#84

VanCityPlayboy said on February 29, 2016 at 10:49 p.m.

Reply @BizBringeR #1

I think it will be either March 15 or 22, I am pretty sure if they are gonna release it there will be news on it prior the days before

#85

KleenexGhost said on February 29, 2016 at 10:49 p.m.

I wouldn't mind seeing these as alts later.

#86

seth97 said on February 29, 2016 at 10:51 p.m.

Zero-styled Vega looked awesome and so did Birdie's 3rd art look badass!! Too bad laziness took over...

#87

masquedmonk said on February 29, 2016 at 11:09 p.m.

I really like all the Chun concepts.

EHubs should dig up Laura's concepts. Most of them looked sportier and more martial arts oriented, definitely apart from the stuff she ended up getting.

#88

bigbosss said on February 29, 2016 at 11:18 p.m.

(This user was banned.)

#89

KamfPudding said on February 29, 2016 at 11:38 p.m.

The female characters are all wonderful. Especially Chun Li in the business outfit.
I would love to have such an art style in the upcoming story..

#90

SSfox said on March 1, 2016 at 12:25 a.m.

Dat Rambo screen do

#91

Arrepentido123 said on March 1, 2016 at 12:42 a.m.

The normal biridie and Ninja Nash looks amazing!

#92

FightDirty said on March 1, 2016 at 1:24 a.m.

Chun's B costume has to be future DLC. It just has to be ....

#93

Honeyman said on March 1, 2016 at 2:05 a.m.

I like some of the concept designs and it looks like they have/will build on them in the main game.

This month will get the ball rolling on the extra content and hopefully some of these ideas will filter through into the game at some point too.

#94

CrimsonMoonMist said on March 1, 2016 at 2:44 a.m.

I guess Charlie was a fan of Metal Gear and wanted to go the cyborg ninja route of ressurection.

#95

pawastar said on March 1, 2016 at 3:28 a.m.

I Guess the patch will be out the 31 of march...

#96

hondahands said on March 1, 2016 at 3:50 a.m.

This was actually very good conceptual art, they should have kept it.

#97

BunnyBoy said on March 1, 2016 at 4:04 a.m.

Wow, damn! Birdie looks really good in his concept artworks! I like every one of these outfits better than his regular SFV one.

#98

Zarathos said on March 1, 2016 at 4:26 a.m.

it looks bland and uninspired , a trait shared by too many "realistic" approaches in 3d and 2.5d fighting games

#99

rogueish1 said on March 1, 2016 at 4:33 a.m.

I may be in the minority but it looks great, a fresh take on SF would've been cool

#100

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