That’s Dat Bullshit.

Before you begin to read the rest of this post I highly recommended you watch the video above, especially if you’ve yet to pick up Street Fighter IV. Even if you have finished Arcade mode and watched the character intros, the video will provide you with a refresher for the voices.

I realize it’s hard, but bear with me.

Done? Good.

WHAT THE FUCK IS THE DEAL WITH AKUMA?

Honestly, that’s just absurd. Who would approve something like this? Whoever did decide to green-light these voice actors over at Capcom needs to take a bat to the face.

Now before you assault me in the comments for taking a shot at your beloved fighting game developers, look at where I’m coming from for a second. I understand that Cacpom doesn’t exactly hold the greatest track record when it comes to English voice dubbing, and that English dubbing itself is probably one of the least critical aspects in a fighting game, seeing as it has no impact on the actual gameplay. Hell, it wasn’t until the last few generations when vocal dialogue became a standard in fighting games, and almost all the games in the Street Fighter had were just your average grunting aside from the announcer.

In today’s age though? Character dialogue and voice work can and do add (or in this case, subtract) from one’s overall experience and enjoyment, even in just a fighting game. Just like the story and plot of the game, every modern day fighter that tries to implement it within the game has voice work. And for a game being released in 2009, not even Street Fighter IV can’t get away with such poor dubing. Now I am not an expert in voice acting, but if I had a whole studio, a shitton of cash and the same resources Capcom did, you can trust that I’d hire only those who’s voices fit the character they were dubing for. And Akuma isn’t the only character in the roster that has been vocally molested and tarnished forever.

Thankfully, Capcom has been kind enough to give us the option of not only changing the voice option between English and Japanese, but letting us do so for each individual character (Note: This option is not available when you first start up Street Fighter. In order to do this you must complete Arcade mode at least once with any character. You also cannot change the voice option of characters you have yet to unlock). Because we all know Kyle Hebert will fail pronouncing Tatsumaki Senpukyaku, and just hearing him yell out “Hurricane Kick!” just isn’t the same. With that being said, here is a quick run down of the list of characters, the names of their English voice actor, and which language their voice option should be set to:

Note that the names as follows are in accordance with Capcom USA

• Ryu (Kyle Hebert) – This guy tends to get a lot of flack over his voice work, though he really doesn’t sound all that bad for Ryu in-game. No worse than Akuma the Gorilla at least. However, I refuse to listen to those weakly delivered openers. The way Ryu says Hadouken in this game, it sounds like he’s constipated and the move just loosens it up for him. Japanese.

• Ken (Reuben Langdon) – He’s American, so it only makes sense that he speaks in English. As much as I wished that they had brought back his old VA from the SatAM days, this VA sounds right for Ken. And he seems to be a decent actor to boot. English.

• Chun-Li (Laura Bailey) – If you’ve watched her cutscenes or have seen the anime movie bundled with the collector’s edition of SFIV, Chun-Li actually sounds worse in those than in the actual game itself. I might tinker around a bit with her English option, but I’m pretty sure I’ll go right back to Japanese knowing that she sounds much better that way.

• Guile (Travis Willingham) – Even though Guile is obviously American (flag tattoos, duh), his English VA ham’s it all the way to hamville–two stops away from hamtown. Unfortunately however, the Japanese voice work isn’t that much better. Plus, it could’ve been worse:

So reluctantly, English.

• E. Honda (Joe DiMucci) – Another voice actor that sounds like he’s taking a shit when delivering his lines. Sigh. Japanese.

• Dhalsim (Christopher Bevins) – The Japanese VA really lets his “r”s go. I’d leave his setting alone just to hear his badass “Namaste.” English.

• Zangief (Anthony Landor) – The Red Cyclone is performed flawlessly, sounds Russian enough and fits just as so. Stick with English, there’s no reason to ever go back.

• Blanka (Talis Axelrod) – “WHO ARE EEEEUUUUUOOOOOOOW?” Japanese.

• C. Viper (Michelle Ruff) – The English voice dub is alright. How much I want to hear about her “investigation” will decide which voice setting she’s set to. Interchangeable.

• Abel (Jason Liebrecht) – If Guile’s from Hamville, Abel is the fucking founder of it. “Yet you expect me to spill my secrets?” is not a line I can bear to ever hear again. I don’t care what the rest of his lines sound like. That was complete and utter shit. Japanese.

• El Fuerte (JB Blanc) – “SUPER DYNAMIC COOKING TIME!” is a line I’ll be sure to remember thanks to this English VA, who’s voice work is fairly decent considering he’s British. English.

• Rufus (Chris Kent) – His Jersey accent is pretty annoying at first, but it’ll grow on you after a while. Plus, this guy must speak English. There’s no other way this character makes sense.

• M. Bison (Gerald C. Rivers) – It’s a little tough to understand what he’s saying. Really, I just love the Wakamoto-style voice too much to abandon it for some sub-par English work. Japanese.
• Sagat (Isaac C. Singleton Jr.) – Sounds blacker than Balrog, which is just mind-boggling. They should have at least hired his VA to do that character instead. If I’m going to be forced to listen to “TIGER!” 50 times in one round, I might as well leave it on Japanese. Also,“REEEEEEEE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU”

• Vega (Doug Erholtz) – Perfectly sounding soft spoken Spanish voice. English.

• Balrog (Bob Carter) – “MY FIGHT MOUGHNEYYYYYYYY!” Am I the only one who is reminded of Piccolo with a Boston accent every time I hear his lines? Japanese.

• Akuma (Dave Mallow) – It sounds like he’s aroused by his own constipation when speaking. I couldn’t change his language settings sooner enough after I unlocked him. I cannot stress this enough: Japanese. Japanese. Japanese.

• Gouken – The legendary Sensei of Ryu and Ken should NOT sound like Santa Claus. Also is there a reason Capcom decided to use the same voice for both this character and Guile’s commander? No seriously, go watch both of their character intros. Pretty lazy if you ask me. Japanese.

• Cammy (Caitlin Glass) – The English accent is a bit forced, but her lines are delivered well, and most importantly she pronounces all the moves correctly. English.

• Sakura (Brittney Harvey) – English: “RYU-SAN!!!”. Me: “Ugh”. Japanese.

• Dan (Ted Sroka) – Should be speaking in English. I really wanted him to, so badly, but his voice is way too high pitched. Listening to him yell out “FAAAAAATHER!” after losing a round just adds insult to injury. His characterization also often forces more emotion than humor, which conflicts with the point of having a joke character. Japanese.

• Fei Long (Matthew Mercer) – I didn’t think anyone could sound that bland. His Bruce Lee screams sound slightly better in English, but not enough to deal with listening to those cringe-inducing lines being delivered. Japanese.

• Rose (Gina Grad) – Incredibly sexy accent. Also, I hate the way her Japanese counterpart pronounces her moves. English.

• Gen (Michael Sorich) – Sound’s like the VA had sore throat when recording his lines. I’d rather he be speaking Chinese anyway. Japanese
• Seth (Michael McConnohie) – Not only does he have the least silliest voice, but he actually manages to sound menacing, which he should considering his character is the final boss of the game. Also, he’s fucking Michael McConnohie. English.

If you tally up the entire roster, it comes down to 14 Japanese, 9 English, and 1 voice that could swing both ways, which could probably be attributed to how new she is to the series. Even though this is not that bad of ratio, I shouldn’t have to deal with such terrible English voice acting in such a high caliber series, especially one the likes of Street Fighter. To be fair, however, I’m not entirely familiar with the voice work of the Japanese VA’s outside of Street Fighter. It could be that they’re just as terrible, if not even worse than their English counterparts. What does matter is that their voice at least fit the characters in SFIV for the most part.

This is the definitive list. If you intend to spare your ears of blood, I recommend that you follow it and adjust your settings accordingly.

Now only if they gave us an option to turn off the awful intro song. Seriously, it’s like nails on a chalkboard.