Play Arts Kai Ryu - Super Street Fighter 4 Review

This article will mark the first time that i would review a figure that i am really hesitant to grab at first, being unimpressed by it, but after getting my hands on one i would reverse my judgment. A great thanks to Mr. Malvin Lim of Greattoys Online for the sample, i really enjoyed doing this review.

Well, the Street Fighter series is one would call a pioneer in the gaming industry, particularly in the fighting games genre. I grew up playing it's many predecessors and installments, being quite forgiving for the Capcom syndrome of upgrades, upgrades and more upgrades. Of course, Street Fighter wouldn't be that popular if not for it's slew of remarkable and charismatic fighters. One of which is the poster boy of the series, Ryu. When Square Enix announced the production of SSF4 figs on the Play Arts Kai line Ryu and Chun Li are the obvious flag bearers of the series. After waiting for what seemed a long, long time the figures hit the shelves and, like i mentioned earlier, i am disappointed with Ryu since he doesn't look like the Classic version we are all familiar with. However, a fellow collector pointed out that his design is a dead ringer for the SSF4 version so at this point i decided to check the figure up closely.

Ryu did not disappoint, in my humble opinion. The details are superb (well, what do you expect from Play Arts Kai anyway?), the articulation is interesting but the real highlight of the figure is it's playability. Check out the accessories of Ryu, just be careful with the tail of his bandana, it's detachable so there is a risk of it getting lost. The armbands are also removable and may fall off when you are changing his hands:

The accessories are not much by Play Arts Kai standard but that alternate face is a nice addition and may very well be a glimpse on what to expect from future releases. It's a good thing you won't have to remove the whole head ala Metal Gear figures minimizing the risk of loosening it. Ryu also got a couple of open-palmed alternate hands as well as the Hadouken with a transparent stand. I mentioned that the playability of the figure is the main highlight right? see for yourself then, i definitely enjoyed posing him, taking snapshots and pitting him against other PA Kai figures, check out his signature moves below:

"Kamehame...errr...sorry"

   

Ryu's scale is decent enough, at first i thought he's as big as the Play Arts Kai Dissidia Final Fantasy figures but after comparing him side by side with the other PA Kais i found out that he's more in the scale of the Play Arts Kai HALO figures though definitely bulkier. That's about a head shorter than the Resident Evil 5 figures and about a couple of inches shorter than the Metal Gear figures. The hinges on the upper arm is similar to the ones in the PA Kai Dissidia line which allows extra movements on the arms.

I can't help but wish though that he's in the same scale as Dante for an MVC type showdown, but hey, you can't have it all.
So far, he's one of the "most playable" figures in Play Arts Kai so he's a really good buy, arguably, he's also the best Ryu figure released so far. With Akuma and Cammy coming out next year this line is looking good though i'm not sure if i'm going to complete it having both icons already on the first 2 volumes. Perhaps if Ken and Guile make their appearance i would reconsider. Ryu is available at Greattoys Online for 2.8K.

More fun shots below:

Is it just me or does he look like Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida in this shot?

Ryu with a deep armbar on HALO's Emile