Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles vs. Street Fighter #5 Review and Build the Roster

Welcome everyone to the final issue of TMNT vs. Street Fighter. This is it folks, the big finale, and we start with both the escaped fighters and the Shadaloo troopers evacuating Bison’s lair as Bison surveys the chaos from the roof, laughing to himself.

Elsewhere, Shredder is still wrecking Leo, Ryu and Jennika when the rest of our heroes  show up and, to the shock of everyone, Mikey of all people tries to talk Shredder down. Mikey knows that Shredder doesn’t want to see Manhattan destroyed any more than they do and begs him to help them stop Bison. Shredder merely punches Mikey in the face and fucks off to take down Bison on his own.

Later, Donatello and Stockman try to shut down the Psycho Bomb by siphoning the psycho power back into the containment pods but to no avail. Raph has an idea. Bison said that Raph had great potential for Psycho Power. If that’s true, that potentially means that Raph can drain the bomb and take all the psycho energy into himself. Donnie thinks this plan is insane and reckless even by Raphael standards, because it IS insane and reckless even by Raphael standards, but Raph says that if it means saving Manhattan, it’s a risk he has to take. Raph then knocks out his brother who had been holding him back and starts taking the energy of the bomb into himself.

Up on the roof, Bison and Shredder have begun their fight and it’s pretty cool, both villains looking like the badass final bosses they’re supposed to be. Our heroes can only watch as the villains beat the living hell out of one another, only getting involved when it’s absolutely necessary.

Back at the bomb, against all odds, Raph’s foolhardy plan appears to have worked and the turtle is now pulsating with Psycho Power, which has the side effect of making him look like a purple Incredible Hulk. Sensing the battle between Bison and Shredder, Raph B-Lines it for the roof and makes quick work of the two villains, tossing them both into the Atlantic Ocean as  our remaining heroes look on in horror. Well, the villains have been defeated, the bomb has been neutralized, the only remaining problem is that Raph is still a big purple rage monster. However, the difference between someone like Raph and someone like Bison is that Raph knows when to use his rage and when to let it go. So Raph relinquishes the Psycho Power, passing out from the exertion. In an amusing moment, all Ken can say when the turtles think their brother is dead is “That’s a Bummer,” something that angers Raph when he wakes up. Look, I don’t know if I’d call Ken Stephen Hawking exactly, but I’m reasonably sure that he’s not as much of a dumbass as this comic would have you believe.

Later, the captured fighters are returned to their families, Stockman to an Interpol Detention Facility, Bison and Shredder are nowhere to be found, Mikey gets to share a plate of nachos with Chun Li, it seems that all’s well that ends well. Only one problem, Raph still owes Guile a rematch. And so our comic ends with the Turtles hitching a ride back to NYC as Guile and Raph do battle on top of a moving truck.

And that was TMNT vs. Street Fighter. I could do a big wrap up for this crossover, but honestly, I said all I needed to say to that effect back when I covered issue three. So instead, I have a treat for you. At the top of our review of issue one, I promised a build the roster. So, here’s my quick and dirty build the roster for a TMNT X Street Fighter video game.

Base Roster:

Okay, let’s start with 18 characters plus Bison and Shredder as unlockable bosses, giving us a total of 20, which means 10 from each franchise. Characters who actually appear in the comic will get priority. So let’s see, the comic gives us 8 TMNT characters and 6 Street Fighter characters. Starting with TMNT we have Leo, Raph, Donnie, Mikey, Jennika, Stockman, Pete the Pigeon and Shredder, leaving us with two empty spots. First slot I’ll give to Casey Jones, a staple of the series from its inception and my personal favorite TMNT character. Second, let’s go with Karai, Shredder’s second in command and adoptive daughter, which will give us both another female character and another villain. On the Street Fighter side we have Ryu, Ken, Chun Li, Guile, Bison and… son of a bitch… Rufus. That leaves us with four empty slots. Well, Balrog doesn’t physically appear in the comic, but Bison does talk to him on the phone at one point, so he’s in, and just to even things out, we’ll throw Vega in there too. Cammy is definitely in since, in my opinion, she should have been in the comic to begin with. And to round things out, let’s throw in another fan favorite and staple of the franchise, Zangief.

Bosses and Secret Characters:

Bison & Shredder would be the final bosses, with which one you fight being determined by a number of factors. In addition I have an idea for two secret characters which would be fought and unlocked in arcade mode by meeting certain conditions. The first would be Psycho Raph, Raph’s Purple Hulk form from the end of the comic. Second, well, initially I was thinking Evil Ryu, but then I realized something. Ryu, Chun Li and Ken have all had powered up evil alternate forms over the course of the franchise. but you know who hasn’t? Guile. So, I have an idea for a character I’m calling Shred-Eagle, which I envision as Guile brainwashed by The Foot and partially mutated by the ooze into a bald eagle, because of course Guile’s animal form is a bald eagle, the dude is so American that Steve Rogers would tell this guy to tone down the patriotism. He’d fight like regular Guile, but he’d be faster, jump higher, and have a few new moves to reflect his new Eagle form. And of course, we need a secret boss, and because turtles or no turtles, this is still a Street Fighter game, that secret boss needs to be Akuma. Maybe this Akuma is mutated by the ooze or powered up by tech from Dimension X, it doesn’t matter, this game needs some version of Akuma.

DLC:

Each season would have six characters, three from each half of the crossover. The first season would stick to the basics with Dhalsim, Honda and Blank for the SF side and Splinter, April and Leatherhead for the TMNT side. The second season would be a bit more villain focused. Let’s throw in Sagat and Tiger Claw because a those two are basically the same character and a fight between them needs to happen. From the TMNT side I’m going to throw in Superfly, the main villain from the Mutant Mayhem Movie (which was really good by the way) and Old Hob, a recurring villain from the IDW comics. As for the Street Fighter side, we gotta have Juri, she’s the breakout character from Street Fighter IV and the only character not from Street Fighter II to make it into the sixth installment. And to round out the second season, let’s go with Poison, that gives us yet another female character and some representation for both Final Fight and SF III. For the third and final season, I’m going to throw in The Rat King. There are many versions of this character, but the one we’ll be using will be somewhere between the mutated psychic from the 2012 series and the trickster god version from the IDW comics. Next, an obscure pick, Bishop, a major antagonist from the 2003 series who is basically an immortal CIA agent. Finally, we need the Samurai Rabbit Miyamoto Usagi, who technically isn’t a TMNT character, but has crossed over with the turtles so many times, he may as well be at this point. For the street fighter side, first and foremost, Sakura, Ryu’s number one fan and one of the most popular characters in the series. Next, we need a character from the latest installment and for me, that has to be Marisa. Why? She’s a seven foot tall badass Italian gladiator with a pet lion and more muscles than two Scott Steiners glued together. She’s in. And for our last DLC character, I’m going to throw out a wild card and go with G. Who is G? Honestly, we don’t know much about him other that he’s some super strong guy dressed like Abe Lincoln who claims to be the president of Earth and likes to beat people up on YouTube. And that wraps up the DLC, only it doesn’t because I have one last wild idea.

One Last Wild Idea:

Alright, so I think there would be one last special DLC pack which would include a new secret boss. Who would it be? Lord Drakkon from Power Rangers. Wait, what? Forget out of left field, that’s not even in the area code of the ballpark. I’m sure you’re all thinking that, but this isn’t as much of a reach as you might think. Both franchises have had crossovers with Power Rangers, crossovers in which several characters from both sides received their own Ranger forms which could be released as special DLC costumes. Besides, Power Rangers just had its 30th anniversary, so why the hell not. And say you meet the special conditions to fight the secret boss while fighting in one of these costumes, instead of fighting Akuma, you’d square off with Dracon. Come on, you can't tell me that wouldn't be cool.

And that wraps it up for this crossover, thank you for reading and stay tuned for more.