Ken's "new look" alone had soured my anticipation for the game, and I wondered if if Capcom had made any other missteps with the game's direction. Ken's design was just plain sad. There's really no other way to put it. He even looks sad that Capcom made such decisions with his design; it's not even his fault that he looks like that! Looking at him really does make me feel bad, and probably others, too. Sure, maybe the designers had good intentions, and meant to make him look friendlier so as to be faithful to his persona. They succeeded, and the design is, for the most part, good 'ol, light-hearted Ken. It's sad, though, that this was his default design. Ken's Street Fighter Alpha design is in the game from the very beginning in the tutorial, but why is it that fans must wait to unlock what is arguably his best design? Not cool. When you first play the game, there's no telling if Ken's other design will even show up again outside of the tutorial.

It really seems like a one-shot deal where his SFA design might only be in the tutorial and/or story. It basically forced me to play Ryu, again, which hasn't happened for a long, long time. Ironically, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U also forced me to play as Ryu, again, too. Why do the blonde characters who are male look so damn bad? The female ones look great! Karin's beautifully-coiled curls, in particular, look incredible! Ken and Vega, however, look questionable to the point of distraction. Their hair looks pretty bad. F.A.N.G.'s design was so fucking stupid that it was hard to even fathom it passed quality assurance. Why does he look so dorky? And, why is he wearing a hat straight out of that "Happy" music video where the idiot singing it isn't even smiling? And to think this character has been described as some sort of boss?! He's not scary, not threatening in the least, and he doesn't even look cool. Terrible. Hell, even his name is a bitch to type.

He resembles an SNK character more than a Capcom one in approach, but somehow, some way, even as bad as he looks, he still somehow fits into SFV's cast. He is cartoony-enough and has personality (no matter how stupid it is). Then, I got to thinking, even with its few flaws, I'm perfectly fine with SSBWU. Ryu's in the game, and I actually like his model, animation, and overall feel, better. Of course, characters like Jigglypuff and Kirby spoil a good time with an otherwise solid roster, but for some reason I feel far-less disappointed by them than Ken and F.A.N.G. in SFV. With the history of Smash Bros. as a series, we've come to expect poor character choice, but in Street Fighter, it is not a mainstay.