Promotion and Reception
Akuma artwork was featured on an officially licenced animated Nubytech/UDON joypad for the PlayStation 2, and a Mad Catz wireless joypad for the PlayStation 3.
In the January 30, 1997 issue of Gamest magazine in Japan, Akuma appeared in the Top 50 Characters of 1996. He ranked at No. 37 sharing the spot with two other characters. In Game Informer's "Top Ten Best Fighting Game Characters" Akuma was at the top for his powerful techniques. He was 11th in Game Daily's Top 25 Capcom Characters of All Time with comments from editor Robert Workman focused on his design and abilities. IGN ranked Akuma at number five in their "Top 25 Street Fighter Characters" article, noting his role as a recognizable "bad guy" in the series. In another article from the same site, Ryan Clements commented that Akuma had one of the strongest movesets from Street Fighter IV, noting his techniques, apart from being able to do a reasonable damage to the opponent, look stylish. He also ranked 9th in the "Top 20 Street Fighter Characters of All Time" from Game Daily, with the writer commenting how different is he from Ken and Ryu despite their similar appearances. GameSpy named him one of the "25 Extremely Rough Brawlers" in video gaming, praising the brutality of his fighting style. GameSpot commented that Akuma is "the most profilic character" in the Street Fighter series due the large number of appearances his character had since Super Street Fighter II Turbo. He was also noted to be the most powerful and strongest character to be added to such series, while his Shin Akuma state was commented to be "a truly unstoppable force" due to all the special moves he has. On the other hand, Akuma's powerful techniques in Super Street Fighter II Turbo resulted in being listed as one of GamePro's "most broken characters" in their article, where he was compared with Street Fighter III's boss Gill. Jeff Keely from Gaming Age said Akuma's introduction in Street Fighter III 2nd Impact was a big improvement for the game, noting him to be "everybody's favorite bad boy". UGO Networks placed Akuma at #9 on their list of Top 50 Street Fighter Characters", stating "As a fighter-in-training, Akuma succumbed to the darker martial arts and embraced the "Killing Intent" martial art". Complex ranked Akuma as "The Most Dominant Fighting Game Character", commenting "Anybody that can lay out M. Bison with ease gets the number one spot in everything"."
Akuma's Oni incarnation has been commented for its appealing design resembling Gouken's and his powerful movesets. Deemed as one the Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition's second strongest fighter, Oni was referred by IGN as an immediate favorite character. However, GameSpot stated that since he uses modified versions from known techniques, he was one of the least interesting additions to the game.
Read more about this topic: Akuma (Street Fighter)
Famous quotes containing the words promotion and/or reception:
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—Frank Pittman (20th century)
“But in the reception of metaphysical formula, all depends, as regards their actual and ulterior result, on the pre-existent qualities of that soil of human nature into which they fall—the company they find already present there, on their admission into the house of thought.”
—Walter Pater (1839–1894)