Makoto (Street Fighter)

Makoto (マコト) is a fictional character from the Street Fighter video game series. She is a Tosan fighter and a Rindōkan karate expert from Japan. She first appeared in Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, and again in Super Street Fighter IV. She wears a white dougi and a yellow hachimaki around her neck, intended to demonstrate her speed and trajectory. She is voiced by Makoto Tsumura in Japanese, and by Jessica D. Stone in English. She speaks in Tosa dialect, which was accomplished by the development team hiring a professional to supervise the sound development. In 3rd Strike, her father Masaru (マサル) was the former master of the Rindōkan karate dojo. However, after his death, attendance dwindled, and with her brother pursuing a career in business, she is forced to increase the dojo's popularity. Early on, fans speculated that Makoto was Ryu's younger sister due to similar wardrobe.

Since appearing in 3rd Strike, Makoto has received generally positive reception, described as a "fan favorite" by G4TV and a "fan fantasy" by Capcom U.S. VP of Strategic Planning & Business Development Christian Svensson. A bust of Makoto was created as one of several pieces of merchandise created to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Street Fighter series. She has been included in several lists of Street Fighter characters by quality; IGN ranked Makoto as the 23rd best character in the series and one of the five most-wanted for inclusion in Super Street Fighter IV; similarly, UGO Networks listed her as one of the top 50 Street Fighter characters. Retronauts praised her as being a "pure street fighter" in comparison to the characters in Street Fighter III and their differences from the characters in Street Fighter II.

Character design


Makoto is tomboyish, wearing a white dougi and a yellow hachimaki. The hachimaki is a trademark of Makoto's design, added in 3rd Strike by the development team to demonstrate her speed and trajectory. They used its fluttering as she charged up her Hayate technique as an example. Because there was nothing in the Street Fighter IV engine that allowed them to do that, they had to create this mechanic especially for her. Before the release of 3rd Strike, rumors were circulating among players that Makoto was Ryu's younger sister, due to her similar wardrobe. Makoto's alternate costume in Super Street Fighter IV was the hardest to create out of all the characters' costumes. Her alternate costume consists of a sun hat, denim overalls, and gardening gloves. Makoto's voice is identified by her Tosa dialect; in order to achieve this, the development team hired a professional in country dialect to supervise the sound recording team. She was the only character in the game to have to be translated into Tosa-ben. MTV editor Brad Nicholson described her as an "earthy karate master with simple tastes." Her voice was the hardest of all the characters in Super Street Fighter IV to record.

Appearances
Makoto is a young female Karate master from the rural Tosa Province of Japan introduced in Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. She later makes an appearance in Super Street Fighter IV as a playable character. Her father Masaru (マサル) was the previous master of the once prosperous Rindōkan (竜胆館) karate dojo, which has greatly dwindled in attendance ever since the death of Makoto's father. With her brother having chosen not to follow the path of a martial artist by focusing more on the career of a business man, Makoto is left with the sole task of reviving her school's popularity. In her ending, Makoto becomes a young martial arts prodigy after defeating Ryu and numerous other fighters, attracting countless numbers of students interested in learning the art of the Rindoukan school. in Super Street Fighter IV, Fei-Long acts as Makoto's rival.

Gameplay
In Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, Makoto features a unique fighting style, resulting in her having a fan following, according to battle director Taisaku Okada. Battle planner Tamamura stated that she lacked the ability to produce big combos, requiring players to think of how to make each blow land. He added that she was a character who could scare an opponent into not pushing any buttons as Makoto approaches. Okada states that she is one of the three characters categorized as "evil," or "arashi" ("devastating/rush-down"), gameplay-wise; he explains that she is categorized as such because of her ability to defeat her opponent if the match goes her pace for even a moment. Super Street Fighter IV retains much of her mechanics from 3rd Strike. In both games, Makoto has amongst the slowest walking speed, while having amongst the highest running speed. Okada commented that she was an extreme in both regards, making her a difficult character to get used to for even more experienced players. He adds that players with no experience in fighting games who try her before any other character, they may have no problem controlling her. Tsukamoto, operator of the Street Fighter IV development blog, commented that the inclusion of characters from 3rd Strike gave the development team trouble, specifically mentioning Makoto, who he states was difficult to master, but entertaining to use due to her speed.

Okada commented that Makoto was not intended for beginners, citing her difficulty in dodging projectile attacks. Tamamura added that her lack of range put her at a disadvantage in several situations, requiring players to get close to their opponents in order to show Makoto's potential. When asked who would make a good opponent for Makoto, Okada chose Akuma, due to both having the potential for the match to be an instant knock-out for either. He states that it would be based on who could break the other's defense first. Capcom's Community Manager Seth Killian described her as "the equivalent of poker's "all in"," explaining that this is because if players fight defensively, they will likely lose. He bases her offensive ability in both her command grab and the "threat of a command grab." He cites the range of this grab, describing her as a "mini-Zangief," though more dangerous because of her high running speed. However, he notes that her biggest problem is with players and their psychology rather than characters. He adds that a character such as Zangief would give her problems, commenting that since they share similarities in fighting style, both are best used in close combat.

She has a variety of techniques. One of them is the Karakusa, a grab/choke technique, which allows players to get a free attack after it connects. Okada states that figuring out what attack would be most effective to do while the Karakusa is in effect makes her a fun character. He again commented that the Karakusa was an effective way to dominate a match. The efficiency of her Fukiage, an upward punch technique, was changed from 3rd Strike to Super Street Fighter IV; while she would only take a step forward in performing the attack in the EX version of her attack in 3rd Strike, the Normal and Hard versions of the attack in Super Street Fighter IV do this as well. Tamamura states that he believes this will make its use more varied. She has other attacks in 3rd Strike, including the Tsurugi kick, the Oroshi karate chop, the seichusen godanzuki, and the abare tosanami. Super Street Fighter IV champion Justin Wong described her 3rd Strike incarnation as offensive and risky, adding that her Super Street Fighter IV incarnation is less so, featuring similar elements yet not as much so. He comments that her focus is on move recovery; her axe kick is fast and can be performed lower than in 3rd Strike. Similarly, her upward punch is faster, both in use and in recovery. However, her dash punch is slower in Super Street Fighter IV.



Another attack is called the Tanden Renki. While it was originally one of her three Super Arts in 3rd Strike, the developers of Super Street Fighter IV made it her Super while the other two were Ultras. The technique provides an increase in power, yet also prevents players from blocking as Makoto while she is using it. Experienced players could use the parry system found in 3rd Strike in order to overcome this, allowing them to rush towards the opponent and deliver significant damage without taking any themselves. Tamamura stated this technique, if used this way, could effectively be used to win a match. Because Super Street Fighter IV lacks a parrying system, the developers considered allowing Makoto to block while the technique is in effect. However, they also feared that this would make her too powerful. They decided to allow Makoto to block while adjusting the balance. Because no moves had time limits in Street Fighter IV or Super Street Fighter IV, they had to add new rules. They considered making it an ultra-combo, similar to Juri's feng shui engine. However, they chose not to, deciding that it would not balance; this resulted in them including both timed ultras and supers.

Reception
Since appearing in Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, Makoto has received mostly positive reception. G4TV described Makoto as a "fan favorite." Capcom U.S. VP of Strategic Planning & Business Development Christian Svensson commented that Makoto was "sort of the number two in terms of the popularity and "fan fantasy" list." To celebrate the 15th Anniversary of the Street Fighter series, Capcom released several items of merchandise, amongst them a bust of Makoto. Capcom's Community Manager Seth Killian called Makoto one of his "personal favorite characters." IGN ranked Makoto at number twenty-three in their "Top 25 Street Fighter Characters" article, praising the degree in motion and detail in the character's animation. They also included her in their list of five characters that they went in Super Street Fighter IV, commenting that it wasn't until Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike that it "found its real star." While stating that she appears to be a "Ryu wannabe," stating that "in the right hands, she's as powerful as she is stylish, and is quite possible our favourite character from throughout the Street Fighter canon." UGO Networks editor Paul Furfari chose Makoto as one of the top 50 best Street Fighter characters, commenting that in spite of her slow walking speed, she is very fast while running. He adds that she is "one of the few characters that wasn't abandoned after Street Fighter III's less than stellar success at the arcades." Game Developer editor in chief Brandon Sheffield commented that he saw a lot of people saying "Makoto being in the game was a decider for me, a major point whether I was going to buy this."

G4TV editor Matt Keil commented that Makoto made the transition from Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike to Super Street Fighter IV particularly well, in spite of Makoto's "previous reliance on Third Strike’s parry system." Retronauts in their podcast about the Street Fighter series highlighted Makoto when the discussion turned to Street Fighter III, describing her as "pure Street Fighter" in relation to the rest of the new cast introduced in III and the difference in their style to Street Fighter II. Eurogamer editor Matt Edwards commented that while he was not a big fan of Makoto in 3rd Strike due to her "risky play-style," Capcom has "subtly toned her down while maintaining her strong offence." GameSpot editor Randolph Ramsey described her as "one of the deadliest characters in Third Strike in the right hands." GamePro listed her in the mini list of games with androgynous females, describing her as a "tomboy." GamesRadar listed Makoto in their article on "gaming's most devastating genital attacks," commenting on her as the character "nobody likes to play as." Hardcore Gamer editor Arlieth commented that he respected Street Fighter III in spite of it "alienating" him, specifically mentioning Makoto as a character from it that he likes. GameZone editor Dakota Grabowski commented that "it’s unfathomable to think that anyone could not fall in love with Ibuki and Makoto, introduced in Street Fighter III, all over again."