Joe Vargas (Angry Joe) and Jasco Games are now live on Kickstarter with Street Fighter: The Miniatures Game. Presently the game is zeroing in on their Kickstarter target and looking towards the future with stretch goals and more.

You'll be able to pick up the core game which features six different fighters from the well-loved video game AND the Boss Expansion which throws in both Bison and Akuma. Here's a look at the Street Fighter Pledge, but bear in mind that this can be broken down into just the Basic Pledge as well which does not include any additional material, expansions of stretch goals.

You can get a better look at this by opening it up and exploring it on their Kickstarter pledge too. It looks like a rather jam-packed game with nice elements like the 3D terrain and alternative Stages for you to fight over. As mentioned above this Street Fighter Pledge also comes with the Boss Expansion.

Who wouldn't want to also throw Bison & Akuma into the ring as well for some added challenge? Some Additional Add-On material can also be purchased including more fighters from the expanded roster of Street Fighter and beyond that, I'm sure we're going to see some neat upgrades here and there too.

Each of the Add-On sets gives you fighters from some of the main game entries and additionally some of the spin-offs as well. I like that we've got Dan in one of the packs; always a fun character to see hit the tabletop.

The Miniatures

One of the big things surrounding this game is those miniatures. They are going to be rather bigger than you might have imagined, standing at 65mm in scale. Some of the models get as big as 85mm! Here is a look at one of their prototype miniatures for Zangief.

Considering that's a prototype, I'd be pretty happy with that if it came in the game box! As long as the painting on the models is cleanly done, and this is key here, it means that people are going enjoy them as functional gaming pieces. There's nothing worse with pre-paints than to find the finish has been sloppily done.

Here are some of the other points the Kickstarter Campaign raised about the miniatures...

• The miniatures are more like small collectable statues and make them great for displaying around the house even if you don't play the game at all!
• The larger the mini the better the pre-paint process, our pre-painted miniatures are simply the best the industry can currently offer, rivalling that of action figures and full sized collector statues!
• Playing with larger miniatures on a board with 3D terrain gives amazing table presence when you pull this game out at any gathering! You'll be the talk of the town!
• We believe its quality over quantity, why have buckets of tiny miniatures if they don't get played packed away in expansion box after expansion box? These miniatures will get a lot of table time as your sole representation on the battlefield!

...and I tend to agree. This does sound very positive and hopefully puts some minds at ease about how they are going to turn out.

The Game & Mechanics

Street Fighter: The Miniatures Game appears to be a rather simple and easy to learn affair with some added complexity thrown in once you get down to the nitty-gritty of card combinations and more. Each of the characters comes with their own deck of cards packed with simple moves, throws, all kinds of special abilities and of course some super moves which are key to each fighter.

You can actually Download The Rules and try them out for yourself and see if the game appeals to you. They have done a nice job with each of the characters, building on their strengths and weaknesses to create some dynamic looking characters it seems.

In it's simplest form here's how it all works...

• DRAW. MOVE. FIGHT!
• DRAW! - Draw 2 cards from your Battle Deck as you start your turn. Skipping this only for the first turn you take.
• MOVE! - Move your character up to their Movement Value in any direction.
• FIGHT! - Take 2 Actions in any order and in any amount from these Actions:  MOVE, DRAW or PLAY A CARD.
• On defence your choice is even easier but yet still an important tension filled decision. Do you BLOCK or COUNTER-ATTACK?
• BLOCK - Roll two default Battle Dice and apply results vs opponent's attack roll.  You may also discard certain cards with defensive dice values to "BOOST" your Block Roll.
• COUNTER-ATTACK - Play a Counter for a Strike, Special or Projectile, if successful discard opponents card and perform Counter-Attack Ability, usually causing damage to your opponents turn!

Of course, you can delve deeper into the rules on the link above but it all sounds very cool indeed.

Here's a little more about the game too, describing the different game modes available to you and what you can expect from this when it hits the tabletop.

I'm looking forward to videos and more from Angry Joe and the team as the game continues to pick up steam on Kickstarter. However, as a starting point there seems to be a dedicated set of backers who are very much involved with getting this game off the ground.

There are also plans in the future to take this game system into other worlds like that of Dragon Ball Z and Mortal Kombat. We shall have to wait and see as to where this goes but Street Fighter is a great start.

Are you tempted by this game?