Ryu finally stops running from what he is and turns to face it. The Dark Hadou isn't something you beat in a tournament, it's something you have to survive inside yourself, and the OVA understands that the real fight happens in the space between wanting power and becoming something you don't recognize anymore. A single episode that earns its ending because it knows the difference between a martial artist and a monster is thinner than any punch.

Ryu comes back to honor Gouken, the mentor he has lost, and finds himself haunted by troubling memories of the one who killed his master. Determined to become a true master of martial arts, he sets out to sharpen his fighting skills and to free himself from the lingering shadow of the Dark Hadou. His newfound strength faces its ultimate trial in a final, decisive showdown with his arch-rival Gouki, also known as Akuma. Released as a single-episode OVA, the story serves as a prequel to Street Fighter Alpha.