Spring Break
The legacy of 'Street Fighter II'
Take a trip down memory road with the king of all fighters
Paresh Jha
Issue date: 2/26/09 Section: Focus
You know that competitive rage that surges through your body when you are playing a one on one match in "Soul Calibur," "Tekken" or any other fighting game? That raw competitive spirit was not your own creation.
Well, sure it might be your own but someone else is responsible for tapping into that raw human emotion. Who might that be? It belongs to a group of legendary developers (most famously Yoshiki Okamoto) at Capcom who constructed the "Street Fighter" franchise.
The franchise began back in the late '80s in the arcades. Yes, this was when arcades were still cool and the primary source of gaming. The first game, simply dubbed "Street Fighter," focused on the main character, Ryu, fighting his way through a world martial arts tournament. If players wanted to join in, they could challenge Ryu as his rival, Ken, and the winner would continue on in the tournament.
It was a simple premise for a simple game that showed people what fighting should really entail. It was sometimes labeled as "Fighting Street." For the next game, they got the title straight and saw success that they could only dream of beforehand.
If you have ever played a street fighter game from the early '90s, then an itineration of "Street Fighter II" was most likely the game you played. This is the game that perfected fighting games in the arcade and the consoles.
Players from all over the world flocked to arcades to get their names on the scoreboards because the game was nearly flawless. With the addition of core characters like Chun-li, Bison, Zangeif and Dhalsim the game became a phenomenon.
"SF II" also had many versions and updates, as gamers became savvier and found glitches within the original version. Updates like "Super Street Fighter II," "Turbo Hyper Fighting" or "Champion's Edition" flooded consoles with their own respective tweaks.
Regardless of the different versions, the game had a fluid framerate, detailed animations and background, responsive controls and a very simple control scheme allowing for anyone to play.
Well, sure it might be your own but someone else is responsible for tapping into that raw human emotion. Who might that be? It belongs to a group of legendary developers (most famously Yoshiki Okamoto) at Capcom who constructed the "Street Fighter" franchise.
The franchise began back in the late '80s in the arcades. Yes, this was when arcades were still cool and the primary source of gaming. The first game, simply dubbed "Street Fighter," focused on the main character, Ryu, fighting his way through a world martial arts tournament. If players wanted to join in, they could challenge Ryu as his rival, Ken, and the winner would continue on in the tournament.
It was a simple premise for a simple game that showed people what fighting should really entail. It was sometimes labeled as "Fighting Street." For the next game, they got the title straight and saw success that they could only dream of beforehand.
If you have ever played a street fighter game from the early '90s, then an itineration of "Street Fighter II" was most likely the game you played. This is the game that perfected fighting games in the arcade and the consoles.
Players from all over the world flocked to arcades to get their names on the scoreboards because the game was nearly flawless. With the addition of core characters like Chun-li, Bison, Zangeif and Dhalsim the game became a phenomenon.
"SF II" also had many versions and updates, as gamers became savvier and found glitches within the original version. Updates like "Super Street Fighter II," "Turbo Hyper Fighting" or "Champion's Edition" flooded consoles with their own respective tweaks.
Regardless of the different versions, the game had a fluid framerate, detailed animations and background, responsive controls and a very simple control scheme allowing for anyone to play.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
wow gold
posted 2/26/09 @ 10:17 PM EST
Nice article, it's been a while since I played Street Fighter.
Forex
posted 4/15/09 @ 12:41 PM EST
you are so right i miss street fighter it is the most classic game ever
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