“Street Fighter” Celebrates 25 Years

Street Fighter

Capcom celebrates a milestone as one of its flagship titles, “Street Fighter,” celebrates its 25th year. The one-on-one fight-based video game has come a long way from an arcade staple that only lets you fight as Ryu (or Ken if you challenge Player 1) to its multiple sequels, cross-overs (i.e. Marvel Vs Capcom), and cross-platforms (i.e. Street Fighter X Tekken).

Tomoaki Ayano was 13 years old when he first played Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, the franchise’s best-selling entry, in a local arcade in Japan. He now serves as a producer to the Street Fighter franchise, which celebrated its silver anniversary with the release of “Street Fighter 25th Anniversary Collector’s Set.” The box set contains several Street Fighter titles, as well as soundtracks, an art book, and a documentary.

The original Street Fighter introduced some of the conventions that have become standard in later games, such as the use of six buttons that represent punches and kicks of different strengths, as well as performing a combination of specific joystick gestures and buttons to perform special moves.

The popularity of Street Fight paved the way for a deluge of fighting games in arcades during the 1990s, including Mortal Kombat, Virtua Fighter, and Samurai Showdown.

Street Fighter remains popular in video game tournaments, including the prestigious EVO Championship Series held annually in Las Vegas.

Source: USA Today