Street Fighter II Turns 20 Today

[John Funk]

Street Fighter II Turns 20 Today

Twenty years ago today, a little game called Street Fighter II first made its arcade debut.

In today's installment of the "wow, I feel old" chronicles: Capcom has reminded us all [http://www.capcom-unity.com/jgonzo/blog/2011/03/02/happy_20th_birthday,_street_fighter_ii] that the first Street Fighter II machines first hit arcades today in March 1991. This was plain ol' vanilla Street Fighter II, not Champion Edition or Super or Turbo or Super Turbo.

It's hard to overestimate just how influential Street Fighter II really was [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/misc/8407-12-Games-That-Defined-Their-Genres.2]. This one game defined the fighting game genre for decades to come, and many of the conventions the genre uses today - super moves, health bars, combo strings - originated here.

It would go on to spawn many imitators, many of which were pale shadows of the original (looking at you, Mortal Kombat). It would also become one of the most re-released games in history [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Street_Fighter_video_games#Street_Fighter_II_series].

I used to go over to my friend's house to play it on his SNES almost every day after school. His older brother never told me how to throw a fireball, so I always played as Chun-Li since you could do her lightning kick by just mashing the buttons. What a jerk that guy was, seriously.

Happy birthday, Street Fighter II. You defined a genre and created a legend. In your honor, let's all Ryu's theme [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ot7AW_z5Tes]. Or - you know what? Man, this game had some great music.

(Capcom [http://www.capcom-unity.com/jgonzo/blog/2011/03/02/happy_20th_birthday,_street_fighter_ii])

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[Kegsen]

Good times - good times! Happy birthday SF2....I hate you! You`re the only game that actually made me commit physical violence at a friend cos of silly button-mashing-tactic outplaying my "and noooooow, I`ll just do this and this and this skillz".

 

[HentMas]

Happy birthday, Street Fighter II. You defined a genre and created a legend. In your honor, let's all listen to Guile's theme [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ot7AW_z5Tes].

oh what memories that song brings simply amazing

 

[Art Axiv]

Fantastic memories. I broke a keyboard on this game.

 

[lee1287]

Its as old as me. Thats crazy.

 

[olfelix]

First played this game in a neighborhood Laundromat in the Bronx in 1991... That Laundromat is gone, but my love for this game remains. Happy birthday SF2.

 

[gigastar]

Happy birthday to this game that pointed the way forwards. At least before this happened. [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CapcomSequelStagnation]

 

[DeadlyYellow]

No 20th Anniversary edition? I'm disappointed.

Though maybe in five years...

 

[Void(null)]

God I feel old now... I was 9 when Street Fighter 2 came out, I remember it being the coolest game ever.

Anyway, happy anniversary to a series that has brought so many people together through the years!

 

[Ninonybox_v1legacy]

Happy B-day SF2

 

[theultimateend]

Apparently I have vivid memories from when I was 4 years old.

Kinda wild, I didn't think I had any. But I can clearly remember playing SFII.

 

[Ne1butme]

I remember renting the SNES version and only knowing the special moves that were listed in user manual. It didn't list all the moves for each fighter. I think it had ryu's fireball, but not dragon punch (or was it the hurricane kick). Either way, i didn't realize that there were other moves in the game. I had to rent it again when i found that out and got a magazine that had all the moves listed.

 

[Sixties Spidey]

Holy shit. Twenty Years. Has it really been that long?

I remember when I was about five years old, back when I was still living in a small town and I was introduced to this game. Every Sunday, I would go with my family to the Centennial Pool in Markham and next to the entrance, there was a Street Fighter II arcade machine. Out of curiosity, I asked for my parents for a quarter. As I inserted that fateful quarter into the slot, I was introduced to Street Fighter II.... the hard way. I remembered doing nothing but button mashing and within seconds I got my ass handed to me in the first stage. Needless to say, my parents didn't allow me to insert another coin in there again and I could only watch helplessly as the "Continue?" Timer ticked down to zero, flashing the infamous Game Over creen that I was (at the time, anyway) irrationally scared of.

But you know what? I revisit that game every now and again, because it's a fond childhood memory I have that I'm more than proud of preserving. I play through the original Street Fighter II arcade version once every year to pay homage to the game that brutally kicked my ass when I was a child, and you know what? It's an homage definitely worth paying. Now if you'll excuse me, *Jean Claude Van Damme accent* I'm going to kick that son of a ***** Bison's ass!

Happy 20th Birthday Street Fighter II!

 

[Rooster893]

Happy Birhtday, Street Fighter 2. You were always good to m-- OH, DAMN YOU, VEGA!

 

[Thegoodfriar]

Dear Street Fighter II,

Although we've known each other for such a long time, I still feel like I learn something new about you everyday. Maybe because you decided to dress yourself up and step out of the shadows of your 3D brethren, and decided hadoken-feints were in style but I love your new look.

Not to say I don't love your old school vibe. Many a day I waited in line, with a fistful of quarters just to get a shot a winning a match. And even though I might have changed and tastes have grown more sophisticated, I still will be that six-year-old madly pounding away at the roundhouse button with Chun-Li.

With all my love, affection and spinning pile-drivers,

Friar

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

I'm betraying my arcade-rat roots when I admit to noticing that the machine on the left has a Raiden sticker slapped over the artwork of a Crystal Castles cabinet.

So yeah, SFII and I were very well-acquainted. [small]Too bad I always tried to play Guile, and failed.[/small]

 

[Mr. Omega]

I will celebrate this by using Ryu and Chun-Li in each of my teams on MvC3 today. I may such with both of them, but this occasion is worth a few online losses.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Ah this bring back memories when my bro went to the post office to get his speical tin case packaging and the times when he kick my butts over and over. Good times.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

Odd everybody acts likes this series started with #2.

Ok, most versions of the first one sucked, but we still are missing the point.

 

[Trogdor1138]

My first memories of this game were actually when I was about 5 years old. We bought the Turbo Edition on Mega Drive pretty cheap at a store because my older brother liked Street Fighter a lot. Great memories. I'm also very nostalgic about Street Fighter II V, the anime, anybody else remember it? It had a great opening intro/theme. It's still awesome SFII is played 20 years later.