1992 - one of the most important years in video game history. One game. One game was released by Capcom that year that was so innovative that there was nothing like it. It had, without a doubt, the best graphics of any other game to date and it paved the way for other fighters such as Virtua Fighter, Mortal Kombat, King of Fighters, and Soul Calibur as well as many, many more. That game is none other than Street Fighter 2. Street Fighter is withouht a doubt one of my fondest series to date, and it has brought me many, many memories.
I have many fond memories of Street Fighter 2. It was my second SNES game (after receiving Mario World with it), and I really liked it. I liked beating up people with all these different combos. I liked how there were multiple players to choose from. Whether it was Ryu, Ken, Chun Li, Zangief, Dhalshim, or any other "street fighter", I thought I was pretty good with whomever I chose. I remember being really, really scared of Blanka. Hey, come on! I was 5 back then, and he was a really scary looking beast back then. You can't blame me for being scared of him!
Anyway, later as a few years passed by I rented some more Street Fighter games, since I liked SF2. I got Street Fighter 2 turbo. I liked fighting as the four bosses (Balrog, Sagat, Vega, and M.Bison). I also liked playing with the same characters with the different colors. But, after a while, I found it quite boring as it was basiclly the same as the previous installment of Street Fighter. But then I found something quite new. A drastic change from the original was about to be released, and it is without a doubt one of my most favorite games of all time: Super Street Fighter 2.
SSF2 is really different from most of the SF2 mini sequels. For one, Capcom added some new characters: Cammy (a English woman who doesn't remember her past), Dee Jay (a Jamaican who loves to shake his maracas), Fei Long (think Bruce Lee), and T. Hawk (a Mexican whose land was destroyed thanks to M.Bison). There were also a lot of new modes to tinker with: a time attack mode, a tournament mode (which is REALLY fun, I wonder why Capcom never bothered to include It in other SF game), and an elimination mode. I rented that game multiple times until some BUFFOON (who if I ever find I will hurt badly) broke the poor game. For years, I have tried looking for it with no success. Thankfully a Gamestop had the game and I gleefully bought it. It remains in my SNES to this day.
As a few more years went by, I realized that Capcom was really, well, whoring out the series. For example, there was still more SF2 games being churned out (SF2 came out in 1992, SF3 didn't come out for another 5 years). Then there was that Alpha series, which I admit was ok, but they never bothered to finally work on the third installment of the series. Finally, Street Fighter 3 was released, and well..It was ok, to me, but it was totally different from the previous installment. For example, all the characters were new except Ryu and Ken. It wasn't even focused on them; it was focused more on these new kids. I liked it, but not as I liked Street Fighter 2.
Around the same time Capcom started to release mini sequels to SF3 and I started to play Marvel vs. Capcom. I liked the first one because it was really cool to see Wolverine fight Ryu, or Ken taking on Cyclops. The sequel was released soon after, and by god, it blew the original away. The soundtrack was hip and cool, there were truckloads of characters to unlock, and it was so easy to pull off a super combo, it was really enjoyable and I spent days just trying to unlock all the characters.
Then... wow. In 2001 two of the biggest fighting series clashed - Capcom vs. SNK, and it was amazing. Ken vs. Terry, Mai vs. Chun Li, and Ryo vs. Ryu... whoa. Not only was the game fun and innovative from other Vs. series games, but it was also jam packed with tons of modes and even a color edit option where you can make your own character outfits. Amazing. Although I have yet to play Capcom vs. SNK 2, I plan on getting it sometime in the near future (hopefully), so I should continue my love for Capcom fighting games soon enough.
Wow. It's been a great ten years I've had with Street Fighter. I've followed it since that fateful day I picked up Street Fighter 2. And it's been one hell of a ride. I really can't wait to see what's in store for the series. I'm really looking forward to play SNK vs. Capcom Chaos, even if it's going to be more of the SNK style rather than the Capcom style. Happy 15th, Street Fighter. Ill be looking forward to your future.
Bryan Rose
