Street Fighter, an iconic video game series that has continued to thrive through the generations
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Original article written on 30th June 2021.
All the recent staying in advice for now and for the near future made me cast my mind back to one of those great eras in gaming from yesteryear. And that pinnacle moment was discovering Street Fighter2.
It was February 1991 when the game was officially launched by CapCom for arcades. Yes, arcades, the bastion of cutting edge gaming showing off all manner of electronic delights on a regular basis. The sequel to the 1987 original ushered in a new era of competition and rivalry perhaps only ever seen in real sports like tennis or football up until then.
The premise was simple, select one of eight characters and take on an opponent that was either computer or human controlled. Each selectable character was bestowed with a set of normal and special moves and tactical and clever use of these allowed the player to progress further. It was because of this that the game tapped into a visceral nerve, learning the moves and how best to use them against your opponent opened up a massive world of opportunities. And CapCom knew this as the game's popularity in the arcades sky rocketed, sequel upon sequel appeared, each adding in new moves and characters. Then there were the inevitable home console conversions. Nintendo got the ball rolling in the summer of 1992 with a solid conversion for its then new 16-bit Super Famicom or Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). This was later followed by incarnations on the PC Engine and Sega Mega Drive.
However I always found myself ultimately drawn back to the arcade original and its sequels. For most of the 1990s arcade games retained their superiority in terms of graphics and sound quality with console ports lacking the precision and definition found in their bigger counterparts, Street Fighter 2 therefore being no exception. For a brief period in the mid-1990s I was lucky enough to even own my own arcade upright arcade cabinet with a copy of the Champion Edition sequel inside it. This produced many fond memories as friends and family took each other on.
Over the years I have played many incarnations of Street Fighter culminating in the arcade version of Street Fighter 4 in 2008 and its sequel, the Arcade Edition in 2010. Again, this was largely on the arcade versions which were available in some of London's remaining arcades including FunLand in Piccadilly Circus and the always great Casino arcade near Goodge Street tube station. Sadly, FunLand closed in 2011 and Casino in 2014. For a brief period the cabinets from the closed Casino location appeared in the Vega arcade opposite Angel underground station and I played occasionally up until 2016 or 2017 but have not been back since and it now appears this classic old arcade has also closed its doors. Life is as busy as ever and time is becoming more precious, but I am left with some great memories of these old arcades, their atmosphere and social interactions.
Gaming now appears to be in quite a healthy position. Apart from the very powerful computers and consoles, there's fun to be had on tablets and smartphones. But for me there is something missing, probably the social aspect or just feeling the pressure of a Street Fighter bout in the final round with energy bars almost depleted, canI go for the win? I don't feel much of this in the modern gaming sphere but then this era belong to another crowd.
Those brought up on GTA, Call of Duty and now Fortnite own the gaming landscape now but that is no bad thing in itself. They are the lifeblood that sustains a multi-billion dollar industry. It's just that sometimes it would be great to still feel that sense of excitement for a new Street Fighter release and if they existed, in the arcade.
The good news is that Street Fighter 6 has just been released for home consoles and PC and the reviews are excellent. There is even an arcade version testing in the wild, as depicted in the main picture for this post, but this will probably never appear here and will instead adorn the arcades of Japan and the far east where there is and always was more social acceptance for spending quality time in an arcade. Still, it's good to know there is another Street Fighter game for this generation to enjoy and master and that alone will ensure its presence in the gaming landscape remains healthy and buoyant together with a continued rise in its gamer participation and popularity.
