From the arcade to the bedroom and beyond — beragampengetahuan – Beragampengetahuan

The frantic clicking of the buttons. The furious rolling of arcade sticks. The bated breath of onlookers. This was the atmosphere you’d find yourself in from the moment you set foot in a 90s arcade.

Such a captivating setting could describe a lot of titles emblazoned above the flickering cabinets but there was one that drew in the bigger crowds: Street Fighter 2.

This legendary game about a worldwide martial arts tournament featuring stereotypical characters was so popular, you knew about it even if you lived under a rock. While for many Street Fighter 2 was the title that defined a whole game genre, its influence on gaming history is far grander.

The Capcom developed and published title opened up a world of possibilities for competitive play at an international scale and gaming as a way to make a living.

And it all began with one paradigm-shifting release: Street Fighter 2 on Super Nintendo, which at the time would go on to become Capcom’s best-selling game ever.

Street Fighter 2 – A Brief History

Many know Street Fighter 2 as the title that started a gaming revolution but far fewer experienced its humble beginnings. Designed by Takashi Nishiyama and Hiroshi Matsumoto, the original Street Fighter made its arcade debut in 1987.

It was later released on a variety of devices, including PC and TurboGrafx-CD, under the title Fighting Street. Despite being a crude image of its more successful younger sibling, Street Fighter brought a lot to the beat-’em-up genre. The familiar 6-button layout and special move motions were both first introduced in the original.

In the game, player 1 only had access to Ryu who had 10 non-playable opponents to defeat, including his eternal rival Sagat. By joining in for some head-to-head battles, player 2 assumed the role of Ken. The iconic character selection didn’t come until 4 years later in 1991 when Street Fighter 2 made its arcade debut.

Such names as Blanka, M Bison, Guile and Ching-Li will being back memories for many of our readers who had a SNES in the 90s, and many of these characters endure in the Streetfighter Universe to this day.