Street Fighter

For other uses, see Street Fighter (disambiguation).

Series of fighting games.
Developer(s)	Capcom
Publisher(s)	Capcom
Platform(s)	Most notable: Arcade, Sega Mega Drive, Super Nintendo, Sega Saturn, PlayStation, Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, Xbox
Release	Japanese releases: August 30, 1987 (Street Fighter) June 10, 1992 (Street Fighter II) September 10, 1993 (Super Street Fighter II) June 5, 1995 (Street Fighter Alpha) November 1996 (Street Fighter EX) 1997 (Street Fighter III) July 2008 (Street Fighter IV)
Genre(s)	Fighting
Mode(s)	Up to 2 players simultaneously

Street Fighter (ストリートファイター, Sutorīto Faitā), commonly abbreviated as SF, is a popular series of fighting games in which the players pit competitive fighters from around the world, each with his or her own special moves, against one another. Capcom released the first game in the series in August 1987.

History and development

Street Fighter (1987)

Main article: Street Fighter (video game)

A screenshot from the first Street Fighter game.

Street Fighter made its debut in the arcades in 1987. It was designed by Takashi Nishiyama and Hiroshi Matsumoto. The player took control of lone martial artist Ryu, who competed in a worldwide martial arts tournament, spanning five countries and ten opponents. A second player could join in at any time and take control of Ryu's rival, Ken.

The player could perform three types of punch and kick attacks (which varied in speed and strength) and three special attacks: the fight fire, Dragon Punch and Hurricane Kick. These were performed by executing special motions with the controls.

Street Fighter was ported to many popular home computer systems of the time including PC. In 1988, it was released on the NEC Avenue TurboGrafx-CD console under the new name Fighting Street.

Street Fighter was later included in Capcom Classics Collection: Remixed for the PlayStation Portable and Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 2 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox.

Street Fighter II series (1991-1996)

Main articles: Street Fighter II and Super Street Fighter II

File:Street Fighter II comparison.PNG

Ryu and Ken fighting on Guile's stage in three different versions of Street Fighter II. From top to bottom: the original Street Fighter II, Street Fighter II': Champion Edition and Super Street Fighter II.

Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, released in 1991, was the first true sequel to the original Street Fighter, following an unsuccessful attempt to brand the 1989 fighting action game Final Fight as a Street Fighter sequel, and an officially commissioned spin-off Human Killing Machine on the ZX Spectrum and other home computers. It was one of the earliest arcade games for Capcom's CP System hardware and was designed by Akira Nishitani (Nin-Nin) and Akira Yasuda (Akiman), who were previously responsible for Final Fight and Forgotten Worlds. The release of the game had an unexpected impact on gaming and was the beginning of a massive phenomenon.

Street Fighter II was the first one-on-one fighting game to give players a choice from a variety of player characters, an option which created hitherto unknown levels of depth and replay value for an arcade game. Each player character had a fighting style with approximately 30 or more moves (including previously nonexistent grappling moves such as throws) as well as two or three special attacks per character.

In the single-player mode, the player's chosen character is pitted sequentially against the seven other main characters before confronting the final four 'boss' opponents, who were CPU-controlled characters not selectable by the player.

As in the original, a second player could join in at any point during single player mode and compete against the other player in competitive matches, with the multiple available characters allowing for more varied matches.

Street Fighter II proved to be popular due to all these factors, eclipsing its predecessor in popularity, eventually turning Street Fighter into a multimedia franchise.

The first official update to the series was Street Fighter II′ - Champion Edition (pronounced Street Fighter II Dash in Japan, as noted by the prime notation on the logo), which allowed players to play as the Four Devas (the computer-controlled boss characters) and also allowed two players to choose the same character (with one character drawn in an alternate color pattern). The game also featured slightly improved graphics (including differently colored backgrounds) and refined gameplay. A second upgrade, titled Street Fighter II′ - Hyper Fighting (or Street Fighter II Dash Turbo in Japan), was produced in response to the various bootleg editions of the game. Hyper Fighting offered faster gameplay than its predecessors, different character colors and new special techniques (such as Chun-Li's Kikoken or Dhalsim's Yoga Teleport).

Super Street Fighter II, the third revision, gave the game a complete graphical overhaul and introduced four new playable characters (Cammy, Fei Long, Dee Jay and T.Hawk). Super gave the characters from previous games new frames of animations (such as giving actual jumping punches for Vega and Sagat), new special moves (such as Bison's Devil's Rebirth and Ryu's Fire Hadoken), and improvements or changes to previously existing special moves (such as Ken's Shoryuken or Chun-Li's Kikoken). It was also the first game for Capcom’s CP System II arcade hardware. The fifth and final arcade installment, Super Street Fighter II Turbo (Super Street Fighter II X in Japan) brought back the faster gameplay of Hyper Fighting, a new type of special techniques known as "Super Combos" and hidden character Akuma.

Numerous home versions of the Street Fighter II games have been produced following the original game. The original Street Fighter II was ported to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1992. As of 2008, the original SNES game is still Capcom's best selling game. It was followed by a Japanese-only version of Street Fighter II Dash for the PC Engine in 1993. Hyper Fighting received two different home versions as well in 1993, an SNES version titled Street Fighter II Turbo, and a Sega Genesis counterpart titled Street Fighter II′ - Special Champion Edition (Street Fighter II Dash Plus in Japan). The following game, Super Street Fighter II, was also ported to the SNES and Genesis in 1994. During that same year, Super Street Fighter II Turbo was later released for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, and also a PC version for Windows, by the now defunct Gametek was released.

In 1997, Capcom released the Street Fighter Collection for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn, a compilation which includes Super and Super Turbo, as well as the newer Street Fighter Alpha 2 Gold. It was followed by Street Fighter Collection 2 (Capcom Generation Vol. 5 in Japan), also released for the PlayStation and Saturn, which includes the original Street Fighter II, Champion Edition, and Hyper Fighting. In 2000, Capcom released Super Street Fighter II X for Matching Service in Japan for the Dreamcast, a version of the game which featured an online two-player versus mode. In 2003, Capcom released Hyper Street Fighter II for the arcades in Japan and Asia to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the series, a hybrid version of Super Turbo which allows player to select between versions of characters from all five previous Street Fighter II games. Hyper was released its North America and the PAL region via its ports for the PlayStation 2 and the Xbox (released as part of the Street Fighter Anniversary Collection along with Street Fighter III 3rd Strike). In 2005, the three games in Street Fighter Collection 2 were included Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 1 for PlayStation 2 and Xbox. A version of Super Turbo (along with the original Street Fighter) was later included in the 2007 compilation Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 2, also released for the PS2 and Xbox.

An updated version of Super Street Fighter II Turbo came to the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade service in November 2008. The game, titled Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, has fully redrawn artwork, including HD sprites 4.5x the original size, done by artists from UDON. This is the first time the Street Fighter characters will have new sprites, drawn by Capcom, since Capcom vs. SNK 2 in 2001. The game has several changes which address character balancing issues, but also features the original arcade version gameplay so that players can choose between the two.

Street Fighter Alpha series (1995-1998)

Main article: Street Fighter Alpha

The interquel Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams (Street Fighter Zero in Japan and Asia) became the next game in the series. The game used the same art style Capcom previously employed in Darkstalkers and X-Men: Children of the Atom, with settings and character designs heavily influenced by Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie. Alpha expands on the Super Combo system from Super Turbo, by extending Super Combo meter into three levels (allowing for more powerful super combos), and also introduces Alpha Counters and Chain Combos (also from Darkstalkers). The plot of Alpha is set between the first two Street Fighter games and fleshes out the back stories and grudge matches held by many of the classic SF2 characters. It features a playable roster of ten immediately playable characters (and three unlockable fighters), comprising not only younger versions of established Street Fighter II, but also characters from the original Street Fighter and Final Fight.

Street Fighter Alpha 2 features all-new stages, music and endings for some characters (some overlapping with those from the original Alpha). It also discarded the Chain Combo system in favor of Custom Combos (which required a portion of the Super Combo meter to be used). Alpha 2 also retained all thirteen characters from the original, adding five new characters to the roster along with hidden versions of returning characters. Alpha 2 was followed by a slightly enhanced arcade release titled Street Fighter Zero 2 Alpha and was released in Japan, Asia and Brazil, was ported to home consoles as Street Fighter Alpha 2 Gold (Zero 2 Dash in Japan). The home versions added Cammy as a hidden character.

The third and final Alpha game, Street Fighter Alpha 3, was released in 1998 (following the release of the original Street Fighter III and 2nd Impact). Alpha 3 introduced three selectable fighting style and further expanded the playable roster to 28 characters (including three hidden characters). Console versions of the three games (including the original Alpha 2 and the aforementioned Alpha 2 Gold) were released for the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn, although versions of specific games in the series were also released for the Game Boy Color, Super NES, Sega Dreamcast and even Windows. The home console versions of Alpha 3 further expanded the character roster by adding the remaining "New Challengers" from Super Street Fighter II, along with Guile, Evil Ryu and Shin Akuma (the latter two were omitted from the arcade release). The Dreamcast version of the game was backported to the arcades in Japan under the title of Street Fighter Zero 3 Upper. A version of Upper (simply titled Alpha 3 outside Japan) was released for the Game Boy Advance and added three characters from Capcom vs. SNK 2. A PlayStation Portable version titled Alpha 3 MAX (or Zero 3 Double Upper in Japan) contains the added characters from the GBA version and Ingrid from Capcom Fighting Jam.

Street Fighter III series (1997-1999)

Main article: Street Fighter III

Street Fighter III: The New Generation, made its debut in the arcades on the CPS3 hardware in 1997. Street Fighter III discarded the character roster from previous games (only Ryu and Ken returned), introducing several new characters in their place, most notably the grappler Alex, who was designed to be the new lead character of the game, and Gill, who replaced Bison as the game's main antagonist. Street Fighter III introduced the "Super Arts" selection system and the ability to parry an opponent's attack. Several months after its release, it was followed by 2nd Impact: Giant Attack, which made adjustments to the gameplay and added two new characters, as well as the return of Akuma and bonus rounds. 3rd Strike: Fight for the Future, released in 1999, was the third and last iteration of Street Fighter III, bringing back Chun-Li and adding four new characters to the playable roster.

The first two Street Fighter III games were ported to the Sega Dreamcast as a compilation titled Double Impact. Ports of 3rd Strike were released for the Dreamcast as a stand-alone game and then included in the compilation Street Fighter Anniversary Collection for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox.

Street Fighter EX series (1996-2001)

Main article: Street Fighter EX

In Template:Vgy, Capcom co-produced with Arika (a company founded by former Street Fighter II planner Akira Nishitani) a 3D fighting game spinoff of the series titled Street Fighter EX, developed for the PlayStation-based ZN-1 hardware. EX combined the established Street Fighter cast with original characters created and owned by Arika. It was followed by upgraded version titled Street Fighter EX Plus in Template:Vgy, which expanded the character roster. A home version with further additional characters and features, Street Fighter EX Plus Alpha, was released for the PlayStation during the same year.

A sequel was released in Template:Vgy, titled Street Fighter EX2, developed for the ZN-2 hardware. EX2 also received an upgraded version, Street Fighter EX2 Plus, released in Template:Vgy. A PlayStation version of EX2 Plus, was also released. A third game in the series, Street Fighter EX3, was released as an early title for the PlayStation 2 in Template:Vgy.

Some of the Arika-owned characters from the series were later featured in other games developed by the company. The Namco-distributed arcade game Fighting Layer featured Allen Snider and Blair Dame from the original EX, while Skullomania would reappear in the PlayStation game Fighter Maker, as well as in the PlayStation 2 music game Technictix.

Vs. series (1996-2002, 2008)

Main articles: Marvel vs. Capcom (series) and SNK vs. Capcom (series)

Capcom has also produced fighting games involving licensed characters from other companies and their own properties. In Template:Vgy, Capcom released the Marvel-licensed fighting game X-Men: Children of the Atom, which featured Akuma from Super Turbo as a hidden guest character. It was followed by Marvel Super Heroes in Template:Vgy, which featured Anita from Night Warriors.

Capcom would release a third Marvel-licensed game, X-Men vs. Street Fighter, in Template:Vgy, a full-fledged crossover between characters from X-Men and the Street Fighter Alpha games that featured a two-on-two tag team-based system. It was followed by Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter in Template:Vgy, which expanded the roster to include characters from Marvel Super Heroes; Marvel vs. Capcom in Template:Vgy, which featured not only Street Fighter characters, but also characters from other Capcom properties; and Marvel vs. Capcom 2 in Template:Vgy, which was produced from the Dreamcast-based NAOMI hardware.

Capcom also produced a series of similar crossover fighting games with rival fighting game developer SNK. The games produced by Capcom includes Capcom vs. SNK in Template:Vgy, which features character primarily from the Street Fighter and King of Fighters series. It was followed by a minor upgrade, Capcom vs. SNK Pro ; and a sequel titled Capcom vs. SNK 2, both released in Template:Vgy. All three games were produced for the NAOMI hardware as well. The SNK-produced fighting games of this crossover includes the Dimps-developed portable fighting game SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium for the Neo-Geo Pocket Color in Template:Vgy and SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos for the Neo-Geo in Template:Vgy.

As of December 11th 2008, Capcom has released a new crossover fighting game titled Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, which features characters from both companies' properties. Characters such as Ryu, Chun-Li and Megaman on Capcom's side; along with Eagle Ken of Gatchaman and Casshern of Neo-Human Casshern on Tatsunoko's side.Capcom has stated that the game will "probably not" be released outside of Japan due to Tatsunoko's licensing issues. Capcom USA is working hard to deal with licensing issues.

Street Fighter IV (2008)

Main article: Street Fighter IV

On October 17, 2007, more than eight years since the release of Street Fighter III 3rd Strike for the arcades, Capcom unveiled Street Fighter IV at a Capcom Gamers Day event in London. Conceived as a direct sequel to the early Street Fighter II games (particularly Super Street Fighter II Turbo), Street Fighter IV features the return of the original twelve world warriors and recurring hidden character Akuma, along with four new characters (as well as a new boss character) in a storyline set between the Street Fighter II and Street Fighter III. The gameplay, while still 2D, features cel-shaded 3D graphics inspired by Japanese sumi-e paintings. The Super Combo system, a Street Fighter mainstay since Super Turbo, returns along with the all-new "Ultra Combo" moves, as well as a new counter-attacking techniques called "Focus Attacks".

The arcade version, which runs on the Taito Type X2 hardware, was distributed in Japan on July Template:Vgy, with a limited release in North America in select arcades in August. A home version is currently scheduled for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows PC, which will feature an expanded character roster, as well as all-new animated segments that will flesh out the game's backstory.

Street Fighter Online: Mouse Generation (2008)

Main article: Street Fighter Online: Mouse Generation

Street Fighter Online: Mouse Generation (ストリートファイター オンライン マウスジェネレーション) is a PC versus fighter game by Daletto in association with Revoltech. The game solely uses the PC's mouse for combat, and the characters are customizable to some degree.

Future games

Ono has also hinted of a possible "fifth" installment of Street Fighter depending on the success of Street Fighter IV.

Related media

Film and animation

In Japan, an animated film produced by Group TAC titled Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie was released theatrically in Japan in 1994. An English adaptation of the film produced by Manga Entertainment, which was first released on home video in 1996. Group TAC also produced an animated TV series Street Fighter II V, which first aired on Fuji TV in 1995; and a two-episode OVA series, Street Fighter Alpha: The Movie, released in 1999. English adaptations of both productions were produced by Manga Entertainment as well. A second OVA based on Street Fighter Alpha, titled Street Fighter Alpha: Generations, was produced specifically for the English-language market by Studio A.P.P.P.

An American-produced live-action film, simply titled Street Fighter, was also released in 1994, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme as Guile in the film's lead. This film inspired an arcade game titled Street Fighter: The Movie, as well as a console game bearing the same title. The film also inspired an American-produced animated TV series Street Fighter, which lasted two 13-episode seasons from 1995 to 1997.

In October 2006, Hyde Park Entertainment and Capcom announced its intention to produce a film adaptation of the game series in a joint venture, with the storyline to focus on the Street Fighter character Chun-Li. Screenwriter Justin Marks was attached to write a script for the adaptation. Street Fighter is set for a 2009 release for the 20th anniversary of the fighting game series. The film adaptation is part of Capcom's multi-platform launch for 2008 that will also launch video games and a potential TV series in 2008.

On December 21, 2007, it was announced that the new film will be titled Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, and will star Kristin Kreuk in the title role.

CollegeHumor had produced the popular parody Street Fighter: The Later Years, which shows the aging characters from the second installment living outside of the fighting world. A sequel has been confirmed, titled Reunion. Producer, actor and writer Mike Fass has stated he would like to bring the characters from the fourth installment because the game was a continuing story from the second.

Comic books

Main articles: Street Fighter II (manga) and Street Fighter (UDON)

There have been various Street Fighter comic books produced, including Masaomi Kanzaki's Street Fighter II manga (one of the few Street Fighter manga titles translated into English), and a role playing game adaptation released by White Wolf in 1994.

Japanese comics

Masahiko Nakahira did four different Street Fighter manga series: Cammy Gaiden (translated and released in English as Super Street Fighter II: Cammy by Viz Media), Street Fighter Zero (translated and released in English as Street Fighter Alpha), Sakura Ganbaru and Street Fighter III: Ryu Final. Street Fighter Alpha, Sakura Ganbaru and Street Fighter III: Ryu Final have all been released in English by UDON. Two characters created by Nakahira, Evil Ryu (introduced in Street Fighter Alpha) and Karin Kanzuki (from Sakura Ganbaru) have been integrated into the Street Fighter video games.

American comics

Malibu Comics launched a Street Fighter comic series in 1993, but it flopped, lasting only three issues.

UDON has been licensed by Capcom to produce an American comic book based on the Street Fighter franchise, in addition to Darkstalkers and Rival Schools. This series draws not only on the established Street Fighter canon, but also occasionally addresses various continuity retcons, and even draws from fanon and non-official sources as well. In 2005, UDON released Street Fighter: Eternal Challenge, the first Capcom series history and art book to be translated into English. More recently, UDON has announced continuation on its currently running Street Fighter series (based on SF: Alpha and Super SF Turbo) and is expecting to launch a Street Fighter IV series in early 2009 and a Street Fighter III series in 2009.

Brazilian comics

Editora Escala published Malibu's unfinished series in Brazil, and promised to publish Kanzaki's manga afterwards. But instead, starting in 1994, they published an original series titled Super Street Fighter II, later renamed simply Street Fighter. Its main writer was Alexandre Nagado. This series lasted for 20 issues.

Brazilian artist and writer Marcelo Cassaro did an unlicensed comic parody, published by Editora Escala in 1993, titled simply Street Fighter II. It only lasted for two issues. [1]

Cassaro later wrote a more mature and ambitious 4-issue miniseries based on Street Fighter Zero 3, which was drawn by Erica Awano, and properly licensed by Capcom. It was published by Trama Editora (later Editora Talismã, now defunct) in 1998/99.

Card games

On April 14, 2006 Sabertooth Games released a Street Fighter set for its Universal Fighting System (UFS) game along with a set for Soul Calibur III. This was not the gaming companies first release for UFS, that being a Battle box for Penny Arcade released in February 2006. As the name implies, UFS is to be a universal system. There are plans to incorporate other licenses into the game, slated for December 2006, being based on SNK's King of Fighters and Samurai Shodown.

The first set for Street Fighter featured cards for Chun-Li, Dhalsim, Ken, Ryu, Sagat and Zangief. A later expansion, Street Fighter: World Warriors, included the remaining characters from the original Street Fighter 2 arcade series, Blanka, Balrog, E. Honda, Guile, M. Bison and Vega. Another set, titled Street Fighter: The Next Level, was released in December 2006, parallel with the SNK release. The characters included are Akuma, Fei Long, Dudley, and Cammy. A new expansion, Street Fighter: The Dark Path was released February 14, 2007 along with the next Soul Calibur Set, Soul Arena. Characters include a new version of Chun-Li and (Evil) Ryu, along with Adon, Charlie, Rose, Sakura, T.Hawk and Twelve. A new set, entitled Street Fighter: Extreme Rivals, which was released in May 2007, features Cody, Dee Jay, Ibuki, R. Mika, and a new version of Ken.

In July 2007 Sabertooth Games will release an exclusive Battle Pack featuring a battle between Ryu and Akuma. These 2 sixty card decks will be fully compatible with the Universal Fighting System and contain 36 unique cards.

There is currently a free demo deck request form to try out the UFS CCG at Sabertooth Games Demo Deck Request Form.

Another trading card game, the now discontinued Epic Battles (released by Score Entertainment), also featured Street Fighter characters, as well as characters from other fighting game franchises, such as Mortal Kombat.

Role Playing Game

Main article: Street Fighter (role-playing game)

White Wolf released a storytelling game based on the series in 1994 (featuring characters from Super Street Fighter 2). The system used many of the game mechanics of the World of Darkness games. The system is now out of print but retains a small following on the internet.

Unauthorized conversions

Street Fighter has been ported, without Capcom's authorization, to the Famicom in Asia. It has appeared in several multicarts in China. One of the popular titles was known as Master Fighter, that had several sequels (including one featuring Nintendo character Mario). Due to memory limitations of the Famicom system, the bootleg copy was unable to list all the available rosters; the only characters available are Ryu, Guile, Chun-Li, Zangief and non playable M. Bison (his original Japanese name — Vega, was misspelled as Viga). Another title is Super Fighter III, and due also to hardware limitations, only nine among the normal roster of twelve are selectable characters (missing were Balrog, E. Honda, and Zangief). Character names, captions and subtitles during the endings are also removed. Chun-Li's stage was redesigned as the Forbidden City outdoors rather than one of China's busy streets.

In 1992, the Hotel Keitel bootleg group in Korea released a Korean version of the game known as SFIBM, running on PC compatibles. Programmed by Jung Young Dug, the first release had only Ryu and Guile available. Eventually all the characters were released (although hand drawn versions of SNK's Andy Bogard and Terry Bogard replaced Vega and Balrog in some versions).

The gameplay was quite poor, but many of the data files were unoptimized and available for editing. After the game had proliferated to the West, Derek Liu and Brian Chan used this information to edit the files into SFLiu, the closest translation of Street Fighter II Turbo the game engine could allow. After adding in Balrog and Vega, they updated the files to Super Street Fighter II standards.

As more and more editors worked on the game, more patches were created. The most widespread of these patches were SFWarm by Stan Warman (which added new features for all the characters), SFJenn by Jenn Dolari (which added the Mortal Kombat characters of Mileena and Kitana) and SFNinja (which replaced most of the roster with parody versions of Mortal Kombat's numerous ninjas).

See also

• List of Street Fighter games
• List of Street Fighter characters
• Electronic sports

External links

• Capcom Official site of Capcom
• Street Fighter Capcom USA's official Street Fighter page
• Street Fighter 15th Capcom Japan's Street Fighter 15th Anniversary homepage
• Street Fighter IV Official site of Street Fighter IV
• Street Fighter Museum Official gallery source of StreetFighter.com
• Capcom artwork archive Original game artwork
• 1UP Street Fighter IV Producer Interview Insight and history into the oft-rumored sequel and its genesis
• Street Fighter Corp Street Fighter 20th Anniversary homepage
• Street Fighter on Street Fighter Wiki, an external wiki