A History of Street Fighter II

To my buddies at the MAAN Clan, I am the resident Fighting Game Guru.  In my college days, The Grey Ghost and I shared many an epic battle in one fighter or another. I cut my competitive gaming teeth on fighters like Street Fighter 2, Tekken, and Virtua Fighter. My gaming ‘hobby’ became serious ‘competition’ with Friday afternoons in my Freshman Year in High School History Class, and Street Fighter 2 when Reggie would bring his Super NES to school and the teacher let us have the second half of the period to ourselves. That was over 16 years ago. As part of the community, I have seen Street Fighter 2 go through seven evolutionary stages, from Street Fighter 2 through Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo (Super Turbo) to the final Capcom release of Hyper Street Fighter 2 – Anniversary Edition (AE). Now the new Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix (Street Fighter HD or SFHD), a fan made and Capcom blessed Ultimate Edition of Super Turbo, has hit the PSN and XBL, and introduces and re-introduces players to iconic characters like Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Guile, and M. Bison.

Street Fighter II hit the arcade scene in 1991, and was the only direct sequel to Street Fighter, despite the many spin-offs that Street Fighter had under it’s name. The game had a simple concept, pit two players head-to-head, and with a series of moves, specials, and a six button arcade layout, players fought to drain the life-bar of their opponent. Initially only eight characters were selectable, with four boss characters that could only be fought in a solo-play session. One year later with the release of SF2′ – Championship Edition, and SF2′ – Hyper Fighting, the boss characters were made selectable. In 1993, two years after the initial release of SF2, four new characters were added to the roster for a total of 16 playable characters in Super Street Fighter 2. One year following that, Capcom would reach Fighting Game perfection with the release of Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo, known in the Fighting Game Community as Super Turbo.

Super Turbo has survived over 16 years and the test of time. The only other arcade release of Street Fighter 2 was Hyper Street Fighter 2 – Anneversary Edition, which was more of a tribute to previous SF2 games by allowing you to choose any version of a character from previous SF2 release with minor tweaks to game-play without destroying what made Super Turbo great. It is the 16 playable characters (Akuma or Gouki are banned in Tournament Play) and the designers well balanced approach to their execution that has allowed the game to survive for so long. Why mess with perfection?

Many books, magazines, and websites have argued the last 16 years over characters, match-ups, and strategies in Super Turbo. It is these conversations, as well as a desire to update the look of Street Fighter 2 that has lead us down the path to our final destination, Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix. Street Fighter HD (SFHD) was released in 2008, and is a true fan-made project. Game Designer, and Fighting Tournament Champion David Sirlin lead a team that included Udon Comics, and OverClocked ReMix to improve Super Turbo without destroying its well-balanced playability. Sirlin took careful steps to listen to the community and compress the character tiers, tweak specials, and even move execution. Udon comics brought Street Fighter into the present with a complete portfolio of new sprites and hand drawn backgrounds. OC Remix added their contribution with a new soundtrack compiled from the best of old remixed SF2 themes. The result is a more complete version of Fighting Game Perfection.

Eighteen years after the original release of Street Fighter 2 and we are on the cusp of a new era of Fighting Game Perfection with the release of Street Fighter IV. Do yourself favor, and before you pick up SFIV, give back to the community and purchase and download SFHD. We are here only because of the community. It is the community that has kept the dream and the franchise alive. Not only will you help out the community, you will also be getting a game that just might survive another 16 plus years. It might be around long after Street Fighter IV is forgotten. Does anyone remember Street Fighter III?

Street Fighter HD Specific Information

For some of you, Fighting Games might seem alien or new. For others it will be old hat. This section, while not as long winded as the previous section, will layout specific information for those interested in improving their SFHD game. Much of this information is from Super Turbo, but is still quite relevant, as the underlying game-play was left unchanged by the SFHD Design Team.

Guides
Shoryuken’s Fighting Game Strategy Guide – Joystick Notation, Motion Abbreviations, State Modifiers are all found in this guide. A good place to start for beginners, and a refresher for returning veterans, this guide lays out the basics in Fighting Games. It links you to a few interesting articles by Fighting Game Champion Seth Killian on the subject of Competitive Gaming. Finally it opens up links to all manner of Fighting Game.

Shoryuken’s Super Turbo Strategy Guide – Joystick Notation, Six Button Notation, Descriptors, this community wiki has everything you need to learn the ins and outs of Super Turbo. This in-depth guide explains everything from specific Game Mechanics to Character Tiers and Strategies. The guide also links to Character Specific information, for a more in-depth examination of your favorite character.

T.Akiba’s SF2 Info (Japanese) or T.Akiba’s SF2 Info (English)- Frame Data, Move Damage, Priority also knows as The Holy Grail of Super Turbo Information. This site comes in two flavors. If you can read Japanese, T.Akiba’s original site is included. Lucky for us, the awesomeness of NKI has translated the information in the English page. Game Mechanic specifics are explained here in dry detail. This page will become your best friend when you dive deep into game.

Community Web-Sites
Capcom Unity – The Official Capcom Web-site. A portal for everything that is Capcom related. Included Blogs, Forums, and Media.

Shoryuken – roughly pronounced sho-rioo-ken, is the only completely invincible technique in the original Street Fighter games. Shoryuken the site is a place for fighting game fanatics to meet, exchange techniques, and discuss the games we love. The site includes Forums, Guides, Media, News, and Wiki.

Super-Turbo.NET – A bare-bones site packed with a ton of information. It should also be mentioned that it is one of the few sites that it has SFHD specific information contained within the Forums. The site includes Forums, Guides, and Translations.

Media
David Sirlin’s Super Turbo Tutorial Video Series – Originally included in the Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 2, David Sirlin was kind enough to allow these videos to be uploaded to YouTube. I compiled a play-list of four videos that will teach basic, intermediate, and advanced techniques to help master the game of Super Turbo. These are must viewing material.

Combo Videos – The #1 resource for Fighting Game Combo Videos. You will find more than just Super Turbo here. There is no better way to learn a game than to watch a master play it and study his technique. You will find casual play, tutorials, and tournament play videos here.

The Complete NKI Collection – The best of the best. These are seen by the community as must watch material. It is broken down by game, so it should be easy to find the videos that pertain specifically to Super Turbo.

Recommended Reading
Playing To Win – David Sirlin – Conceived from original articles posted on Sirlin.NET about the concept of Competitive Gaming and how playing to win is above all. You can purchase a hard copy of the book, which I recommend, or you can read the entire text online. David Sirlin is a tournament champion, and while a lot of his views on Competitive Gaming are controversial, it is a must read.

The Art of War – Sun Tzu – A text not about conflict, but really about conflict resolution through as little conflict as possible. While the text does not apply directly to Competitive Gaming, it will open your mind to a whole new way of looking at conflict in games and daily life. Only reading it will one see the principles are timeless and true, the words pragmatic and universally applicable to any situation that requires absolute victory. Equally important, a person can learn to avoid disasters.

Go Rin No Sho – Miyamoto Musashi – Musashi pursued the ideal of the warrior searching for enlightenment through the perilous paths of Kendo, the Way of the Sword. The Book of Five Rings is a text about the Science of the Martial Arts. He wrote “Study the Ways of all professions”. It is evident that he did just that. He sought out not only great swordsmen but also priests, strategists, artists and craftsmen, eager to broaden his knowledge. Musashi writes about the various aspects of Kendo in such a way that it is possible for the beginner to study at beginner’s level, and for Kendo masters to study the same words on a higher level. This applies not just to military strategy, but to any situation where plans and tactics are used.

Conclusion

Two players. One Screen. A Zero-Sum Conclusion. Fighting Games are Competitive Gaming Perfection. Since it’s release in 1991, and through it’s seven evolutions, Street Fighter 2 has stood the test of time to become the greatest Fighting Game on any Console or any Arcade in the world. Created by Fans for Fans, Street Fighter HD is the latest and most up-to-date release of Fighting Game Perfection. Even with SFIV on the horizon, it would be criminal to not give back to the community and purchase and play this game. See you on the mean streets.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 31st, 2009 at 10:33 am and is filed under Games, Reviews, Street Fighter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.