Street Fighter franchise

Street Fighter often referred to as SF was first released by Capcom in 1987 on an arcade machine. The release of this game created a whole new genre of fighting games.

Created by Takashi Nishiyama and Hiroshi Matsumoto Street Fighter 1 didn't have Vs mode, however with the release of Street Fighter II in 1991, the franchise took a big step forward creating  the rule book for those that followed.

Street Fighter II

Street Fighter II introduced versus mode along with unique moves and combos for each player. Given its huge success Street Fighter was not bound to arcade cabinets and outgrew its arcade machine start by being hugely ported to personal computers and home gaming consoles. There were also many spin offs along with Champion, Turbo, Anniversary Edition and ports to home consoles.

SF II combined sales sit at around 10 million.

Not including SF 6, SF to date has 8 instalments/ spin offs and holds the fighting game franchise sales record making it Capcom's flagship series.

Each release has brought with it unique Characters, feature and moves along with varied success.

SF core releases and platforms

  • Street Fighter - 1987
    Arcade

  • Street Fighter II - 1991
    Introduced versus mode and unique character moves/combos 
    Arcade

  • Street Fighter III - 1997
    Introduced new attack and defence moves including leap attacks, dash, retreat and high jumps. Maintained 2D design.
    Arcade, DreamCast

  • Street Fighter IV - 2008
    Introduced Focus attacks - the ability to cancel and deliver a counter attack to opponents along with Ultra Combo attacks
    Arcade, PS3, PC, Xbox 360

  • Street Fighter V - 2016
    Introduced SF EX moves along with an energy bar that can be filled and used to for powerful attacks. Launched to mixed reviews, the Arcade Edition was released in 2018 followed by Champion Edition in 2020
    PS4, PC

  • Street Fighter 6
    Coming 2023 - more info below..

Crossover Series - Marvel Capcom SNK

Capcom had already released Marvel licensed titles and followed this up with X-Men Vs. Street Fighter in 1996. This was a 2 player Vs tag team setup followed up with Marvel Super Heroes Vs Street Fighter in 1997, Marvel Vs Capcom in 1998, Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 in 2000 and after a long break Marvel Vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds in 2011.

Given the crossover success Capcom partnered with SNK to bring SF and King of Fighters characters together in Capcom Vs SNK in 2000, Capcom Vs SNK 2 in 2001 and a number of ported spin offs to the Naomi and Neo Geo consoles.

Fun Facts

  • Takashi Nishiyama directed and produced many well known titles while working at leading games houses. While at Irem titles he worked on included Kung-Fu Master and Moon Patrol. Moving to Capcom his work included Mega Man and Street Fighter 1 along with  the signature Hadouken / Hadoken move meaning wave motion fist. Moving to SNK he helped create the Neo Geo console along with titles including Fatal Fury, King of Fighters and Metal Slug before moving on to found Dimps

  • Chun-Li is the first female fighting arcade character

  • Street Fighter was the first fighting game to give each character unique moves

  • Street Fighter II was the first to introduce Versus mode

  • The success of SF II influenced Midway to green light the Mortal Kombat project which was released at the height of SF IIs popularity in 1992

  • In Street Fighter II repeated attacks can make the opponent dizzy, this inspired Mortal Kombat to create its iconic - finish him! which was evolved to Fatalities

Street Fighter 6

Gaming, animation and visual effects have come a long way and its been a while since we've seen a big leap forward for Street Fighter.

Well now is the time. Having played the new Street Fighter 6 while it looks modernised, it still respects its heritage and looks and feels like it should.

SF 6 developers have taken the time to respectfully re-create this iconic game while delivering modern appeal and content from graffiti, to hip hop and revised scenes. You can expect to find iconic and new fighters along with their backstory, theme and music carefully incorporated into the game.

Not to mention Street Fighter 6 takes moves and combos to a whole new level!

SF6 uses Capcom's proven RE Engine originally used on Resident Evil 6 and will be released mid 2023 on PC, Playstation, Xbox, Steam.

 

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