Japan Gaming Guide

Street Fighter, the biggest and most recognizable fighting game franchise to have ever been made, has become more than just a game – it’s become a legacy of the entire video game industry. With the impending release of Ultra Street Fighter IV, Capcom has managed to release a 72 minute video detailing the history of the game.

The video includes a lot of input not just from the people behind the creation of the game, but also to the people at the front lines that made the game as big as it is: the fans. With so many people growing up with the franchise, there are a select few that have managed to graduate from fan to a core part of the franchise. These include some iconic names for fans of the genre, such as Seth Killian, Capcom’s former community manager, and Erik Ko, chief of operations for Udon Comics, publishers of the many Street Fighter comics throughout the years.

Throughout its 25 years, it’s interesting to note that not all of these years were great ones. In fact, the fighting game community was without a new Street Fighter game in between 2000 and 2008, one of the longest dry spells for the franchise. While Street Fighter III was a critically acclaimed game and is still considered by many to be one of the best in the series, the fighting game community had dwindled to a shadow of what it was back in the glory days of the mid 90’s.

In order to rebuild the game, the creative team decided to take the game back to its roots and draw back the millions of players who were there for it when it first came to be. Yoshinori Ono, the current producer behind the SF IV games, talks about this in the video and it is this decision to move forward without forgetting their roots was the key to putting fighting games back on the map.

With more than 25 years behind it, it’s only normal to discover the iconic Street Fighter logo being utilized in places people never would have even imagined. Bet Fair even has a surprising slots game based on the series, something that even the most dedicated fighting game junkie would never expect to see.

25 years – a quarter of a century. How many other games, or brands, could even come close to that?

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