Street Fighter

Street Fighter is the title shared by a popular series of beat 'em ups that
pit contestants from around the world against one another. Each fighter has
his or her own special moves.

Street Fighter made little impact when it was released at the end of the
eighties, despite a novel control system which involved the player actually
punching the machine, rather than using a more conventional joystick and
button setup.

Street Fighter II was one of the most popular games of the early nineties.
It is widely acknowledged as the premier fighting game of its era, and
perhaps to date, due to its game balance with regard to the timing of
attacks and blocks, which was unparalleled at the time; and due to its
interesting (and subsequently widely copied) "combo" system in which
experienced players could execute complex fighting moves by moving the
joystick and tapping the buttons in certain combinations. These complicated
fighting moves were given names, such as the Dragon Punch and the Flash
Kick, which provided a framework for players to have conversations about
their games. The game features eight fighters that players can choose from
(Ryu, Ken, Blanka, Zangief, Dhalsim, Guile, E.Honda, and Chun Li), plus four
"bosses" (Balrog, Vega, Sagat, and M.Bison). It was followed by a slew of
other games of similar design, some by Capcom, some by other companies. One
of the most well-known early competitors to SF II was Mortal Kombat.

After the release of the upgrade to Street Fighter II: Street Fighter 2
Championship Edition, many modified bootlegged versions of the game were
released by certain distributors. In an almost unprecedented move, most
Arcades (even large corporate owned ones) embraced the bootlegs. They were
widely distributed untill Capcom released its answer to the bootlegs: Street
Fighter 2 Hyper fighting. In 1993 and 1994, Capcom released another version
of the game, Super Street Fighter 2: The New Challengers. As the subtitle
implies, four new characters were added. They are Fei Long, Cammy, Dee Jay,
and Thunderhawk.

The game franchise inspired several films. Street Fighter (with Jean Claude
van Damme), Street Fighter II The Movie (Japan, Animated) and Street Fighter
Alpha (Japan, Animated). There are also a Street Fighter animated series
(USA), and Street Fighter II V (a japanese animated series, considered by
fans to be superior to other spin-offs, except, perhaps, Alpha).