The legacy now spans several decades and generations
Street Fighter 2 introduced the world to as many new concepts as combos and selectable characters that would instantly define the genre and continue to do so three decades later.
Capcom officially announced The World Warrior reached his 30th birthday yesterday, February 6, from its first arcade launch in Japan, where it would quickly spread and take the storm all over the globe.
It is absolutely crazy to think that the fighting game community itself and its arcade roots are almost as old now, although we have obviously undergone many evolutions along the way to get to where we are in 2021.
None of this would be here without Street Fighter 2, at least not in the same way, so the game’s anniversary is also kind of like ours.
The game that changed my life forever after playing it in the arcades with my older brothers and being present with each update. In fact, I was a main Blanka with the originals. https://t.co/XjILOfz3Kk
– Alex “#FGC Tony Hawk” Jebailey (@Jebailey) February 7, 2021
Each quarter spent was a battle of pride, bragging rights and high scores that would build the culture and boost it to become stronger, which has since grown and is more concerned with the creation and growth of the community.
Many shared their ideas on Twitter about their early experiences and what Street Fighter 2 means to them, including CEO organizer Alex Jebailey and Ken’s English voice actor, Reuben Langdon.
Most of my high school years were to play this masterpiece. I am very honored to be part of the sequels. https://t.co/X56WUyqKbp
– ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐๐ง ๐๐๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ง (@ReubenLangdon) February 6, 2021
These initial eight world warriors transcended fighting games, with Ryu, Ken, E. Honda, Chun-Li, Blanka, Zangief, Guile and Dhalsim remaining as global icons and some of the most recognizable faces in all video games.
It was also appropriate for SF2 to be the best-selling console fighting game for more than two consecutive decades, with somewhere around 15 million copies reaching Super Nintendos, Sega Genesises and just about any system that could run it.
In honor of the great anniversary of Street Fighter 2, leave some comments about the first time you found the case or the game in general.
As for me personally, I have vague memories of the first time I saw a version of SF2 in the arcade of our mall, probably in the mid-90s, although I didn’t really touch it, since I was only three or four at the time. It wasn’t really until high school that I became truly interested in Street Fighter, and it helped shape me and take me to where I am today.