Street Fighter (video game)

Street Fighter
North American arcade flyer of Street Fighter.
Developer(s)	Capcom Alfa System Pacific Dataworks Tiertex U.S. Gold
Publisher(s)	Capcom JP Hudson Soft NA NEC NA/EU GO! NA/EU U.S. Gold EU Erbe Software EU Kixx WW GameTap LLC
Director(s)	Takashi Nishiyama
Designer(s)	Hiroshi Matsumoto
Programmer(s)	Hiroshi Koike
Artist(s)	Manabu Takemura
Composer(s)	Yoshihiro Sakaguchi
Series	Street Fighter
Platform(s)	Arcade Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, DOS, PC Engine/TurboGrafx CD, Wii Virtual Console, Xbox, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable (the latter three as part of Capcom Classics Collection), ZX Spectrum
Release date(s)	August 30, 1987 Arcade JP August 30, 1987 NA 1987 EU 1987 Commodore 64 NA June 1988 EU 1988 PC Engine/ TurboGrafx CD JP December 4, 1988 NA 1989 MS-DOS NA 1988 Atari ST NA 1988 EU 1988 Amiga EU 1988 Amstrad CPC EU 1988 ZX Spectrum EU 1988 EU 1989 (re-release) Microsoft Windows WW December 7, 2006 Wii Virtual Console JP October 6, 2009 NA November 2, 2009 PAL November 6, 2009
Genre(s)	Fighting
Mode(s)	Up to 2 players simultaneously
Cabinet	Upright
CPU	68000 @ 8 MHz
Sound	Sound CPU: 2× Z80 @ 3.579545 MHz Sound chip: YM2151 @ 3.579545 MHz[1]
Display	Raster (horizontal), 384×224 resolution, 60 Hz refresh rate, 1024 colors on screen, 4096 color palette[2]

Street Fighter (ストリートファイター, Sutorīto Faitā) is a 1987 arcade game developed by Capcom. It is the first competitive fighting game produced by the company and the inaugural game in the Street Fighter series. While it did not achieve the same worldwide popularity as its sequel Street Fighter II when it was first released, the original Street Fighter introduced some of the conventions made standard in later games, such as the six button controls and the use of command based special techniques.

A port for the PC Engine/TurboGrafx CD console was released under the title Fighting Street (ファイティング・ストリート, Faitingu Sutorīto) in 1988.^[3] This same version was later re-released for the Wii's Virtual Console in North America on November 2, 2009,^[4] and in the PAL region on November 5, 2009.

Gameplay

Screenshot of Ryu vs. Retsu

The player competes in a series of one-on-one matches against a series of computer-controlled opponents or in a single match against another player. Each match consists of three rounds in which the player must defeat an opponent in less than 30 seconds. If a match ends before a fighter is knocked out, then the fighter with the greater amount of energy left will be declared the round's winner. The player must win two rounds in order to defeat the opponent and proceed to the next battle. If the third round ends in a tie, then the computer-controlled opponent will win by default or both players will lose. During the single-player mode, the player can continue after losing and fight against the opponent they lost the match to. Likewise, a second player can interrupt a single-player match and challenge the first player to a new match.

In the deluxe version of the arcade game, the player's controls consist of a standard eight-way joystick, and two large, unique mechatronic pads for punches and kicks that returned an analog value depending on how hard the player actuated the control. An alternate version was released that replaces the two punching pads with an array of six attack buttons, three punch buttons and three kick buttons of different speed and strength (Light, Medium and Heavy).

The player uses the joystick to move towards or away from an opponent, as well to jump, crouch and defend against an opponent's attacks. By using the attack buttons/pads in combination with the joystick, the player can perform a variety of attacks from a standing, jumping or crouching positions. There are also three special techniques which can only be performed by inputting a specific series of joystick and button inputs. These techniques are the "Psycho Fire" (波動拳, Hadōken, "Surge Fist"), the "Dragon Punch" (昇龍拳, Shoryūken, "Rising Dragon Fist") and the "Hurricane Kick" (竜巻旋風脚, Tatsumaki Senpū Kyaku, "Tornado Whirlwind Kick"). This was the first game to ever use such a concept. Unlike the subsequent Street Fighter sequels and other later fighting games, the specific commands for these special moves are not given in the arcade game's instruction card, which instead encouraged the player to discover these techniques on their own.^[5]

Characters

The player takes control of a Japanese martial artist named Ryu, who competes in an international martial arts tournament to prove his strength.^[6] The second player takes control of Ryu's former training partner and rival Ken, who challenges Ryu in the game's 2-player matches.^[7] Normally the player takes control of Ryu in the single-player mode, however, if the player controlling Ken defeats Ryu in a 2-player match, then the winning player will play the remainder of the game as Ken. The difference between the two characters are aesthetic, as both of them have the same basic moves and special techniques.

The single-player mode consists of a series of battles against ten opponents from five different nations.^[8] At the beginning of the game, the player can choose the country where their first match will take place: the available choices are Japan or the US, as well as China or England (depending on the game's configuration). The player will then proceed to fight against two fighters from the chosen country before proceeding to the next country. In addition to the regular battles, there also two types of bonus games which player can play for additional points: a brick-breaking bonus game and a table breaking bonus game. After defeating the initial eight characters, the player will travel to Thailand to fight against the final two opponents.

The first eight computer-controlled opponents: from Japan, Retsu, an expelled Shorinji Kempo instructor^[9] and Geki, a claw-wielding descendant of a ninja;^[7] from the United States, Joe, an underground full-contact karate champion^[10] and Mike, a former heavyweight boxer who once killed an opponent in the ring;^[11] from China, Lee, an expert in Chinese boxing^[6] and Gen, an elderly professional killer who has developed his own assassination art;^[12] and from England, Birdie, a tall bouncer who uses a combination of wrestling and boxing techniques^[13] and Eagle, a well-dressed bodyguard of a wealthy family who uses Kali sticks.^[14] After the first eight challengers are defeated, the player is taken to Thailand for the final two adversaries: Adon, a deadly Muay Thai master,^[15] and his mentor Sagat, the reputed "Emperor of Muay Thai" and the game's final opponent.^[16]

Development

Street Fighter was produced and directed by Takashi Nishiyama (who is credited as "Piston Takashi" in the game) and planned by Hiroshi Matsumoto (credited as "Finish Hiroshi"), who both previously worked on the overhead beat 'em up Avengers. The two men would leave Capcom after the production of the game and were employed by SNK, developing most of their fighting game series (including Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting). The duo would later work for Dimps and work on Street Fighter IV with Capcom. Keiji Inafune, best known for his artwork in Capcom's Mega Man franchise, got his start at the company by designing and illustrating the character portraits in Street Fighter. Nishiyama drew several inspirations for developing the original gameplay of Street Fighter from martial art styles he was practicing at the time.^[17][18]

Release

Arcade variants

Two different arcade cabinets were sold for the game: a "Regular" version (which was sold as a tabletop cabinet in Japan and as an upright overseas) that featured the same six button configuration later used in Street Fighter II and a "Deluxe" cabinet that featured two pressure-sensitive rubber pads. The pressure-sensitive pads determine the strength and speed of the player's attacks based on how hard they were pressed.

In the American and Worldwide versions of the game, Ryu's and Ken's voices were dubbed so that they yelled the names of their moves in English (i.e.: Psycho Fire, Dragon Punch, Hurricane Kick). Subsequent localized releases left the Japanese voices intact. Street Fighter IV contains both English and Japanese voice acting, although characters from Asia still use Japanese names for certain special moves, Super Combos, and Ultra Combos amidst otherwise English dialogue.

Home versions

• Street Fighter was ported under the title Fighting Street in 1988 for the PC Engine CD ROM in Japan (the first video game in the world on CD-ROM format) and 1989 for the TurboGrafx-CD in North America. This version features an arranged soundtrack. Due to the lack of a six-button controller available for the TurboGrafx-16 at the time this version was released, the strength level of the attacks were determined by how long either of the action buttons were held. This version was published by NEC Avenue in North America and Hudson Soft in Japan and was developed by Alfa System. The cover artwork featured Mount Rushmore, which was one of the locations in the game. This version was released for the Wii's Virtual Console in Japan on October 6, 2009, in North America on November 2, 2009 and in the PAL regions on November 6, 2009.
• Versions of Street Fighter for the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, DOS, Amiga and Atari ST were published by U.S. Gold in 1988 in Europe. These ports were developed by Tiertex. The Commodore 64 actually got two versions, published on the same tape/disk - the NTSC (US) version developed by Capcom USA, and the PAL (UK) version by Tiertex. Shortly afterward, Tiertex developed their own unofficial sequel titled Human Killing Machine, which was entirely unrelated to the subsequent official sequel or indeed any other game in the series. This edition of Street Fighter was featured in two compilations: Arcade Muscle and Multimixx 3, both of which featured other U.S. Gold-published ports of Capcom games such as Bionic Commando and 1943: The Battle of Midway.
• Hi-Tech Expressions ported the game to MS-DOS computers.^[19] Hi-Tech also re-released the game as part of the Street Fighter Series CD-ROM collection.^[20]
• An emulation of the original arcade version is featured in Capcom Arcade Hits Volume 1 (along with Street Fighter II': Champion Edition) for Windows, Capcom Classics Collection Remixed for the PlayStation Portable and Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 2 (along with Super Street Fighter II Turbo) for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox.

Reception

Reception (Ports)
Review scores Publication Score CVG 2/10 (Amiga/ST)[21] Crash 69% (ZX)[22] Sinclair User (ZX)[23] Your Sinclair 8/10 (ZX)[24] ACE 410 (CPC/ZX)[25] The Games Machine 73% (CPC) 65% (C64) 60% (ZX)[26] Zzap!64 36% (C64)[27]
Award Publication Award Sinclair User SU Classic

The game was commercially successful in arcades. On the Coinslot charts, printed in the August 1988 issue of Sinclair User, Street Fighter was the top dedicated arcade game.^[28]

The arcade version was well received. Tony Thompson of Crash, in its October 1987 issue, said it "breathes new life" into martial arts games, with a "huge" cabinet, "big" characters, pads where "the harder you hit the pads the harder your character hits", and "secret techniques".^[29] In its January 1988 issue, Julian Rignall and Daniel Gilbert said "it adds a new dimension with pneumatic punch buttons" and the action is "gratifying" with "great feedback from the buttons" but "there's very little to draw you back" after the novelty wears off.^[30] Clare Edgeley of Computer and Video Games, in its December 1987 issue, said it had "huge" sprites, "among the most realistic" characters, and "intense" action, but requires mastering the controls, including punches, kicks, stoop kicks, flip kicks and backward flips. She said "the competition is intense" and the deluxe version "is much more fun."^[31]

The home computer versions were also generally well received by critics at the time, with Sinclair User awarding a maximum and claiming it was "one of the games of the year", while Computer and Video Games said it had "no lasting appeal whatsoever". Public appeal of the game is limited mostly to historical curiosity in the wake of Street Fighter II's success.

In 2011, WatchMojo.com ranked the TurboGrafx-16 version (Fighting Street) #6 in the Top 10 Worst Launch Titles.

References

Bibliography

• Studio Bent Stuff (Sep 2000). All About Capcom Head-to-Head Fighting Game. A.A. Game History Series (Vol. 1) (in Japanese). Dempa Publications, Inc. ISBN 4-88554-676-1. 

External links

• Street Fighter at the Killer List of Videogames
• Street Fighter at MobyGames
• Street Fighter Eternal Challenge Artwork and Book Summary
• Street Fighter (I) art at FightingStreet.com