Street Fighter: Evolution

Ahhh... the games we grew up with. I am sure there were lots to remember, but I am also sure you guys were no stranger to the world renown Street Fighter series. Though Street Fighter 2 was the actual game that started all the craze.

1990

The whole franchise booted with Street Fighter. It was not heard of by many just yet. And there were only 2 playable characters: Ryu and Ken.



Then when Street Fighter 2 came out, the whole world went nuts! Myself included! I even remember buying a video tape (Pirated) which consisted of recordings by a pro playing through with all 8 characters! I even went as far as begging my parents to buy me the arcade cabinet containing the game's rom chip!



Well, that time no home consoles were powerful enough to generate that kind of power to run CPS1 specific rom games. Only the 16-bit consoles came close. I remember having only a Micro genius/NES console (8-bit), and I was so happy obtaining the palia pirated version of Street Fighter 2. =P And it was GOOD: Surprisingly. ;-)



Not long later, capcom decided to release a hella lot of different Street Fighter 2 versions. The final being Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo: Which introduced 'Akuma/Gouki' into the foray of characters.



1994

When CPS2 arcade systems were invented, so came the 32-bit era of home consoles (PSX, Sega Saturn), then came in Street Fighter Alpha series. Total of 3 in the series. The Alpha series served as prequels to the original Street Fighter. I love the animation and the roster of fighters here. And the fact that they legitimize the use of super combos just make the fight that much more fun.



At the same time, another division of Capcom decided to debut Street Fighter franchise into the 3D realm: Titled Street Fighter EX. Controls are mainly the same (Streamlined-2D), but the characters and environment are in full 3D. Total of 3 in the series as well. The fun factor sorta stopped at number 2. EX3 was out exclusively for the PS2 and it was pretty bad.





1997

Thus when the CPS3 was born, so did Street Fighter 3 series. Again, total of 3 in the series, ending with Third Strike. Street Fighter 3 is the sequel to the 2 series featuring much older Ryu and Ken, as well as other characters. One distinct difference from the previous series is each character now boast a hefty amount of movement animation, making the gameplay look and feel really fluid. And the gameplay also features a heavy reliance on parrying, which allows a player to counter an opponent attack with his/her super combo or normal attack.



Spin-offs (VS Series/Cross Company Fighter: 1996 - 200x)

Who could forget the infamous VS series? Including Marvel VS Capcom, featuring characters from the Marvel Universe pitting against the Street Fighters, and SNK VS Capcom, featuring King of Fighter bad-boys/gals versus the Street Fighters. A hellula lot of fun!





1999 - 200x

Around this timeline, M.U.G.E.N. was conceived, which is essentially a freeware 2D fighting engine in which fighting fans can design their own fighting game, using character sprites they can find from well... anywhere. With it, came a roster of crazy fighters... ranging from superman vs ryu, castlevania characters fighting chun-li... etc... Ohh, and even Ronald McDonalds (Yes, the I'm loving it clown) VS Morrigan as witnessed in the video below:



Lol... *Tears of disbelief*

Finally, in Year 2008, Capcom will be releasing Street Fighter IV! Not much about it is known just yet, except that it will be in 2.5D concept, whereby characters and environment are in full 3D whereas the fighting style is still streamlined 2D. But I think if a player's special move connects, there will be slo-mo close ups to show the impact of said move, which conceptually is pretty coowl. But not sure how well it will be executed.



Can't wait what lies installed... Just gonna keep fingers crossed!