A few decades ago the masses believed video games were a waste of time for lackadaisical youths to pacify themselves while ignoring their responsibilities as both kids and young adults. As more and more people started understanding the benefits of gaming so too did the perception of what a video game is and, most importantly, the benefits gaming can bestow on a person’s life changed.
Hi, my name is James Bullock and I am a gamer who has spent the better part of his existence testing the laws of physics, exploring the vastness of a world ruined, and been a champion inside various arenas courtesy of digitized worlds both driven by reality and created through pure unbelievable ingenuity unlike anything seen by human eyes. And as a gamer I’ve discovered something else video games provide: life lessons. Today I examine the franchise that inspired video game updates, “Street Fighter”.
Always Strive to Improve
When it comes to fighting games, the thought of “always improving” is typically attached to the gamers themselves as a person will spend countless hours perfecting specific styles and characters to the point that player can overcome fellow gamers across the world via online capabilities and even face-to-face in a tournament that the entire world is watching. But when it comes to the creators themselves, having room to improve on their intended masterpiece may involve building on the foundation of what has been presented the world or even going back to the drawing board to craft something completely different & potentially revolutionary – look no further than Capcom’s handling of the “Street Fighter” franchise as an example of both possibilities.
The original iteration of “Street Fighter” (or “Fighting Street” depending on where someone lived & what system the game was being played on) hit arcades in 1987; proving to be a stereotypical machine made for robbing a player of every coin in their possession by sporting finicky controls and unpredictable enemies varying in strength & speed with the ability to pull off special maneuvers without a single bit of effort & poorly placed hit boxes. This introduction to what creators Takashi Nishiyama & Hiroshi Matsumoto had in mind paled in comparison to what was to come as the idea originally attached to their first 2D fighting creation was expanded upon (having two players doing battle being the game’s greatest selling point) and helped change an entire genre struggling to exist during a time when every video game company was searching for their Mario.
“Street Fighter 2” allowed gamers to fight alongside each other instead of being forced into a single-player experience; introducing a level of competition unseen in gaming at the time and would influence the culture going forward. Though the first version of “Street Fighter II” was a critical success, the developers saw opportunities to make their great game even better with gameplay changes such as added speed & “Super Combos”, new characters, and even better graphics & sound. With each version of “SF 2” came more & more praise until the company saw its need to move on and not attempt to continuously chase perfection while not abandoning the formula it made the most heralded game in the genre. The “Street Fighter Alpha” series and “Street Fighter 3” continued the trend of improving upon the past with the prior’s first numbered sequel actually replacing the original “SFA” canonically and “SF 3” having two versions following its initial release with both final versions/sequels being called the best in the franchise by long-time players. “Street Fighter IV” got the multiple release treatment as well; concluding with “Ultra Street Fighter IV” – another game many fans loved and thought it was just the figurative icing on a cake created to near perfection in its first attempt.
“Street Fighter V” didn’t get the same type of praise as its predecessors initially due to lacking modes, unbalanced characters, and online connectivity issues from a game basically built on the premise of online competition between novices & experts alike. Going against its original declaration that there would be only one version of “SF V” with free updates improving the overall experience, Capcom released an “Arcade Edition” of “Street Fighter V” free for people who bought the original edition and as a standalone package; creating a game that fans who were upset with what Capcom presented two years earlier feeling experience had finally reached its potential. The treatment of “Street Fighter” is a perfect example that there are always areas a person can improve upon in their life, but understand there’s always a chance of going too far in striving for perfection (like Capcom adding loot boxes to “SF V” two-plus years after the game’s initial release).
Have you learned any major life lessons from playing the “Street Fighter” franchise or any video game for that matter? Leave them in the comments below and, as always, thanks for reading.