Urich Lawson
I’ve had a romantic relationship with Street Fighter since I was 13 years old.
It was early March 1991, and my boyfriend and I were celebrating his 14th birthday in Santa Cruz, California, spending as much of the weekend as we could on the boardwalk. His mother handed us each a $20 bill for the change machine, and we were determined to expand our premises as far as we could.
Brawlers scroll like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles And The final fight It was our favorite game. We also loved squaring off what I consider to be the first real, no-buttons fighting game. robotron– Pattern, double-joystick karate champ.
When we come across a file Street Fighter II: Global Warrior Taxi sitting in the middle of the lane, we stopped dead in our tracks. Everything about it, from the six buttons per player to the sprites and large dynamic backgrounds, felt too big for our teenage brains.
As we were standing there, intrigued and a little intimidated by the machine, the floor manager came over with some guests. He turned to his guests and said, “We’ve just started this game. I think it’s going to be big.” Ah yes.
Street Fighter II It was visible. That single game would line up in the middle of the lane floors in rows, with lines running behind each, people waiting to put their quarter on the glass to “get the next.” It seemed like everyone was playing it, and when it hit the home console ports (we were both SNES players), it felt a whole lot healthier.
Over time, the hype died down. I left for college, got married, started a family and a career, and lost touch with the friends I used to play with. The arcades are mostly dead or become shells of their former selves. But I never lost my love for Street Fighter, even if my time with it was mostly immersed in MAME.
The author, circa 2022, in front of the playground where he first played Street Fighter In 1991. Not the same, but still!
Kyrian Lawson
After nearly two decades of losing that strong attachment to fighting games, it has reinvigorated my interest. I picked up Street Fighter 4Then I got a little serious Street Fighter 5 player. I’ve been playing online, locally with friends, and I’ve occasionally started traveling to compete.
I’ve sold most of my pinball machines (once an arcade mouse, always an arcade mouse) and started collecting Japanese “candy cabinet” arcade machines. I now have four Sega Astro Towns, two Taito Vewlixes, a Konami Windy, and a Neo Candy 29, most of which are for fighting games. I started playing titles that I had missed during my time away, such as Street Fighter III: Third Strike. My friends and I still play our favorite flavour Street Fighter II also, super turbo (or as we call it, street).
A longtime fighting game competitor, commentator, and now an in-game voice Street Fighter 6 James Chen lights a peace sign in my garage in 2023.
Urich Lawson
The sixth time is the charm
As I get older, I find that I love sharing my hobbies as much as taking pleasure in them myself. Fighting games are not just fun to play and watch; They are part of a vibrant and diverse community. I want more people to enjoy it.
They also have a reputation for being more sophisticated now than they were in Street Fighter II Days – can be very intimidating and hard to learn. Nobody wants to buy a new game and feel like the only thing to do is jump online and get destroyed by someone who’s been playing for years.
Enters Street Fighter 6.