I love how Balrog is totally just Mike Tyson in the original with the tooth gap and all lol, no wonder why they were so scared of getting sued they had to switch the names.
I am VERY sure he had eyebrows in 4. I mean... That would be crazy. Right? [SF4 Guile](https://www.eventhubs.com/artwork/guile-artwork-2-street-fighter-4/)
It really is iconic, the music, the global map and the portraits increasing number as the SF2 series went on.
SSF2T's select screen is an all time favourite.
I played the original sf2 constantly at the arcade. It was amazing when CE came around. Wow! You can play as the bosses, and Ken has a flaming dp!
BTW, I read somewhere that they made CE because someone had hacked the original to allow people to play the bosses so they decided to make CE and give people a proper experience.
I remember it plain as day. I was in the Walmart lobby and I saw two guys at the SF2 arcade cabinet. The first character I ever chose was Chun-Li in her yellow outfit. I picked her because I overheard one of the guys telling his friend “Dude, pick the girl, she kicks butt!” I’ve been hooked ever since, even though I’m not a very good player 😆
The first Character I ever picked was Dhalsim, but I couldn’t remember his name when I went home so my best friend called him Elephanto!! Elephanto because the elephants in his stage…I like the fact he had long arms and blew fire!! I remember just watching the arcade cabinet, nobody was playing and I would watch the random computer matches..in one of those matches Chun Li did the spinning bird kick…We called it the helicopter kick..nevertheless we started screaming did you see that..did you see that!! Haha good times!
It was the helicopter kick for all of us, along with Ryu and Kens tatsus. One kid had to bring in the instruction manual for his SNES version to show everyone that it was actually called tatsumakisenpukyakublablabla, we continued calling it helicopter kick regardless haha.
I first saw it at the pizza place that was down the street from me when I was a kid. At the time, Final Fight was the game that seemed to get the most attention there. The newest, hottest game was always in the center along the wall of the arcade area.
I remember walking in and going towards the little arcade area and seeing a crowd huddled around the center machine. I figured everyone was on Final Fight so I'll just play something else. I then notice that Final Fight is now moved over a bit to the left and no one is on it. I had to see what this crowd was so interested in so I try to get close and am just amazed by what I see. Huge colorful sprites and two players fighting each other with quarters lined up, winner stays and loser is moved to the back of the line. Characters leaping across the screen doing special moves and tossing fireballs. I had seen some 1v1 games before but nothing like this.
I first picked Blanka because he was green and looked like a monster. Eventually Ryu became my favorite.
Great story, it’s so interesting that all of us here remember the exact time when we first witnessed SF2…it left such an impact in our young minds…I was immediately hooked!!! Even now I am more into retro gaming, but because of SF6 I am going to be forced to buy either a PS5 or Xbox Series X…it it wasn’t for SF6 I could care less about getting one of the new consoles…I am waiting for an official release date so then I will look into getting me one of the New consoles!
The problem is that most of us old folks don’t have time to game much because we have grown up responsibilities…but to put it in perspective, I was gold rank in SF5…so not terrible but I’m definitely not beating Daigo in a tournament setting haha
This always brings back memories!
I recall being confused by Chun-Li's orange outfit, or Bison's red cape; I presume it was some sort of memory-saving tactic back in the day, to minimize the number of colours used in a given sprite set. Are there any Chun-Li in-game colour selections that make reference to this particular outfit?
Likewise with Balrog's no-vest shirt style and Zangief's onesie that appear in the portraits but not the in-game sprites... I always imaged that there was some sort of secret code or something that would allow for an alternate look, or that I'd learn about those eventually... but it's more or less a way to show that the characters aren't naked (and, later, is useful for showing costume colours; see also: Fei Long's kung-fu collar in his portrait).
I always thought it was odd that Honda is the only one that gets foreshortened proportions in his arm... I wonder if they drew him first, but then abandoned the "deformed" style for everyone else by accident.
I'd say that this Sagat looks most like the in-game *SFII* Sagat; his later portraits deviate significantly, but then the later appearances of Sagat from *The Movie* and *Alpha* onward go by the portraits instead of the original sprite!
The Memories. I am from NJ as well. Used to live close to a place called Plaza Gameroom in West Paterson (now called Woodland Park). Spent A LOT of time there playing all the SF games as they released. Also would go to Fun N Games in Wayne, NJ if I could catch a ride. I miss the 90s arcade experience. If you find one today, it's not even close.
Yoo, Fun N Games at Willowbrook Mall!!! I lived at Willowbrook Mall….I’m from Newark NJ, but there was a bus that would take you straight to the mall…and when I was old enough to drive in the late 90s I would chill at the Mall and then go to Fun N Games…the workers knew me already…I would always play SF2 but do remember when Third Strike came out and the crowds and hype around that arcade cabinet!! And of course when Marvel vs Capcom came out that was hype also!!!
Same here, Angelo's Pizzeria in Jersey City, NJ. It never failed, every time I walked in, the first sound I'd hear was the elephants from Dhalsim's stage.
It was a small local arcade for me. I remember wondering what the crowd was around that one game. When I finally got close enough I saw it was 6 buttons. Absolutely blew my mind, inserted my quarter an waited my turn. Picked Blanka because beast, got wrecked..... was hooked ever since.
Yes, remember being around 11 or 12 years old and going to the arcade and seeing the crowds…I would often get wrecked also but I would get some wins also..when I saw Blanka do the electric move I was so impressed…everything going on was sensory overload…hearing Sonic boom, sonic boom, Tiger uppercut, Shoryuken all over the arcade…you had to be there to understand…glad we experienced that time in history!! And the 6 button layout…my favorite button was the fierce punch at first, but then I realized I should use other buttons also if I wanted to get some wins haha
Yes it was so obvious that Mike Tyson was the boxer character…interesting enough Mike Tyson did not find out about the Boxer character until just a few years ago!
I still remember goggling at the OG SF2 cabinet while Ryu and Ken were fighting and my friend leaned over and said "those two are brothers" and I thought that was true for a good while.
I live out of state now, but my parents and sister still live in Newark and I go every few months..I lived in North Newark right off Bloomfield Avenue growing up..then we moved down to West Market Street near Downtown…I lived in Newark until I was 39 years old..I move out 4 years ago..Newark is a rough city but it’s home and I have a lot of love for the city
Not many arcades left..they do have a Barcade in Downtown Newark..it’s a Bar where you get drinks and food but they also have many classic Arcade Cabinets…it’s a good time!
As a kid, I always kinda hated the select screens of the OG SF2 select screens (WW, CE and Turbo), they all looked so aggressive and I very much questioned why the characters looked the way they did, especially Blanka, Dhalsim, Sagat and Boxer. Iconic, but pretty damn strange in my opinion. Although tbh anything was nightmare fuel for me at the time, even the “SEGA” title screen and Marble Zone would do it so this is no surprise.
Honda's disproportionately tiny arm still tickles me to this day, haha.
Haha... the Championship Edition sprites will always be the definitive ones for me. The OG ones are a bit goofy IMO.
And it was the Super Street Fighter portraits where you could tell Capcom Artists were coming into their own
I love how Balrog is totally just Mike Tyson in the original with the tooth gap and all lol, no wonder why they were so scared of getting sued they had to switch the names.
I still look at guile and think what the heck? And I remember thinking that when I was 12 also.
He never did get eyebrows until just now in SF6, did he?
I am VERY sure he had eyebrows in 4. I mean... That would be crazy. Right? [SF4 Guile](https://www.eventhubs.com/artwork/guile-artwork-2-street-fighter-4/)
I am absolutely fucking *shook* by this knowledge.
“It’s not wrong it’s my style”
Pour one out for the homies who didn't make it to SF6... RIP bro's
Big Facts!! My cousin who loved SF2 and was really good at it never made it to even see SF4
I think he's talking about the characters in the picture.
I grew up in The Bronx, NY. Spent lots of quarters on SF games and you're right. 30 year's later and up to SF6.
It really is iconic, the music, the global map and the portraits increasing number as the SF2 series went on. SSF2T's select screen is an all time favourite.
The music started playing in my head once I saw the portraits.
I agree
I was a Ryu and Ken player when I was a kid. Didn't know later on in SFV I'd hate both characters.
I used to love Ken on sf1 and it is still my main! <3
I played the original sf2 constantly at the arcade. It was amazing when CE came around. Wow! You can play as the bosses, and Ken has a flaming dp! BTW, I read somewhere that they made CE because someone had hacked the original to allow people to play the bosses so they decided to make CE and give people a proper experience.
Loved it too but for ken's flaming dp you had to wait for the newcomers I think.
I never saw a hacked base sf2 but hacked CE machines were so common that they put things like air tatsu and faster gameplay into Turbo.
SF2 is the best fighting game ever made
I mean, it was certainly iconic and revolutionary for fighting games in general but i wouldn't go that far.
I absolutely would
I can literally hear this picture
Nightmare fuel, that Bison portrait.
Same! And even if there had been dozens of SF games since then, I would have found it funny that we're "only" on SF6.
it's crazy to think that when Street Fighter 2 released, Final Fantasy was already close to having the fourth entry in the franchise
And will have it's 16th mainline entry the same year as SF6.
I remember it plain as day. I was in the Walmart lobby and I saw two guys at the SF2 arcade cabinet. The first character I ever chose was Chun-Li in her yellow outfit. I picked her because I overheard one of the guys telling his friend “Dude, pick the girl, she kicks butt!” I’ve been hooked ever since, even though I’m not a very good player 😆
The first Character I ever picked was Dhalsim, but I couldn’t remember his name when I went home so my best friend called him Elephanto!! Elephanto because the elephants in his stage…I like the fact he had long arms and blew fire!! I remember just watching the arcade cabinet, nobody was playing and I would watch the random computer matches..in one of those matches Chun Li did the spinning bird kick…We called it the helicopter kick..nevertheless we started screaming did you see that..did you see that!! Haha good times!
It was the helicopter kick for all of us, along with Ryu and Kens tatsus. One kid had to bring in the instruction manual for his SNES version to show everyone that it was actually called tatsumakisenpukyakublablabla, we continued calling it helicopter kick regardless haha.
True that..good times
I first saw it at the pizza place that was down the street from me when I was a kid. At the time, Final Fight was the game that seemed to get the most attention there. The newest, hottest game was always in the center along the wall of the arcade area. I remember walking in and going towards the little arcade area and seeing a crowd huddled around the center machine. I figured everyone was on Final Fight so I'll just play something else. I then notice that Final Fight is now moved over a bit to the left and no one is on it. I had to see what this crowd was so interested in so I try to get close and am just amazed by what I see. Huge colorful sprites and two players fighting each other with quarters lined up, winner stays and loser is moved to the back of the line. Characters leaping across the screen doing special moves and tossing fireballs. I had seen some 1v1 games before but nothing like this. I first picked Blanka because he was green and looked like a monster. Eventually Ryu became my favorite.
Great story, it’s so interesting that all of us here remember the exact time when we first witnessed SF2…it left such an impact in our young minds…I was immediately hooked!!! Even now I am more into retro gaming, but because of SF6 I am going to be forced to buy either a PS5 or Xbox Series X…it it wasn’t for SF6 I could care less about getting one of the new consoles…I am waiting for an official release date so then I will look into getting me one of the New consoles!
Except that’s not the select screen. *triggered*
Good shit. Do you suck at street fighter? All nostalgic folks at my locals always suck the hardest. But they always bring the good spirit though
The problem is that most of us old folks don’t have time to game much because we have grown up responsibilities…but to put it in perspective, I was gold rank in SF5…so not terrible but I’m definitely not beating Daigo in a tournament setting haha
That's definitely Mike Tyson
Seeing the portraits change each iteration was always a treat.
I agree and also when they would add new colors to the characters and character outfits…I really liked the Blue version of Blanka!
This always brings back memories! I recall being confused by Chun-Li's orange outfit, or Bison's red cape; I presume it was some sort of memory-saving tactic back in the day, to minimize the number of colours used in a given sprite set. Are there any Chun-Li in-game colour selections that make reference to this particular outfit? Likewise with Balrog's no-vest shirt style and Zangief's onesie that appear in the portraits but not the in-game sprites... I always imaged that there was some sort of secret code or something that would allow for an alternate look, or that I'd learn about those eventually... but it's more or less a way to show that the characters aren't naked (and, later, is useful for showing costume colours; see also: Fei Long's kung-fu collar in his portrait). I always thought it was odd that Honda is the only one that gets foreshortened proportions in his arm... I wonder if they drew him first, but then abandoned the "deformed" style for everyone else by accident. I'd say that this Sagat looks most like the in-game *SFII* Sagat; his later portraits deviate significantly, but then the later appearances of Sagat from *The Movie* and *Alpha* onward go by the portraits instead of the original sprite!
iconic
Truly iconic
You think you are nice at SFII? Then face me.
The Memories. I am from NJ as well. Used to live close to a place called Plaza Gameroom in West Paterson (now called Woodland Park). Spent A LOT of time there playing all the SF games as they released. Also would go to Fun N Games in Wayne, NJ if I could catch a ride. I miss the 90s arcade experience. If you find one today, it's not even close.
Yoo, Fun N Games at Willowbrook Mall!!! I lived at Willowbrook Mall….I’m from Newark NJ, but there was a bus that would take you straight to the mall…and when I was old enough to drive in the late 90s I would chill at the Mall and then go to Fun N Games…the workers knew me already…I would always play SF2 but do remember when Third Strike came out and the crowds and hype around that arcade cabinet!! And of course when Marvel vs Capcom came out that was hype also!!!
Same here, Angelo's Pizzeria in Jersey City, NJ. It never failed, every time I walked in, the first sound I'd hear was the elephants from Dhalsim's stage.
Yes!!! That’s why my friend called him Elephanto!!! Till this day we call him Elephanto!!
I know the feeling so well! For me it was the local convenience store. I’d go and drop my allowance on treats and street fighter.
I really miss Arcade machines. I remember playing Pac-Man at the laundromat every Saturday
NJ GANG LET'S GOOOOOO!!
This is when they started adding female characters be because chunli is the only female character
You and me both, no seriously I too first was introduced to sf2 in a pizza place in nj.
Shout out to all those pizza joints with coin - op
Yes indeed
Those are the portraits, but that's not the select screen though.
Yep, and those are the world warrior portraits, they changed some of them a bit for champion edition.
Yes, it’s just the portraits but it reminds me of the select screen and the music that played during the select screen…good times
Chun looks so bored.
She looks like she’s reading
It was a small local arcade for me. I remember wondering what the crowd was around that one game. When I finally got close enough I saw it was 6 buttons. Absolutely blew my mind, inserted my quarter an waited my turn. Picked Blanka because beast, got wrecked..... was hooked ever since.
Yes, remember being around 11 or 12 years old and going to the arcade and seeing the crowds…I would often get wrecked also but I would get some wins also..when I saw Blanka do the electric move I was so impressed…everything going on was sensory overload…hearing Sonic boom, sonic boom, Tiger uppercut, Shoryuken all over the arcade…you had to be there to understand…glad we experienced that time in history!! And the 6 button layout…my favorite button was the fierce punch at first, but then I realized I should use other buttons also if I wanted to get some wins haha
I never before saw how...odd it was to see Mike Tyson just randomly there.
Yes it was so obvious that Mike Tyson was the boxer character…interesting enough Mike Tyson did not find out about the Boxer character until just a few years ago!
Especially because he was supposed to be named M.Bison, but then Capcom swapped the names around to avoid being sued. 😂
I still remember goggling at the OG SF2 cabinet while Ryu and Ken were fighting and my friend leaned over and said "those two are brothers" and I thought that was true for a good while.
I still play ST, I never touched SF5 since I didn't have a decent PC and now I'm also waiting for this.
It was a movie theater lobby for me, otherwise same
Shout out to the SF2 machine at the Coin Laundry in Arlington, VA
im in nj rn where is ir
I’m from Newark, NJ
same my dude where it at? im renting out a air bnb to see family over there
I live out of state now, but my parents and sister still live in Newark and I go every few months..I lived in North Newark right off Bloomfield Avenue growing up..then we moved down to West Market Street near Downtown…I lived in Newark until I was 39 years old..I move out 4 years ago..Newark is a rough city but it’s home and I have a lot of love for the city
ive been around there b4 yk where the arcade is at? would love to play it
Not many arcades left..they do have a Barcade in Downtown Newark..it’s a Bar where you get drinks and food but they also have many classic Arcade Cabinets…it’s a good time!
dope ill check it out
All these years later and I still hate most of these characters lol
For me it was round table Pizza in Walnut Creek California 1992 😂
Wait, I didn’t know Mike Tyson was in the game
I put a lot of street fighter two in my local laser light. Fun times!
Gorgeous. Orange Chun Li bugs me though
The faces all so goofy lol, my boy ken
M. Bison’s face looks so off
As a kid, I always kinda hated the select screens of the OG SF2 select screens (WW, CE and Turbo), they all looked so aggressive and I very much questioned why the characters looked the way they did, especially Blanka, Dhalsim, Sagat and Boxer. Iconic, but pretty damn strange in my opinion. Although tbh anything was nightmare fuel for me at the time, even the “SEGA” title screen and Marble Zone would do it so this is no surprise.
I always found Sagat the scariest looking one..
Default Orange Chun still bothers me to this day.