THE KING OF FIGHTERS

Readers explain why Street Fighter remains so popular

Victoria Donovan

It’s the epitome of ‘easy to learn, hard to master’ gameplay. Anyone can pick it up and play, and that gives it lasting appeal.

Daley Eve

Street Fighter is THE fighting game right? They have a winning formula that has stood the test of time. Slick combat and stylish characters, some of whom are as recognisable as Mario.

Dungeonmaster Joe

Timeless character design and Street Fighter II is THE BEST sequel of all time if you compare all the things it does SO much better than Street Fighter.

Damon

The memorable and easy to recognise characters like Ryu, Ken, Chun Li, Guile and Blanka etc.

Chris Miles

Each character has a distinct personality, backed up by iconic soundtracks and great game mechanics.

GOLEM

Street Fighter II was the first one-on-one combat game that allowed people to fight each other and improve not only on their tactics but also their execution. It also planted the seeds for what we know as the FGC and esports in general.

Martin Gams

Because of the perfect gameplay… which is still the same and Chun-li.

Musa Özil

It was the first two-player game that truly created a competitive environment. The multiple styles of play, the generally open movement that other fighters before it like Yie Ar Kung-fu and Karate Champ lacked, and the unique characters really gave this game an appeal that people are still trying to emulate. Even without the combos, this game would have created such a popularity that it would still be around today.

Erbkaiser

Great design from the start and constant iteration on what works well, instead of reinventing itself from the ground up.

Inept Saiyan

I think the simple answer is that the Hadoken is probably one of the coolest contributions to not just games, but civilisation in general.