Street Fighter has been one of the most influential games of all time. It inspired the change of fighting games to include special moves like fireball throwing, the general Player 1 and Player 2 lifebars with the timer in the middle, of which even today has changed little in the general design. As well as bringing us some larger than life characters and many nostalgic memories to anyone 5 and older during the early 90's. Yet it all started rather vague and dull...

Street Fighter (1987).
This is the game that started it all, and introduced the world to our foremost Shotokan characters Ryu and Ken- not to mention Muay Thai monster Sagat, Muay Thai pretender Adon, old man Gen, the English thug Birdie in a look you wouldn't recognize, and Eagle. It also introduced the Fireball and the Rising Dragon Punch (no, it wasn't called the Hadouken and the Shoryuken...yet). But this game didn't catch on. Why? well, the control was murder at first. With pressure sensitive buttons, it meant that the harder you pressed the buttons, the stronger your attack. As you can guess this led to damaged machines and busted fingers. The other factor going against it was that you could only play as 2 characters- Ryu on the Player 1 side of the arcade cabinet, and Ken on the Player 2 side - and they had exactly the same moves as each other. The other characters were only listed as 'Enemy' in the game, and the graphics were average for their time. Capcom re-released the game in the arcades with the 6 button layout that would soon become familiar to us, but it didn't help. The company moved on from this game to produce the ground-breaking side scrolling fighting game 'Final Fight'. It would be 4 years before Street Fighter would choose to grace the arcades again...and on a fluke strangely enough.

Street Fighter 2 (1991 - 1992).
The Street Fighter 2 games included Street Fighter 2: The World Warrior, Championship Edition, and Turbo Hyper Fighting. This game was originally going to be a sequel to the side scrolling might of 'Final Fight', complete with a character that was going to be Mike Haggar. But this was changed so that it would be a sequel to the forgotten Street Fighter game. Ryu and Ken return, and still have exactly the same moves as each other, both gaining a new secret move- the Hurricane Kick, or Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku, and finally give the Fireball and Rising Dragon Punch the names of Hadoo-ooh-ken and ShooooooRyOOken!. The rest of the cast however have been banished to the mists of time and replaced with a completely new ensemble. The character that was going to be Mike Haggar from Final Fight became Soviet grappler Zangief- but other characters include chinese policewoman Chun Li, tribute to the 80's action movies character Guile, the orange haired green beast Blanka, sumo wrestler E(dmund) Honda and Indian bone rubber man Dhalsim. Once you selected a fighter and defeated the others, 4 unplayable boss characters appeared ready for a fight. American boxer Balrog, Spanish ninja Vega, Sagat from Street Fighter returns- sporting a nasty scar on his chest given to him by Ryu in the final battle of the last game, and the final 4th boss - a red suited Nazi like figure called M.Bison.
Each of these bosses were tougher, even tougher than the playable characters. Balrog had some heavy duty punches, Vega you couldn't hit without him leaping in the air and slicing down upon your head, Sagat is the first hardest boss- with his continual projectile attacks. Duck his standing projectiles, he fires a low one. Jump over the low ones, and he'll give you an unbelievably overpowered uppercut or knee crush. But the worst is yet to come. M.Bison- he doesn't give you the projectile barrage attack of Sagat, but his kick combo's take off about a quarter to a third of your lifebar. This excluding where he leaps over onto your head, his scissors kick, and the Psycho Crusher- the move the character does the most often. There is a gap in his AI, but you have to act fast, otherwise you end up eating his spinning fiery lunge of death.
It became a landmark game, supremely popular in the arcades with many hopefuls trying to do the Hadoukens and Shoryukens, Lightning Kicks and Spinning Pile Drivers. Becoming so popular that Capcom, now recognizing a winner, decided to milk it for its worth. They made the 4 boss characters playable in Championship Edition, then increased the speed for Hyper Fighting. Aside from a few moves and different character colour suits, these weren't significant changes. It was still the same game in new packaging. But the next game would finally improve on these changes.

Super Street Fighter 2 (1993-1994).
This game was still the same old Street Fighter 2, but this time the whole game was given a new look. The art and stages were improved- giving the characters better, more realistic looks than back in the days of Street Fighter: The World Warrior. The characters were also given more colour suits than the 2 suits of Championship and Hyper Fighting. Then there's the 4 new stages to go with the 4 new characters to the Street Fighter 2 world. British assassin Cammy White, Jamaican kickboxer Deejay, giant Native American Thunderhawk (T.Hawk) and the game's first Bruce Lee clone, Fei Long. As well as the usual new moves and changes (Ryu and Ken's aerial Hurricane Kick first falls in an arc in this game rather than going across the screen in the air), these changes captivated the arcade community, yet the feeling that this game was just Street Fighter 2 with a fresh coat of paint was slowly setting in. When Capcom released Super Street Fighter 2: Turbo to try and reinvigorate the series with a speed boost, the idea of 'Super Combos' or 'shadow moves', and a new secret boss that you fought if you easily trounced your opponents (Akuma), people were beginning to lose interest in the game. The common feeling was that Capcom was just going to keep releasing Street Fighter 2 variations before they would make a more significant change into a completely new game.

Yet Street Fighter 2's legendary status was now set in stone, taking the title of 'that game with the guys in the red and white pyjamas' away from 'Karate Champ', and influencing other such popular fighting games of the era such as Fatal Fury (Garou Densetsu), Art Of Fighting and King Of Fighters- made by Capcom's erstwhile rival company SNK. No doubt that Capcom would also take some notes and ideas from SNK for their next game.

Street Fighter Alpha/Zero Series (1995-1998/9).
This marked a change- Capcom actually making a completely new game! The graphics were completely different from its predecessor, described as 'anime-like', and the stages involved such landmarks as the Great Wall of China. The story also changed too. The Alpha series is based before Street Fighter 2, but after Street Fighter 1...so wouldn't that make Street Fighter 2 actually be Street Fighter 3? Anyway, the character roster also had a clean up. The only returning SF2 cast were Ryu, Ken, Chun Li, Sagat and Bison (with Akuma as a secret character, again), with new characters Rose (Bison's fortune telling, tarot card spinning cousin), Charlie (Guile's dead friend) and Dan Hibiki - influenced by the liberties SNK's 'Art Of Fighting' took from Street Fighter. Capcom also brought back 2 characters from Street Fighter 1 - Sagat's pupil Adon, and Birdie in his now familiar black-guy-in-leather-chaps-with-blonde-mohawk look, and threw in 2 characters (Guy and Sodom) from Final Fight- a series that fell into decline right from its sequel. The gameplay, albeit had the same layout, now became faster, and the super combo system was improved to include a bar that you could increase from Level 1 (quick but small combo) to Level 3 (strongest combo).
Then, in 1996, a sequel was made- Street Fighter Alpha 2 (making Street Fighter 2 'Street Fighter 4'?). Now adding a couple more new character- with Zangief and Dhalsim coming back from SF2 Land, Rolento from Final Fight, and Gen back from Street Fighter 1 after an absence of almost 10 years. Secret characters include Dan, Akuma (who also has a more powered-up version of himself called Shin Akuma), Cammy and the first appearance of Evil Ryu. As well as adding the first school girl character to a fighting game, Sakura - a little girl who idolises Ryu and his fighting ability, and wants to be trained by him so she could do the same moves. Shotokan clones were beginning to become rather noticable in this game - you had 5 characters that all did Hadoukens! But the Alpha series was gaining steam and recognition, and in 1998 came the opus of the series.
Street Fighter Alpha 3 - a favourite of almost every Street Fighter fan and no doubt one of the best games of the series. As well as the graphics, albeit the same look, improving considerably from Street Fighter Alpha, the gaming system now including a choice of super combo bar systems. Z-Ism was the traditional Level 1-3 system, X-Ism was one large bar that you charged up to do only one super combo, and V-Ism was the Custom Combo system, where by pressing a Punch button and a Kick Button together, you could enable your character to make their own super combo by pressing the buttons into a combo. The game also brought to the world the 'Guard Crush Meter'- where, if you block too many attacks, the meter goes down until you're stunned and can't block until the meter fills up again.
Another reason why fans like Street Fighter Alpha is because of the roster of characters- including every character from previous Alpha's, as well as including characters missing since Street Fighter 2 (E.Honda, Vega, Balrog, Cammy, etc), and introducing Cody from Final Fight, now a jailbird on the run. New characters include Karin Kanzuki - a curly haired little girl and heir of a big corporation, rival of Sakura (the Ken to her Ryu), Juni and Juli - 2 of Bison's 'dolls' who have variations of Cammy's moves, and Rainbow Mika - a female pro wrestler who idolises Zangief (the Sakura to his Ryu). The Home version of this game also brought back more characters from the grave - Guile, Fei Long, DeeJay, and T.Hawk. Evil Ryu also reappears in all his dark glory, as does Shin Akuma- Akuma in a purple gi, 2 aerial Hadoukens, and some very damaging moves. The Home versions modes were as various as the characters- you could play in Classical Mode, Mazi Mode, Dramatic Battle Mode (fight with 2 characters!), Saikyo Mode (low guard meter, increased damage take), Final Battle Mode (go against the boss Bison or Shin Akuma), Survival Mode (you go against multiple characters), and Team Battle mode. The game provides a lot of fun and some great moves.

But why does this make it sound like the series is on a decline after such innovations? If the gameplay is solid, the graphics good (within 2D games that is), the character roster impressive and the moves just sweet to behold - what is there to whine about? Well, aside from the increasing level of Shotokan clones (Ryu, Ken, Akuma, Shin Akuma, Evil Ryu, Sakura, Dark Sakura, Kairi [EX Series], Allen [EX Series] and Sean [Street Fighter 3]), there's also the story. Originally, it was a tournament held to decide the strongest fighter, with a shadowy crime organisation pulling the strings behind it -strings Interpol and US forces want to cut off. Then it went back a step storywise as a prequel, and things were okay...until Street Fighter Alpha 3. The story of Bison's Psycho Drive, Cammy being a clone of Bison, the Evil Ryu angle, and Blanka apparently learning to understand English from Dan with Dan learning Blanka speak, are too strange or hackneyed to think of.

But it isn't just restricted to the Alpha series. Other series' storylines are either weak- such as within the crossovers series -or just fail to grip the people with their stories- such as Street Fighter 3 and the 3D EX series. The stories all revolve around the same thing - battle down Shadowlaw and Bison while Ryu combats his inner 'Dark Hadou' and Akuma. Except one aforementioned game...

Street Fighter 3: New Generation/Double Impact/Third Strike (1997).
Street Fighter 3 made a difference, it actually moved on from Street Fighter 2 and went onto a new villain- Gill, a red and blue blonde man in speedoes as the head of the next new terrorist organisation who has peeved off many of the new characters from killing a character's parents (Alex) or simply stealing their car (Dudley). Being honest, despite the advances and graphical sweetness, the story doesn't grip as much, despite straying from the cliche of the regular Street Fighter story. Except for Ryu, Akuma and Ken, and then later Chun Li in Street Fighter 3: Third Strike, the rest of the cast of Street Fighter 3 are completely new. Gone are E.Honda, Zangief, Blanka, Dhalsim, Cammy, T.Hawk, Balrog, Vega, etc.  Replaced with Alex, the new butch army man, Elena, an African Princess, Dudley, an English boxer, Necro, Dhalsim+Blanka in one entity, Oro, a 140 year old martial artist, Yun and Yang, 2 young Chinese martial artists and grandsons of Gen, Q, an Inspector Gadget lookalike, Twelve, a white blob of human shaped goo, Urien, Gill's brother, Hugo Andore from Final Fight (accompanied by Poison), non-Shotokan karate girl Makoto, gothy Guile-esque frenchman Remy, and ninja girl Ibuki - the only Street Fighter 3 character to make it out from this series and into an alternative Street Fighter game- Pocket Fighter/Super Gem Fighter.
The series is looked back on as a great game, but isn't as recognised as even some of the middle-tier button-basher paradise crossover games like Marvel VS Capcom 1-2.
 

Street Fighter EX1-3 (1998-2000).
The EX Series is another rehaul of the Street Fighter series like Street Fighter 3 or Street Fighter Alpha, but unlike these games, it's now in 3D! Yes! Those delightful manga-esque 2D sprites are now figures of 3D polygons! Hooray! The more recognisable characters of this series altogether are Ryu, Ken, Chun Li, Zangief, Blanka, Vega, Sagat, Dhalsim, Bison, Guile, Sakura and (for the first game anyway), Akuma. The new characters include new Shotokans Kairi and Allen, then Hokuto, Street Fighter's first Aikido practitioner, Nanase, the Sakura of staff fighters, superheroes Skullomania and Shadow Geist, demon-man-thing Garuda, Indian wrestler Darun, his protectee Pullum Purna, Cracker Jack, a man taking fashion tips from Miami Vice who has all of Balrog's moves plus some extra, the Dame sisters Sharon and Blair, psychotic Special Services assassin Doctrine Dark, under-developed swordsman Hayate, Italian SNK-wannabe Vulcano Rosso, and Area, schoolgirl with a bionic arm and a naff pair of glasses. What was the storyline? well, aside from the average 'take down Bison' and 'deal with your Dark Hadou, Ryu'. We also had the tale of Kairi falling on the path of Ashura (Akuma) and, while Hokuto, Kairi's sister, follows on the trail after him she ends up falling to the will of Akuma, leaving poor little Nanase- the youngest of the family, to save them. An interesting angle, but would the game hold a populous big enough to hold it?
Apparently not, the series has stopped off at EX3...for now. Yet it doesn't seem a new game will pop up for it any time soon. The graphics of the 3D games were rather weak compared with the stalwarts of 3D gaming, Tekken and Virtua Fighter. The in game graphics were at a level with Tekken 2 at best, and the graphics of the FMV, although the polygons weren't as noticable as in the in-game, aren't very gripping.

These storyline mishaps can be traced back to the confusion around the Alpha series. But then it doesn't seem they're on any way to being fixed. Capcom seems too enamoured to make Street Fighter-based games and crossovers rather than a Street Fighter 4 (7th March- Just checked recent news that Capcom is taking a break from Street Fighter due to a little corporate headache over the storyline and redoing older games so they fit in with the story [see Street Fighter 2 Revival for the GBA]). But then, maybe Capcom will suprise us this year. Their plans for Capcom Fighting All Stars fell apart, so they'll need to make a winner to replace it.

Sammy VS Capcom, anyone?