Street Fighter II: The World Warrior

About This Game

Gameplay

Street Fighter II follows several conventions and rules established by its 1987 predecessor Street Fighter. The player engages opponents in a series of timed one-on-one, close-quarters combat matches. In order to win a round, the player must either completely drain the opponent's health bar by landing attacks, or have more health remaining when the timer runs out. Neither fighter wins the round if they have equal health when time expires or if they simultaneously knock each other out. The first fighter to win two rounds is declared the victor. During a single-player game, a second player may join, starting a head-to-head match. The victor continues in single-player mode. The original Street Fighter II allowed up to 10 rounds per match; this maximum is reduced to four rounds starting with the Champion Edition. If there is no clear winner by the end of the final round, either the computer-controlled opponent will win by default in a single-player match or both fighters will lose in a two-player match. After every third match in the single-player mode, a bonus stage gives a chance to earn additional points by smashing a car, wooden barrels, or metal oil drums.

History

Although the original punching-pad cabinet of Street Fighter had not been very popular, the alternate six-button version was more successful, which began to generate interest in a sequel. Capcom began to make fighting games a priority after Final Fight was commercially successful in the United States. Yoshiki Okamoto recounted: "The basic idea at Capcom was to revive Street Fighter, a good game concept, to make it a better-playing arcade game." Development of Street Fighter II took roughly two years and about 35 to 40 people, with Noritaka Funamizu as a producer, and Akira Nishitani and Akira Yasuda in charge of the game and character design, respectively. The budget was estimated at $2,450,000 (equivalent to $5,790,000 in 2025).