Street Fighter (video game)

Street Fighter is a series of popular video games developed by a Japanese company named Capcom. The first Street Fighter, released in 1987, was only a modest success, but its sensational sequel turned the series into a multimedia franchise. Widely hailed as the grandfather of fighting games, Street Fighter II pits martial artists of different nationalities and fighting styles against each other in hand-to-hand combat. Although praised for its fluid animation and tight controls, the game's novelty lie its large cast of characters, each of whom possessed a unique set of "special moves." These powerful attacks required players to memorize and input complex button combinations; pursuit of mastery motivated fierce competition, enticing millions of players around the world to test their hand-eye coordination against others at their local video game arcade and even in professional tournaments. The popularity of arcades began waning in the late 1990s and Street Fighter entered a long period of decline, but the series experienced renewed interest and sales with the release of a well-received fourth installment in 2008.