Street Fighter 2 Turns 30, And Some Never Stopped Playing

Street Fighter 2, one of the most important fighting games–and video games–of all time, is now 30 years old. As of February 6, it has been three decades since Ryu and company landed in arcades, and the fighter’s classic gameplay has spawned countless imitators.

In a post on its Twitter page, Capcom celebrated the game’s 30th birthday with a short gameplay clip. Street Fighter 2 was far more successful than its predecessor, which was a fairly limited game that only featured two playable characters: Ryu and Ken.

Following the initial success of Street Fighter 2, Capcom ported the game to several different systems and released follow-ups that added new features and characters. These included Street Fighter 2: Hyper Fighting, Super Street Fighter II, and Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo. On Switch, Ultra Street Fighter II also gives players the choice of a new or classic art style, working the classic mechanics into a game that looks like it could have released today.

Of course, the Street Fighter series continued well after the second game’s many versions. Street Fighter 3, Street Fighter 4, Street Fighter 5, and Street Fighter Alpha have all been successful in their own right, but Street Fighter 2 will likely always stand as the series’ biggest game. It even got its own Arcade1Up home arcade cabinet, and an updated version announced last month will feature artwork like the original cabinet.