Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection Launches Retrospective Series

With Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection set to arrive this month, Capcom is ready to send its fighting community into a frenzy with its retro offerings, from the original Street Fighter game that launched in 1987 through Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike.

The publisher has launched a new retrospective series that looks at titles in the upcoming anthology. Its first episode, hosted by James Chen, takes a glance back at the original Street Fighter, as well as the subsequent Street Fighter II games, from the original to Super Street Fighter II Turbo!

You can see the video above, but here's a rundown of what each game offered to the series as a whole, straight from Capcom:

STREET FIGHTER

The original Street Fighter (1987) introduced players to both Ryu and Ken, the only two playable characters in the game. Adon, Gen, Birdie, and Sagat were also in Street Fighter as non-playable characters and would eventually return to future games. Hadoken, Tatsumaki Senpukyaku, and Shoryuken were unique moves that had to be performed using certain motions. Though they were fairly difficult to pull off at the time, all three moves remain an iconic mainstay to Ryu and Ken's repertoire.

STREET FIGHTER II

The game that changed the fighting game genre forever, Street Fighter II became a worldwide phenomenon due to its new characters and improved gameplay. All eight playable characters became legends in video game history and are easily recognizable to this day, especially Chun-Li, the only female fighter in the roster. In terms of gameplay, each character also came with their own signature moves like Guile's Sonic Boom that would remain part of their identity for years to come. Normal moves could now be linked together and also into a character's special moves, creating the combo system that is now a staple in any fighting game.

STREET FIGHTER II: CHAMPION EDITION

Adding the four boss characters – M. Bison, Vega, Balrog, and Sagat - from Street Fighter II, the total number of playable characters became 12 in Street Fighter II: Champion Edition. In addition, both players could now choose the same character!

STREET FIGHTER II: HYPER FIGHTING

Acting as a more thorough update to Street Fighter II: Champion Edition, this version gave some characters new moves like a fireball for Chun-Li. The biggest change was the increase to the game's battle speed, which amped up the competitive arcade scene.

SUPER STREET FIGHTER II

A dramatic re-imaging of the game from top to bottom, Super Street Fighter II features four new characters, new ending screens, sound effects, a scoring system, and more quality of life improvements across the board. Cammy, T. Hawk, Dee Jay, and Fei Long entered the ring and became superstars in their own regard. The aforementioned scoring system was used during the match and awarded points upon using certain moves. This included the first use of certain terminology like "reversals" and "first attacks."

A special variant called Super Street Fighter II: The Tournament Battle will be recreated in the Nintendo Switch version of Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection! This allows up to eight players to link their Nintendo Switch systems together to form local tournaments where a winner will be crowned.

SUPER STREET FIGHTER II: TURBO

Generally considered to be the final version of the game, Super Street Fighter II: Turbo introduced Super Combos to the series, which where all-new powerful moves that could turn the tide of battle. Air combos were also added, allowing players to hit opponents in the air and juggle them into other moves, including Super Combos. Finally, Akuma made his first appearance as a hidden boss and playable character. Due to his popularity, he would subsequently be a regular part of the Street Fighter series.

Capcom isn't done yet, as another episode of the retrospective series will take a look at later games, including the Street Fighter Alpha saga and the Street Fighter III games. Look for that over the next few weeks.

Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Edition releases on May 29 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC and Nintendo Switch.