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 fictional 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 in its large cast of characters, each of whom possesses a unique set of "special moves." These powerful, supernatural attacks require players to discover, memorize, and input complex button combinations. Pursuit of mastery motivated fierce competition that has played out in thousands of video game arcades and in tournaments, both amateur and professional, around the world. 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.