Fighting Games History - Part 1

We thought it would be a grand idea to do a quick blog chronicling the fighting games history and the rise of the 2D fighting games. I’m sure everyone will say its all about Street Fighter 2 onwards but there were some defining titles which would set Streetfighter 2 up to take the arcade world by storm in the fighting games history. It’s well worth taking a quick peek at some of the fighting games which have culminated into the current still active genre. Titles like Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition are still raising the benchmark continuing an ever-evolving scene.

Apparently it all started off way back in the fighting games history with a title called “Heavyweight Champ” released in 1976 by Sega. They were at the forefront of gaming and also released Warrior in 1979 and Champion Boxing in 1983.

A video game I personally hold dear to my hear is Yie-Ar-Kung Fu which was released by Konami in 1985. My brother had this on the Amstrad CPC 6128 and I used to play this a lot (as well as Operation Wolf using a Quikshot joystick which was a losing battle). Each character varied in fighting style and appearance which added a real element of change to each bout. It’s still great fun to play now albeit a little basic. An enjoyable experience seeing where some of the seeds of the fighting genre were laid.

Yie Ar Kung Fu also provided a starting point for Capcom’s legendary Street Fighter series and introduced now household names to the public.

Characters of note that were Street Fighter created are flame-haired Ryu and identical Ken (in all but looks). There’s also The evil Sagat who hasn’t yet been given the scar by Ryu. Sagat’s wound constantly reminds him of his adversary’s victory and he draws his immense Muay Thai power from it. Streetfighter and Street Fighter II never played better than on one of our arcade machines.

There’s also Sagat’s protege Adon who later features in features later on in the Alpha series. The same can be said for the aged Gen and Birdie (who fights for us Brits).

It would take a decade or 2 for the fighting game category to find it’s feet and output what we all now know and love. If requested we can use all Sanwa controls in our cabinets which are the choice of professionals in today’s fighting tournaments.

That’s it for the Fighting Games History: Part 1, keep you eyes peeled for part 2!

Happy Gaming