The first game I remember spending countless hours and quarters on in the arcade was Street Fighter II. Eventually, I became a pretty solid contender, to where I did not have to spend all my wages in order to be able to play for several hours.

I remember this one occasion at the Cleburne Nolan River Mall arcade. I was playing Street Fighter II against the computer and this seemingly extremely confident male approached the cabinet and asked if he could play me. Of course I said yes and he put in a quarter. He was good, and I always appreciated a challenging opponent. I won the 2 rounds and I could tell he was a little riled up. He then said "alright, your a** is grass!". He said it in a comically confident manner. We played again, and I won... again. He started to walk away and I don't remember what he said, but he was a good sport. Being the confident winner now, and wanting to play him again, I said to him as he walked away, "my a** is grass, huh?". It worked. He turned around and came back to play me again, this time with even more boysterous confidence. We played a few more rounds, and even though I kept winning, he remained an amazing sport, just having fun and talking trash. That's what it was all about back then. It has remained a great memory in my mind ever since.

This was one of the few times in my life that I felt really close to mastering something, and feeling confident enough to take on any opponent, as seasoned as they could be. I loved playing the game and I was good at it. Then again, there was also the time at Mazios Pizza in Cleburne, when playing Street Fighter II in their tiny arcade. My mom heard me utter the "F" word for the first time. Yikes, talk about shame.

Later on, when I got a Super Nintendo Entertainment System, I was anticipating the release of Street Fighter II to a home console. I didn't know what "ports" were back then. I just remember wanting to own that game so badly, that I even wrote Nintendo, pleading with them to release it on the Super Nintendo. When Street Fighter II WAS finally released on the SNES, I truly believed that it was my letter that convinced them. I'm sure that Capcom planned on releasing it for the SNES and Sega Genesis from the beginning, but I would like to think that my humble letter to Nintendo played a significant role in it.

When Street Fighter II: The World Warrior hit arcades in March 1991, nobody—not even Capcom—expected it to rewrite gaming history.

Its predecessor, the 1987 original Street Fighter, was a clunky novelty remembered mostly for its oversized hydraulic pads that registered punch strength based on how hard players physically slammed them. But Capcom directors Yoshiki Okamoto and Akira Nishitani saw untapped potential in direct, head-to-head competitive play.

Key Historical Milestones

• Street Fighter II Launches in Arcades

Capcom releases Street Fighter II: The World Warrior on the CPS-1 system board. Featuring an unprecedented roster of eight playable fighters with distinct styles, a six-button layout, and complex special move inputs, it ignites the 1990s arcade boom.

• The Accidental Birth of Combos

Players discover a bug in the game's input buffer that allows special moves to cancel normal attack animations. Rather than patching it out, Capcom leaves the mechanic intact—accidentally inventing the "combo," which becomes the foundational element of all modern fighting games.

• The SNES Home Port Explosion

Capcom ports Street Fighter II to the Super Nintendo (SNES). It sells over 6.3 million cartridges, driving massive hardware sales for Nintendo and proving that arcade-quality experiences can thrive on home consoles.

• Iterative Editions & The Bosses

Capcom expands the game through legendary revisions: Champion Edition (1992) makes the four grand masters playable, Hyper Fighting (1992) speeds up gameplay, and Super Street Fighter II (1993) introduces iconic new fighters like Cammy and Dee Jay.

• Super Street Fighter II Turbo & Akuma

The definitive arcade edition debuts, adding Super Combos and secret boss Akuma. This version becomes the competitive benchmark for decades, remaining a staple at major tournaments like EVO.