Street Fighter II: The World Warrior[a] is a competitive fighting game originally released for the arcades in 1991. It is the second entry in the Street Fighter series and the arcade sequel to the original Street Fighter released in 1987. It is Capcom's fourteenth title that runs on the CP System arcade hardware. Street Fighter II improves upon the many concepts introduced in the first game, including the use of command-based special moves and a six-button configuration, while offering players a selection of multiple playable characters, each with their own unique fighting style, and introducing a combo system and competitive multiplayer combat between two players.
The success of Street Fighter II is credited with starting the fighting-game boom during the 1990s which inspired other game developers to produce their own fighting-game franchises, popularizing the genre, and setting off a renaissance for the arcade game industry in the early 1990s.[3] The game is widely considered among critics to be one of the greatest fighting games as well as one of the greatest video games ever made. It was then ported to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System platform, for which it became a long-lasting system-seller.[4] Its success led to a subseries of updated versions (see below), each offering additional features and characters over previous versions, as well as several home versions.
By 1994, the game had been played by at least 25 million people in the United States, at home and in arcades.[5] The video game console ports sold more than 14 million copies worldwide;[6] the Super NES port of the original game sold 6.3 million units,[7] making it Capcom's best-selling single consumer game software until 2013 (when it was surpassed by Resident Evil 5)[8] and remaining their best-selling game software on a single platform through to the present day.[7] Adjusted for inflation, all versions of Street Fighter II are estimated to have exceeded $10 billion in gross revenue, making it one of the highest-grossing video games of all time.
The success of Street Fighter II is credited with starting the fighting-game boom during the 1990s which inspired other game developers to produce their own fighting-game franchises, popularizing the genre, and setting off a renaissance for the arcade game industry in the early 1990s.[3] The game is widely considered among critics to be one of the greatest fighting games as well as one of the greatest video games ever made. It was then ported to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System platform, for which it became a long-lasting system-seller.[4] Its success led to a subseries of updated versions (see below), each offering additional features and characters over previous versions, as well as several home versions.
By 1994, the game had been played by at least 25 million people in the United States, at home and in arcades.[5] The video game console ports sold more than 14 million copies worldwide;[6] the Super NES port of the original game sold 6.3 million units,[7] making it Capcom's best-selling single consumer game software until 2013 (when it was surpassed by Resident Evil 5)[8] and remaining their best-selling game software on a single platform through to the present day.[7] Adjusted for inflation, all versions of Street Fighter II are estimated to have exceeded $10 billion in gross revenue, making it one of the highest-grossing video games of all time.