I agree. This thread is too good.
I first saw World Warrior in the fall of '91 at a bowling alley off of Capitol expressway in San Jose. I saw some guy get to Vega, and I was like ādid he just jump out of the crowdā (fence jump)Then I saw some kid who was like 2 years older than me get to Bison with Zangief and he lost. He said itās impossible to beat Bison and no one has beat him yet.
A few months later I saw the game in a local 7-11 store in Morgan Hill. There was fierce comp in there (before SF I played Double Dragon at the local Round Table Pizza, etc). So you can see I was an arcade junkie. At my school someone said they got a new SF II game where you can pick the bosses. I was like yeah whatever man. Low and behold the 7-11 had Champion Edition. They fixed it also to where they had a Final Round because there were always people on World Warrior hogging the game for hours with 2 quarters. They play until their health meter runs low, then make their meters equal so that when time runs out itās a draw. I saw like Round 15 fight one time. Eventually every convinient store, bowling alley, golf land, pizza place, arcade in general, malls, gas stations had Street Fighter II World Warrior/Champion Edition. Like in fall of 1992 a hacked rainbow edition made its way to none other than the local 7-11 store. There were even hot girls playing SF back in the day.
I was one of the best if not the best in my area. I abused people with Champ Sagat so much.
When MK1 came out I kinda defected and MK2 made me play more MK than SF. When UMK3 and MK4 cam out I went back to SF. Now I play more CVS2 and Hyper than I do MK Deception.
On MAME I still play old school World Warrior, Champ, Super Turbo, MK1 and MK2 3.1 and MK2 Challenger Hackā¦
Geez, I havenāt seen this thread in years. Itās classic material along with the āJustin Wong and Friesā thread. Iām glad these sort of things arenāt lost. Theyāre such good reads.
Visceral
Great thread. I remember reading the Gamepro Strat guide in the early 90s with the āCheapā, āWackyā, etc combo ratings.
I remember giving mine to Jason Malone back in the old SFA2 tourney daysā¦
Took me about 10 minutes at a real arcade to figure out that shit donāt fly against real people, of course then, I really got interested.
SF will never truly die
besides now you can play it on xbox live how awesome is that?
this thread rules
Online SF sucks
didnāt you win online SF though? lol
Damnā¦ I know these posts are like 3 years oldā¦ but what jcasetnl wrote up is like some of the best stuff Iāve ever read on the net.
Makes me wish I was older enough to actually realize the depth in SF2 back then, instead of just being a little 6 or 7 year old that played around at the movies or somethinā.
You guys surely remember the string/quarter trickā¦
The one where you can get like X amount of credits with 1 quarter.
this has gotta be the best thread ever
great thread. Iām on old school sf player as wellā¦too tired to post my own sf stories right now.
anyone ever seen Bang the Machine? this thread made me think about itā¦ always wanted to see it.
Shit, I may be late on this thread, but I remember clearly when SF2 hit.
For me, it was 1991. I was 10 years old, and I had been living in Okinawa, Japan for a couple years (father was stationed there at Kadena). I used to frequent this little place called āThe Tikiā because it had a row of arcade machines at the back (right next to Baskin Robbins - the perfect combination). One day I saw SF2, and was immediately hooked. The characters were large, looked incredibly cool, and threw fireballs (which was a huge plus for me, because I was an insane Dragonball fanatic at the time as well).
I remember not playing it, but rather watching others play it for the first couple of days. I would ask the people all sorts of annoying questions such as movelists and such. I remember one teenager explaining to me qcf, dp, and charge motions, which at the time were alien to me. It took me a good while, but in the beginning I was basically just trying to get that fireball out each and every time. That was my goal of the game - to let everybody see that fireball that was watching me.
With more time with it, and more competition, it became less about āletās see the karate man throw a fireball,ā and more of āletās see the karate man whoop that ass.ā Where I lived, we got no U.S. gaming mags. At all. We didnāt get combo lists and whatnot, we just sort of stumbled upon them. It was great, mostly in part because it felt like you yourself were bringing out what the game engine had to offer, rather than have somebody else do it for you (from reading mags and whatnot).
There were two arcades where I lived, one was The Tiki, and the other was the standard arcade by the Commissarry (canāt remember the name of it for the life of me). The standard one was always packed, and usually had to wait in order to play. The one in the Tiki was almost always free. So when you wanted to get practice, you went there. When you wanted to craft your skills against other players, you went to the other. Times like these, I remember being 10 and only having a dollar, and walking 2 miles from home just to play 4 games. It was definitely worth it, though.
After being one of the top players in my arcade, I felt like I was the best of the best. I was constantly beating other good players, and I could use that dollar of mine and spend a good couple hours on it. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. One day I went off base to a Japanese arcade, which was open 24 hours (which I thought was extremely odd at the time). I went in and saw just a long row of SF2 machines, and a few people playing them. I strolled up and showed the guy my 100yen piece, acknowledging that I would like to play him. He smiles and nods, so the destruction of my ego is well on itās way. The guy murders me. With ease. It was embarrassing for me. However, I played him several times afterwards and (seriously) began to study the game, and most importantly, why I was losing.
I began to game there from then on. I hardly, if ever, played at the other two arcades. I cost a bit more to play in the Japanese arcade, but it was most definitely worth it. I began to take notes when I got home after a day of beatings. I believe I still have those notes somewhere, and bring them out about once a year for nostalgiaās sake. Iād never do my homework from school, but you can bet your ass I did in SF2. Thatās all that mattered at the time.
At least until Champion Edition arrived. Thatās when a whole new paradox of smart gaming occurred for me. As the characters changed (some for the better, some for the worse), I began applying that knowledge to my overall game. Learning matchups, and being keenly aware of what to do and not do. I would even bring my Japanese friend along to the arcades just so I could socialize with them and talk strategy. We didnāt need combo mags, just each other. In the couple years with the release of CE and Hyper Fighting I was competing with my peers on the same level. I was no longer the gaijin punchingbag. Sadly, that arcade was relocated further down what I was able to travel (at least at my age), so I started to go back to my old arcades.
I had a friend from school who was good at SF2, so we would bike to the arcade with him on the handlebars and literally tear everybody else up. Looking back, itās somewhat comical. We used to take money matches with the off-duty airmen and win every time. We were only 12, and beating them down, taking their money, and then when we had enough we would take a cab to the Japanese arcade to play real competition. It was so great back then. Iād give anything to go back to those days.
Then came Super SF2, which just totally put me off. I hated the slower speed. Around this time I began to get more into SNK games, also partly because they had a Neo 50 inch with Samurai Shodown and Fatal Fury Special which rocked my world, but this is about SF2.
Then came 1994. Super SF2 X came out, and I only had a couple months to play it seriously. My father was stationed back to the USA, and shortly thereafter I didnāt see any arcade near me to play the newest games and the best competition. I completely missed the boat on games like Alpha 3, the X-men/marvel games, CvS2, SF3 series, etc. Which is terrible because my only source for competition is online, and with that you canāt tell for sure if itās a legit tactic or something youāre getting away with because of lag, OR the person isnāt good enough to get around it. Itās a real pain in the ass trying to distinguish between the two, and everybody is quick to call lag (tactics) when they lose so youāre never 100% sure.
Give me the old days where I didnāt have any gaming mags, combo movies, or the internet and the only way you got better was to pony up your 100yen and get smashed.
:sad: <<< Me after reading this thread.
SF1 was fun. I remember pounding those huge ass buttons to get fierce or round house to come out. And upclose shoryuken was a killer. I had to be about 13 then and then came SF-WW. I had never been so amazed at something else before.
Me and my best friend would go back and forth ryu/ken matches. We used to play at the local tilt. I duunno why we thought whoever had ryu would always win cuz we thought his FB was slightly faster giving him a huge advantage. It wasnt until he started skating and not playing as much that I started to play more and more then he was no match for me.
I remember my first ass whipping was by the asian kid. I was (I think)in 8th grade and he was in 6th grade. At this time is when I first heard the stereo type of asians at how they are good cuz they made the game and that sort of stuff.(In my part of town there were not that many asians and I was young and nieve.) He had skill and killed me off but not without a fight. I guess I was one of his first victims cuz soon after I started hearing about some kid name Isaac.
Oh Isaac is the best. Before we had played by no means did I think I was the best but I knew I had some skill cuz I could beat peeps sometimes by a big lead. After hearing the buzz from around the mall is when the burning desire to play more and more. I never wanted to be the best, there was never that desire only of playing cuz it was so addicting. Playing matches till the very end would get my adrenaline going sometimes cuz I would almost be gone and come back with a last minute shoryuken off of someones mistimed jump in or whatnot.
The next time I played Isaac I managed to defeat his ryu and I thought ok I had done it,Hes not so tough. Then he picks guile and proceeds to pummel me. So being the poor kid that I was ran out of money. I was only able to get at the most at that time was about a dollar or 2 what ever the change was from running to the store for my mom. Getting my ass beat never stopped me from playing especially him.
For some reason he knew all the moves before we could figure them out. From now on when ever he was playing no one would play him so he would be facing the computer while everyone watched cuz they did not want to waste there money. I would walk straight to the change machine and then put my quarters in and challenge him. We got to the point of our matches coming very close and to me this meant that I was advancing in skill. Yea for me. This also sparked our competitve relationship but also sparked our friendship. I was always shy and never spoke to anyone I didnāt know, but he spoke to me. He said that I was pretty good and where did I learn to play at. I told him that I had always played at the tilt. From there on we played whenever we seen each other and compared moves and talked SF. Before we became friends I still had this idea about asians being superior, afterwords I seen that he was cool and not the mythical stereotype that all others had talked about.
In starting to know Isaac a lil better and he told me that he learned his style from his cousin Peter from up north in the Bay area. He just didnāt completely byte his style he also played smart on his own. Not just a copy and paste style. On one of his short trips to Bakersfield I got a chance to play him a few times. When I played Peter for the first time I felt helpless, very helpless. And at this time he was demonstrating how guile was a montser moreso that Isaacs ever was. At that point I knew there was a SF world bigger than Bakersfied cuz I had never seen this guy before and he couldnt be good. I know all the good players so he cant be good. Well I was very wrong. Peter was very good. Got me 2 rounds before I could do anything. Then Isaac introduces me to his very tall cousin Peter. He really didnt say much to me. i guess he thought I was just a scrub friend of Isaacs. At that point I thought of myself sort off Isaacs disciple kinda, but with my own mind. There were tons of kids who would just copy & paste stuff you would show them. All with no brains monkey see monkey do attitudes.
Now around my mid freshman year(92) Iāve actually ventured out of the tilt to other aracdes in town. I was without transportaion. I could take the bus but that would cut my Sf playing money. The only way I could get there was on foot or my bike. So I hear of this place called The Regency arcade where you can get a very good deal on tokens plus the comp is pretty good cuz there are a lot of players. But this place is all the way across town and the bike was too tiring for me to go that far. I actually got a lil more money so I went on the bus around 4 or so(keep in mind that the busses stopped about 6) and would play a few games to check it out. There were a lot of peeps there and I kinda lost track of time so I had to walk about 12 miles home around 10 at nite. Not very fun but hey ANYTHING for SF. The comp there was ok but here were lots of players and I wasnt playing the same people over and over. For some reasons people had there own territories(arcades) that they never parted from for some resaon. I had no transpo but these people had money cars and jobs and could easily go to other places but they chose to stay in there domain and be the KING in there own mind since no one there can beat them.
This is the first time also I heard people talking trash over a video game. Nothing more than a video game. I walk into Regency and find lots of players. I walk up to the machine and put in my tokens and I hear this guy saying something like"Im gonna have fun taking your money"in a demeaning voice. So Im just stare at him. I had seen that he was playing Blanka so I picked my standard Ryu and went on to defeat him. He had an ok game and made me think in a couple of situations but nothing to be scared of. Then I meet the Notorious Cody. This cowboy ish stalky white guy with a mouth full off chew. I thought Cody was disgusting and not only that he looked very mean.Later getting to know him he is very cool. I then seen him get upset over the game cuz this guy was talking smack to him plus the controls were screwy. He took the stool and bashed the stick and walks out of the arcade. Well thats 1 machine thats down for the night
It turns out that all the players there were OK but there was lots of them. So Iām just taking fools out till another guy challenges me by the name of Bobby B. Our match was very close but I had lost. From then on I knew I had to give it my all when playing Bobby B. Just like playing Isaac and I had to do whatever it takes to win. This is another point when I realized not to underestimate people. I thought he was another Regency scrub.
With these guys(Isaac and Bobby) they never complained about c-short into throw or FB in there corner shit. they were always able to deal with whatever I threw at them. Most of the other players would comoplain about those tactics and then dubbed the name CHEEZY. After a while all 3 of us would go back and forth playing each other with Isaac on top and Me and Bobby shortly behind him in skill.
To me when the majority of players complain about your playing style u must be doing something right. Even against the complainers we would not use certaina tactics and still defeat them with ease. Those were good times seeing scrubs cry when beating them at there own game.
I made a lot of friends playing SF just hanging out at the arcades. Its been one of my life learning experiences. I witnessed so much just from being at an arcade. Consoles play is ok with a few friends but it will never replace an arcade.
I got my first real job from one of my SF friends. I got into criminal activity cuz of my SF friends. So much fun the you grow up.(Well not really) I am 28 now with a job and family but for some reason I cant get it out of my blood. I say I want to quit and when I do, the next thing you know I go out and buy a whole fucking arcade machine. Its in my blood forever and now I have 2 machines and about 6 sticks. Crazy shit and good memories that I would never trade for anythingā¦
PART 2
As with other posters here Champion came out and that changed things very much. There is no more race to Guile or Sim. And now peeps can finally have there RYU vs RYU match without the WW glitch. Of course I was able to transfer my skills over with no problem. Here locally is when a lot of players stopped playing. now only the more dedicated players were playing along with the newcomers that were scarce. It seems that WW brought out everyone and CE was too much for the usual arcade goer. It wasnt until hyper fighting that brought out all the players but that was only for a short spurt until the super and super turbo then only the hardcore players were still around. Then came the splurge of all other fighters taking attention away from SF. Its about 94-95 and I step back from SF for a few years due to life. Like getting a job and becoming a father. It wasnt until Mvc2 came out I got my desire to compete again. Iāve been playing of and on since it was released. Its a lot more complex than SF but Ive been able to hang in my local scene. Well theres not much of a scene but I can hold my own.
metrock1
do you remember the coin/string trick on the machines? where you get a lot of credits with 1 quarterā¦
metrock: i know about that trick. i also used to do the penny trick back in the day when i was young, IE rip off the bottom cover, and jam pennies up the coinslot for a free gameā¦but it would go in the changebin so the ownwers would catch on quick, haha
Bad Artā¦ wags finger
I knew the quarter trick all too well. I was once threatened to be arrested for it and threw out of the arcade. My friend was able to drill a quarter with a hole but that was no good. All that work and u can only use it one time. I found that using hole reinforcers made best for that. They are the little stickers with holes cut out so they would fit into the binder rings and they came in packs of around 100 or so. It was a delicate art. Also the arcade operators would find the stickers on tokens or quarters or what ever and start beefing up security(more trips past our favoite machine to do it on.) around the arcade. Even doing that during the busiest times was sort of a rush since the cabs were in front for everyone to see like the main attraction.