Introduction Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors’ Dreams was developed and published by Capcom, released in arcades in 1995 as the first entry in the Street Fighter Alpha sub-series, set as a prequel taking place between the original Street Fighter and Street Fighter II. The game introduced a noticeably different visual style from its predecessors, using a…
Introduction Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors was developed and published by Capcom on CPS-2 arcade hardware, released in Japan in July 1994 as the first entry in the Darkstalkers fighting game series. Set apart from Capcom’s already-established Street Fighter series by its horror movie monster theme, the game’s roster includes the succubus Morrigan Aensland, the Frankenstein’s…
Introduction Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter was developed and published by Capcom on CPS-2 arcade hardware, released in 1997 as the second entry in Capcom’s Vs. series, following 1996’s X-Men vs. Street Fighter. The game replaced the previous entry’s X-Men roster with characters from across the wider Marvel Comics universe, including Spider-Man, Hulk, Captain…
Introduction Saturday Night Slam Masters was developed and published by Capcom, released in arcades in 1993 with character designs contributed by manga artist Tetsuo Hara, best known for Fist of the North Star. The game reimagines professional wrestling as a fast-paced arcade fighter, letting up to two players grapple, throw, and slam their way around…
Introduction Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike – Fight for the Future was developed and published by Capcom on CPS-3 arcade hardware, released in 1999 as the third and final revision of Street Fighter III, following the original New Generation and its update, 2nd Impact. The game refined the series’ Parry system, a precisely timed defensive…
Introduction Vampire Savior: The Lord of Vampire was developed and published by Capcom on CPS-2 arcade hardware, released in Japan in May 1997 as the third entry in the Darkstalkers series, following Night Warriors: Darkstalkers’ Revenge. The game introduced the Dark Force system, a character-specific super meter that could be activated to grant unique temporary…
Introduction Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo was developed and published by Capcom, released in arcades in 1996, its tongue-in-cheek title deliberately echoing that year’s own Super Street Fighter II Turbo despite having no other Puzzle Fighter games to distinguish itself from. Rather than a traditional fighting game, it is a competitive falling-block puzzle game in…
Introduction Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 was developed and published by Midway, released in arcades in 1995 as a significantly revised update to the same year’s Mortal Kombat 3. The game restored several fan-favorite fighters who had been left out of the original Mortal Kombat 3 roster, including Kitana, Mileena, Jax, and Scorpion, bringing the total…
Introduction X-Men vs. Street Fighter was developed and published by Capcom on CPS-2 arcade hardware, released in Japan in September 1996 and reaching North American arcades that October. It holds the distinction of being the first tag-team fighting game in what would become Capcom’s long-running Vs. series, pairing characters from Marvel’s X-Men comics, including Wolverine,…
Introduction Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes was developed and published by Capcom on CPS-2 arcade hardware, released in Japan and Europe in early 1998 as the third entry in Capcom’s Vs. series, following X-Men vs. Street Fighter and Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter. The game pairs fighters from Marvel Comics, including Spider-Man,…
Introduction Street Fighter II: The World Warrior was developed and published by Capcom, released in arcades in 1991 under the direction of Akira Nishitani and Akira Yasuda. The game let players choose from eight playable World Warriors, including Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, and Blanka, each with a distinct fighting style, before facing four powerful boss characters…
Introduction Fatal Fury Special was developed and published by SNK, produced by Eikichi Kawasaki with design by Takashi Tsukamoto, released to Neo Geo arcades in September 1993 as an expanded update of the previous year’s Fatal Fury 2. Rather than a full sequel, it reworked that game’s roster and balance, promoting four previously CPU-only boss…