So It's Come To This: A Street Fighter Clipshow.

Have you ever had one of those times in your life where you tell yourself that you're not going to get worked up over something that has pretty much stayed with you for most of your life if it changes? Or have you been addicted to something passively and when the newest version of that drug hits the market you run around screaming and evacuate assorted things into your pants (or whatever's in front of you if you happen to be pantsless)? Well, that's Street Fighter IV and me in a nutshell.

Some people, even my close friends, act like I've truly lost it with my excitement for this game. But truth be told, the last real Street Fighter game released was way back in 1996, practically when my transition from Sapulpa to Collinville occurred. Of course, what started all of this?

A long time ago, in second grade, my friends Shee Yin and Matt began to rant a great deal about this new video game. I hadn't a clue about what they were talking about, and honestly back then my gaming skills and knowledge were beyond pitiful. I sucked so bad at Super Mario Bros. 3 my mom had to beat it for me. Yeah. So they went on and on about how it was a fighting game and there was a green monster and a fat guy and some chick and these guys that shot fireballs. I wanted to be a part of this magic, but lacked the monetary funds to get a game.

Fortunately, soon afterward I came across this gem at the Reasor's at SW Boulevard:

Gamepro Presents Super Constipated Fighter II Strategy Guide.

Looking back, I cannot imagine what possessed me to like this. Look at that awful Gamepro artwork. Every character has to take a major dump. Anyway, convincing my grandma to buy a book was a better bet than, say, a game. Plus, I could take this to school. Which I did. And the three of us, with the new addition of Nathan, read the hell out of it. All it had were some random combo strategies and, as the cover prominently promises, the 2000 game screens. Along with some really, really bad art.

Wow. Utterly American.

Regardless of the heinous pictures and questionable redeeming value, you couldn't tell a seven-year-old it sucked.

Not long thereafter, I actually managed to own the game. Specifically, Street Fighter II Turbo. Touted as "faster" and giving the world an extra color pallette for each fighter, I said "YAY!" until I realized the cold, hard truth that I sucked balls at this game. On one star difficulty. The now-infamous reviewer in me blamed the SNES controller, but I sucked at most every game I owned in 1993. But that didn't deter me from loving it even more. So much I made it a point to capture it in the form of drawings.

When people ask me how I learned to draw, I tell them I don't know. This picture backs up that amnesiatic answer. I couldn't even spell "ultimate," for shit's sake.

For the next couple years, Street Fighter II and its iterations very well consumed my way of being. Instead of writing meaningful passages in my class-appointed journal, I'd write some half-assed strategy for E. Honda to beat Sagat, or just write down the characters' names over and over again until I had filled my page. I bought the awful GI Joe toys (I learned the odd way how baby-making worked with the Blanka and Ryu figures and my aunt's old Barbie dolls... yep), and some really weird Japanese manga that didn't translate well, some keychains, a purple T-shirt with the bosses on it, and the crappy Jean-Claude Van Damme movie. Perhaps the most bizarre Street Fighter item I got during this phase was awarded to me on my 10th birthday for winning enough tickets at Mr. Gatti's, the cool kids Chuck E. Cheese.

Nathan, Carter, Shee Yin and Matt celebrating prizes and a knockoff Chun-Li doll. I HAD to have that damn thing and I fought hard to get the proper number of tickets.

Sadly, that marked my last hurrah at Sapulpa, and for the most part those guys have disappeared. My love for Street Fighter didn't quite have the same meaning in Collinsville. In eighth grade I got a PS1, and other than Street Fighter Alpha 3 and my ultimate acceptance of Street Fighter III, little was made of my fandom publicly. Fighting game nuts like Cooper couldn't (and still cannot) comprehend 2D fighting mechanics and would sooner fap to good, yet not as memorable games like the Soul Calibur series. For years Street Fighter retained more personal meaning, and because the series hadn't done much it didn't see much light in my public gaming life.

When Street Fighter IV was announced, I nearly came myself. When I caught a glimpse of the screenshots, I was quickly drawn back. 3D graphics? Heresy. But as I saw the game little by little show off its mechanics, still 2D, I began to accept it, "ultamately" loving the idea. That's when it struck me: SFIV is like those old friends coming back from a long journey, saying "Sup?" and then we go on and on about the days of youth. I've quickly returned to my SF whoring, including this: Yes, I bought a damn Street Fighter faceplate AND side decals for my 360. You can say that's stupid. Just don't tell Trigun Kitty. He likes looking at the boobies.

So needless to say, Tuesday can't get here any faster. Which is ironic since that's a rare week where school and work team up to royally screw up my free time. Oh well.

What else do I have to say about Street Fighter, since this the obligatory Street Fighter reminiscence blog? Just some random memories I can't place in a particular timeline.

• I did get to play the original Street Fighter arcade game at a mini-golf course when I went to my sister's wedding in Eureka Springs. Turns out it's a pretty bad game.
• I royally hated the idea of going to college, at TCC, until I saw they had a Street Fighter III: Third Strike arcade at the metro campus. Elena and Makoto FTW.
• I hated M. Bison in SFA3. I'd get mad to the point of spewing obscenities when he'd throw that cheap-ass Psycho Crusher that'd take off about 3/4ths of my health. I didn't beat that game with many people. T. Hawk was one, though, and I don't know why.
• I went to school with Brad Studie, the nephew of Wes Studi, who played Sagat in the Street Fighter movie. Though this is mere allegation.
• Speaking of SFA3, I own pretty much every North American version of the game. Even the GBA one, which honestly isn't terrible. But that's coming from me.
• My first encounter with SFIII was the first version at some run-down outlet mall in Branson. It was in some arcade nestled amongst a Bonanza buffet, an indoor mini-golf course, and some really bad 3D movie room where we had to literally sit on the floor. When I returned to Branson last year, that same mall was still there, flourishing. the restaurant, arcade, and mini-golf remained, but the shitty movie room and, sadly, SFIII did not. I reminisced over a game of mini-golf.
• The first time I played any arcade version of Street Fighter was SFII: Champion Edition at the Sand Springs Cinema 8. This above almost all is my fondest memory of Street Fighter.

I'm not sure if this is something a lot of people will read (especially after my transition to Blogger from Myspace), but I thought I'd write about it before I get SFIV. It seems... appropriate.

-C.