Street Fighter Alpha 2Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' DreamsStreet Fighter 4Street Fighter IV [Mobile]Super Street Fighter 4
Click here for Day I's characters.
It is a tough job to cull through all of the franchise's great World Warriors. But using character popularity, moveset, overall impact and editor's preference as our guides, we believe we have created a roster guaranteed to fill the Comments with a many a pissed-off, typos-be-damned reaction. Drop us a line or two, and cast a vote in the all-decisive poll below.
20. Rose (Street Fighter Alpha)
If you're an incredible dork, you might remember the role Rose plays in the story of the Street Fighter Alpha series. For the less obsessed, a primer: Rose is the physical manifestation of M. Bison's good side, which he managed to conveniently flush out of his soul in order to make himself an even badder bad guy. That's why she slings around bolts of energy that look so similar to Bison's famous Psycho Power.
In other words, she has an even more bizarre origin story than Blanka (who, as you may recall, spent enough time hanging around in the jungle that he turned green by osmosis). Street Fighter, as a series, has never been as heavy on ridiculous backstory as some of its competitors – Dead or Alive is many times more confusing, to say nothing of the hallucinogenic tales that underpin Guilty Gear – but Rose definitely stands out as an example of classic weirdness.
She's also a pretty unique gameplay experience. Her standard physical attacks are fairly weak, on the whole, but she's dangerous in the hands of a player who knows how to use her "Soul Power" effectively. If you're up against someone who likes to rely on fireballs, Rose can reflect those all day long.
The top 25 Street Fighter character countdown continues, with fighters from Street Fighter III, Street Fighter Alpha, and a certain famous face from Super Street Fighter II.
It is a tough job to cull through all of the franchise's great World Warriors. But using character popularity, moveset, overall impact and editor's preference as our guides, we believe we have created a roster guaranteed to fill the Comments with a many a pissed-off, typos-be-damned reaction. Drop us a line or two, and cast a vote in the all-decisive poll below.
19. Fei Long (Super Street Fighter II)
Some Street Fighter characters make you wonder where they came from. Guys like Dhalsim, Blanka and/or Necro seem like the accidental products of a sick, fevered imagination. Then you have characters that are a little bit easier to peg. If you can't figure out what inspired Fei Long, go to the back of the fanboy class.
If there's any martial arts star who deserves a videogame homage, though, Bruce Lee is probably the one. Fei Long helped begin a long (excuse the pun) string of characters inspired by the kung fu icon – Tekken's Marshal and Forrest Law, the Bryant family from Virtua Fighter, Jann-Lee in Dead or Alive, and a number of others in less famous games.
Strangely enough, though, he's made only one return appearance since the Super Street Fighter II games. He showed up in the console versions of Street Fighter Alpha 3, which reunited the four newcomers from SSFII for the first time.
The top 25 Street Fighter character countdown continues, with fighters from Street Fighter III, Street Fighter Alpha, and a certain famous face from Super Street Fighter II.
It is a tough job to cull through all of the franchise's great World Warriors. But using character popularity, moveset, overall impact and editor's preference as our guides, we believe we have created a roster guaranteed to fill the Comments with a many a pissed-off, typos-be-damned reaction. Drop us a line or two, and cast a vote in the all-decisive poll below.
18. Gen (Street Fighter Alpha)
Gen is one of the few characters (along with Ryu, Sagat, and…well, the Birdie situation is complicated) who made it out of the original Street Fighter into one of the successful installments in the series.
He represents an ever-reliable character type, made famous by dozens of kung fu movies – he's the old, decrepit, seemingly-crippled senior citizen who can still kick your ass blindfolded.
He's also an early example of giving a character two distinct movesets, which we'd later see in Tekken and the recent Mortal Kombat revivals. Gen swaps back and forth between Crane and Mantis kung fu styles, which gives him a distinctive split personality and opens up lots of opportunities to torture your opponent with juggle combos.
In storyline terms, he's also the direct forefather of another fun split-personality character. He trained the two-man team of Yang and Yun Lee, who'd carry on his gimmick in Street Fighter III.
The top 25 Street Fighter character countdown continues, with fighters from Street Fighter III, Street Fighter Alpha, and a certain famous face from Super Street Fighter II.
It is a tough job to cull through all of the franchise's great World Warriors. But using character popularity, moveset, overall impact and editor's preference as our guides, we believe we have created a roster guaranteed to fill the Comments with a many a pissed-off, typos-be-damned reaction. Drop us a line or two, and cast a vote in the all-decisive poll below.
17. Alex (Street Fighter III)
Street Fighter III was a departure for Capcom. Actually, it might be more accurate to say it was a whole bunch of departures at once, and Alex was definitely one of them. Envisioned as the leading man for Street Fighter's new generation, he broke the mold for fighting heroes in all kinds of ways.
Ken and Ryu, the guys who fronted Street Fighter II, were perhaps the game's most "vanilla" fighters in gameplay terms, and visually they were pretty conservative as well.
Alex, on the other hand, was unexpectedly quirky, a grappling specialist geared towards players who liked to fight in close. He didn't have the look of a martial artist, either. With his shaggy hair, ragged clothes, and war paint streaked across his cheeks, he looked like the kind of guy who'd get a job bouncing at the roughest club in town.
When it first showed up in America, Street Fighter III met a mixed reception. Hardcore enthusiasts liked it, but all the new characters and tricky new game systems made it a tough sell for casual players. For better or for worse, though, it was something different, and Alex made a difference along with it.
The top 25 Street Fighter character countdown continues, with fighters from Street Fighter III, Street Fighter Alpha, and a certain famous face from Super Street Fighter II.
It is a tough job to cull through all of the franchise's great World Warriors. But using character popularity, moveset, overall impact and editor's preference as our guides, we believe we have created a roster guaranteed to fill the Comments with a many a pissed-off, typos-be-damned reaction. Drop us a line or two, and cast a vote in the all-decisive poll below.
16. Charlie (Street Fighter Alpha)
You wouldn't hit a guy with glasses, would you? Well, regardless of your personal feelings on the issue, this guy with glasses may force your hand, because he's definitely going to hit first if you give him the chance.
As a rule, though, he'll do you the courtesy of taking said glasses off before he swings on you.
Charlie is a character with an unusual real-world origin. Essentially, he was a way of putting Guile in Street Fighter Alpha without actually having to put Guile in Street Fighter Alpha. Then Capcom went and put Guile in Street Fighter Alpha 3 - but it's not likely that anyone was going to complain.
Sure, his moves aren't completely original, but Charlie is a nifty variation on a theme. He's a Ken to Guile's Ryu, if you will, for charge-character experts who want a change of pace. His Flash Kick is actually even more dangerous than Guile's version – in storyline terms, he invented the move in the first place, so the original has a little bit more kick to it.
Who's your favorite of today's five Street Fighters? | ||
IGN Stars continues ranking and filing the World Warriors tomorrow, so check back soon to see who cracks the top half of the list. In the meantime, sound off and cast your vote to see how the voice of the people stacks up against our editors' rankings.
Click here for numbers 21 to 25!