The never-ending appeal of Street Fighter
Woolie Madden's lifelong obsession with Street Fighter 2 was inevitable.
Growing up in a house with two brothers, five cousins and only one Super Nintendo console, nobody had any time for long, involved, book-length video games. And Street Fighter 2 was the perfect quick-hit entertainment, with its 99-second rounds of one-on-one combat.
“We would go rent a game every weekend and our parents were like, ‘Well you're going to rent something that'll make everybody happy,’” said Madden, 37, who lives in Montreal and now competes professionally in various fighting games.
The family would always pick Street Fighter 2. “If you wanted to play more, you have to get good. If you won, you stayed on the controller. That was just your best bet of getting to play more.”
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The 1991 game was a pop-cultural phenomenon that decade. Street Fighter 2 cabinets filled not only arcades but billiard halls, bowling alleys, dive bars and laundromats with its bright colours.
Since the game features stages from across the world, its trumpeting digital elephants from India and bongo beats from Brazil were as much a part of our collective soundtrack as Dr Dre and Nirvana. It laid the foundation for modern professional video game competition.
As arcade machines fell out of favour at the turn of the century, devout Street Fighter players like Madden would take road trips or even flights to play each new sequel, much in the same way a Taylor Swift fan would cross state borders for a concert.
“It is the type of game that sees a dedicated following playing for the rest of their lives,” Madden said. “I'll never
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