Street Fighter is a Japanese video game series focused on a collection of fighting games created and released by Capcom. The first game in the series came out in 1987, and since then, there have been six main games, many side games, and other versions of the series. The most popular game, Street Fighter II, which was released in 1991, helped create many of the common features in one-on-one fighting games.

Street Fighter is one of the most successful video game series ever made and is considered one of Capcom's most important series. As of March 2025, the series has sold 56 million copies worldwide. It is also one of the most successful media franchises and the longest-running fighting game series.

Games

Street Fighter, created by Takashi Nishiyama and Hiroshi Matsumoto, was first released as an arcade video game in 1987. Players control a martial artist named Ryu as he competes in a global martial arts tournament across five countries against 10 opponents. A second player can control Ryu’s American friend, Ken Masters. Players can use three punch and kick attacks, each with different speeds and strengths, and three special moves: Hadōken, Shōryūken, and Tatsumaki Senpūkyaku, which are performed by pressing specific button and joystick combinations.

Street Fighter was later made available on many home computers, including MS-DOS. In 1987, it was released on the TurboGrafx-16 CD add-on console as Fighting Street by Hudson Soft. In 2005, Street Fighter was included in Capcom Classics Collection: Remixed for the PlayStation Portable and Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 2 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. It is also available in the 2018 compilation, Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection, for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Windows.

Street Fighter II was released in 1991 after an earlier attempt to make Final Fight, a 1989 beat 'em up game, the sequel to Street Fighter failed. It was one of the first arcade games developed for Capcom’s CP System hardware and was designed by Akira Nishitani and Akira Yasuda, who also created Final Fight and Forgotten Worlds.

Street Fighter II: The World Warrior was the first one-on-one fighting game to allow players to choose from multiple characters, each with unique fighting styles and about 30 or more moves, including grappling moves and throws. Each character has two or three special attacks. In single-player mode, the player faces seven other main characters before battling four CPU-controlled bosses. A second player can join at any time for competitive matches.

The original Japanese version of Street Fighter II included an African-American boxer boss character who resembled real-life boxer Mike Tyson. The character was initially named "Mike Bison." To avoid legal issues, Capcom changed the names of three boss characters for international versions. The final boss, named Vega in Japan, became M. Bison. A Spanish warrior named Balrog in Japan was renamed Vega, and the boxer became Balrog. In 2019, Mike Tyson said he was "honored" by the character’s design.

Street Fighter II became more popular than its predecessor and turned Street Fighter into a multimedia franchise. It had a significant impact on gaming, earning over $10 billion in inflation-adjusted revenue by 2017, mostly from arcade machines. More than 14 million cartridges were sold for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Genesis/Mega Drive.

The first update to the series was Street Fighter II: Champion Edition, called Street Fighter II Dash in Japan. This version allowed players to control the four CPU-controlled boss characters, let two players choose the same character with different colors, and included improved graphics and gameplay. A second update, Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting (Street Fighter II Dash Turbo in Japan), was made to compete with unofficial versions of the game. Hyper Fighting had faster gameplay, new special techniques, and different character costumes. Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers introduced four new playable characters, updated graphics and music, and was the first game for Capcom’s CP System II hardware. The fifth arcade version, Super Street Fighter II Turbo (Super Street Fighter II X in Japan), brought back the fast gameplay from Hyper Fighting, added new special moves called "Super Combos," and included a hidden character, Akuma.

Many home versions of Street Fighter II were released after the original game. Street Fighter II: The World Warrior was released for the Super NES in 1992, becoming Capcom’s best-selling game by 2008. A Japanese-only version of Street Fighter II Dash was released for the PC Engine in 1993. In 1993, two home versions of Hyper Fighting were released: Street Fighter II Turbo for the Super NES and Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition (Street Fighter II Dash Plus in Japan) for the Genesis. Super Street Fighter II was also released for the Super NES and Genesis in 1994. That same year, Super Street Fighter II Turbo was released for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer and Windows, developed by GameTek.

In 1997, Capcom released the Street Fighter Collection for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn, which included Super Street Fighter II, Super Turbo, and an updated version of Street Fighter Alpha 2. A second collection, Street Fighter Collection 2, was released in 2000 for the PlayStation and Saturn, featuring the original Street Fighter II, Champion Edition, and Hyper Fighting. In 2000, Super Street Fighter II X was released for the Dreamcast in Japan, offering an online two-player mode. In 2003, Hyper Street Fighter II: The Anniversary Edition was released in Japan and Asia to celebrate the series’ 15th anniversary. This version combined elements from all five previous Street Fighter II games and was later released for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox in North America and the PAL region as part of the Street Fighter Anniversary Collection. In 2005, the three games in Street Fighter Collection 2 were included in Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 1 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. A version of Super Turbo and the original Street Fighter was later added to Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 2 in 2007. Street Fighter II and Super Street Fighter II are also available as downloadable games for some mobile phone services.

In 2008, an updated version of Super Street Fighter II Turbo was released on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade as Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix. This version included fully redrawn artwork, HD sprites 4.5 times larger than the original, created by artists from UDON. It was the first time Street Fighter characters had new sprites since 2001. The game also fixed some balance issues but allowed players to choose between original arcade gameplay and the updated version.

Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers is an updated version of 1994’s Super Street Fighter II Turbo for the Nintendo Switch. It offers two graphical styles: classic pixel art and modern high-definition art. New gameplay features and balance adjustments were added, along with two new characters: Evil Ryu and Violent Ken, alternate evil forms of Ryu and Ken. Akuma is now playable.

Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors’ Dreams (Street Fighter Zero in Asia and Mexico) was released in 1995. It uses the same characters.

Other media

The first animation based on the Street Fighter franchise is an unofficial animation called Street Outlaw (Hangul: 거리의 무법자; RR: Geori-eui Mubeopja). It was made in South Korea in 1992. The story follows characters named Soryong and Saeng as they go to the world of Street Fighter to fight M. Bison. The film was created and animated by Daiwon Animation and directed by Sang Il Sim. The movie includes characters from other games and movies, such as April O'Neil, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dracula, and Frankenstein's monster. This film is not well-known because it was only released in South Korea and never officially shared outside the country.

In 1994, an anime film titled Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie was released in Japan by Group TAC. A version of this movie in English was made by Manga Entertainment and released on home video in 1995.

Group TAC also created an anime TV series called Street Fighter II V, which first aired on Yomiuri TV in 1995. They also made a two-episode original video animation (OVA) called Street Fighter Alpha: The Movie, released in 1999. Both the TV series and OVA were translated into English by Manga Entertainment. An earlier English version of Street Fighter II V was also made by ADV Films for the UK in the 1990s.

An animated TV series based on Street Fighter was made in the United States by InVision Entertainment. It aired on USA Network from 1995 to 1997. The show followed Guile as he led a group of "Street Fighters" to fight Bison and his enemies.

In 2005, an OVA called Street Fighter Alpha: Generations was made specifically for English-speaking audiences by Studio A.P.P.P.

In 2004, a short educational animation called Street Fighter: Return to the Fujiwara Capital was released in Japan. It was part of the complete edition of the Street Fighter II manga. In this film, Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, and E.Honda travel back in time to learn about Japanese history. The movie has no fighting scenes and was only released in Japan, first on video in 1996 and later on DVD.

In 2009, an OVA called Street Fighter IV: The Ties That Bind was released by Studio 4°C. This animated movie was included as a bonus disc in the Collector's Edition of Street Fighter IV for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The film was part of Capcom's 2008 plan to release games, movies, and a potential TV series.

In Asia, a downloadable movie featuring Juri from Super Street Fighter IV was included in the Collector's Edition of the Xbox 360 version. This 35-minute movie explains Juri's background and is a story that comes before the game. The film was fully translated into English but was not released outside Asia until 2012, when it was added to the Street Fighter 25th Anniversary Collector's Set.

There are four animated trailers for Street Fighter IV that tell stories before the game's events.

The 2012 movie Wreck-It Ralph, which features video game characters living in an arcade, includes brief scenes with Street Fighter characters.

The 2018 movie Ready Player One includes animated Street Fighter characters who appear as avatars in a virtual world.

The first live-action movie, Street Fighter, was released in 1994. It stars Jean-Claude Van Damme as Guile, Raúl Juliá as General M. Bison, and Kylie Minogue as Cammy. This movie inspired an arcade game and a console game with the same name. It also inspired an animated TV series that aired from 1995 to 1997.

A live-action movie called Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li was released in 2009, starring Kristin Kreuk as Chun-Li. This film is often considered one of the worst movies ever made.

In 2010, a live-action short film called Street Fighter: Legacy was made by Joey Ansah and Owen Trevor. It stars John Foo as Ryu and Christian Howard as Ken. Howard and Ansah also wrote the movie, and Ansah appears as Akuma. That same year, Capcom announced plans for more Street Fighter movies.

After Legacy, Ansah and Howard created a TV series called Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist, which was released on Machinima's YouTube channel in 2014. They played Ryu and Ken again, and Mike Moh took over the role of Ryu. A second season, Street Fighter: World Warrior, was planned for 2017 but was later canceled.

A web series called Street Fighter: Resurrection was released on Machinima in 2016. Mike Moh and Christian Howard played Ryu and Ken again.

A scene in the 2018 movie Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween shows Slappy the Dummy using magic to bring action figures of Ryu and Ken to life.

A new live-action movie titled Street Fighter is planned for release by Paramount Pictures on October 16, 2026, in IMAX theaters.

Masaomi Kanzaki's Street Fighter II manga was one of the few Street Fighter comics translated into English. It was originally published in Japan in three volumes and later released in the United States in eight issues. The American version was rearranged to be read left to right.

Masahiko Nakahira created four Street Fighter manga series: Cammy Gaiden, Street Fighter Zero, Street Fighter: Sakura Ganbaru!, and Street Fighter III: Ryu Final. Some of these comics, including Street Fighter Alpha, Sakura Ganbaru, and Ryu Final, have been translated into English by UDON. Two characters Nakahira created, Evil Ryu and Karin Kanzuki, were added to the Street Fighter video games.

• Super Street Fighter II: Cammy Gaiden (1994) – A manga about Cammy in seven chapters. It was first published in Japan in 1994 in six parts. These parts were later combined into one book and released in English by Viz Communications in 1997 as Super Street Fighter II: Cammy. The seventh chapter was printed in 1994 as a bonus in another comic but was never translated into English.

• Street Fighter III: Ryu Final (1998) – A manga adaptation of the Street Fighter III series in two volumes. A translated version was released by UDON in 2008.

• Street Fighter: Sakura Ganbaru! (1996) – A story about Sakura Kasugano as

Traditional games

• An Irish software company named CryptoLogic created a slot machine that is based on the Street Fighter II series.
• In 1994, White Wolf released a game called Street Fighter: The Storytelling Game, which is based on the Street Fighter series and includes characters from Super Street Fighter II. The game used rules similar to those found in the World of Darkness games.
• In 2006, Sabertooth Games released a set of cards featuring Street Fighter characters for its Universal Fighting System (UFS) collectible card game.
• A trading card game called Epic Battles, which was released by Score Entertainment and is no longer available, includes Street Fighter characters as well as characters from other fighting games, such as Mortal Kombat.
• In 2018, Jasco Games started a successful Kickstarter campaign for Street Fighter: The Miniatures Game. The game was planned to be delivered in 2019 but was eventually delivered in 2021 after delays.

Characters

Besides the characters listed below, some games and movies in the Street Fighter series have introduced characters that are only officially part of those specific games or movies. Examples include the Monitor Cyborg from Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie and its related game, Shin from the browser game Street Fighter Online: Mouse Generation, and Blade, Arkane, Kyber, F7, and Sawada from an arcade game based on the 1994 Street Fighter movie. Many characters from the Street Fighter series also appear in Street Fighter EX and later versions of the game. However, these games later became their own separate series called Fighting EX Layer, and connections to the Street Fighter characters were removed. Street Fighter 6 was the first main game in the series to include playable characters from other companies. It added Terry Bogard and Mai Shiranui from SNK's Fatal Fury series in its second season pass. The characters listed below are based on their playable versions in the most complete home editions of each game. In the first Street Fighter game, only Ryu and Ken are usually playable. More details about each character can be found in the sections about their specific games.

Reception

Since the first Street Fighter game was released in August 1987, the series sold 35 million copies of home software by 2014 and 46 million copies as of 2021. It also sold over 500,000 arcade cabinets, which generated more than $1 billion in revenue from arcade sales. This success made Street Fighter one of the best-selling video game franchises. As of 2014, Street Fighter was Capcom's second most successful franchise after Resident Evil and its third most popular software franchise after Resident Evil and Monster Hunter.

The best-selling game in the series is Street Fighter II, which earned over $10 billion in total revenue from all versions, mostly from arcades. More than 14 million cartridges for the Super NES and Sega Mega Drive/Genesis were sold. As of 2017, Street Fighter II was one of the world’s top three most successful Japan-made arcade games of all time, following Taito’s Space Invaders and Namco’s Pac-Man.

In 1994, Capcom called Street Fighter “the most successful video game series of the decade” while promoting Super Street Fighter II.

Esports

Daigo Umehara, known as "Daigo" or "The Beast" in the West and "Umehara" or "Ume" in Japan, is the most famous Street Fighter player in the world and is often considered the best. He currently holds a Guinness World Records title for being "the most successful player in major Street Fighter tournaments."

"Evo Moment 37," also called the "Daigo Parry," refers to a part of a Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike semi-final match at the Evolution Championship Series 2004 (Evo 2004) between Daigo Umehara and Justin Wong. During this match, Umehara blocked 15 hits in a row from Wong's "Super Art" move while having very low health. Umehara then won the match. "Evo Moment #37" is often described as the most famous and unforgettable moment in the history of competitive video games. At one time, it was the most-watched competitive gaming moment ever, and it has been compared to famous sports events like Babe Ruth's called shot and the Miracle on Ice.

Hajime "Tokido" Taniguchi is currently ranked as the #1 Street Fighter V eSports player in the world according to SRK Data eSports player rankings. From Japan, he has won the Evolution Championship Series three times and is widely recognized as one of the best players in the game's history.

Mike "BrolyLegs" Begum was a well-known player who was ranked as high as 378 in the world. He was featured on ESPN E:60 for playing the game using only his mouth to operate the controller.

In popular culture

Street Fighter influenced a type of fighting sport called mixed martial arts (MMA). The first Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event happened in 1993. At the same time, the video games Super Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat II were very popular. UFC promoters said these games were like real-life fighting tournaments.

Street Fighter II has been used in hip hop music by many artists, including The Lady of Rage, Nicki Minaj, Lupe Fiasco, Megan Thee Stallion, Dizzee Rascal, Lil B, Sean Price, and Madlib. This began in 1993 with Hi-C’s song “Swing’n” and DJ Qbert’s track “Track 10” in 1994. Both used parts of Street Fighter II. The Street Fighter film soundtrack from 1994 was the first major film soundtrack to mostly include hip hop music.

DJ Qbert said, “I think hip-hop is a cool thing, I think Street Fighter is a cool thing.” Vice magazine noted that Street Fighter’s themes of competition and standing out fit well with rappers’ experiences. Grime DJ Logan Sama said, “Street Fighter was a big part of growing up and still affects people today.” Jake Hawkes of Soapbox explained that grime music, which focuses on lyrical battles, is similar to Street Fighter’s one-on-one fights.

Grime artists like Dizzee Rascal used Street Fighter II samples in their music starting in 2002. These samples became a key part of BBC Radio 1Xtra DJ Charlie Sloth’s freestyle segments, using sounds like “Hadouken,” “Shoryuken,” and the “Perfect” announcer sound.