In the past blogs that I have posted, I have always discussed my childhood memories of video games that I used to play in the past.  And I will actually do that from time to time.  But sometimes, I might wander off and talk about something but it will still remain in the retro world.

For example…..

So the E3 is over and the smoke is clearing.  From what I was seeing online, we are in for an amazing year of gaming.  Also, there have been announcements of “new” retro gaming systems that are coming out.  One in particular is the Neo Geo Mini. Which I must say, I am actually excited for.

But after seeing the lineup of games that are on the American and International systems, I came to a conclusion of personal reflection…..  Why are there so many fighting games?  But when I say that, let me explain.  I will start with the Street Fighter series.

When the first one came out, there were huge buttons and somewhat difficult to control characters.  But then again, this was years ago and I wasn’t that great at games like that.  But anyway, when Street Fighter II came out, it was completely new and different compared to the SF I.  There were more characters to choose from, the graphic and music were a lot better, and the character control was even better than before and that is what made it awesome!  But then, they started to bring out more.  I mean seriously, look at this:

Hyper Street Fighter 2 Anniversary Edition Capcom 2004 Videogame
Marvel Super Heroes Vs. Street Fighter Capcom 1997 Videogame
Street Fighter Capcom 1987 Videogame
Street Fighter – The Movie Capcom/Incredible Technologies 1995 Videogame
Street Fighter Alpha – Warriors’ Dreams Capcom 1995 Videogame
Street Fighter Alpha 2 Capcom 1996 Videogame
Street Fighter Alpha 3 Capcom 1998 Videogame
Street Fighter Anniversary Edition Ultracade Technologies 2004 Videogame
Street Fighter EX Arika/Capcom 1996 Videogame
Street Fighter EX Plus Arika/Capcom 1997 Videogame
Street Fighter EX2 Arika/Capcom 1998 Videogame
Street Fighter EX2 Plus Capcom 1999 Videogame
Street Fighter II Capcom 1991 Videogame
Street Fighter II Premier / Gottlieb 1993 Pinball
Street Fighter II – Champion Edition Capcom 1991 Videogame
Street Fighter II – Hyper Fighting Capcom 1992 Videogame
Street Fighter II – Rainbow Edition Hung Hsi Enterprise TAIWAN 1993 Videogame
Street Fighter II – The World Warrior Capcom 1991 Videogame
Street Fighter II Champion Edition Accelerator Pt. II Capcom 1990 Videogame
Street Fighter II’ – Champion Edition Capcom 1992 Videogame
Street Fighter II’ – Champion Edition (Rainbow) Hung Hsi Enterprise TAIWAN 1993 Videogame
Street Fighter II’ – Champion Edition (Red Wave) Unknown 1992 Videogame
Street Fighter II’ – Hyper Fighting Capcom 1992 Videogame
Street Fighter II’ – Yellow Label Edition Capcom 1995 Videogame
Street Fighter II’ Turbo – Hyper Fighting Capcom 1992 Videogame
Street Fighter II: The Tournament Battle Capcom 1991 Videogame
Street Fighter III – 2nd Impact Capcom 1998 Videogame
Street Fighter III – 3rd Strike Capcom 1999 Videogame
Street Fighter III – New Generation Capcom 1997 Videogame
Street Fighter IV Capcom 2008 Videogame
Street Fighter Zero Capcom 1995 Videogame
Street Fighter Zero 2 Capcom 1996 Videogame
Street Fighter Zero 2 Alpha Capcom 1996 Videogame
Street Fighter Zero 3 Capcom 1998 Videogame
Street Fighter Zero 3 Upper Capcom 2001 Videogame
Super Street Fighter – Tournament Edition Capcom 1993 Videogame
Super Street Fighter II – The New Challengers Capcom 1993 Videogame
Super Street Fighter II – The New Challengers (Rainbow Edition) Hung Hsi Enterprise TAIWAN 1994 Videogame
Super Street Fighter II – The New Challengers: Tournament Edition Capcom 1993 Videogame
Super Street Fighter II Turbo Capcom 1994 Videogame
Super Street Fighter II X: Grand Master Challenge Capcom 1994 Videogame
Turbo Street Fighter II: Champion Edition – Hyper Fighting Capcom 1992 Videogame
X-Men Vs. Street Fighter

In case you missed it, there were a total of 43 versions of Street Fighter.  And the worst part is, I kept pumping quarters into each and every version. But all that really ever changed was adding a few extra characters or changing the speed for some.  Don’t get me wrong, I loved the Street Fighter collection as much as the next person does, but is that really necessary?  I know for the most part of some of the machines, it’s just a replacement board and marquee and a few other things, but really?!?!?!

Then there was the Neo Geo system, where everyone was going ballistic for King of the Fighters…..

Fatal Fury: King Of Fighters SNK 1991 Videogame
King Of Fighters ’94, The SNK 1994 Videogame
King Of Fighters ’95, The SNK 1995 Videogame
King Of Fighters ’96, The SNK 1996 Videogame
King Of Fighters ’97, The SNK 1997 Videogame
King of Fighters ’98 Ultimate Match, The SNK 2008 Videogame
King Of Fighters ’98: Dream Match Never Ends, The SNK 1998 Videogame
King Of Fighters ’98: The Slugfest, The SNK 1998 Videogame
King Of Fighters ’99, The SNK 1999 Videogame
King Of Fighters ’99: Millennium Battle, The SNK 1999 Videogame
King Of Fighters 2000, The SNK 2000 Videogame
King Of Fighters 2001, The SNK/Eolith 2001 Videogame
King Of Fighters 2002, The EOLITH 2002 Videogame
King Of Fighters 2003, The SNK Playmore 2003 Videogame
King Of Fighters 2005, The SNK Playmore 2004 Videogame
King of Fighters Maximum Impact Regulation A SNK 2007 Videogame
King of Fighters Sky Stage SNK 2009 Videogame
King of Fighters XI, The SNK Playmore 2006 Videogame
King of Fighters XII, The SNK 2008 Videogame
King of Fighters XIII, The SNK 2010 Videogame
King of Fighters, The: Neo Wave

Unbelievable!!!!  Besides adding characters and changing the art and making new moves, I don’t understand why there was so much hype to the genre.  And again, I loved the games at the time and played a lot, but today I am thinking, why the heck did they do so much?

Unlike the Mortal Kombat series that had a total of 5 versions in the arcade.  But between 1,2,3 and Ultimate again, the graphics changed, more characters, more ways to die or do Friendship moves or even Babalities.  Once again, hundreds of dollars fed into these machines and I loved them all, with the exception of Mortal Kombat 4, which attempted to cross the 3-D line with new moves and more.  Epic fail.  But later on, they had a huge success with the Playstation 4 and Xbox versions of Mortal Kombat X and XL.

I can understand having one or two games to follow a successful game, but everything listed above just doesn’t make sense to me.  Once again, I know that new games came out all the time.  Is it like when dealing with cars?  You can have the 2017 model with a CD player or 2018 with the MP3 player.  Seems like when dealing with video games, it really is bells and whistles that will attract the player.  Oh well, I guess I’ll just go back to playing Donkey Kong and Pacman.  At least when they do something different, it is COMPLETELY different.

By the way, the views and opinions of KCAIC are not those of Old School Gamer Magazine.  And sometimes it might not be 100% accurate.  🙂  It’s just the opinion of one old gamer that sometimes has trouble trying to……

Keep Calm and Insert Coin

Brad Feingold Brad Feingold (118 Posts)

Brad has been a die hard arcade fan ever since he can remember. From the first time he played Space Invaders, to the first time he played Pacman, Brad has always had a love for video games. Hanging out at either the Great American Fun Factory in the mall, or spending the night in front of the glowing games at the local roller rink, he was always thinking about when he can spend the next quarter. He also worked at Babbages, which is now GameStop, for over six years. Mostly because they had a really sweet checkout policy on new products and great discounts. But since he had the Atari 2600, he has never looked back and owned some of the greatest home machines, NES, SNES, GENESIS, Turbo Graphix 16, GameBoy, Game Gear, Lynx, Playsation 1,2,3,4 and Vita, XBOX, Gamecube, and N64...just to name a few. Brad is also a reviewer for Mobile Beat Magazine as well as a freelance videographer, part time disc jockey, performing artist and photographer. But has a true love is for video games and Star Wars, as he is a member of the 501st Central Garrison. His ultimate dream is to own a fully working pinball machine and arcade machine. Difficult to say which one, but a Star Wars one would be nice start.