Index:
Games
Other Media
- Accidental Innuendo: When the numeral "5" looks like the letter "S" during match play, "5 HIT COMBO" has a different interpretation.
- Audience-Alienating Premise: Being a Recursive Adaptation of a poorly-received movie, as well as having digitized graphics akin to the competing series Mortal Kombat instead of the standard art style, turned off many fans of the franchise and contributed to the game's commercial failure.
- Cult Classic: The console version isn't talked about much, but is fondly remembered by those who've played it and is considered superior to the arcade version.
- Ensemble Dark Horse: While he may be seen as a joke now by a majority, including Capcom themselves, Captain Sawada is fondly remembered by those who've played the console version, thanks to his revamped moveset.
- Harsher in Hindsight: In M. Bison's Arcade ending, his rule is described as spreading across the Globe "like a cancer." Considering that it was well known that Raúl Juliá had cancer at the time...
- Heartwarming Moments: As opposed to the full-one Downer Ending he got in the arcade version, Zangief's console ending is a lot happier. There, after defeating Bison and returning to Moscow, he becomes its undisputed wrestling champion. Eventually getting bored with only winning there, he becomes a member of Guile's security team — having since pulled a full Heel–Face Turn after realizing Bison lied to him — and strikes up a friendly rivalry with Honda, accompanied by a smiling photo of the two with an arm round each other.
- Narm Charm: If you and your opponent get into a throwing war, counter your opponent's throws enough to hear "SLAMMASTER!". It's undoubtedly goofy but still a fun soundbyte, especially when you pull it off yourself.
- No Problem with Licensed Games: While the arcade version is pretty terrible, fans were surprised to find that the console version was actually a pretty decent game, since it plays more like an actual Street Fighter game — due to being developed in-house by Capcom themselves and running on a modified version of the Super Street Fighter II: Turbo engine — and has Dee Jay and Blanka as extra fighters instead of the generic Bison Troopers. It was also the first game in the series to feature EX Attacks, which would make it into the proper series and become a pretty important part of the gameplay in games they're included in.
- Older Than They Think:
- The arcade version was the first game to give Vega a multiple flip kick Super Combo (Hell's Scarlet), which became a standard part of his movelist (Scarlet Terror) in other games, starting with Street Fighter Alpha 3.
- Honda's Super Shiko special move in the arcade version became the Shikofumi command move in Street Fighter IV.
- The home version was the first Street Fighter game to feature EX Attacks, predating Street Fighter III 2nd Impact by a couple years.
- The arcade version was the first Street Fighter game to have more than one Super Combo per character.
- This is the first game where Akuma's name appears in-game. It is also the first game where he's playable from the start instead of being a secret character.
- It was the only Street Fighter game to have a "proper" Story Mode until Street Fighter V.
- The Problem with Licensed Games: The arcade version is notoriously considered a low point in the history of the games. The pacing is slow and clunky, the graphics and animation are completely hideous, the balance is some of the worst in the franchise, the special move mechanics are off, and the game is rife with Fake Difficulty; given the AI's tendency to spam impossible combos with impunity and immediately punish even the slightest mistakes, to the point where it's near-impossible to use a non-command throw on them because they'll counter it almost without fail. Unsurprisingly, all of this comes from a result of a Troubled Production from an inexperienced team being roped into cashing in on Mortal Kombat. Capcom's attempt to bring it to the home market, despite being developed in-house and fixing a lot of the flaws found in the arcade version, sadly didn't fare much better.
- Tear Jerker:
- Zangief's arcade ending is really depressing, especially since he was such a lovable oaf in the movie. Despite realizing that Bison had lied to him and accordingly defeating him, he is still tormented by the crimes he committed in Bison's name, so he flees the country out of guilt and is never heard from again.
- Two of Blanka's win quotes are upsetting. One has him begging for someone to stop the voices in his head, while the other has him ask what happened to him. His ending also has Blanka vanishing without a trace despite a frantic search through the rubble of Bison's collapsed lair by Guile, with several reporting that they heard "the cries of a wild animal" as it fell. However, there are persistent rumors that Blanka and Dr Dhalsim survived the Shadaloo incident, with the two going into hiding as the Doctor works on a means to reverse the process that mutated Carlos; but no one knows whether it's true or if he'll be successful if so.
