It's a brisk fall day in as Krog and I drive up the hill towards our destination, I bring up the matches we had a few days prior and what we could do differently if the girl who plays Blanka is there or that japanese dude that spams the Shoryuken. As we park the car and head towards the doors I feel my anxiety rise...or is that my chi? Krog boasts about how he pummeled the guy playing Zangeif and how he was totally feeling his Krojo after knocking the guy playing Guile off his win streak. The chill of the air and the light of the afternoon sun fade as the sounds of HADOKEN's and YOU WIN's fill the stuffy air of the arcade, as we walk thru the door way a wall of Street Fighter II cabinets form wall of neon, electronic euphoria. I reach into my pocket and grab a ten and slide it into the change machine, like a crack addict my hands begin to shake with excitement, I meet up with Krog at one of the machines where there's room to put our quarters down....only five matches ahead of us. We watch as challenger faces off against the current leader of the machine...I study his methods...looking for patterns, patterns that I can exploit. My turn arrives and I throw my quarters in and scroll to my primary fighter...the one I am most familiar with...the first lady of fighting games...
As the announcer says ready...I get into position, run my fingers over the six buttons and get a comfortable grasp on the joystick, my mind is facing on what my first move will be...vertical jump forward, play offensive or jump backwards and turtle? Perhaps a straight vertical jump or risk a spinning bird kick from the getgo to let him know I know how to play the Chunster.....FIGHT! the cheering and noise fade away as the match gets underway, I slip into a sort of tunnel vision as all I'm aware of is my health bar and how my oponent is doing, where's the opening to get a punch in or a kick...do I have enough health to risk the spinning bird again I got him with it twice...should I switch up my style and go on defense...I have the lead...how much time is left...how much of a lead do I have...
The match comes to en end and the dull sounds of the crowd flow back into the room, Krog cheers me on as he drops his quarter in to challenge me, the experience starts again but now the trash talking ensues...
That is what it was like during the early 90's when Street Fighter II rejuvinated the US arcades? I haven't played Street Fighter in the arcades since then but i never stopped playing, and i've been playing Street Fighter IV/SSFIV/AE/2012 since launch, and come a week from this saturday i'll be celebrating playing Street Fighter for 25 years! I don't know but there's a competitive spirit that burns in me every single time I play, it drives me and makes me strive to become better with every match I fight. The best analogy is the competitive nature between Ken and Ryu seen in the story line and the anime's. And in the end it's pure fun!
Our goal was always to pick a machine, and then clear out all the others challengers so that we would be sparring with each other. I didn't mind being defeated if Will could then jump on and take back the machine -- and vice versa. The best thrill, though, was defending yourself from all challengers; to a put a single quarter into the machine, and be challenged for 30 minutes, with no one being able to beat you. A half hour of excitement for a single quarter -- not bad!
ReplyDeleteThose were fun times! I remember that girl who would spam the Blanka ball at Nathans. I remember you driving us to Nathans and me seeing all the Street Fighter II machines just as we walked in and the echo of HADOKEN throughout the arcade. I never told you then but I used to play the original Street Fighter there with some guy I went to high school with, we actually played Street Fighter and he was able to throw fireballs....and that was very VERY hard in SF1!
ReplyDeleteI also played at Adventures in Cross County...now a movie theater.
There was also this little comic book shop in Fleetwood called sports capade I had one of the greatest runs with Chun Li there, I must've held the machine for 30 mins and like 10 kids kept cycling thru but couldn't beat me.
In my freshman year I held a few SNES Street Fighter II dorm tournaments, and I used to play with the guys in my fraternity, at the time I mainly used Ryu and Chun was my secondary, Paul played Blanka and we all used to bust his chops saying he looked alot like him.
Years later I first played SFIII at Dragons Den in Cross County...I never got that into it...and when I heard about SFA I returned to Nathans and the old nostalgia seemed to have returned...since I hadn't played on a stick in years I got obliterated but kept at it. I think the attraction for me in the SFA series was the return of Adon, Gen and Birdie.
So I'm going next Saturday to the Street Fighter 25th anniversary tournament qualifiers in NYC, Mike Connolly is going with me and donth8dre (kontract) is also going. I wish you could've joined me. I'll try and snap some pics and hopefully my nerves don't get the best of me....wish me luck!