History YMMV / StreetFighterII

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: Not in the ''II'' series itself (unless you count oddities like Zangief doing ThatRussianSquatDance with ''UsefulNotes/MikhailGorbachev'' or Chun-Li merrily going back to the life of a "young single girl" [[MoodWhiplash moments after]] paying her respects to her father), but rather [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHpTnxZbb-Q a tie-in 3D simulation ride.]] Whereas the goal of the attraction is to help the heroes stop Bison from escaping the video game and [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou destroying the real world]], the ride features [[OneSceneWonder various random fights between characters]] (Fei Long vs. T. Hawk, E. Honda vs. Zangief, Dhalsim vs. Blanka) that have nothing to do with stopping Bison, not unlike the Zangief/Blanka cage match in ''[[Anime/StreetFighterIITheAnimatedMovie The Animated Movie]]''. And that's before you get to a showdown with a 20-foot-tall Bison, complete with Ryu yelling, "I'm gonna rip your heart out!" [[WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs Really, the whole thing is one big BLAM.]]

* ''[[YMMV/StreetFighterAlphaTheAnimation Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation]]''
* ''[[YMMV/StreetFighterAlphaGenerations Street Fighter Alpha: Generations]]''

* DeaderThanDisco: ''Super Street Fighter II Turbo'' originally had a large, thriving competitive community lasting since its release in 1994. But in 2008, the ''HD Remix'' version was released, causing the competitive community to descend into a massive civil war amongst themselves over which version should be the tournament standard. The conflict caused both old and newer players to RageQuit the competitive scene, and both versions eventually stopped appearing at major fighting game events. Classic ''Super Turbo''[='=]s competitive scene ultimately lived longer, but it will likely never have its thriving community ever again.

** The theme tune. If you can't hum that ''and'' see a nameless fighter punching his opponent's lights out in your mind's eye, you either weren't even alive in 1991 or you were playing the [[SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem SNES]] versions.

** Cammy was the first of the "New Challengers" to be present in most later games, and the only one other than Akuma to be involved in early crossovers. She even made a cameo in ''Disney/WreckItRalph'', albeit wearing something more modest,[[note]]To wit: her camo pantyhose is entirely green now.[[/note]] along with M. Bison, Chun-Li and Zangief.

** ''World Warrior'' Guile status as a Game Breaker is legendary, to the point that some considered it as one of the most broken fighting game character of all time. In fact, it was considered the same character that invented Touch of Death-esque combo (hit confirm that resulted in a KO) into the genre with his Four Fierce Combo. This, on top of his ussual Flash kick and Sonic Boom.
** Bison's ''Champion Edition'' version has deadly priority with most of his attacks, and he has a scissor kick combo that can completely shut down half of the cast. Even when he was {{nerf}}ed in ''Hyper Fighting'' he still had some ridiculous combos.

* GrowingTheBeard[=/=]SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: The original ''[[VideoGame/StreetFighterI Street Fighter]]'' [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness sucks by modern standards]] and wasn't considered anything fussing about in its day either: two playable characters that are just a few pixels from PaletteSwap, unresponsive controls, special moves that rarely if ever work. ''Street Fighter II'', on the other hand, became the TropeCodifier for the FightingGame with better controls, more moves and tons of characters.

** In Zangief's ending, Gorbachev claims that Zangief's victory has proved that "the Soviet spirit can overcome all obstacles". Just months after the game came out, the Soviet Union, still under Gorbachev, was dissolved.
** One Japanese commercial for ''Turbo'' featured a live action Guile duking out against a live action Bison. [[Film/StreetFighter One year later...]]
* LauncherOfAThousandShips: Out of all the ''Street Fighter'' characters, Chun-Li has the most fan-made pairings, namely with Ryu, Ken, Guile, Charlie, [[LesYay Cammy, and Juri]]). While it's not really bad when it comes to most [[ShipToShipCombat shipping wars]], it has caused a bit of varied mileages in the fandom. The ''Street Fighter'' anime from the '90s (and to a lesser extent the manga) have helped Ryu, Ken, and Guile in this regard. Though while they are only good friends in the series one of the reasons why Ryu is fairly popular in this regard is that unlike the other three men mentioned here Ryu is the only one whose still alive and not HappilyMarried. This [[JustifiedTrope justified]] in the case of Charlie since the official storyline states that they posed as husband and wife while traveling in search of Bison.
* LuckyTranslation: Guile's sonic boom has been misheard as "sabit-ku!" in Malaysia. Coincidentally, "sabit-ku" literally means "my sickle" (or loosely, "my crescent") in Malay. Guess how the sonic boom is represented on screen.

-->'''Dhalsim''': ''I will meditate and then destroy you.''

** Guile isn't too far behind either thanks to [[MemeticMutation his theme going with everything.]] And then his going home to be a family man.

** Zangief is half man, half chest hair, is FriendToAllChildren, and has a primarily hug-based moveset. Do the math.
** Bison. Why ''else'' would a super powerful man get twelve beautiful teenage girls brainwashed into becoming his BodyguardBabes, huh?

** Guile's sonic boom attack has been misheard as ''Sabit-Ku!'' in Malaysia. And in South America and South-East Asia, Sagat's uppercut attack was often misheard as "Tiger Franchise/RoboCop". And then there's Chun-Li's "Mini Taxi" in Brazil and Dhalsim's "Buka-Fire" in Malaysia. It seems that the low quality voice samples, coupled with distortions caused by arcade owners turning up the volume on what are very cheap speakers on ''retrofitted'' half-decade-old arcade cabinets, made the game extremely prone to this trope.

** While the simplified moves and character lineup (only nine characters) of the GameBoy port can be forgiven due to the systems obvious limitations, the unresponsive controls, single digit framerate and slow as molasses physics utterly destroy the gameplay, leaving it a barely playable mess.
** Averted with ''Turbo Revival'' for the GBA surprisingly. Despite having to cram a 6-button fighter on a system with only 4, the gameplay is still surprisingly fluid (helped by a optional "Easy Control" mode that simplifies special moves). Not to mention that it sports exclusives stages for many fighters (Even Akuma, who also now has a Super) plus you can even unlock Shin Akuma!
** Not the whole game, but the SegaGenesis port of ''Super Street Fighter II'' had ''horrible'' music. Quite pathetic considering the earlier ''Special Champion Edition'' had music that was very faithful to the [=CPS1=] original music, even with the Genesis' limited sound hardware.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Zigzagged. A casual gamer playing this after ''[[VideoGame/StreetFighterIII Street Fighter III 3rd Strike]]'' or ''IV'' may wonder what all the fuss was about, [[SeriousBusiness but it's definitely averted in]] TournamentPlay.

* {{Tearjerker}}: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_a_reRahK5M The True Credits/Staff Roll theme.]] Even to this day, many people who played this game growing up still get TearsOfJoy in their eyes when they hear this.

** Guile isn't too far behind either thanks to [[MemeticMutation his theme going with everything.]]

** Guile's sonic boom attack has been misheard as ''Sabit-Ku!'' in Malaysia. And in South America and South-East Asia, Sagat's uppercut attack was often misheard as "Tiger Franchise/RoboCop". And then there's Chun-Li's "Mini Taxi" in Brazil and Dhalsim's "Buka-Fire" in Malaysia. It seems that the low quality voice samples, coupled with distortions caused by arcade owners turning up the volume on what are very cheap speakers on arcade cabinets, made the game extremely prone to this trope.

** Guile's sonic boom attack has been misheard as ''Sabit-Ku!'' in Malaysia. And in South America and South-East Asia, Sagat's uppercut attack was often misheard as "Tiger Franchise/RoboCop". And then there's Chun-Li's "Mini Taxi" and Dhalsim's "Booka-Fire". It seems that the low quality voice samples, coupled with distortions caused by arcade owners turning up the volume on what are very cheap speakers on arcade cabinets, made the game extremely prone to this trope.

** Guile's sonic boom attack has been misheard as ''Sabit-Ku!'' in Malaysia. And in South America and South-East Asia, Sagat's uppercut attack was often misheard as "Tiger Franchise/RoboCop". And then there's Chun-Li's "Mini Taxi" and Dhalsim's "Booka-Fire". It seems that the low quality voice samples, coupled with distortions caused by arcade owners turning up the volume on what are very cheap speakers, made the game extremely prone to this trope.

** Guile's sonic boom attack has been misheard as ''Sabit-Ku!'' in Malaysia. And in South America and South-East Asia, Sagat's uppercut attack was often misheard as "Tiger Franchise/RoboCop".

** Guile's sonic boom attack has been misheard as ''Sabit-Ku!'' in Malaysia. And in Brazil, Malaysia and Indonesia, Sagat's uppercut attack was often misheard as "Tiger Franchise/RoboCop".

* LuckyTranslation: Guile's sonic boom has been misheard as "sabit-ku!" in Malaysia. Coincidentally, "sabit-ku" literally means "my sickle! (or loosely, "my crescent!") in Malay. Guess how the sonic boom is represented on screen.

** Guile's sonic boom attack has been misheard as ''Sabit-Ku!'' in Malaysia. And in Brazil, Malaysia and Indonesia, Sagat's uppercut attack was misheard as "Tiger Franchise/RoboCop".

* MemeticSexGod: Vega. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtUzpzx7XJU Read the comments on this video and you'll see "Chuck Norris Facts" styles comments about Vega's beauty.]]
-->''Vega once entered the Sexiest Man in the Universe contest. He took first, second, and third place. He later killed the judges for naming him second and third."
--> "...The reason Vega wears a mask is because if he made eye contact with women they would instantly get pregnant."

* DeaderThanDisco: ''Super Turbo'' originally had a large, thriving competitive community lasting since its release in 1994. But in 2008, the ''HD Remix'' version was released, causing the competitive community to descend into a massive civil war amongst themselves over which version should be the tournament standard. The conflict caused both old and newer players to RageQuit the competitive scene, and both versions eventually stopped appearing at major fighting game events. Classic ''Super Turbo''[='=]s competitive scene ultimately lived longer, but it will likely never have its thriving community ever again.

** Also, the theme tune. If you can't hum that ''and'' see a nameless fighter punching his opponent's lights out in your mind's eye, you weren't even alive in 1991... or you were playing the {{SNES}} versions.

** Vega is also very popular. He even placed 10th on IGN's Top 25 Street Fighter Characters list.
** Cammy was the first of the "New Challengers" to be present in most later games, and the only one other than Akuma to be involved in early crossovers. She even made a cameo in ''Disney/WreckItRalph'', albeit wearing something more modest[[note]]to wit: her camo pantyhose is entirely green now[[/note]], along with M. Bison, Chun-Li and Zangief.

** World Warrior Guile status as a Game Breaker is legendary, to the point that some considered it as one of the most broken fighting game character of all time. In fact, it was considered the same character that invented Touch of Death-esque combo (hit confirm that resulted in a KO) into the genre with his Four Fierce Combo. This, on top of his ussual Flash kick and Sonic Boom.

* LauncherOfAThousandShips: Out of all the ''SF'' characters, Chun-Li has the most fan-made pairings, namely with Ryu, Ken, Guile, Charlie, [[LesYay Cammy, and Juri]]). While it's not really bad when it comes to most [[ShipToShipCombat shipping wars]], it has caused a bit of varied mileages in the fandom. The ''Street Fighter'' anime from the '90s (and to a lesser extent the manga) have helped Ryu, Ken, and Guile in this regard. Though while they are only good friends in the series one of the reasons why Ryu is fairly popular in this regard is that unlike the other 3 men mentioned here Ryu is the only one whose still alive and not HappilyMarried. This [[JustifiedTrope justified]] in the case of Charlie since the official storyline states that they posed as husband and wife while traveling in search of Bison.

* MainstreamObscurity: Even those who haven't played this (read: a lot of people) know it as the grandfather of a modern fighting game.

* [[FirstInstallmentWins Second Installment Wins]]: These games (or, at least, series of games) are the most well-known games of the ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' franchise; when most people talk about ''Street Fighter'', chances are that they really mean ''Street Fighter II'' It is one of the most innovative and popular video games of all time; it brought the "tournament fighter" genre to the masses and popularized six-button controllers, and its influence has not waned in the years since its debut.

* SequelDisplacement: Before the Internet, you could count the number of people who played the first StreetFighter game on one hand. Turns out, it's for the best.
* {{Squick}}: In the games with better animation (''VideoGame/SNKVsCapcomSVCChaos'', ''Street Fighter IV''), you can see Dhalsim's limbs actually snapping back like a rubber band after doing one of his stretch attacks. Yech.

* [[FirstInstallmentWins Second Installment Wins]]

-->''Vega once entered the Sexiest Man in the Universe contest. He took first, second, and third place. He later killed the judges for naming him second and third."//
--> "..The reason Vega wears a mask is because if he made eye contact with women they would instantly get pregnant."

** Bison. Why ''else'' would a super powerful man get twelve beautiful teenage girls brainwashed into becoming his BodyguardBabes, huh?

** [[MexicansLoveSpeedyGonzales Brazil Loves Blanka]]: Hilariously, Brazilian player adore Blanka and actually are disappointed that he's not a native Brazilian.

** Cammy was the first of the "New Challengers" to be present in most later games, and the only one other than Akuma to be involved in early crossovers. She even made a cameo in ''Disney/WreckItRalph'', albeit wearing something more modest, along with M. Bison, Chun-Li and Zangief.

* {{Mondegreen}}: Two of Ryu and Ken's special moves (Hadoken and Shoryuken) are easy enough, but their third move is called "Tatsu Maki Sen Puu Kyaku" (translated "Tornado Whirlwind Legs", typically translated as "Hurricane Kick"). As it's said ''really'' fast in Japanese, it ends up sounding more like "Arycheck rucheck!".

** Not the whole game, but the SegaGenesis port of ''Super Street Fighter II'' had ''horrible'' music. Quite pathetic considering the earlier ''Special Champion Edition'' had music that was very faithful to the [=CPS1=] original music.

** While the simplified moves and character lineup (only nine characters) of the GameBoy port can be forgiven due to the systems obvious limitations, the unresponsive controls, single digit framerate and slow as molasses physics utterly destroy the gameplay, leaving it a barely playable mess.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: The eventual fate of ''Super Street Fighter III Turbo HD Remix''. Many top players complained that about the balance changes, specifically that these weren't the ones that they suggested. Combine this with the fact that the game never got an arcade port in Japan and you can see why the game failed to replace the original ''Super Street Fighter II Turbo'' as the standard for competitive play.

* FanFavorite: Chun-Li. She is often referred to as the "First Lady of Fighting Games", and appearances by her in anything involving StreetFighter are almost mandatory. Of course, there was a [[StreetFighterIITheAnimatedMovie certain scene in the animated movie]] that helped cause her popularity to jump by quite a lot ''(to the extent that it caused [[TekkenTheMotionPicture other movies]] [[FatalFury based on fighting games]] to play FollowTheLeader)'', but overall, the fighting game community has a lot of respect for Chun-Li.

* FanFavorite: Chun-Li. She is often referred to as the "First Lady of Fighting Games", and appearances by her in anything involving StreetFighter are almost mandatory. Of course, there was a [[StreetFighterIITheAnimatedMovie certain scene in the animated movie]] that helped cause her popularity to jump by quite a lot, but overall, the fighting game community has a lot of respect for Chun-Li.