Fighting games have now hit a level where choosing a main character is a bigger choice than what car you’re looking to buy. In between abilities, combos, and advanced EVO strategies, your pick in characters is like choosing a career path in college. Which might explain why my Studies in E. Honda degree now gathers dust. I knew I should have minored in Balrog-ology!

So, who is your favorite character from Street Fighter?

While the series has been around since 1987, its rise to prominence came with the release of Street Fighter II in arcades in 1991. The heaps of praise laid onto the game are never ending: Its revolutionary special move system remains the standard. It reinvigorated the arcade industry. It’s the highest selling third-party game on the SNES, and the list goes on. But the biggest improvement it brought to competitive gaming, for the sake of this article, was its big roster of playable characters! With every new release, there’s always a spark of excitement when new characters are introduced. 

Which is why I’m basing my pick on looks alone. For one, I am a caveman when it comes to any new concept in fighting games anymore. Things like chip damage, super cancels, frame invulnerability. I don’t have the reaction time to even block correctly, let alone figure out the mechanics of a game engine in the middle of a match. Also, I’m trying to keep it very vain here. Again, not quite worried about the moves or how easy it is to pull them off, we’re looking at first impressions here. Who looks cool enough to pull that cursor over their way?

For me, I’ve always been a Blanka guy. In Street Fighter 2, you have all these realistic depictions of martial artists. Ryu is a karate guy, Balrog is a boxer, Sagat is a muay thai fighter. And then, out of the jungle, there’s a beast man with all green skin, a bushel of orange hair, and is conducting electricity off of his body somehow. That’s sure as hell different than the sumo wrestler! My second choice would probably have to be R. Mika from Street Fighter Alpha 3. I can’t help it, I have a weakness for lucha libre!

So who’s your favorite character? Can we start a Yoga Flame war in the comments? Let us know what you think in the Boss Rush Discord.

Featured Image: Capcom