
Back on August 30, 1987, Capcom released Street Fighter in arcades, which seemed relatively innocuous until you gave it a second look. The graphics were average for the time, the voice acting was quite muffled, and the controls were strict and unforgiving. You could normally only choose a single character – a redheaded, red-shoed martial artist named Ryu – unless a second player came on, in which case they could play a blonde clone named Ken. Most people who play it would agree that it’s not the best game in the series, but there were people who saw its potential, and decided to continue the franchise with Street Fighter II. With that, one of the video games’ biggest icons stepped into the spotlight.
Over the past 25 years, Street Fighter has worked itself up from humble beginnings in the arcade to being a cultural phenomenon throughout the world. Millions of people interact with it every day, in a myriad of ways. In all truth, the fans define the franchise as much as the games. And it was these people who inspired the creation of the Street Fighter 25th Anniversary Collector’s Set.
This set represents the combined passion and enthusiasm of literally hundreds of people who have contributed to making Street Fighter games over the last 25 years, and serves as a love letter to anyone who cares about the franchise. When we first met to discuss the set’s creation, the two questions we asked were “What is the maximum amount of stuff we can get into this box?” and “How do we create something that celebrates all the different kinds of fans we have out there?” These questions helped lead us to one of the most intensive, thoughtful, and fan-oriented collector’s sets in Capcom history.
So, let’s look at our different sources of inspiration. What is Street Fighter? Well, the easiest place to start is with the games. Obviously, without the Street Fighter games, there would not be anything else. We included all the titles currently available for PlayStation 3, representing many of the series’ highlights. Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition and Street Fighter x Tekken are included as physical discs. We’re also including all of the costume DLC for SSFIVAE (that’s over 100 costumes!) and for SFxT, the 12 additional character DLC and all available Swap costumes. You can also download two of our digital titles, Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix and Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition. With all of that, you’ll have something to play for whatever mood you’re in.
When you get your Collector’s Set for PS3, you are in for a special treat. Sony, being a big supporter of fighting game fans and Street Fighter fans in particular, actually came to us at Capcom and told us that they want to help celebrate the 25th Anniversary by offering additional content for PlayStation 3. As such, the PS3 set includes Street Fighter Alpha, Street Fighter Alpha 2, and Street Fighter Alpha 3 as PSone Classic titles; Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max as a PSP download, all downloadable content for Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition, and lots of avatars (over 170). We are proud to be working with Sony to get this to you.
We knew from fan feedback that people also enjoy Street Fighter beyond just playing the games. One of the most pervasive ways that fans interact with the franchise away from consoles and arcades is through the artwork. The games are filled with great art, and this inspires a wide variety of artists from all over the world. We wanted to capture a piece of that, and bring recognition to some of the incredible pieces that have been created, so we put a call out to artists around the world to participate. We got hundreds of entries, but were eventually able to narrow it down to a select sample to be included in a 64-page hardcover art book.
I myself am a music lover, and Street Fighter’s music is recognizable to gamers and non-gamers alike. Whether it’s the iconic Street Fighter 2 main theme or the Guile theme (it really does go with everything!), Street Fighter has proven that throwing a punch is much better with music. So, we wanted to include something for audiophiles by providing 11 discs of music. This includes nine discs of soundtracks – covering Street Fighter, Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Street Fighter Alpha 3, Street Fighter III: Third Strike, Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition, and Street Fighter x Tekken – and two discs of fan-created music. As with the artwork, we asked people to send in their music. The talent in the response humbled us, and made it incredibly difficult to make our selections from the 300+ entries. However, we managed to create two CDs: one with remixes/remakes of existing themes, and one which is original music inspired by Street Fighter. Some of these fans have serious futures ahead of them, and it’s an honor to be able to include them in the Collector’s Set and make them a piece of the franchise’s history.
Then, of course, you have the collectors… the people who like to showcase items on their shelves. Here again, we have this group covered. Inside the large black box (which itself is a collectible), you’ll find an eight-inch statue of Ryu flying up with a Shoryuken. Not only is it a highly-detailed statue (the texture on his gi is some of the best I’ve seen on a figure that size), but the flames in the base even light up to show off at night. Then we have the life-size, embroidered Ryu replica belt, complete with the furinkazan kanji.
Continuing on, we have a two-disc Blu-Ray set, with over 12 hours of content. This features a lot of animated content, including the entirety of the incredibly cheesy (but-oh-so-fun) Saturday morning cartoon show from 1995, Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie (in my opinion, featuring some of the best fight scenes choreographed for any film, live-action or animated), Street Fighter IV: The Ties That Bind, and the Super Street Fighter IV Original Video Animation, aka the “Juri anime,” which is being released in English for the first time ever. However, the most exciting piece of video content is “I am Street Fighter,” a brand new documentary we commissioned. As you may have been able to tell through this post, Street Fighter has impacted many people’s lives, and vice-versa. That’s what this documentary looks at – the people who have influenced the Street Fighter franchise, and the people whose lives have been influenced by it. It’s a fascinating, and occasionally heartwarming look into the cultural phenomenon.
As you can see, we kept every type of fan in mind when creating the Street Fighter 25th Anniversary Collector’s Set and we’re incredibly proud to bring it to fans. In fact, there has never been a better time to be a Street Fighter fan. Whether you were there from the beginning, or just began in the past couple of years, you are part of a rich legacy and vibrant community. You can see both of these in action at our anniversary website.
You make Street Fighter what it is. You are Street Fighter. So from all of us at Capcom – thank you!
…Also, SHORYUKEN!!!
I ordered mine back when I reported its announcement in May! I have to say, while $150 sounds steep, it’s entirely justifiable for this collection. All the content packed into this box is astounding and I can’t wait to receive my copy from Amazon.
Also, I have to agree Andrew. The Street Fighter II: Animated Movie has brilliantly choreographed fight scenes and an adrenaline fueled soundtrack to go along with it. Definitely an absolute classic!
No Streetfighter EX Collection Thats Not Right! This Is A Definite Weak Anniversary Collection! Capcom Refuses To Give Fan What They Really Want! I’ll Pass
“I’m glad to be a Renegade.”
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Street fighter stinks. If I’m forced to play an outdated fighting game give me Mortal Kombat and I’d even pass on that. Boringgggg!!!
What a bunch of junk. 12 disc of horrible stree fighter music. Give me a break.
PS3,320GB no Space make a new one like PS3,1000GB take out the blu-ray for more space
now if only we would get the store update… but time will tell i guess… and to the troll you need to get off your high chair and stop being a hillbilly and get out of your portablepotty and watch nascar in your trailer park trash place or where ever you can people like you should just deal with it not all games are going be DLC. i”m not bickering that SFXT is not going be on psn so yeah that’s just my word and i’m done.
“SFxT, the 12 additional character DLC”
thank you god. I bought this but I thought it was only the costume dlc not the characters.
@Lightning Fear,
Seriously dude, if you want to call EVERYONE that makes a comment on this blog a kid, then at LEAST use proper grammar, sentence structure, and spelling when you post. Your posts are immature, useless, and just plain annoying. NASCAR is not even a “Sport” in my opinion, and the games are hardly entertaining. Just go out and buy one disc. Since you’re all about saving the laser, I think you can afford to risk it with ONE disc. Jesus.
@DJPlace~~ What are you getting from the store update today?
+ agentbystry on September 18th, 2012 at 2:42 pm said:
@Lightning Fear,
Seriously dude, if you want to call EVERYONE that makes a comment on this blog a kid, then at LEAST use proper grammar, sentence structure, and spelling when you post. Your posts are immature, useless, and just plain annoying. NASCAR is not even a “Sport” in my opinion, and the games are hardly entertaining. Just go out and buy one disc. Since you’re all about saving the laser, I think you can afford to risk it with ONE disc. Jesus.
Oh contraire mon frere…Regardless of your “opinion” Nascar is without questionable doubt in fact a sport.
A pretty awesome sport too!
TrapLife724
HEYYY i live in my Moms Basement. thats pretty Offensive MAN… take that backkkk.
No update yet? Back to Borderland 2 ……
Video games bring out the best in all of us
Its a shame that I won’t see this Collector’s box around here (I’m in South America right now :( )… The statuette and Audio discs will be missed… :(
But as for the games… Since I already have most of them… (missing just some DLC and avatars…) I won’t be missing them :)…
I hope you Street Fighter fans out there that are able to enjoy this package really don’t miss out this opportunity… The value is really awesome… everything looks outstanding…
Odd question: amongst all this street fighter content in this package why was the original street fighter left out? I for one havent played it since i was a kid but i know it wouldnt blow any ones mind or anything but i mean why was it not released for nostalgic reasons to show the evolution/ roots of the games.
@TrapLife724,
Can we please stop with the personal attacks and the sexist comments. There is no need, everybody can speak for what they want.
Also what wrong with being 43 and/or living in a basement?
hey PhillyTheCat what’s up? i was thinking about getting borderlands 2 but i don’t have enough money for it atm… so i’m going pass for now… i may get one piece and/or Marvel vs capcom orgins.
This has gotta be the funniest set of comments i’ve seen in awhile lol. You guys are are killing me softly with these comments.
One thing i got this for was for the 12 Extra Characters for Street Fighter X Tekken since thats the only DLC i hadn’t already bouught yet. We do get those plus there Alternate Costumes! That was the good part. I was so wanting those Characters. And now i got em’ But for some odd reason they did not Give us the GEMS DLC’s at all. So we still have to buy ALL GEMS here. Arrgg!
Ok last thing to say is about the 8″ Ryu Figurine! As some feared it turned out to be true. The Figurine is made outta Plastic. Cheap Plastic. Not RESIN as some was hoping. Arrgg! It does look nice thoe. And comes with Two Batteries to put into it if u plan to use the Light… Seems like a nice set overall but with certain things left out and some item’s not as expected… Was it worth the 150.00 Well if u don’t have any of these games… Then yes for that price is was a deal… But if ur like me and had all those games and all the DLC then NO it should of been 100.00 at the most! For what we got!
End of My Review from a True Street Fighter fan since the Super Nintendo days! And now all SF’s on PS1. PS2. And PS3…
By: DCS
Had more but they cut off my first part of the review… Figures… Sony shame on ya! They needed to see all of the review not the last half! Arrgg!
I’d have liked every SF game ever included. I probably already have them scattered across various PSP Capcom Classics collections, and there’s that PS2 Anniversary Collection, but still.
FEAR
Just stop. It’s something with you all the time.
This looks like a pretty packed set. If I had the money to spare, I would most definitely get this.
Daggit, I’m being moderated. I know why so I’ll misspell to avoid the filters:
@85, TwinDad, I need to correct you. Traplife is not being s e xist, he’s being h*mophobic in an attempt to make an amusing rhyme with “Fear”
@Traplife, please stop that. This is not a c0ckfight w/ your buddies. This is a public forum & it’s wrong to accidentally hurt LGBT gamers & their loved ones just because you’re trying to bait Lighthead Beer.
But, I agree with Anime girl, this is always amusing so carry on, within reason.
Waiting for the Ultimate Hyper Street Fighter 25th Anniversary Collector’s Set
Funnily enough, we were considering it that as a joke. But to be honest, you’ll probably have to wait until 2037 for that one. :)