Street Fighter: How did I became a fan?

Have you ever wondered "Why am I a fan of x?" I have, especially now that I'm getting closer to Mid-Life Crisis era. There are some things that are easy to explain like say He-Man: it was my first toyline and the Filmation cartoon hd a huge influence on me as a child. Legend of Zelda, It vexed me as a child, but the DIC cartoon made me have some appreciation for it. And it wasn't until Link's Awakening where my English skills were good enough to Master the Legend. Street Fighter is a peculiar one. I wasn't a fan of Fighting Games until Street Fighter II... to be fair the genre didn't truly explode until Street Fighter II.

How did I became a fan if I didn't care about the genre?
I wasn't very interested at first. I avoided playing it for some time, until I simply couldn't weasel my way out... I want to slap 10 year old me for being such a wuss.


So, I got to the character select screen:
OK so we have a Daniel-san-like dude, a surfer Johnny Lawrence dude, Sumo guy, girl (eww!), creepy monster, white Mr.T, Duke (GiJoe) with a weird hairdo, and Mola Ram... 10 year old me went with "Daniel-san" and got his ass kicked HARD by the creepy monster. IIRC, Blanka starred in a few nightmares of mine. Saw the game at Time Out and Dhalsim kicked my ass... Nightmares of him and Blanka haunted my 10-year old self.  As I started to "git gud" the nightmares were about the gay man in a Jason Mask trying to stab me with his Wolverine claw.
By the time I was eleven, I had gotten better at Street Fighter 2 and was able to beat the game. The nightmares were memories of the past. Ryu became my favorite character and go-to guy when playing. When Super Street Fighter 2 came out, I had become a full-fledged Street Fighter 2 fan. Over 90% of my drawings were either TMNT or Street Fighter II related.

I recently have been trying to reestablish a relationship with my old man. He commented that he had kept for a few years a couple of my tween era art until for some reason he threw then away. It's a shame, because I would've liked to see it. I know that compared to many artists it wouldn't be good but I don't have any formal training and I had an OK abilitry to draw. I know some of you have seen some sketches I've done an older it came from the toy chest videos and some quick Doodles that I've done ask references to explain some things. But there's a part of me that would have liked to see how much I have improved. In fact that conversation was the thing that sparked this rant.  the police station came and eventually I got my hands on Street Fighter Alpha 2 gold and Super Street Fighter 2. Hay cancelara en Joy that game and eventually PlayStation tu cama Street Fighter anniversary Edition Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo and Street Fighter 3.
If I'm being brutally honest I played more of Super Street Fighter 2 turbo than the Street Fighter 3 game.

I've commented add-on switch I got ultimate Street Fighter 2 Turbo on the street fighter Collection Games. And the reason is because they have a version of Street Fighter 2.

 and since Super Street Fighter 2 turbo is one of the games that I Rely Upon when I want to have a familiar and predictable experience in gaming, I may have created some attachment to it. Unlike Metal Gear Solid Final Fantasy 7 or shenmue Street Fighter 2 I can take care of it in it under half an hour. This makes it a bite-sized nostalgic experience, that can give me some sense of stability when I'm not feeling that well emotionally and don't want to watch 80s TV. 

While I Like Mortal Kombat, I prefer Street Fighter 2. Gameplay in  SF feels more balanced than in MK. The difficulty feels constant in Street Fighter vs the mostly easy gameplay until you reach the bosses in MK (digitized sprite era) where you need to become a spammer to win...

But in all fairness, Street Fighter has another ace in the hole:
Raúl Juliá


Yes, the Other media adaptations: while technically speaking Mortal Kombat is the better movie, it's a bit less memorable than Street Fighter. Sure, Aussie Kano, Johnny Cage's sunglasses, catchy techno song, and Cary Hiroyuki Tanaka's performance as Shang Tsung are Memorable they pale in comparison to Raul Julia's Bison:
The man carried the whole film while dying!! That's badass!

Take this less popular scene: (I know the Biblical and Tuesday scenes are more popular)
You can see how devastated Bison is by the news of Guile's death. The admiration he has for his opponent and how he takes it over the top without hamming it up too much.

So, long story short:
Memorable characters, addictive gameplay, a disastrous movie whose antagonist made it a delightful experience that was burnt deep into my heart.