Gamasutra reached out to several designers, pro players, and other luminaries of the fighting game scene for a roundup of comments on Street Fighter II’s 25th anniversary.
One of the people we heard back from following initial publication of that roundup is Daigo Umehara, aka “The Beast,” a legendary esports star whose skill has earned him the nickname 2D Kakutō Gēmu no Kami (God of 2D Fighting Games). He’s particularly known for his string of tournament victories on Street Fighter II, including an epochal win that has come to be known as “Moment 37.”
Umehara told us about his earliest memories of the game, and his reminisces make clear what a huge cultural phenomenon Street Fighter II spawned in his home country of Japan, and how the game was instrumental in creating the esports scene as we know it today.
Here is his full comment.