Street Fighter II

How to play Street Fighter II

1. Choose Arcade for the complete tour, Versus for a local opponent, or Practice to learn attacks against a standing dummy.
2. Select one of the eight fighters. Read the short command list, choose Arcade difficulty if needed, and press Fight.
3. Move into range, mix light and heavy attacks, and release movement or attack buttons when you want to recover. Holding a button does not repeatedly press it.
4. Guard by holding away. Add Down against low kicks, but stand to defend jumping attacks. Jump over a projectile or answer it with your own.
5. Use directional motions for specials and a close directional medium or heavy strike for a throw. Watch the opponent’s recovery before committing.
6. Win two rounds, choose Continue after each victory, complete bonus challenges and defeat M. Bison to see your fighter’s ending.

Controls

About Street Fighter II

This independent browser recreation takes the original 1991 arcade Street Fighter II: The World Warrior as its reference. The selectable cast is Ryu, E. Honda, Blanka, Guile, Ken, Chun-Li, Zangief and Dhalsim. Balrog, Vega, Sagat and M. Bison remain computer-controlled final challengers. Later-edition additions such as selectable bosses, mirror matches and super meters are outside this version. All code, pixel artwork, stage compositions and synthesized sound were created for this browser game. It does not use a ROM, extracted sprites or the original soundtrack.

Arcade mode takes your chosen fighter through an eleven-match world tour. First come the other seven playable fighters, followed by the four bosses in their familiar order. Each match is best of three rounds, with a 99-second round clock. Empty the opponent’s health bar to win, or have more health when time expires. Equal health produces a draw; three drawn rounds end the match. Losing offers a free Continue that restarts the current match while keeping your opponent progression and score. Completing the final battle leads to an individual authored retelling of your fighter’s ending.

The six attack buttons separate punches and kicks into light, medium and heavy strengths. Light attacks recover quickly, while heavier strikes usually reach farther and leave you committed for longer. Standing close to a rival changes some normal attacks. Crouching kicks attack low; jumping attacks threaten a standing guard. Hold away from the opponent to block, or down and away to guard low attacks. You cannot block while attacking or jumping. A close directional medium or heavy attack can become a throw, which defeats ordinary guarding but cannot grab an airborne or fallen opponent.

The fighters have different tools as well as different appearances. Ryu and Ken combine fireballs, rising uppercuts and spinning kicks. Honda uses broad palms and a charging headbutt. Blanka mixes low claws with electricity and a rolling attack. Guile controls space with a charged Sonic Boom and Flash Kick. Chun-Li’s fast kicks include Lightning Kick and Spinning Bird Kick. Zangief uses heavy close strikes, Double Lariat and a rotation-command piledriver. Dhalsim contrasts long stretching attacks with short close elbows and knees, Yoga Fire and Yoga Flame.

Special commands follow the direction your fighter faces. For a quarter-circle forward, move down, down-toward, then toward and press a punch. A dragon-punch command uses toward, down and down-toward. Charge moves require holding away or down for about three quarters of a second before reversing the direction and pressing an attack. Repeated punch taps produce Honda’s hands or Blanka’s electricity; repeated kicks produce Chun-Li’s Lightning Kick. The Move list shows the selected fighter’s commands and pauses the match while you read.

Three timed bonus challenges test offense between matches. Damage both sides of the car before finishing its body. Break falling wooden barrels before they escape, then dismantle the stack of oil drums. The car and oil drums allow 40 seconds; falling barrels allow 20. Completed targets earn points, and clearing every target awards a perfect bonus. These challenges use authored layouts, durability and scoring. The ordinary fights likewise use authored animation, hitboxes, damage, timing and computer tactics rather than reproducing the original frame tables.

Practice provides a safe place to learn spacing and commands. Choose a different opposing fighter, then use the Move list to switch the dummy’s guard or reset the arena. The clock does not expire, and a knockout resets the practice round. Local Versus lets two people play best-of-three matches using separate keyboard controls or two gamepads. The on-screen touch controls operate Player 1, so local Versus on a touch device still needs a keyboard or two controllers. There is no network multiplayer.

The touch deck keeps an eight-direction pad beside two rows of attack buttons. Separate fingers can hold a direction and an attack, and diagonal buttons make jumping and command motions accessible without a physical stick. The four-to-three display keeps the arena visible in portrait and landscape. Pause stops the match and clears held input. Best score, completed character endings, difficulty and sound preference are stored locally when browser storage is available. Closing or reloading ends the current tour; no live match is resumed.

A few useful tricks

• A heavy attack that misses leaves time for a counter. Start with light attacks to learn your safe distance.
• Down-away is useful against low pressure, but a jumping attack requires a standing guard.
• Begin charging while you defend. A long enough hold followed by the opposite direction and an attack releases the special.
• Do not attempt to throw a jumping opponent. Let the rival land, or use a rising attack to cover the air.
• Dhalsim’s far limbs and Zangief’s close attacks solve different problems. Learn the range of your selected fighter.
• Use Practice’s guard option to compare a clean hit with a blocked strike, then reset the arena to repeat the situation.

Good questions