Video Game Hall of Fame: All 24 Inductees Ranked - Part I (24-13)

#14 Street Fighter II (inducted in 2017)

While Street Fighter II: The World Warrior wasn't the first fighting game ever made (obviously, it wasn't even the first Street Fighter game ever made), it certainly set the blueprint for the fighting games that came after it.

SF2, as we like to call it, introduced plenty of concepts that were new to the genre - things we take for granted now. Nowadays, most fighting games have a plethora of playable fighters to choose from.

In the very first Street Fighter, for example, players had access to just one: Ryu. SF2 had a extremely varied roster, made up of distinctive characters, each with their own backstory and fighting style. Players would soon pick their own favorites and stick with them in competition against other players.

Street Fighter II: The World Warrior

Oh, yeah. That was another thing SF2 popularized: the concept of multiplayer competition. It wasn't an unusual sight to see crowds gathered around a Street Fighter II cabinet, each clamoring for a turn at whoever won the match happening at that moment. Each were anxious to apply their skills and strategies against each other.

And strategies could be applied, too. SF2 also introduced the concept of combos - albeit accidentally:

"One of Street Fighter 2's most popular features was a subtle tweak to the original game's control scheme. To reduce the reliance on luck, the team made it easier for players to perform characters' special moves. As it turned out, this opened up the game in a way the designers didn't intend, allowing players to link together multiple hits before their opponents could react. In short, they invented the combo. Some called it a bug," - Matt Leone, Polygon: Street Fighter II: An Oral History

Since its 1991 release in the arcade, Street Fighter II has spawned countless imitators as well as sequels, spin-offs, an anime series, two movies and much more.

Its release on home consoles was a major moment in the Nintendo/Sega console wars, with each company eager to have the definitive" version of the fighter on their system.

Even today, the Street Fighter series is integral to the competitive fighting game scene, including major events such as EVO. And it's all thanks to one game - and a bug,