With the launch of the Street Fighter 30th anniversary collection - collecting the series’ 12 best outings – research shows similarities between learning the game and real martial arts.
Learning to play any of the Street Fighter games requires a discipline that is curiously similar to learning a real martial art. Don’t take my word for it. Chris Goto-Jones, a philosophy professor at the Univesity Of Victoria in Canada was awarded a £1.1 million grant to explore the similarities. There may be no real physical danger, but Goto-Jones’ study has shown that commitment to the game long-term has a positive neurological change on players, making them more meditative, reflective and even philosophical.
To mark the series’ 30th anniversary, its publisher, Capcom, has released a generous “collection” containing no fewer than 12 of the iconic games, from the 1987 original through to 1999’s Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike (considered by many to be the finest fighting game yet created). It’s a pugilistic tour through history, but maybe more than that – a brightly coloured, special move-emblazoned path to enlightenment.
