NetEnt Announce Street Fighter

Round 1. Fight!

Those of us who are over a certain age will remember the hours spent sat around the Sega Megadrive (or perhaps even the Commodore 64) challenging our friends to martial arts street battles.

These were the days before the internet, before flashy graphics, and before we all lost our lives to technology.

Well, those of you who are already dreamily thinking back to your childhoods will be pleased to know that NetEnt has signed off on a deal with Capcom to bring our favourite fighting game to the slotting world.

When? Tell me more!

NetEnt LogoYou’re going to have to wait I’m afraid, but not for too long.

May 21st 2020 has been given as a release date, and the game will be called Street Fighter II: The World Warrior Slot.

The announcement was made at the International Casino Exhibition (better known as ICE) in London last week.

The director for games at NetEnt, Bryan Upson, sounds almost as excited as we are:

“At NetEnt, we strive to deliver content that – much like Street Fighter – raises the bar in what is possible in gaming and we are immensely proud to be working with such an iconic franchise especially something in tune with the retro trends right now.  It is a dream come true to work on brands like these. Street Fighter II really allows us to bring something new and innovative to the market that no one else can.”

What’s more, NetEnt have form with branded slots, so they know what they are doing.

What to Expect

M. Bison at Fan Convention
BrokenSphere [CC BY-SA]
Information is scarce at the moment, but there are a few things we do know.

We know that the 8 original selectable characters, Ryu, Ken, E. Honda, Guile, Chun-Li, Blanka, Zangief and Dhalsim, will all be included in the slot, as will boss fights with the likes of Balrog, Vega, Sagat and M. Bison.

We all remember Bison’s twizzly spinny headbut thing, don’t we? Usually followed by the words “KO. You lose”.

It’s also been made clear that NetEnt want to stay true to the original style, graphics, and soundtrack as much as possible, and that sounds like the right approach to me.

I predict that the game will look, sound, and function brilliantly, but whether or not the gameplay and winning potential will back that up remains to be seen.