33 years ago, the gaming world debated who the better player was before Street Fighter II. Today, it is known that your duels were not as fair as you thought.
Who are Ken and Ryu? Ken and Ryu are two characters that appear almost identical at first glance. Their attacks and abilities are nearly identical, and they only differ in appearance.
Because they seemed exactly the same, they were often chosen in multiplayer mode. This way, it could be fairly battled out who the better player is.
Today, 33 years later, the producer of the game reveals that one of them has always been weaker than the other.
The sixth installment of the Street Fighter series has now been released:
Ken was stronger because Ryu had a weakness
What weakness did Ryu have? During the development of Street Fighter II, the developers conducted tests where the characters fought automatically against each other. They noticed that Ken won more often than Ryu. The reason for the statistical error was a mechanic that was previously in the game.
During the development of Street Fighter II, the “Core” mechanic was tested, which was supposed to give characters weaknesses. The mechanic was discarded after testing, but Ryu was forgotten.
The character retained his weakness. Ryu takes more damage after he has been stunned or after he has performed a Shoryuken (Dragon Punch).
Ken does not have this weakness. This results in Ken having an easier time and winning more often.
How was this revealed to the public? Yoshiki Okamoto, the lead producer of Street Fighter II, admitted this in a video on YouTube. For years, Capcom repeatedly denied the question of whether one of them was stronger than the other. After all, there were days of fighting to determine which sibling was the best in Street Fighter II.
Who the best player is is no longer decided in the living room, but on big stages. Esports athletes train for years, many hours a day, to become the best in their game. Ironically, in the finals, an esports match had to be interrupted because of a coach who kept banging on the table: Final in esports had to be interrupted – A coach who constantly bangs on the table is to blame
