Street Fighter II HD Was Nearly Canceled Because of Artwork

The Street Fighter franchise is certainly one of the most popular fighting series of games out there, with fans all over the world. Its unique cast of characters allow almost any player to relate to someone, and its great story and fighting mechanics make a favorite for any kind of gamer.

This popularity was the reason that prompted Capcom, the owner of the Street Fighter IP (Intellectual Property), to revive this franchise and make two new games, which mark the the series' entry into the reality of high definition. The first title, a remake of one of the most popular games in the franchise, was entitled Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, and was set to be a high-end version of the original, with redrawn characters that would look sharp on high definition TVs.

Nevertheless, as David Sirlin, one of the designers who worked on the game, explained to Videogamer, the whole project was very close to termination because of said characters. During the development, a bunch of redrawn characters were binned, at a point when the tension of the team that handled the project was very high. Yet, thanks to all the Internet hype that began to circle around the title, the squad got very motivated and delivered a great game.

“Yeah, cancelling the game was a possibility,” said Sirlin. “It felt the most possible during that first phase, during the art that we had to throw away. It was unspoken, but everyone just knew it that, if that art wasn't going to work out, then maybe they were going to cancel the whole thing. And turns out they didn't. I wonder if there was just so much pressure from the outside that kept them going, I mean from the world of gaming. Everyone knew about the project by then.”

Some very interesting words, which just go to prove that making a game isn't easy, and that how the team will cope through the tough times is decisive for the end result. Let's just be grateful that the Capcom squad delivered such a great fighting title, and that gamers all around the world can now enjoy it.