The Reason Behind Street Fighter's Iconic Button Layout

Total RecallTotal Recall is a look back at the history of video games through their characters, franchises, developers and trends.  

This week twenty-nine years ago, the first Street Fighter was released in arcades. There was Ken, Ryu, and some very different buttons.

As pointed out on Event Hubs, the first cabinets had giant pressure-sensitive pads that you were supposed to POUND WITH YOUR FIST.

Which is nuts.

Problems arose from players punching the buttons, such as hand injuries and cabinet damage, so Capcom replaced the buttons with the now familiar six-button layout.

Like so.

Thank goodness.