At Unico we are all about arcade and retro gaming, we live it breathe it and at the heart of that history is Capcom with their title Street Fighter II with their revolutionary hardware the CPS-1.

Here is a brief history of Street Fighter II and pictures of this amazing game being played on the Unico Nova Blast Candy Cab our Full Metal Candy

The CPS-1 Street Fighter II has a legendary place in arcade history. Here’s a comprehensive breakdown of its development, technology, impact, and legacy:

 

🎮 What is CPS-1?

CPS-1 (Capcom Play System 1) is an arcade system board developed by Capcom in 1988. It powered many of Capcom’s hit arcade games during the late '80s and early '90s, including the monumental Street Fighter II. Leaving gamers’ jaws dropped with anticipation of future Street Fighter titles to come. It revolutionized. It was partly what inspired us at Unico to make the Nova Blast Candy Cab for Americans to realize the Japanese gaming at it’s heart.

🎨 Innovations:

·        8 playable characters (e.g., Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Guile)

·        Introduced combo mechanics (a glitch at first, later a design staple)

·        Vibrant graphics, huge sprites, and fast-paced gameplay

·        Groundbreaking competitive one-on-one fighting game style

·        It elevated fighting games to a mainstream genre.

 

🛠️ CPS-1 Technical Overview

·        Main CPU: Motorola 68000 @ 10 MHz

·        Sound: Zilog Z80 + Yamaha YM2151 + OKI MSM6295

·        Graphics: Capable of rich, colorful 2D sprites and multiple scrolling background layers

·        Modular board system: Games could be swapped via ROM boards, making it easier for arcade operators to upgrade machines

 

🌍 Street Fighter II – CPS-1’s Crown Jewel

🏁 Release:

·        Street Fighter II: The World Warrior was released in February 1991.

·        It was built entirely on CPS-1 hardware and became a global phenomenon.

📈 Arcade Domination

·        SFII was a revolution in arcades, selling over 60,000 cabinets in its first year and earning billions in quarters globally.

·        It transformed arcades into social and competitive hubs in the early '90s.

·        We at Unico envisioned this title and other capcom titles being fought the way they should in a sit down Candy Cab fashion with out Nova Blast Candy Cab.

 

🔁 CPS-1 Street Fighter II Series (1991–1992)

1.     Street Fighter II: The World Warrior – February 1991

o   The original, with 8 playable characters and 4 unplayable bosses

2.     Street Fighter II': Champion Edition – March 1992

o   Allowed players to play as the four bosses (Balrog, Vega, Sagat, M. Bison)

o   Introduced mirror matches and rebalancing

3.     Street Fighter II': Hyper Fighting (Turbo) – December 1992

o   Faster gameplay, new moves (like Ryu's air hurricane kick)

o   Last Street Fighter on the CPS-1 platform

🧠 Trivia & Legacy

·        Combo system: Initially a bug, later a cornerstone of fighting games.

·        "Hadouken!" and "Shoryuken!" became iconic phrases in pop culture.

·        CPS-1 SFII titles are among the most bootlegged arcade games ever made.

·        The success of SFII directly led to a fighting game boom: Mortal Kombat, Fatal Fury, King of Fighters, etc.

 

🏆 Cultural Impact

·        Spawned anime, comics, toys, and films (including the 1994 Van Damme movie).

·        The arcade scene was reshaped by SFII—establishing tournaments, player rivalries, and the modern Fighting Game Community (FGC).

 

Thanks for taking the time to take a stroll with us into some of the defining moments in arcade history and be on the outlook for our next post talking about arcade history.