After the changes, the original control buttons had been replaced with a layout consisting of one joystick and four large buttons.
After playing just a single round, Sam was completely won over.
"Dude, what the hell? This feels so damn good!"
It was the first time Sam had ever experienced anything like this.
Every movement of his character was under his direct, real-time control. Every tiny adjustment in positioning was something he executed himself. That sense of control created an unparalleled level of immersion and impact.
Even through a screen, even with nothing more than a few pixelated sprites that didn't even have proper animations or textures yet.
"Hadouken!"
Caught up in the moment, Sam couldn't help shouting it out.
Gripping the joystick, he quickly rotated it forward in a half-circle while slamming the button. A glowing projectile also lacking any proper sprite shot rapidly towards Ethan.
Whenever Ethan tried to move forward, Sam continuously threw fireballs to keep him pinned down. If Ethan stayed put, Sam stayed put as well.
Unfortunately, the game was still unfinished, so techniques like crouching under mid-height fireballs or jumping in weren't implemented yet.
Ethan could only crouch in the corner and block nonstop, his expression growing darker by the second.
"How come I never realized you were such a bastard before?"
"What are you talking about? You designed the fireballs yourself. I think they're pretty fun. Hadouken!"
...
The workload for Street Fighter was much greater than any of their previous games. In fact, it even exceeded that of Metal Gear, despite the latter having a full two hundred stages.
The reason, naturally, was the artwork.
Every character required multiple sets of complex animations.
Even with frame-by-frame tracing from reference footage and assistance from outsourced studios, it still took nearly two months to finish the game's test build.
The launch roster, besides Fei Long and Guile, also included several fighters representing martial arts styles from different regions, just to name a few popular ones among them.
Ryu, the practitioner of Hadou-style karate from Japan.
Ken Masters, the flamboyant American martial artist and Ryu's lifelong rival.
Zangief, the Soviet Union's proud world-class wrestler.
Cammy White, an enhanced special forces soldier who also happened to be the game's resident heartthrob.
And finally, Chun-Li, personally designed by Ethan after spending an entire day cramming art fundamentals.
It could be said that Chun-Li was both the most iconic and the most recognized character in the Street Fighter series.
Twin buns, a blue qipao, and, of course, a pair of strong, beautiful thighs.
As for Chun-Li's motion capture, it had actually been filmed separately using Brandon and Vivian as references, each contributing what suited them best.
On the day of the playtest, Ethan had specifically invited Brandon and Arnold, the real-life models for the characters, to try the game.
Brandon looked at the arcade cabinet in front of him, especially its control panel, which was completely different from any he had seen before. His curiosity was written all over his face.
As the martial arts consultant for Street Fighter, he was probably the person who understood the game's moves most thoroughly.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Especially when he thought back to all of Ethan's outrageous requests, things like the "Reverse Spin Kick" and the "Hurricane Kick," techniques that completely defied real martial arts logic, his curiosity only grew stronger.
He genuinely wanted to see what those impossible real-world techniques would look like once brought into a video game.
As for Schwarzenegger, he was simply there for the fun of it.
Since Ethan had personally invited him, the least he could do was show up and lend his support.
Brandon examined the control panel. The four buttons were labeled Light Punch, Light Kick, Heavy Punch, and Heavy Kick.
So every character had four attack buttons. That was pretty interesting.
The character selection screen was also cleverly designed. A pixel-art world map was displayed with national flags marking different locations.
As the players selected different characters, the map would display each fighter's identity. The choices were unsurprising.
Brandon selected Fei Long, while Arnold picked Guile.
"This is the first time I've seen a joystick like this. What's it for?"
Arnold spun it in a circle, and Guile moved accordingly.
"All I can say is... you'll see."
Ethan deliberately kept it a secret.
The most enjoyable part of any game was often those first moments of exploration. He had no intention of spoiling that wonderful experience.
As a member of the development team, Sam had naturally already played it long ago.
Unlike Ethan, he wasn't very good at hiding his expressions. He had already dragged over a chair and sat directly in front of the two men, eagerly waiting to watch the show.
There was no denying that fighting games had an incredibly low skill floor and an extremely high skill ceiling.
Even complete newcomers who knew nothing about combos or advanced strategies could still put up a decent fight simply by becoming familiar with the controls and mashing buttons.
Before long, Brandon and Arnold had figured out the basic mechanics and cautiously began testing each other.
Brandon had got his martial arts philosophy from his father, and he brought that same mindset into the game. He didn't rush to attack.
Instead, he carefully maintained the distance between himself and his opponent.
"Holy crap... he already understands footsies on his very first game?"
Ethan was secretly astonished, unable to help marveling at how martial arts principles really did carry over into other fields.
Arnold, however, had no such concerns.
Just look at Guile's massive muscles. If he played cautiously with a physique like that, it would practically disgrace the character!
Attack!
Arnold had already decided that Guile was a powerhouse built entirely around offense.
But Guile was fundamentally a charge character. In terms of mobility, he was genuinely inferior to Fei Long.
Aside from landing a single hit early on thanks to Brandon's unfamiliarity with attack ranges, every subsequent offensive attempt was effortlessly neutralized.
During the process, Brandon even figured out the blocking mechanic on his own, making his play even more solid. Finally, after another round of Arnold's offense, Brandon keenly spotted the recovery frames after an attack and swept with a crouching heavy kick.
What followed was a relentless storm of attacks.
Unlike Brandon, Arnold had never taken the time to discover blocking. Before long, he was riddled with openings and steadily forced backward. Yet Brandon never became impatient.
After every short string of attacks, he would immediately retreat to the perfect spacing, executing the principles of footsies and spacing to perfection.
There was little suspense in the outcome.
Without understanding Guile's game plan or any advanced techniques, Arnold naturally suffered a swift defeat.
Scratching his head, it was obvious he hadn't enjoyed that match very much.
"Ethan... I understand that you admire Bruce Lee. But a character this overpowered completely ruins the game's balance. I think it'll only make the game less enjoyable."
Although he knew nothing about video games, he could clearly tell that Fei Long outclassed his Guile in virtually every aspect of speed.
"Arnold!" Sam called excitedly. "If you trust me, let me play for you! Guile's my favorite character. Guile is actually really strong!"
"A character this slow... can skill really make up for that?"
Arnold looked doubtful, but he gave up his seat and let Sam take over.
...
"Sonic Boom! Sonic Boom..."
Brandon squatted helplessly in the corner of the screen, watching Sam throw projectile after projectile, unable to decide whether to laugh or cry.
At the same time, both he and Arnold were genuinely surprised. Because neither of them had seen this move even once during their own match.
Brandon tried several times, but he couldn't break through Sam's wall of projectiles.
In the end, he could only give up resisting.
"Brandon, if you don't mind... how about I deal with him?"
Ethan grinned and gently patted Brandon on the shoulder.