NOSTALGIC STREET FIGHTER CULTURE IN NEW CRYPTOLOGIC GAME RELEASES

18 April 2008

Online gambling software developer plans new slot themes


The Dublin-based online gambling software developer Cryptologic is in synch with the current wave of nostalgia for the Street Fighter genre which has seen a resurgence of the late 'eighties game fighter culture, characterised by the imminent release of Street Fighter IV and a new movie featuring the SFII hero Chun-Li.

Cryptologic will be in the mainstream of the resurrection with the release of a new SFII themed slot game.

Street Fighter made its debut at the gaming arcades in 1987, designed by Takashi Nishiyama and Hiroshi Matsumoto. The player originally took control of a lone martial artist named Ryu, who competes in a worldwide martial arts tournament spanning five different countries and ten opponents. Demanding skill and concentration, the genre evolved and expanded into a far more sophisticated game through the early 'nineties as technology and trends developed.

Cryptologic's well established successes with comic character-based games such as its Marvel series undoubtedly helped in its negotiations for the Street Fighter licensing from the current publisher Capcom.

Crypto's VP for Marketing and Product Development Justin Thouin confirmed this when he commented: “Comic book characters that have a story behind them and have [storylines] that can be integrated and woven into slot machines in a gaming experience really do translate well and players love the experience.”

Much like the video game, in Crypto's upcoming slot, players will choose a fighter from the likes of Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Guile or boss Sagat, and will then battle it out with final boss M. Bison in a 25 payline game.

Scoring five claw symbols will score players a top prize of 5 000 times their line bet and the Street Fighter bonus feature pops up whenever a substitute symbol appears in reel 2 and the M. Bison symbol in reel 4, with the player's chosen character fighting against the Shadowloo dictator in a re-enactment of the arcade game.

“Street Fighter really ignited the fighting game genre,” Thouin comments. “I think the series has sold more than 500 000 coin operated units and 24 million console games worldwide, so this is a massive brand with huge global popularity and I think it’s going to be a phenomenal experience for players.”

The game will be released initially for InterCasino and William Hill online casinos this week and will hit other online casinos powered by Cryptologic a little later.

Online Casino News courtesy of InfoPowa