(Average) Joe

Joe from Street Fighter I

Drawn for the SF 30th Anniversary Tribute at
Again, I wanna thank for cutting out the character.

Hooo boy, this takes me back. I remember the good ol' SF2 days, which is how most of the SF fanbase started their journey. And I can equally remember my reaction when curiosity got me to seek out the first part, and no, it wasn't disgust or disappointment like the internet would like us to believe nowdays. No, my reaction back then was "Oh, this is pretty cool, too bad it's not as cool as SF2"
Yes, the game has aged terribly, yes, it is borderline unplayable by today's standards, BUT keep in mind it's a game from '87, I would actually love to see some die-hard fans of other series try the very first parts of those (*cough*FinalFantasy*cough*). Plus, it's the first fighting game as we know 'em, the first to introduce punches and kicks in 3 strength variants, the first to introduce command special moves, and of course, it was the game that launched the series we grew to love over the years. I'd say it deserves nat least that much respect, even if you'd only play it when you lost a bet.

As for Joe here, yeah, he has been added as an average US street punk and with no further development from the creators he has remained as bland as they come. Bare chest, red pants, punkish hairstyle, with the only kinda-sorta distinctive part being his pointy nose, hell, even his sole special move, the Power Kick was a bland lunging kick. Yeah, it's pretty clear why he's not exactly at the top of the popularity list. But still, back then he was pretty original, being the first random bare-chest US street punk in a fighting game, that, and his official SFI art - www.fightersgeneration.com/cha… made him look pretty cool, with that cocky attitude and pose.


Joe (c) Capcom