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Unique to World Warrior (and including the SNES port of same), if in arcade mode you lose to the CPU and then select the CPU character who beat you, the game essentially stages a rematch of the first content as the CPU will always select the character you used before and will be fighting away from home. Let me put that another way; if you choose Ryu and lose to Blanka, then choose Blanka in your next attempt, the CPU will play as Ryu but the fight will be staged in Brazil, not Japan. This is due to there being no mirror matches in World Warrior. Just a fun little quirk but worth mentioning as it's the only circumstance where the player fights at home.
Commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Street Fighter series, Capcom delighted and frustrated fans in equal measure with the release of limited edition SNES carts of World Warrior in late 2017. Considering that the 30th anniversary marks the original Street Fighter and not Street Fighter II, one could argue that limited edition reissues of Fighting Street for TurboGrafx would have been more apt (they would certainly more obscure!) Anyway, that didn't happen, what did happen was 5,500 cartridges being produced, 4,500 in a 'Ryu headband red' and just 1,000 in a translucent 'Blanka green'. Did yours truly manage to get hold of one? No. I did not. These things sold out almost as soon as they were announced. Fun fact, the cartridges came with a fire-warning: 'Use of this reproduction game cartridge (the “Product”) on the SNES gaming hardware may cause the SNES console to overheat or catch fire.' Yoga Flame!
Gunloc and Blade. I thought I'd covered this sufficiently already but with the arrival of Street Fighter V and the accompanying Shadaloo Combat Research Institute a little more light has been shed on this whole thing. So, long story short, Gunloc from Slam Masters was implied to be Guile's brother in his attract screen bio, internationally at least. The link was affirmed in the videogame adaptation of the live action movie where the ending for the character Blade revealed that he was, in fact, Gunloc undercover, 'reporting in secret to his brother Guile'. So what's new? Blade was 'canonised' with an entry in the Shadaloo data files where his precise height, weight and liking of popcorn mirror those of Gunloc. So Blade is canonical and his stats are identical to Gunloc. It's safe to say, then, that they are one and the same. Given the call-back to The Movie it's pretty much confirmed now that Gunlock is Blade and, is ergo Guile's brother it's just Capcom having a bit of fun with their fans by stopping short of actually spelling this out, a bit like the whole Hugo/Andore palaver.
Spotted! Several more cameos for you in stage backgrounds. In Ultra IV's half-pipe stage there's a billboard waaaay up high above the usual field of view. And what is on this billboard? An advert for a bout between wrestlers Haggar and R. Mika. This is very reminiscent of the poster in Cody's Alpha 3 stage. Additionally, in Street Fighter V's Union Station stage there is a banner in the background depicting Maki, Cody, Haggar and Guy with the text, 'Thanks for being such a good friend'. This is to the right of the pub from the perspective of the camera. Also in Street Fighter V, when he isn't selected by the player, Alex can be seen fixing his car in the City in Chaos stage. There's probably a tonne more of these, but, you can have too much of a good thing in my humble opinion.
IBet You Look Good on the Dancefloor' is a song by English rock band Arctic Monkeys. The song was released through Domino Recording Company as the band's first single from their debut studio album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (2006). So what? Well the CD and 10" single contain two B-sides: one is called 'Bigger Boys and Stolen Sweethearts' and the other is an instrumental called 'Chun-Li's Spinning Bird Kick'. There's no lyrics but the track does open with lead singer Alex Turner saying, 'Show us your special move' like a twat and then laughing. Bwah-ha-ha-ha.
Eyedol's ending in the 1994 arcade game, Killer Instinct, created by Rare and later ported to the SNES, is a parody of Blanka's Street Fighter II epilogue in which he is reunited with his mother. In Blanka's ending, she identifies him by his anklet and reveals that he went missing in an airplane crash when he was only a little boy and his given name is actually Jimmy. However, in Eyedol's ending it doesn't turn out quite so happily—Eyedol doubts his mother's story and smooshes her with his club!
Billy... Are you my long lost son Billy?... Why would I be your son?... My name's EyedolMy son was lost in a car crash... I gave him those bracelets for his birthday Somehow.......... We don't think so.
Let's close this chapter with another pop-music reference to Chun-Li, this time from Nicki Minaj. The lead single from her 2018 album, Queen was named after 'the strongest woman in the world' and promotional material (pictured) shows Nicki sporting Chun-Li's trademark hair buns. The track's not really about Chun-Li of course, it's about Nicki Minaj, but there are a couple of references to the character in the lyrics:
Ayo, I been off, Lara been Croft, Plates say Chun-Li, drop the Benz off ... They need rappers like me, they need rappers like me, So they can get on their fecking keyboards and make me the bad guy, Chun-Li
Audiophiles have noted that Minaj had previously likened herself to Chun-Li when she guested on Willow's 2011 track, 'Fireball'
OK I’m the street fighter, call me Chun-Li, And it’s goin’ down, like a bum knee, Built a guest house to put the coupe in, ’cause I’m a fireball, Hadouken
