Street Fighter Producer on How Mortal Kombat Inspired Series

Yoshinori Ono also discusses why Ultra Street Fighter II was released on the Nintendo Switch.

By Jonathon Dornbush

While looking back over the franchise's 30-year anniversary, Street Fighter Producer Yoshinori Ono explained how a competing, long-running fighting series had an impact on Capcom's franchise.

Speaking to IGN at E3, Ono discussed how Ed Boon's 2011 Mortal Kombat reboot, with its focus on a fleshed out story mode, inspired Street Fighter V.

"When [I] saw that, [I] thought Capcom should really take advantage of mimicking this and incorporate it into its games as well. So story mode has then become a big thing in Street Fighter also," Ono said, additionally noting that he does seriously consider suggestions fans offer to him on his Facebook page.

Inspiration between the two franchises is a two-way street of course, as Boon told IGN earlier this year that Street Fighter II's dizzy mechanic ultimately resulted in Mortal Kombat's fatalities.

Ono, who joined the franchise in the Street Fighter III era, has also revisited the Street Fighter II series with the debut of Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers on the Nintendo Switch. Released in conjunction with the franchise's 30th anniversary, Ono explained that he and the team decided to revisit SFII after Ono had the chance to use a Switch prototype and was told of the release date.

"Let's do a [Street Fighter II] renewal because that will allow people who've played the game for the last 25 years to really go back to their roots and enjoy a game they grew up playing in commemoration of the 30th anniversary," Ono said, stating that playing with the Switch and Joy-Con prototype made him nostalgia for the Super Famicom era.

The Final Challengers, which Capcom's COO will in part determine how the company supports Switch going forward, is only part of how Capcom plans to celebrate the franchise's 30th anniversary this year.

"In September Capcom is releasing Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite, but there's still about six months left in the 30th anniversary, so we have a couple of surprises still lined up for the remainder of those six months," Ono said, thanking fans for their dedication to the franchise across three decades.

Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite, for which new characters were revealed during E3, will be released on September 19.

Interview conducted via translator.

Jonathon Dornbush is an Associate Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter @jmdornbush.

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