The Virtua Fighter, which further grew the genre.
That being said, there are a lot of unpopular opinions from Reddit s regarding elements of the Street Fighter games. Some critique the popularity and longevity of the franchise, while others throw shade on particular characters, sequels, or game mechanics.
Ryu Is A Bad Character For Beginners
mountlover posted a long and detailed piece about beginner Street Fighter a few years back, where he found it "frustrating when people start with Ryu." However, his explanation stayed away from comments regarding general dislike of the character, and focused specifically on in-game fight mechanics.
To his credit, the argument is a solid one, even if many gamers might not agree. The truth is that both Ryu and Ken are well-balanced characters for beginners to learn on, before they migrate to more specialized characters down the road.
Street Fighter III: Third Strike Is A Bad Game
Yegar lamented fan love for Third Strike, the second upgrade in Street Fighter III, primarily based on the overall game mechanics, and how they de-legitimize certain characters over others. His argument, though short, was simple - Third Strike "forced the game to be played a certain way, and made some characters irrelevant."
There are some like-minded Street Fighter players out there who feel the same way, but this is definitely an unpopular opinion all around. Third Strike is considered the strongest, most definitive version of Street Fighter III, especially coming off the heels of Street Fighter II.
Gill Is A Better Boss Than Bison
A most powerful villains in the Street Fighter games, however.
Many would disagree, for various reasons. Gill was enormously overpowered as a boss character, leading to massive frustration for players. His character design, while eccentric and unique, failed to capture the sheer menace and presence of the hulking, evil M. Bison, which is why he never took the crown as a popular villain.
Chun-Li Is More Of An Icon Than Ryu
Reddit railwaysrr makes the argument that "Chun Li is more iconic than Ryu," and there is some merit to the argument. Chun-Li helped pioneer female characters in fighting games, and opened a lot of doors for others to follow in her wake. She led the charge, which has since turned into a mainstay.
In of sheer iconography, however, Ryu is still the face of the series, with one of the strongest backstories. He's one of the original two Street Fighter poster boys, and his face can be seen on nearly every piece of Street Fighter marketing material that has ever been produced. Ironically, that doesn't downplay Chun-Li's own status very much.
Mortal Kombat Is Better Than Street Fighter
This argument was bound to come up at some point, this time courtesy of Mortal Kombat is a more robust fighting game than Street Fighter. His argument centers heavily on the difference in play style, claiming he prefers when "fighting games aren't about pulling off finnicky combinations."
Originally, the fighting system was drastically inferior to that of Street Fighter, and the earliest games were more interested in capitalizing on Mortal Kombat's infamous fatalities, which continue to this day. Both franchises offer two distinct fighting game styles that appeal to different kinds of gamers. Back in the day, however, Street Fighter was the undisputed king of the hill.
Street Fighter Is Better Than Mortal Kombat
For every argument, there's usually an equal and reactionary counterargument that goes in the opposite direction. HunterTheHoly argues that Street Fighter is the better franchise, referencing the fact that it has "more technical fighting mechanics, faster gameplay, eye-catching visuals," and a few more ancillary advantages.
Once again, Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter are quite different in many respects, right down to the style of play. Pitting one series against each other is far less constructive than arguing whether mainline Street Fighter games are more popular than, say, the Street Fighter Alpha series.
3D Models Are Better Than 2D Sprites
This argument comes up a lot, especially in an age when many developers are going back in time and rediscovering sprite-based gaming all over again. Many gamers weren't impressed when Street Fighter IV adopted a 3D art style, after spending years utilizing 2D sprites across the board.
LibertarianVoter makes the argument that "fighting games with sprite-style art are a dime-a-dozen," and that Street Fighter should stay permanently in the 3D realm. Though this is subjective, there is arguably a larger group of Street Fighter gamers that yearn for the series to go back to its 2D visual roots.
The Story Mode Rocks
Street Fighter games focus way more on actual one-on-one bouts than story, and ancillary material in the form of comics, anime films like Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, and other content has been produced to help fill in the gaps. Street Fighter V pushed a story mode in an effort to try and breathe immersion into the game, but it has met with mixed results.
xtremeradness argues that "grinding through 8 or 9 matches just to see a character's ending" is far less preferable than watching cutscenes spliced into the game every few rounds. While the idea might be novel, many players find it an irritating interruption to the gameplay.
Street Fighter V Is Great
This unpopular opinion seems to have waned a bit as the fifth entry in the franchise has managed to course correct a lot of its glaring errors and problems, but it still stands. Street Fighter V didn't exactly debut in the best way, and many gamers felt it was a significant step back from its predecessor.
HeisenbergX claimed "I love SFV as is, and I don't think anything needs to be changed." At the time of his posting, that opinion was absolutely unpopular with gamers. Street Fighter V was heavily criticized for lack of single-player content, netplay issues, and a few other bugs, though the Arcade and Champion editions managed to score higher.
Street Fighter II Isn't A Good Game
Jimi56 makes the short and pointed argument that Street Fighter II "isn't really that good." Of course, this depends heavily on context, and the fact that the original Street Fighter II debuted way back in 1991, when one-on-one fighting games were still in their relative infancy.
Those old enough to the game understand just how popular and revolutionary it was at the time. It also laid the foundation for the bulk of fighting games that would follow in its wake. All the advancements and refinements made over the years have caused Street Fighter II to feel antiquated, but it's still one of the best fighting games ever made.