10 Famous Video Games That Started Out As Something Else Entirely

8. Final Fight/Street Fighter II

Before Street Fighter II, there was Street Fighter. This stands to reason, but despite the immense popularity of the sequel, many are unfamiliar with the original game. Though not the most popular game in the U.S. at the time, perhaps owing in part to early versions' pressure-sensitive buttons that were prone to breaking, it did well enough in Japan to warrant a sequel. However, the mindset which went into making a video game sequel back in the late 80's was a bit different than it is today, and those games would often be quite different from the first installment to bear the name. Case in point: Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game, to name but a few. Street Fighter would be no different... at least, to start. Already in development when the original Street Fighter was released, the "request" from Capcom's sales division for another title in the line led to the Double Dragon II-inspired brawler Yoshiki Okamoto and his team were working on to be dubbed "Street Fighter '89" at trade shows, but the arcade operators were wise to it, calling foul in that the game was nothing like Street Fighter. This resulted in the side-scrolling beat 'em up to be redubbed "Final Fight," which went on to achieve its own success. While that went on, Okamoto's team would go on to create the "true" sequel to Street Fighter, the success of which no one could have imagined. "Before we even began work ," said Okamoto, "I thought Street Fighter II would be a big hit. At first I thought it would be just as successful as Final Fight, but I had no idea it would be this big." The shared lineage of the two games has become ever-more prevalent over the years, with Street Fighter characters appearing in the background of Final Fight sequels, and more significantly, Final Fight characters such as Guy, Cody, Sodom, Hugo, Poison, and more joining the ranks of the World Warriors.