Fighter's History vs. Street Fighter II Character Comparison - Lawsuit Exhibit Video

[@orlanzo2621]

I’ve always known about the infamous lawsuit that Capcom filed against Data East but to actually see a video from the case is really cool. This is some historic gold right here.

[@afropowa1598]

Yeah man, this is awesome but Capcom were complete fools for going thru with this lawsuit. Which is so funny since Street Fighter was inspired by Karate Champ a Data East made game, lol! I am hype for part 2 of this video.

[@meganinten0078]

@@orlanzo2621 You could say that Fighter's History made...history .... ... Okay, I will see myself out 😅 But seriously, thanks to Data East, the entire fighting game genre was saved! Fighting game fans and players should respect Data East and Fighter's History 🫡 Thanks for everything DE 🥲 'Mizoguchi Wins!!"

[@orlanzo2621]

@@meganinten0078 Definitely agree! If Capcom would have won the lawsuit the entire fighting game genre as we know it wouldn’t be what it is today, scary to think about one company basically having a monopoly on an entire genre.

[@orlanzo2621]

@@afropowa1598 Yea Capcom was just trying to be greedy and basically have the genre to themselves. It was a selfish move on their part, I love the company but they were definitely wrong in this case, I’m glad that Data East won. The genre definitely wouldn’t be as diverse and healthy as it is today if things had gone the other way.

[@lontr9771]

This is not Guile. Throws Sonic booms a few moments later.

[@Wladislav]

Thank you for preserving this artefact.

[@SAPProd]

“Vega wears a white hockey mask.” Capcom: “OBJECTION!”

[@meganinten0078]

Nick Commando (Fight Fever): "HEY! THAT IS MY THING! I WILL SUE THEM!" 😆

[@CoolWave01]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@FabioGnecco]

from The Cut Room Floor article: "Fighter's History is Data East's first attempt to hop on fighting games trend of early 90's. This game is infamously known for being sued by Capcom, accusing it in plagiarism of Street Fighter II. However, Data East won the lawsuit on grounds that the copied elements like mechanics, 6-button layout and character archetypes were a standard for the genre and cannot be copyrighted. And after that the game received a sequel one year later, Fighter's History Dynamite, which was a major improvement over the original and got a niche cult following over the years"

[@triple_lei]

What a treasure. The KZbin algorithm did not fail me.

[@exclamatia]

i need to see part 2

[@darktetsuya]

wow never thought I would see the evidence tape out of data east for this! all the fighters may have had similarities but were mostly different enough to not be direct copies.

[@TheLandofObscusion]

And, in the end, Data East managed to win the lawsuit because it was (correctly) argued that the way the characters played were pretty much inherent to how fighting games themselves are played, i.e. QC motions, DP motions, charge moves, fireballs, anti-air specials, etc., while any similarities between the character designs themselves were because of shared influences from around the world.

[@MagmaMKII]

The characters were based on similar archetypes. The type of stuff you can't claim copyright over.

[@jisungchoi7511]

The moves though. It's such a copy. LOL

[@TheLandofObscusion]

@@jisungchoi7511 Yeah, but those too are general concepts found within any fighting game. Fireballs for zoning, DPs for anti-air, charge moves for defensive play, command throws, etc. Capcom couldn't claim copyright over that stuff, since they were to be expected for the genre.

[@derekerickson4144]

​@@TheLandofObscusionI'm playing devil's advocate here but all of those motions and move archetypes only became the standard after Capcom made street fighter 2. SF2 is literally the reason they are the standard. That being said I still think Data East rightfully won the lawsuit it's not like the NBA can sue the National Handball Association (if that's a thing) because both have dribbling.

[@wrena79]

The American artwork in that strategy guide was good awful. Remember seeing it back in the day and I'm sure I've got it somewhere. Proper nightmare fuel.

[@Jucelegario]

is like some amateur 10 year old that isnt a fan, made it while bored during class.

[@enriquepinero707]

Not for nothing; I am baffled as to how Data East won this one. Pretty bold of them to present this video in such a bold face manner. While the game is not an exact rip off; it is almost dangerously close in SOME areas. I would say the similarities are varied enough that these chracters could co-exist in the same game; as to offer more variety within a single combined character roster. Really glad that Capcom didn't win this one; as having both games is great from a gameplay and historical standpoint.

[@Fusso]

Let's be real. Of all games that Capcom could have pick for a lawsuit, Fighters History is not even close to the most agregious one. It's good they lost it. It was an absurd lawsuit to begin with.

[@LeeONardo]

And now Nintendo is doing it with Palworld.

[@meganinten0078]

It's a good thing Data East ended up winning in the end 😄 If Capcom had won, they would have monopolized the entire fighting game industry! The judge said that those alleged similarities that Capcom claimed were either superficial or something that all fighting games shared The judge also clarified that Capcom didn't own martial arts and sports For example, Sagat practices and does Muay Thai techniques but he didn't invent it

[@aeonicbutterfly9662]

Now I want to see Part 2

[@AskYwalker973]

You and me BOTH lol

[@0utrunner237]

Yeah ain't no way she gonna be able to convince me the special moves weren't "inspired by" Capcom.

[@neddyf00]

No link yet ?

[@johnboydojo]

Glad they lost! This lawsuit was a joke back then!

[@Zycyzyx]

This is a great find, very interesting and entertaining. :) Mostly I love seeing all the behind the scenes stuff, character sketches and source photos, being a big Data East and FH fan.

[@realizewave1513]

and she won the case.

[@irregularhunterj8014]

I remember reading about this in GamePro magazine. Crazy.

[@Red_Sutter]

Capcom claiming copyright infringement while openly stealing ideas from Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure and various movies

[@GeordiLaForgery]

Fascinating bit of history thanks for sharing

[@AmahlAmahlAmahl]

The Chun-Li shade was wild!

[@vodkagobalsky]

This lawyer obvious did not win with Chun Li since she didn't know Chun Li was the strongest woman in the world.

[@Money1Films]

Amazing piece of history, thank you.

[@devonmcmillan2876]

Man who's the woman talking about the classics? She ain't bad lookin lol.

[@kbxthegamemaster06]

fighter's history situation is crazy

[@DoutorSocialGames]

Awesome find! Imagine the damage it would have caused if capcom had won this BS lawsuit...

[@Jucelegario]

yes because of the precedent it would have caused for the mugen and indie scene, however, this Fighter's History game is clearly emulating the vibe of a Street fighter game.

[@DoutorSocialGames]

@@Jucelegario the way people use mugen has nothing to do with this. People rip sprites and use them without permission, and it's a whole can of worms. As for Fighter's History "emulating the vibe", Technos (that published under Data East) could easily say that capcom was "emulating the vibe" of Karate Champ with street fighter, and use the same BS arguments... Not to mention going for other titles and ask about Final Fight, with its progression stage by stage being an "exact copy"(see the bs?) of Renegade.

[@Jucelegario]

@@DoutorSocialGames dude, stop the weed, is killing your limited amount of neurons. If Capcom had won, it would have been the basis for any company, to sue any creator for the use of anything that looks vaguely similar, a bad precedent that would have made mugen impossible and mugen is not even vaguely similar. It would have changed how mugen and indie games are made.

[@DoutorSocialGames]

@@Jucelegario I didn't disagree with you. You might wanna re-read my comment. Also, notice that I said "the way people use mugen". It is an engine, and many different things might come from it, since it was initially designed to make shmups.

[@Jucelegario]

@@DoutorSocialGames it wouldnt even have come to "the way people use mugen" because big companies wouldnt allow it, not even if it was shared for free...if Capcom had won this.

[@meganinten0078]

Funny how Capcom sued Data East but later they copied their homework Capcom copied Lee's gameplay and gave it to Yun. No wonder Yun ended up so OP, Lee was Top Tier in every Fighter's History game Mizoguchi's TsuuTenSai is the original Shinryuken They gave it to Ken Ryoko Kano, the first female grappler, was the inspiration for Makoto Jean is the first character who throws a rose for his projectile and likes his suspenders. Something that Dudley got Meanwhile, SNK copied Ray's Dynamite Tackle and gave it to Terry Bogard as the Power Charge

[@benakhiangte4856]

yes, out of spite since they did not win the lawsuit.

[@orlanzo2621]

That’s something I noticed immediately when I first played New Generation back in 1997, the fact that Yun basically had Lee’s entire moveset. That definitely wasn’t a coincidence.

[@David315842]

This is very interesting. :) I guess you have the second part and will upload it soon perhaps?

[@BigBangBlitz]

I wanna see the video that data east used when they sued over allegations that Karate Champ was being copied

[@zenmaster24]

matlok has sonic booms… sanchay has tiger knee… ray has hadoukens… thats about it for similarities

[@daisukegori2112]

Tiger knee is hardly original and Hadouken and sonic boom are close to any ki attacks from anime and manga

[@zenmaster24]

@@daisukegori2112 kind of disagree - while having a projectile attack might be common, they dont have to look the same - these attacks look virtually identical to their SF counterparts. for example, the projectile feilin throws is unlike anything in SF at the time. tiger knee the animation is very similar, but if it is a known muay thai move then i doubt they could claim anything.

[@CRASHEM8000]

I need the 2nd part of that video so the lady can be like "Yeah, y'know what, Matlok's attack really is just Guile's Sonic Boom but whatever, that's one thing compared to like 77 so far, so y'all can have that one"

[@lontr9771]

According the the lawyer, that’s not a Sonic boom. He is throwing a banana.

[@meganinten0078]

4:03 6:11 11:35 15:37 You can say all about the first Fighter's History but the music rocks!! 🎵 I really recommend listen to that soundtrack The music of Fighter's History is much better than the music of Street Fighter 2 Edit: If you have free time, search 'FIGHTER'S HISTORY MEDLEY'

[@cesardante-barragan3394]

No way

[@Pewpewpew182]

Wow! Thank you so much!!

[@joelwrose]

Amazing. Please tell me you have part 2 :)

[@restartmag]

I swear that I've SEEN part 2, and really through it was also on this particular tape. I don't know that I remember having two separate tapes in my possession, so unfortunately I don't know that I have both parts.

[@joelwrose]

Ok, I hope it turns up! Thanks again for sharing this. This is super fascinating to see this after only ever hearing a few basic details about the case! I love seeing a 90s business professional discuss whether or not Sagat wears earrings in a very serious tone 😂

[@mmking9999]

Zanjeef 12:01

[@AskYwalker973]

Zanjeef is CRAZY 😂😂😂

[@meganinten0078]

"What's a Zanjeef?" *PUNCH* "OH! 😮"

[@AskYwalker973]

😂😂😂​@@meganinten0078

[@victorcamarena5776]

😂

[@lontr9771]

She is the 10% who pronounces Ryu correctly so I am going to assume this is correct as well.

[@tanktyuhsr]

Wow how did you find this history

[@restartmag]

Came across the tape while digging through all of the things that were laying around the GameFan offices. Ended up just taking it home one day, put it in a box of other VHS tapes when I moved, and then finally happened to find it all of these years later.

[@shenglongisback4688]

Must of been Capcom USA that filed the suit. Etsuko Alderman not too bad on the eyes😅

[@markula_4040]

Pretty silly when you consider that Ken's theme is a ripoff of a song from Top Gun and Balrog (the boxer) is a complete ripoff of Mike Tyson likeness.

[@meganinten0078]

Also Bison/Dictador is a rip off of Washizaki from Riki-Oh Guile's theme is very similar to the song 'Travelers' by T-Square

[@TangiblesTracker]

What is her name? Esko Adelman? I'm having trouble hearing her first name.

[@GeordiLaForgery]

ito?

[@faintsignal]

@@GeordiLaForgery The transcript says "Ito" but the audio definitely sounds like "Esko".

[@MitsuSC]

Sounds like “Itsuko” or “Etsuko”

[@TangiblesTracker]

@@MitsuSC You're right. It looks like it is Etsuko Adelman. I found her name in the credits for a pool game made by Data East.

[@TonySkittleAlive184]

Around this time frame so many companies were trying to cash-in on Capcom's mega success • companies like Banpresto (former Bandai), Taito, Konami, Irem Corp, Seibu Kaihatsu, Technos Japan, Jaleco and many more.... Even SNK !

[@cesardante-barragan3394]

They only point out the differences, but there are soooo many similarities. The special moves are blatant copies!

[@Money1Films]

They are different enough to have no true case.

[@Layanor]

Part 2 please

[@IronBroccoli]

It’s interesting that she interpreted chunli as girly and not to be taken seriously when you’d only see that victory dance if she beat you. Not to mention that all fighters don’t have to feel the same about fighting or taunt or celebrate the same way.

[@TonySkittleAlive184]

Awesome 😎 good job 👍 I have just joined your channel and we are connected now 🙂 I been playing "Fighter's History" and the sequel "Karnov's Revenge" a lil' bit more than my all time favorite "Street Fighter 2" lately..thanks to the Antstream app on PlayStation. I see a few similarities to SF2 but yeah a lot of techniques and mechanics are very different from SF2. I think Capcom were trying to get a lawsuit on Data East for no reason. As a matter of fact, I think ADK's "World Heroes" is more of a SF2 clone than "Fighter's History" but ay...

[@QQnowQQlater]

Ah yes, guile's sonic boom, upside down overhead kick... and the "not sagats" true to muay thai... the tiger knee... which they purposefully showed misleading images since you dont hurl yourself through the air to do them. nice dizzy state too.

[@orochikyo4314]

She mispronounced Zangief. She said it with a soft 'g' instead of a hard one.

[@vodkagobalsky]

I use the character Zhan Jeef!

[@megamix5403]

Hopefully people will shut up about Fighter's History being a Street Fighter clone. Seriously, how would you think a French is similar to a Spaniard?

[@LeeONardo]

But Fighter's history is a SF clone. It uses the 2D fighting game template, just as much as so many copy cat releases whether they are good or not. Same thing happened with Doom, we had numerous Doom clones, Gran Turismo? lots of clones of it etc. The real issue is with people saying Fighter's History is a 1 to 1 rip off of SF2, now that's the silly issue since as this video shows they are different, at least to a degree.

[@meganinten0078]

Yeah, I think the same. The first time I saw Jean, I thought he was King's (Art of Fighting/KOF) younger brother but grown up 😆 What is interesting is that both Jean and King are french, blondes and like roses

[@StriderVM]

@@LeeONardo Dude, racing games existed before Gran Turismo.

[@vasileios6301]

@@meganinten0078 King is British and a Muay Thai fighter

[@AskYwalker973]

Yeah.....Capcom was RRREEEAAACCHHHHINGGGGGGGG😂😂😂

[@meganinten0078]

Many say Fighter's History copied ideas but almost no one mentions that FH created original archetypes for fighting game characters. Matlok introduced the rock musician fighter, something we would later see with characters like Lord Raptor (Darkstalkers) and I-No (Guilty Gear) Mizoguchi introduced the student delinquent (despite being 27 years old) who has bad luck in his studies, something we would later see with Kyo Kusanagi (KOF) Ryoko is not only the first female grappler but also the first grappler who is fast and small Something we would see with Ryoko Izumo (World Heroes) and Hinako (KOF) Clown introduced the joker character, something that we will see later with Joker (Savage Reign/Kizuna Encounter) and Hyena (KOF) He is also the first character to use cards as projectiles in fighting games 🃏 Feilin is a chinese opera actress, something we would later see with Mian (KOF) Jean is the first aerobic gymnast fighter and the first to use roses as projectiles

[@puke7]

how does she sound so much like google translate lady?

[@thedarkknight6159]

What about the dizziness stars? The function and looks is nearly 100% same as in SF2 :)

[@MagmaMKII]

Dizzy actually functions in a completely different way in FH.

[@KimSamaVideos]

Yet Capcom USA used the ugly artwork of the characters instead of the Japanese ones

[@angelvalle6515]

Clearly a knock off but just different enough 😂

[@tadeuferreira4059]

There's no way to defend Fighters History here; it's a good game and it has some original elements here and there, but the fact it is the game takes way too elements from SF2, without a doubt!

[@daisukegori2112]

Street Fighter 2 copied from real life fighters and other anime and games.

[@Viviantoga]

Ah, to be one of Chun Li's... "poofs?"

[@Ferhat1983Aydin-nz6tu]

Atari salaoons games

[@DungarooTV]

I'm no lawyer, but Data East clearly copied Capcom. What this video conveniently fails to address is the fact that their movies are too similar!