Famitsu: Thanks a lot for taking the time to talk with us today. Let's get right to the point - please tell us the whole story of how Ultra Street Fighter 2 for the Nintendo Switch came to be.



Ayano: This year is Street Fighter's 30th anniversary. We've been thinking for a while, "What can we do for our fans who have been supporting us for 30 years?", and right around then, the Nintendo Switch started getting attention.



Looking over the projected development time, it seemed like it would time in perfectly with our 30th anniversary, so that's how it started.

Famitsu: Did you plan to make a new entry in the Street Fighter 2 series from the very beginning?



Ayano: Well, we've been going at it for 30 years, so a lot of the people who played the game as kids are probably dads by now. We thought about that, and how nice it would be to have those parents playing Street Fighter together with their children.



Following that train of thought, we matched our aim together with Street Fighter 2, and decided on a release for the Nintendo Switch.



Famitsu: Not 3, not 4, not 5 - but 2. How has developing for the Nintendo Switch been?



Ayano: Street Fighter... That is to say, Street Fighter 2, has been playable in arcades, on consoles, even on handhelds throughout its history. So it's a title that's been able to live on through many different hardware types.



Ultra Street Fighter 2 already had its core game ready and done, so in development we got to spend a lot of time exchanging ideas with Nintendo about how to best use the hardware, and how to best take advantage of the unique capabilities of the Nintendo Switch.



Famitsu: I see. Mr. Ayano, what is your personal impression of the Nintendo Switch?



Ayano: Nintendo Switch is a hybrid of a home console and a handheld, I think. This is something you feel extra strongly when developing for it - while you're working hard to make a solid, smooth home console game, you also need to be aware of the battery consumption when the game switches to handheld mode.



But, if you try just making it a pure handheld game, the visuals will end up lacking. Trying to strike a balance between those two aspects makes the Nintendo Switch a very fresh experience to work with, as a developer. I felt stimulated, that this was an entirely new way to develop games.



Famitsu: Ultra Street Fighter 2 has new characters, and even changes to the game balance, doesn't it?



Ayano: Yes. while showing great respect for the most played version of the Street Fighter 2 series, Super Street Fighter 2: Turbo, we aimed for a new experience in the Street Fighter 2 series... That was our vision.



Famitsu: So you wanted to keep the feeling of Super Street Fighter 2: Turbo, while aiming for a new, more current experience with it. How did you decide on the new characters to include?



Ayano: Evil Ryu is a pretty familiar character to fans of the series, so putting him in was an easy choice. As for Violent Ken, he's actually only appeared in spinoff titles before, and never in one of our numbered titles, so we thought this was perfect timing to bring him in.



Famitsu: I'd like to ask you what your impressions were when you watched old Super Turbo players trying out these new characters.



Ayano: The Nintendo Switch doesn't have a D-pad, so I was a bit worried about the controls. But, the people who played the game today gave it an overwhelmingly positive response. It seemed like a lot of people got filled with nostalgic feelings, remembering the old SNES version.



Famitsu: That's how it was for me. "Oh, right, the L and R button are the heavy attacks!", I yelled, haha.



Ayano: Tomorrow and the next day, people are going to try it out even more, so I'm looking forward to seeing their reactions.



Famitsu: Finally, do you have any words for the fans?



Ayano: Today, we brought it totally out of nowhere, but I hope you'll come by and play this new entry in the Street Fighter 2 series with us! Haha.



I think there are a lot of people who just started with Street Fighter in Street Fighte r4, but those are the people I most want to try this one out.



Also, for any dads thinking about buying a Nintendo Switch, I really think you're smack dab in the middle of the Street Fighter 2 generation, so I hope you'll get the game and enjoy it together with your kids.