Throughout 1989, Atlus released virtually no new titles. Instead, they focused on launching sequels on the Mega Drive platform and acting as the distributor for games from other companies.
Among these, the one that most captivated players was, of course, Street Fighter II.
As the pioneer of the fighting game genre—having broken through the fierce competition of its predecessor—this title garnered immense attention thanks to its astonishingly precise hit detection, hardcore style, and the accompanying Jackie Chan movie.
Setting aside overseas markets, in Asia alone, many game centers still hosted Street Fighter arcade cabinets today. These machines could consume over a hundred coins a day, and the number of large-scale game centers was countless.
This was a pure cash cow! Once released, it continuously generated revenue. Even if Kobayashi Tetsu did absolutely nothing but lie in bed, he would still see a monthly income in the billions of yen.
Naturally, Kobayashi Tetsu paid close attention to this. Therefore, after settling the affairs with Carnival, he immediately rushed to Osaka.
—Capcom Headquarters was right here. Kobayashi Tetsu had never interfered with Capcom's development work. Aside from borrowing Takashi Nishiyama and his team, Kobayashi Tetsu left Capcom's internal affairs completely alone, acting as the distributor for their games at most.
Just like in history, Capcom had developed those famous titles, such as Golden Axe and Final Fight. Kobayashi Tetsu had not interfered in any of it.
To put it bluntly, he had simply timed it perfectly. He had seized the opportunity to acquire Capcom while they were in financial distress due to the development of the CPS1. If he had arrived any later, Capcom would have weathered the storm on its own, and they would have flourished without his involvement.
Therefore, Kobayashi Tetsu naturally let Capcom operate on its own, issuing no instructions.
Now, Kobayashi Tetsu stood in Capcom's office, watching the staff demonstrate Street Fighter II.
Street Fighter II had been under development since last year and was now basically complete. Its progress was commendable.
Looking at the images on the screen, Kobayashi Tetsu gasped.
How could such a huge thing only be mentioned now!
Kobayashi Tetsu frowned deeply, staring at the massive thigh on the screen.
"Huge! They're just too huge!"
With a build like Kobayashi Tetsu's, those thighs could choke three or four people to death in a single squeeze.
The producer responsible for developing Street Fighter II wasn't the original one; instead, Kobayashi Tetsu had appointed Takashi Nishiyama and another person to oversee it. Now, facing Kobayashi Tetsu, Nishiyama felt a bit uneasy.
"Considering the recent trends, we've tried adding a female character to the game. For now, we've named her Chun-Li. Her background is that of an Interpol agent."
Kobayashi Tetsu looked up.
Don't talk nonsense! What Interpol? Aren't they all called International Ghost Tamers?
Despite this, Takashi Nishiyama remained anxious.
Adding a female character to a hardcore genre like fighting games was a massive challenge. Although later fighting games would feature a wide variety of female characters, in the 80s and 90s, players were ashamed to use female characters.
He couldn't guarantee that creating a female character in a fighting game would be effective; in fact, the entire character might even be deleted.
Yet, he couldn't read much approval or criticism on Kobayashi Tetsu's face.
In truth, Takashi Nishiyama's reaction wasn't necessary; Tetsuya Kobayashi understood the issue perfectly well.
Throughout the entire 1980s, the gaming industry was reluctant to add female characters. This was because the gaming community consisted mostly of "macho men" who would feel utterly humiliated playing as a woman. It was just like how elementary school boys who got along too well with girls would be mocked by the other boys. The self-proclaimed "hardcore gamers" viewed playing as a female character as a shameful act.
Chun-Li was released into this very environment, yet she managed to establish a firm foothold and become a permanent fixture in the Street Fighter series.
Therefore, from a purely "fan service" perspective, Chun-Li was indeed not as popular as Mai Shiranui, Nakoruru, or other similar female characters. But in terms of fighting games and player status, Chun-Li stood in a league of her own.
Some had once argued that Chun-Li should be called Li Chun or Chun Li.
But that wasn't the case, because Chun-Li was different from Leifang.
In Dead or Alive, Leifang's name was a translation error—the original "Fang Lei" was reversed to become "Lei Fang." Furthermore, the development team lacked a definitive version of her name, leading to the mixed use of Leifang, Fang Lei, and other variations before "Leifang" was finally settled upon as the official translation.
"But Chun-Li's name always had a hyphen in it from the start—it was spelled Chun-Li. That hyphen means 'Chun' comes first and 'Li' comes second, so there's no room for a translation error. From the very beginning, her name was always Chun-Li."
Kobayashi Tetsu snapped back to his senses and gave Takashi Nishiyama a slight nod.
"While it's a bold move, I think introducing a female character is fine. Not long ago, Ninja Gaiden tried adding a female character. Even though she was just an Easter egg and many players missed her, the feedback showed that most people had no problem with a female character in the game.
Or rather, as long as it's done reasonably, they won't have any objections."
Kobayashi Tetsu gave some simple instructions for the character design: "Don't give her upturned eyes—no phoenix eyes. But keep the ox-horn buns. As for the thick legs... who designed them to be so thick?"
Beside Takashi Nishiyama, his assistant, Hiroshi Matsumoto, raised his hand. "President, that was my idea. As a martial artist, her physique needs to be powerful, so we designed her with thick legs. Since this character specializes in kicks, it only makes sense for her legs to be muscular."
"Alright, the thick legs are fine—no need to change that."
The ox-horns could be let down, but the legs had to stay. Kobayashi Tetsu needed to keep some elements intact so people would recognize his version of Chun-Li.
Chun-Li was a minor detail. Kobayashi Tetsu had played through the game a few times and concluded that Street Fighter II was essentially complete and ready for a bold release.
"Then, at the Carnival, right at the end of the Video Game Tournament, we'll launch Street Fighter II as the grand prize for Street Fighter I."
After giving his instructions, Kobayashi Tetsu glanced around and asked casually, "By the way, does Capcom have an employee named Mikami?"
The team exchanged confused glances before shaking their heads.
"No, we don't have anyone by that name. Why do you ask?"
"Oh, it's just that I had a minor fender-bender on the way here. The guy said his name was Mikami and that he worked for Capcom. Now it seems I was just scammed."
Kobayashi Tetsu brushed it off casually.
It seemed Shinji Mikami hadn't started working at Capcom yet.
This was a disappointment to Kobayashi Tetsu.
He had really wanted to see how a man with nine heads would survive!
Shinji Mikami, a former Capcom producer, was the creative mind behind the classic Resident Evil games up to Resident Evil 4, as well as the later The Evil Within series.
He once famously declared: "If Resident Evil 4 is released on any platform other than the GameCube, I'll cut off my own head!"
As for the outcome... everyone knows how that ended.
Resident Evil 4 was released not only on the GameCube but also on the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox, PC, Android, iOS, arcade machines, handheld consoles, and many other platforms. There were both original and remastered versions, and in 2023, a stunningly high-quality full remake was released.
If Shinji Mikami had to lose his head every time Resident Evil 4 was ported to a new platform, he wouldn't have enough heads, even if he were Yamata no Orochi.
Setting aside how many heads Mikami actually has, his talent as a producer is undeniable. After the release of Resident Evil, it inspired a wave of "Resident Evil-like" games.
Among the most notable are Dino Crisis and Onimusha, both developed by Mikami himself.
That's right—Onimusha was actually a spiritual successor to Resident Evil. While Atsushi Inaba was producing Onimusha, Shinji Mikami provided a great deal of guidance.
Although the first Onimusha had a rushed ending, clunky controls, and both female protagonists died, it still sold over a million copies on the PlayStation.
During those years, countless Japanese games imitated the Resident Evil style, but most only captured its superficial traits without grasping its true essence, failing to replicate the intricate puzzle-solving and exploration of the original "miniature garden" design.
Later, Mikami moved on to Clover Studio and PlatinumGames, where he continued to produce many outstanding titles.
Clover Studio's Ōkami was a game built upon the foundations of Japanese mythology and legend. Kobayashi Tetsu had praised it as a "work of art," a true masterpiece that could be called "game art."
Although God Hand didn't receive high scores or widespread popularity, its unique move-combination system and gameplay design were exceptionally rare in gaming history. Its style was also remarkably witty against the backdrop of a wasteland, and the impact felt when unleashing the "God Hand" was quite impressive.
Meanwhile, PlatinumGames' titles like Bayonetta and NieR: Automata also went on to become highly acclaimed among players. Automata, in particular, created a character that remains active in the 3D community to this day.
"The Yamata no Orochi probably hasn't broken its seal yet."
Kobayashi Tetsu shook his head.
If there's no Shinji Mikami, then there's no one to find. Anyway, this man is impossible to lose!
After all, a nine-headed snake is common, but a man with nine heads is a rare sight indeed!
He was like a firefly in the dark—wherever he went, you could see him clearly the moment you opened your eyes!
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