The Red Bull Kumite 2019 tournament goes down in Japan next month, bringing to the end another exciting year of Street Fighter V competition. We've already dug into Red Bull Kumite's short, storied history, but epic showdowns between the world's best players have been a staple of the Street Fighter franchise ever since Street Fighter 2 arrived in the early 1990s, when local arcade rivalries quickly morphed into regional ones. Here, we take a look back at some of the most iconic moments in the series that made the fighting game community what it is today.
'The Beast' enters the world stage
Japanese Street Fighter player Daigo Umehara barely needs an introduction. He's effortlessly made the transition through every major sequel in the series, earning the nickname 'The Beast' for his relentless and unforgiving style of play. In 1998 he was just a shy teenager in a California arcade, though, flown over to compete in one of Capcom's very first tournaments against American champion Alex Valle (an FGC legend in his own right also) to crown a Street Fighter Alpha 3 world champion. To the cocky Valle and the American players watching on, Umehara was a completely unknown entity. There were whispers that Japanese arcade players were strong, but in this pre-YouTube era top West Coast Street Fighter players had no real idea. Just how good was this unassuming schoolkid? Very good, was the answer.
Umehara blew past Valle's powerful Ryu on his home turf, overcoming a round deficit as Akuma to clinch the title and cement his status as the player to beat. Now, more than two decades on, he'is still holding his own at all the biggest FGC tournaments.
Daigo versus Justin Wong, the semi-finals of EVO 2004, Street Fighter 3: Third Strike. It's passed into lore as Moment #37 for no particular reason, as, if we're being honest, this is Moment #1. It's the reason many top Street Fighter stars today picked up an arcade pad to begin with.
Wong, a talented New York player, seemingly had the advantage, his Chun-Li having whittled down Daigo's Ken to just a single pixel of health. This was a very bad place for Daigo to be. Even blocking a move successfully would still cause enough damage for Wong to win, but this is 'The Beast' we're talking about here, so when Wong unleashed his devastating multi-hit Super Art move, he found a way to win.
Instead of blocking, he parried every single hit, a stunning feat of precision timing and reflexes that required him to move forward into every kick as it landed at exactly the right frame to take no damage, over a dozen times in a row, before unleashing a deadly finishing move of his own to take the round. This was The Matrix's Neo plucking bullets out of the sky in realtime. You can tell from the crowd's reaction alone that in this moment, he'd just made history.
EVO 2009: New game, same players
Five years later, Daigo and Wong collided at EVO once again, this time in the finals of Street Fighter 4. This rematch was loaded with significance; not only was this the start of a new era for the game, with Street Fighter 4's recent arrival in arcades and on consoles resurrecting the franchise after years of neglect from developers Capcom, but it also marked a stunning comeback for 'The Beast'.
In the years between their previous meeting, Daigo had actually retired from fighting games altogether, first to work on becoming a professional mahjong player (really) and then to work in a retirement home (again, really). So, to master an entirely new game and then battle his way to the finals of the biggest fighting tournament in the world, only to meet with his former nemesis wasn't just remarkable, it seemed almost fated.
Naturally, Daigo went on to clinch this one as well, first bumping Wong into the losers' bracket and then edging him out again in the very last round in the grand final.
Pocket picks don't get more unexpected, or more exciting, than South Korean star Seonwoo 'Infiltration' Lee's Hakan select during the semi-finals of Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition at EVO 2013, against Puerto Rican PR Balrog.
Though Infiltration wasn't exactly an underdog – he won the entire event the year before – he struggled to get the better measure of Balrog, who relegated him to the losers' bracket two days earlier, only for the pair to meet once again in the losers' semi-finals to settle Top 8 placements. Again, Balrog appeared to have his number, with his aggressive play keeping Infiltration's typically feared Akuma on the backfoot.
But then a character change and to the oiled Turkish wrestler Hakan no less. Hakan is a rare sight at tournaments and Infiltration's secret back-up weapon threw Balrog, literally. Hakan's throws proved to be a powerful counter and he mounted a stunning comeback to take the set 3–2.
Bonchan wins Red Bull Kumite 2015
Double elimination tournaments can seem confusing to newcomers, but the extra lifeline they throw out creates some memorable comebacks and there's a reason most major fighting game tournaments use them.
In the case of Red Bull's inaugural Street Fighter 4 tournament in 2015, Japanese player Masato 'Bonchan' Takahashi used his second chance to mount a truly fitting fairytale return, battling all the way back to the grand finals and defeating his friend and rival Hajime 'Tokido' Taniguchi to take the trophy. ProblemX KOs Tokido at EVO 2018
The thriving UK Street Fighter scene has produced some big names in its time, not least veteran fighting games expert and EVO winner Ryan Hart, but during the Street Fighter 4 era the country's top players weren’t able to maintain the same international success. That finally changed with the arrival of Street Fighter 5: Arcade Edition and the ascension of Benjamin 'ProblemX' Simon at EVO 2018.
After years of grind and qualifying for the Capcom Cup, but never quite making the final stages, ProblemX's M. Bison blazed through the upper bracket, defeating defending champion Tokido in the grand finals. You could see just how much it meant to the British contingent at the Mandalay Bay hotel in the aftermath.
Red Bull Kumite 2019 takes place on December 21–22. You can keep up to date with all of the major stories between now and then right here. Get your tickets for the event here, or watch the action live on Red Bull TV when the tournament begins.