An April Fools’ Joke Gone Horribly Right

If you picked up a copy of Electronic Gaming Monthly back in 1992, you might have read that Ryu and Ken’s master, Sheng Long, was a hidden character in the arcade version of Street Fighter II. Well, he wasn’t there. EGM reported he was there again in Street Fighter III… well, he wasn’t there, either. What was really just a prank ‘insider tip’ turned into a fanboy phenomenon and gamers across the country spent hundreds of quarters trying to get a glimpse of this elusive master to no avail. With Street Fighter IV now out in Japan, rumors are again flying around about Sheng Long, but there might be something to them this time around.

The original EGM story stated that players had to beat the entire arcade version of the game playing as Ryu. They had to do this without getting touched, and then go ten rounds against M. Bison and let the clock run out all while not taking or receiving any damage. If successful, Ryu’s master Sheng Long would replace Bison and if you beat him you could play as him (or something like that).

'All your base' Street Fighter style

The rumor caught on like wildfire and fledgling power-gamers around the country burned months’ worth of allowance at Street Fighter II cabinets in hopes of seeing the man behind Ryu and Ken’s training. Needless to say, they were awfully disappointed.

Perhaps the whole rumor started because of a mistranslation in one of Ryu’s victory taunts (pictured above). The name Sheng Long was actually a Chinese mistranslation of “Shoryu” or “The Flying Dragon Punch.” Later on, the English version was updated to read: “You must defeat my Dragon Punch to stand a chance.”

A lot of fanboy enthusiasm has been restored in the franchise thanks to Street Fighter IV, and it looks like all those wasted hours and quarters might not be for naught after all. 1UP recently reported that Sheng Long isn’t a lie after all, but since they’re in cahoots with EGM, it’s important to double check on these kinds of facts. Supposedly Shacknews has done just that and confirmed that Sheng Long is indeed being played right now in Japanese arcades. Since gaming journalism was behind the whole lie in the first place, this could easily be an attempt to keep a 16-year hoax alive. We pessimistic Americans will get to see for sure once Street Fighter IV launches state-side on February 3, 2009.