Every family has one - the Black Sheep. It's that one member that doesn't quite fit in. That guy that never gets an invitation to the family reunion. Join me as I explore some of video gaming's most notorious outcasts. This is Black Sheep!


The year is 1990 and all hell is about to break loose. The Supreme Court allowed flag burnings, Macaulay Culkin successfully thwarted a home invasion and Phil Collins resurrected his music career by guilt shaming everybody into thinking twice, because it's just another day for you, you and me in paradise. But 1990 wasn't just the year that brought us The Simpsons, Entertainment Weekly, Milli Vanilli and the NC-17 rating, it's also the year that Street Fighter's black sheep was released.

To find the one Street Fighter game Capcom is afraid to mention, we have to go back to a time before Street Fighter II. It's a time before any old TV star could play Chun Li. A time before spinning pile drivers and sonic booms ... yes, I said that. Forget Street Fighter III or even Street Fighter: The Movie the game, the real black sheep in this family is Street Fighter 2010: The Final Fight.

Now before you tell me that this late generation Nintendo Entertainment System game isn't a true Street Fighter installment, let's quickly do the math. It stars Ken. He's a cyborg now, but it's the future, so let's just go with it. Occasionally Ken has to fight, one-on-one style. Plus, it has the name Street Fighter right in the title. When we do the math, I think you know what we get ...

Now that we've established that your criticism of my air-tight logic is nonsense, I can go about explaining how this is one of the very few Street Fighter game Capcom hasn't re-released. Even historically confusing installments like Fighting Street and Special Champion Edition have found their way on modern game consoles.

And it's not like Capcom hasn't had plenty of times to rerelease this 8-bit action game. Capcom could have easily snuck Street Fighter 2010 onto the Virtual Console or Capcom Classic Mega-Mix for the Game Boy Advance. This would have fit in perfectly next to Mighty Final Fight and the bad version of Strider. The ultimate betrayal came when Street Fighter 2010 couldn't even get a re-release in the 52 weeks that made up 2010. That's when you know you're not welcome to the party.

Street Fighter 2010: The Final Fight ... c'mon, that's not even the right franchise. Anyway, Street Fighter 2010: The Final Fight may not be a very good fighting game by today's standards, but it's time for Capcom to officially recognize this 8-bit entry as part of the franchise. And say what you will about Cyborg Ken's opponents, at least none of them are struggling reggae singers.

Next Week: In one week, we'll be singing a new tune with yet another Nintendo game. This time around it will be a modern game, a title released in the last few years. What could it be? Find out on July 22! And don't forget to subscribe to the official Defunct Games YouTube channel for more great content.