It seems only fitting that my first exposure to a hacked Street Fighter 2 cab would be at the fairground that rolled into my local park each summer. After all, the entire site was a legal grey area: rides adorned with poorly airbrushed depictions of Disney characters and action stars; rigged sideshows rewarding the lucky few with their choice of knock-off superhero plushie; the origin of the ‘meat’ from the burger vans.
As an aspiring teen, I’d navigate through this sea of flagrant copyright infringement and dubious food hygiene standards for the real star attraction: the arcade. If you’ve never had the pleasure, a fairground arcade was typically a compact steel cabin with a claustrophobically low ceiling, approximately one billion cabochon lights, and more coin-ops, fruities and 2p shove machines crammed into its modest volume than absolutely necessary.
I’d never expect much from its generically branded cabs. If you were lucky, you’d find an Electrocoin Unigamer unit housing WWF Wrestlefest with two working buttons. If not, a repurposed video poker machine with a knackered monitor running BurgerTime.
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