You know how everyone and their mother started copying Street Fighter after monster success Street Fighter 2 saw in the early 1990’s? Well, amid that surge of fighting game frenzy a little title for the Super Nintendo came out called Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon S: Jougai Rantou!? Shuyaku Soudatsusen (known more briefly as Sailor Moon S, thank goodness) and it’s had a surprising amount of staying power since its debut in 1994.
Those who are familiar with Sailor Moon S, like creative combo master Desk, noticed a bit of overlap between it and Street Fighter games. Makes sense, right? Except that the Street Fighter games in question are a bit more recent (2016’s SF5 and 2023’s SF6) and it seems Capcom may have been a tad inspired by a game that it itself surely inspired the creation of.
In his latest video Desk points out a surprising handful of similarities in the animations of SMS and the aforementioned latter Street Fighter titles, starting with Kimberly’s running stair kick that so many of us have been subject to in recent months.
Sailor Uranus (yes we all thought it) has a very similar move in her 16-bit form. Desk puts these side by side and piques our interest for the rest of the video.
Up next Sailor Mercury spins in place to produce a whirlwind projectile that travels at an upward trajectory in front of her… not unlike a certain Mr. Of the Turbulent Winds who made his debut in SF5 and joined SF6 as DLC a few months back.
We get nearly a full two minutes of such strange similarities thereafter, as familiar moves, stances, and sequences start to appear a little less original than we previously thought.
To be honest, a lot of the overlap feels fairly intuitive. Giant swings and judo throws are going to look a lot alike in pretty much any fighting game you introduce them to, and even the Sailor Pluto/Falke leaping staff kick feels like it could be coincidence.
What do you think, though? Is this primarily coincidence, and are there any instances where there’s no denying Capcom had SMS in mind when they designed their respective move(s)? Check out the full showcase here for yourself and share your reactions in the comments.