Galloping Ghost Showdown

I went back to Galloping Ghost with Dina last weekend. Just like she told me, Robotron 2084 was up again. I had to test it. I love the game and all its colors, but I found that I could not compete with the small bald man. I took third place for the day and I was happy.

Soon, I stood in in the Street Fighter row and several minutes passed. I didn't bother with Street Fighter, but I definitely did check out Street Fighter II. Then there was Street Fighter II Championship Edition, an old favorite. The best was by far Super Street Fighter II X - Grand Master Challenge (スーパーストリートファイターⅡX).

To the far right stood a smartly cobbled entertainment center; a no-frills, American-made Super Street Fighter IV cabinet with a PS3 taped to the inside and a glorious HD screen hanging from somewhere. It was too crowded. I couldn't get near the buttons, there were way too many dudes. Big, fat dudes glowing with bright orange msg and sweating Monster energy drink.

I stuck with the older version. SSFIIX - GMC was great. The difficulty was set high, the post-battle taunts were in Japanese (make up your own), and the graphics were better. I played one half of one round before some dude in Duke gear slapped the 2P button with such force that I thought I might jump out of my already-poopy pants. I was stuck as Ken because this Duke was the challenger. I had no choice but to accept my fate as he fought as Zangief.

Needless to say, I beat him bad in the first round and in the second round. He challenged me to a second match, and in the first round I won without taking damage. Perfect, you might say! He complained about his joystick. Was he right? It did seem like he was powerless against my attacks. It was almost like he couldn't block anything. I lost the next round, and maybe I would never admit this to anyone ever, but I might have subconsciously let him win because I felt sorry about the possible joystick malfunction. In the third round he won again.

The third match was Ken vs. Zangief, the Duke stood, knees forward, and I won decidedly, and the next two or three, and he swore a couple times, and at one point he was like "FUCK! FUCK THAT!". And for the last match he chose Sagat and said, "OH! Tricked you, bitch, switched it up!", and I won again and he left and was like "Fuck this, dude. Good game."

Later, this other guy swooped up in his trench coat when I was playing Street Fighter III 3rd Strike - Fight for the Future (ストリートファイターⅢ サードストライク) and asked politely to play 'with' me. Sure, I said. He had kids running around I think, an old one about 13 and a little one, making a mess, but he just smelled so strongly of vodka and orange juice that I had to stop after my 3rd win and say, "Yeah, man, it's all yours". He said, "Are you sure?" and I said, "Yeah, man, good game!", and he was like, "All right!"