The closest he’s ever gotten to being in a videogame was as part of a 1992EGMpractical joke, but now it’s come to light that one of gaming’s oldest red herrings, Sheng Long, isa playable characterinStreet Fighter IV‘s arcade version.
Sheng Long started life as a mistranslation of the “shō ryū” (Rising Dragon) part of Ryu’s Shōryūken.When translated into Chinese Pinyin, “shō ryū” becomes “Sheng Long,” and it’s from here that the misconception was had. In the original Japanese version of the game, Ryu would say to defeated opponents: “If you cannot break through the Rising Dragon Punch, you cannot win!” In the translated version, it became “You must defeat Sheng Long to stand a chance.” The inevitable happened, as English-speaking players assumed Sheng Long was a person, andEGMswiftly took advantage.
EGMclaimed that Sheng Long could be unlocked by taking zero hits during an entire game, and then letting the timer run out in the final battle against M. Bison without giving or receiving any damage. Aptly, the writer of this tip was W.A Stokens, or “Waste Tokens.”
The legacy of Mr. Stokens, however, lives on, as Capcom has seen to it that Sheng Long is finally about to take his rightful place inStreet Fighterhistory. He’ll be armed with a “Forbidden Shōryūken,” and will most likely be a total badass. We don’t know how to unlock him.
