Author name: Skiffy Fanty

My Superpower is a regular guest column on the Skiffy and Fanty blog where authors and creators tell us about one weird skill, neat trick, highly specialized cybernetic upgrade, or other superpower they have, and how it helped (or hindered!) their creative process as they built their project. Today we welcome J. M. McDermott to talk about how his power of Ha Do Ken relates to Maze. —————————————————— I am old enough, or young enough, to have played Street Fighter II in arcades without an inkling of expectation that it might enter the home console market at some point. I remember this well because the only place I ever had a chance to play it was at a local movie theater. If you were any good at it, you’d miss your movie. My friend, Ben Drake, was very good at it. I was not. I looked over his shoulder while he took on kid after kid, pounding them into virtual submission, while one of our mothers nagged us about how we were going to miss the movie we went there to see. My preferred character were generally Dhalsim or Ryu. Ben preferred Guile or Chun Li. I liked the cheap slow fireball and the medium kick trick that wailed inexperienced players, but it was not a serious affinity, just a desire for easy victories where I could find them. Ryu really was the one I felt