Sheng Long - Legacy

Legacy

Sheng Long is cited as an influential factor for the Street Fighter series, earning mention in articles such as GameDaily's "Top 20 Street Fighter Characters of All Time" list, in which the character placed nineteenth despite not being an actual character. IGN placed it second on their list of the "Top Ten Gaming April Fools' Pranks", noting it as having the biggest impact of all of Electronic Gaming Monthly's April Fools jokes. UGO.com named it one of video gaming's greatest urban legends, noting its impact upon the series' success. Capcom's community manager Seth Killian described the hoax as "a part of gaming history", comparing him to the Konami Code. However, GamesRadar listed it as one of the video game legends that they never want to hear again, stating that while it was a good prank at first, Sheng Long has gone from "sly wink to the fans" to "Borat t-shirt." The rumor is often credited with inspiring the creation of Akuma, a character who debuted as a hidden final boss in Super Street Fighter II Turbo, due to their similarities, although Capcom has never confirmed nor denied this. As in the hoax, the process of fighting Akuma would require certain achievements met during the game, with Akuma interrupting the final match of the game between the player and M. Bison. The similarity was nodded at in the high-definition remake of Super Street Fighter II Turbo, in which an Xbox 360 Achievement titled "Sheng Long is in Another Castle" could be earned for defeating Akuma in the game's arcade mode. In the 2012 Disney movie, Wreck-it Ralph, a piece of background graffitti claims "Sheng Long was here!"