Bonus Stage



Bonus Stages are common bonus rounds throughout the Street Fighter series, usually after a set amount of fights in the single-player mode. Though they are not optional, these stages are solely purposed for gaining additional points to achieve a high score, as you are unable to "lose" your game because of them. Making their first appearance in the original Street Fighter with Ryu or Ken breaking tiles, bonus stages have gone on to be a regular feature in most games in the series.

Street Fighter
In the original Street Fighter, there were four different bonus stages throughout the single-player mode:


 * 1) The first stage consists of a tile breaking game that required the player to press the punch button at the maximum strength of the "timing" bar. If successful, they would give the stack of nine tiles a fierce karate chop, breaking them and receiving cheers from the crowd. Failure to do so would result in Ryu/Ken hurting their hand, the crowd booing them, and loss of the bonus round.
 * 2) The second stage consists of a wood breaking game where players had to quickly break three planks of wood being held by three men. The men stand at different heights, with two on the left side (one crouching and the other perched upon his shoulders) and the third standing at the right side.
 * 3) The third stage is identical to the first round, with the exception of Ryu or Ken attempting to break three concrete blocks rather than tiles.
 * 4) The fourth stage is identical to the second round, with the exception of having to break four planks instead of three. The four men of this stage are aligned like the original two on the left side from the second stage, so on either side of the room a man crouches with a plank and another man stands upon his shoulders with another plank.

Street Fighter II
In the Street Fighter II series, bonus stages consisted of beating up various inanimate objects. The order and number of stages vary per re-release:
 * 1) The first stage presented players with a car that must be destroyed in under 40 seconds. Each hit to the car awards 100 points, and if all hits are landed successfully a maximum of 24400 points will be awarded along with 100 points per second left on the clock and a bonus 30,000 points for achieving a "perfect" round. Players must destroy the left side of the car (the window will be smashed to confirm it), then the right side, and then the body of the car from either side This bonus stage is presumed to take place in the United States, due to the stage's similarity to Ken's stage.
 * 2) The second stage featured a wall of bricks, assembled in a pyramid-like fashion, that players are tasked with destroying in under 40 seconds. The brick wall actually consists of four different "sections": The left side, top, center, and right. Players are awarded 100 points per hit along with a bonus for taking out each section, and all four sections must be demolished to achieve a "perfect" bonus of 30,000 points and 100 points per second left on the clock.
 * 3) Widely considered the most difficult and annoying bonus round, the third and final stage involves player waiting below a conveyor belt for barrels to drop down from above, and each must be broken using any attack. At first glance there appears to be a 20-second timer, though it is actually a count for how many barrels are left. Players must smash the barrels as they land to gain 1000 points each, which adds up to 20,000 points if all are broken. This combined with the 30,000 point "perfect" bonus will award the maximum score of 50,000. Given no time limit, the round is much more of an endurance bonus game than a race against the clock as was the case for the previous two bonus rounds.
 * 4) In some releases(arcade) featured a pyramid made of metal barrels(on flame). This stage wasn't present in any SNES version.

Street Fighter III
The bonus stages of the Street Fighter III series are comprised of a familiar scenario and an all-new bonus stage to showcase the "Parry" system:
 * 1) In the first stage players are given 50 seconds to destroy an SUV, a spiritual successor to SF2's similar car-smashing game. Players will get different amounts of points depending on what sections of the car they destroy (individual hits don't give any credit, a chunk must be removed for credit). Around 83,000 points can be earned for destroying the car, along with a 30,000 "perfect" bonus and 1000 points per how many seconds are left on the clock.
 * 2) In the second stage the player attempts to deflect basketballs thrown by Sean by parrying them. The player will earn 1,000 points for each basketball deflected in this way; if all are deflected they add up to 20,000 points, and an additional 120,000 points are awarded for a "perfect" round.

Super Street Fighter IV


Bonus Stages were absent from Street Fighter IV but make their return in its sequel, Super Street Fighter IV. These stages are modeled after the car and barrel stages from Super Street Fighter II; however, the Car Crusher stage (now with a 60-second time limit) is more reminiscent of the bonus stage present in the original Final Fight, where the car is placed by an abandoned gas station in Metro City. As for the Barrel Buster stage, it takes place at the same Scottish brewery of the "Europe: Historic Distillery" stage, with a worker manning the influx of barrels.