Despite intending it to be an obvious joke, many players took it seriously, and other publications reprinted the details as fact without verifying its legitimacy causing the Sheng Long hoax to spread worldwide.

Capcom has also added in-game achievements referencing Sheng Long in Street Fighter II re-releases, and for the 25th anniversary of the hoax temporarily posted artwork and a profile for the character on their website, this time designed by Shigenori "Kiki" Kiwata.

[3] The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) port of Street Fighter II, released shortly after the April Fools' prank, changed the translation to "You must defeat my Dragon Punch to stand a chance.

Wanting to try the office's newly acquired Adobe Photoshop software, he modified screenshots of the game to "create" a "secret boss" by combining sprites from different characters, using it as a way to let off steam due to the stresses of work.

As a character Sheng Long was stated to feature the special moves of all the fighters, such as Chun-Li's "Spinning Bird Kick" and Sagat's "Tiger Shot", but inflict more damage.

[1] However, people did indeed try to find the character, with arcade owners sending complaints to the magazine that their machines were being broken: large amounts of quarters were being deposited by players, causing them to eventually get stuck.

[12] Compounding matters, publications from Europe, Hong Kong and other countries reprinted the trick without verifying it or asking Electronic Gaming Monthly's permission causing the hoax to spread worldwide.

Though Williams was unconcerned with the reaction due to only being known at the publication as "Sushi-X", the other writers were,[1] and in their December issue of that year revealed that it was a hoax and stated surprise at the worldwide coverage the joke received.

[15] In a later issue, the staff reported that despite this being the second Sheng Long joke, it was convincing enough that Capcom of America called the company's headquarters in Japan asking why they had not been told that the character was in the game.

[19] However, Tom Coulter of GamesRadar+ listed it as one of the video game legends he never wanted to hear about again, stating that while it was a good prank at first, it had gone from "sly wink to the fans" to "Borat t-shirt.

"[20] 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,[21] although Capcom has never confirmed nor denied this.

"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.

[22] Despite the lack of direct confirmation from Capcom, the staff of Electronic Gaming Monthly felt the character was added in response to the hoax, with Williams stating that they were "flabergasted that something we did had an impact on the industry like that.

As the Sheng Long hoax and Akuma's debut in Super Street Fighter II Turbo were fairly recent at the time, the designers asked for Capcom's permission to add both characters into the game.

"[29] Capcom later revealed Gouken as a character in Street Fighter IV,[30] with Ono stating in an interview with Play magazine that his inclusion in the title was in response to fans requesting Sheng Long's presence in the game.

In a similar fashion to the original joke, the post lists the method to unlock him as requiring the player to win every round as Ryu without taking any damage whatsoever and then perform his "Shoryuken" move during the final boss fight.

Satirizing the Sheng Long rumor, it states that he became a living legend, appears after consecutive draw games, his moves are impossible to counterattack and always register as counter hits and that anyone that sees him will die after 24 hours.

[36] Sheng Long appears as a non-playable character in the "World Tour" mode of Street Fighter 6 whom players fight atop the SiRN building at night after completing the game.