Jonathan Sifleet

Jonathan "BIFF" Sifleet after winning the SFA3 Final Match at the International SMK Fun Cup in Paris, France March 2007

Introduction

Jonathan Sifleet (aka Biff) was born in 1983 in the Manor, South London, United Kingdom (UK). He is a British gamer with all round skills in many games known to man, and even games rarely known to man. He participated in SMK for Time Trials and a few record attempts in MKDS along with some competitions, otherwise he built on his favorite genre of Video Gaming, beat-em-ups, namely the Street Fighter series. He was later able to meet SMK karters who were also involved in Street Fighter and assist in hosting a few kart meets in the UK alongside Sami Cetin. During this time Biff starred in his own short film along with several SMK players which led to a feature length sequel the following year; both have been made into DVDs.

Biff is the founder of the famous 'Team UK' and its slogan 'Feel No Way' that the British SMK Team have used ever since in his honour and all their subsequent successes.

History : How he became Biff...

Jonathan took an interest in gaming at an early age; when he reached Secondary School he met Sami Cetin and they became friends, discussing gaming and the Super Nintendo Console which they were both heavily into in 1994. Jonathan's early discussions with Sami on SMK and other friends whom he met also including John Barber, also begun here. It was at this time that Jonathan discovered a Glitch on Donkey Kong Country(SNES) shortly after its release in late 1994 whereby he was able to go through a wall and fall through infinite extra life balloons. To this day none of his friends and colleagues have been able to replicate this Glitch. It was then realised that there was something amazing about Jonathan when he touched games.

The next few years were a fight for survival for Jonathan and friends in Secondary School. Studying for exams and being made to take part in sports during Thunderstorms, Snow storms, Hail Storms, Hurricanes and whatnot was not by any means easy; and tougher still with gangs of rudeboys causing daily grief. Jonathan did however turn to his early passion for games as a method to destress from the busy daytimes. By his final two years of education, he started growing incredibly Hench by eating a Large Döner Kebab Meat and Chips every day for lunch including the occasional extra large Chicken Burger in the late afternoons. He grew powerful, not only in strength but in mind, heart, wisdom and above all... gaming skills. He then earned the nickname 'Biff' during his later school years, and he has gone by this name since.

Biff participates in the 1998 Tekken 3 Tournament in the UK

In 1998, upon the game's Console release, there was a Tournament in London for Tekken 3 which Biff attended. It was a huge event that started with well over 1000 of the best players from all over the country. Biff made it to some of the final stages and managed to reach 15th place in the final playoffs of the best players in the country. The competitor who knocked Biff out of the tournament at that stage went on to win the final. Biff however won a copy of the game for the console and a T-shirt.

Speed Run of Lylat Wars (Starfox 64)

Biff took a keen interest in Speed Running a few games, and although he has never been able to reach a World Record, he came very close to the records on Lylat Wars (Starfox 64) of the N64. Although a recent attempt has never been done, he had one of the fastest completion times in the UK; eyewitness reports state that he has a fast method for defeating some of the early bosses in the game.

Rise of Biff in the Street Fighter Series

Biff's interest in the beat-em-up games during the 90s led to a strong career in the Street Fighter series. He has owned a copy of every single version of this game that was ever released on console. He has never specialised on one to reach the top ranks in the World, however presented a strong challenge to anyone within the UK. During 1999-2000 Biff was picking up skills in Street Fighter Alpha 3 which later became his favourite version, and Fei-Long as one of his favourite characters. He visited several small gaming events and even game shops in the UK where small Street Fighter Alpha 3 matches were held and won numerous challenges over the next years. On one occasion there was a top player from Scotland visiting whom Biff was able to defeat with Fei-Long; he later lost a few other rounds but also defeated the other 3 challengers present.

Some years later, Sami presented Biff with a Street Fighter Challenger in the form of Tom Gaffikin. They instantly became rivals, both trying for years to edge each other out on different versions on Street Fighter, including Street Fighter Alpha 3.

Biff and the Arcade Machine at Trocadero

One day Biff went to the Trocadero Arcades in London and saw that there was a huge queue to play on one of the Marvel vs Capcom game machines. The people waiting were a little annoyed as there was one player in front who was dominating and would not get off the machine as he kept beating every challenger. The queue of well over 100 people asked Biff to step up to see if he could help them out. He bravely went up to the challenger and selected his characters. After a tough battle, Biff was victorius. As the crowd cheered for him in relief that they would finally be able to freely use the machine, Biff's opponent put another coin in and demanded a rematch! He lost once again, and continuously repeated putting more coins in. After 4 or 5 losses in a row the opponent responded "Nah Blud! Nah Blud!". Biff said "Yes Blud! Yes Blud! Get off the machine, thats it you lost you are off now". The crowd shook Biff's hand and cheered as he left the venue, thanking him for his assistance. As grand a result as that was for Biff, it was only the beginning...

Biff vs Tom Gaffikin at UK Games Tournament on 29th April 2006

A games event was organised by the British Team and Sami Cetin which included an SMK Tournament for the intermediate level players and a few advanced karters and various other games; but also the main event: A showdown between Biff as Fei-Long and Tom Gaffikin as Akuma in Street Fighter Alpha 3. A Video was created on that day of the immense battle with Biff emerging victorious after a 3-1 win on the rounds. Biff also participated this day in the SMK tournament in a Match Race vs Jason Mathoora where he advanced to the Semi-Final; losing then vs John Barber. Random retro games challenges also took place and Biff had to defeat a strong CPU player using a weaker team on Sensible Soccer (SNES). Biff made a good comeback in this event to win. The videos of that match are split into Part 1 and Part 2.

Biff vs Steven Zwartjes

In September 2006, the British SMK Team were in conversation with the Dutch SMK Team and decided to create a surprise event on an October weekend of 2006. They were able to get in touch with Steven Zwartjes who was a former Dutch, European and World Champion in several games on the Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64. Steven had won a Street Fighter contest back in 1993 which held 15000-20000 gamers from Holland. He had later played on other versions and was able to utilise his skills with his strongest character Ken really well. Steven was invited to London along with [Karel van Duijvenboden] for that weekend to give the opportunity for Biff to face the strongest Challenger from the Netherlands on Street Fighter Alpha 3. However there was one catch; Biff knew that he would have some matches with Tom that weekend, however he did not know that Steven was making a surprise visit!

Sami Cetin and Jason Mathoora then decided to make this into a short movie with Biff as one of the Stars. However as they were not sure at the time how good it would turn out, so it was limited to a short intro detailing Biff's Street Fighter history vs Tom and then the matches vs Steven. Prior to the event, Biff had secretly been training with Sagat and was saying to Sami and John Barber that he would 'Feel no way to Bust out the Sagat'. However John and Sami knew that it was not a good idea to start training with a new character, but to stick to his best, Fei Long. Biff however, adament that he can make miracles happen stated "Nah man... seriously I'm feeling no way to just Bust out the Sagat".

Biff and Steven met on the day when Steven was brought downstairs to the games room, there was an instant uproar of fans present as they cheered the two challengers as UK vs Netherlands in a battle to the finish. The gamers would play 2 whole matches against each other, the first was set to 3 rounds (which was originally intended to be 5), so the 2nd match was set to 5 rounds. Sami put together a Trailer for the 1st Biff Movie which received excellent reception from viewers of the SMK World. Shortly after a 2nd Trailer was released.

The first Match had Biff using his strongest, Fei-Long to challenge Steven's Ken. The first round saw a match that equalled near perfectly, and Biff taking the lead towards the end nearly going for the kill. However a few slips left Biff open and Steven got a few last digs in to win the round when both were at almost 0 health. The room let out a scream of cheers as Biff's Fei-Long was shown the heat for the first time. The 2nd round, Biff put more pressure in, timing his Super attacks and pushed ahead more, Steven followed up some more attacks which did damage. But later Biff's special move took Steven out to make it 1-1. The final round had Steven doing some light combos following up with a Super, Biff made a flurry of attacks, some doing damage and some being blocked. Biff was then in trouble, he tried to attack but Steven countered taking him out with a Super attack and some more kicks. Biff fought back with everything he could but the health was too short and Steven won the match. Cheers were let out in the room as Steven got to hold the Champions belt. However it was not over...

The 2nd Match would next begin. Sami and John didn't know what to think, but then they remembered Biff mentioning his training with Sagat, but were unsure at the time if it would help. The audience decided to call out: "Biff... Bust out the Sagat"... "Yeah Biff... Bust out the Sagat!". Biff let out a small smile to that. The 2nd match (5 rounds this time) was prepared, Steven selected Ken again, and Biff went for Sagat. Biff started off strong, pummelling Steven with hard attacks and combos, winning the first two rounds and winking at his Team. Steven took a more strategic attacking approach landing more hits in following up with supers to win rounds 3 and 4. The final round would be the decider, a question of who wanted it most. Both competitors were down on health, Steven needed about one more hard kick to take the win, Biff needed perhaps two. Steven opted for a regular special move, but Biff executed a wild Super Tiger Knee/Uppercut attack with Sagat in the last moment. This cut through Steven's attack, defeating Ken and winning the 2nd match, ending in an overall draw vs Zwartjes. Biff then took the Champions belt and held it up in the air. In an interview immediately after, Jason the Cameraman asked Biff how it felt to be a Star. Biff amused the crowd with his reply "I already was before I come here so it doesn't matter!".

Biff vs Zwartjes : The Movie was created on DVD as a result and although Sami and Jason wished to go back to enhance it into a more feature length movie, this was never yet possible. Rumours and plans of a later sequel in Norway were proposed but this never happened, instead some good prospects were available elsewhere.

Jonathan "BIFF" Sifleet deep in thought of the oncoming Challenge in Paris vs Anthony Pichard

Biff Part 2 : The Challenge in Paris

Biff's fame in Street Fighter Alpha 3 spread across Europe as 2006 ended. Each year at the SMK Fun Cup there was a gathering of the best French SMK players including their Top Street Fighter players. In March 2007 they organised another meeting in Paris, inviting gamers from around Europe to the event. The French gamers, hearing of Biff's success vs Zwartjes, announced that they would like to Challenge Biff on Street Fighter Alpha 3. Biff, Sami and the British Team discussed this Challenge, and Biff soon after accepted. Biff then formed the British SMK and gamers Team into the official 'Team UK' and constantly used his famous line "I Feel no Way" as one of his favorite quotes when he had the willpower to achieve something. He would face untold skill in Paris with around 6 or 7 top Challengers and their final strongest member, Anthony Pichard in a final showdown. Biff's retraining of his defeated Fei-Long was to begin...

Biff, Sami, Tom, John and Neil met up on several occasions to train Biff's Fei-Long, both in matches and against the CPU. His skills gradually regained and he reached a level higher than before with extreme training methods. Additionally this same evening Biff broke the Karters and Elite record on being able to eat the most food in one meal which was 4 Large Doner Kebab Meat and Chips. As he left from his last night of training before the trip to Paris, Biff was Feeling no way despite not knowing how strong his opponents would be, and that he would emerge victorius vs his opponents in Paris.

The journey begun and Sami Cetin and Jason Mathoora were well into filming of the Biff Part 2 movie which was to become a feature length sequel to Biff vs Zwartjes. The newly formed 'Team UK - Feel No Way' followed their original founder, Biff and made their way to Paris. Biff and Tom could not stop their Street Fighter rivalry as they continued a mini challenge on the Eurostar with their GBAs. On arrival at Paris, Biff met the French challengers who were very excited about the upcoming matches; and all exchanged looks at their rivals as they realised the battles to follow the next evening would be tough.

The following day a Football Match was organised between Biff's Team UK and Netherlands on one side, and the French/Swiss team on the other. It was a very close match; Biff managed to score an amazing volley from several yards on the far sideline 5 minutes after claiming that he had some 'Next Level Football skills coming up'. Biff's Team won the football narrowly at 7-6. Biff then decided to prove himself at driving, by driving one of the French SMK players' cars in reverse at high speed near the area of the venue. Biff was named 'The Incredible Biff' by the French gamers. Shortly after, they went on a city visit to Paris and the Eiffel Tower. John Barber provided some great photography in the city including that of Biff and the French Team's Alpha 3 Champion Anthony Pichard, later used for the Biff Part 2 DVD cover. At this stage the gamers were in deep discussion with mixed predictions over who would win the Street Fighter Alpha 3 Tournament between Biff and Anthony Pichard.

When the gamers arrived back at the venue for the big battle, Biff was really in Top form, sayin how he Felt no Way... No Way! The equipment was set up and the crowd gathered, cameras everywhere. British, Dutch, French and Swiss audience... Biff started the preliminary matches vs about 6 or 7 players using various characters, including a revival of Sagat. His first match he tested out his newly trained up Fei Long in which he made easy work of the first challenger. Some fought him well, but Biff had his henchness on his side and managed to defeat them one by one.

Anthony Pichard and Biff took their final seats, the crowd eagerly waited for the characters they would use. Anthony Pichard, an avid Ryu specialist went for Evil Ryu, Biff was deciding, then kept with his well trained Fei-Long, to revive him since his defeat against Zwartjes. This would be out of 5 rounds, and Biff wanted to attack.

The first round kicked off as the crowd cheered.... Biff pulled out well timed regular attacks followed up with combos as Anthony matched him with the same. Anthony then taunted him with some medium punches to make Biff jump so Anthony could use a fierce Dragon Punch; suddenly Anthony pulled out a super fireball at semi close range in an attempt to win the round; Biff knowing he didn't have time to avoid it with a regular jump, somehow pulled out a pixel perfect rising dragon that went through Anthony's fireball as the crowd cheered. Anthony made a few further attacks but a few regular kicks from Fei-Long managed to end the close but steady round. The crowd cheered as Biff lowered his head and took a breath of relief.

The second round was set to be an extreme battle. Anthony pushed harder this time and took the lead as both competitors lost near half their energy. As Biff was catching up again he made an error and Anthony caught him mid air with a super Hurricane Kick, the French crowd cheering loudly. Biff made further attacks to catch up again but then trouble struck as he was backed into the corner, all of the audience were cheering and gasping as both Fei-Long and Evil Ryu's health were going near zero. Biff however wsnt going to give up without a fight, they resorted to kicks; Biff desperately trying to attack to end the round but failing, followed by Anthony's further sweeps and dragon punches, then Biff's last moment medium low kick to win the 2nd round; the crowd went wild and Anthony acknowledged that he must have made Biff sweat at that round.

Round 3, the decider; and Anthony went with a combo of great attacks knocking Fei-Long to the floor. These included kicks, hard punches and then a fierce dragon punch. Fei-Long collapsed and Biff started to see how the fight was turning around, it was now or never. Biff then remembering what happened to Fei-Long last time when he faced Zwartjes and in order to win, he remembered his training and to 'Feel no Way'. Biff brought his Fei-Long back on his feet again, fighting his hardest, mixing up some defence and attack, blocking Evil Ryu's attacks and catching up with his own, eventually taking the lead a little once again. Biff decided to keep Evil Ryu in the air with lighter attacks to prevent him from using the Dragon punch and ground combos. This wore down Evil Ryu's energy and Anthony was struggling as his health came to 0. Biff had repeatedly hit him with medium and light kicks in the air, and now he was down. Biff sweeped him and Anthony blocked, then Biff went for a Rekka ken Special Move which cut through Anthony's character's remaining health, ending the round, match and Challenge! The let out an almighty cheer as Biff rose his hand up for taking the win. Biff's smile the moment after the match ended was shot on camera by John Barber (see photo at top of profile). For the rest of the evening, the crowds described the atmosphere as comparable with that of a World Cup Final.

Following the match, further carnage took place that night that was also recorded for the Biff Part 2 DVD. Sami Cetin worked on the Editing himself and also created a Bonus Disc with the making, interviews and other fun additions. The Teaser Trailer was released 6 weeks before the movie release and was loved by its fans. 2 weeks before the film's release on DVD saw an Official Release Trailer. On the release day of the film Sami and Jason prepared a Premiere with small video clips released online in Part 1 and Part 2. Again there was some discussion of a future sequel but this was not possible as of yet.

Mario Kart DS showdown

Biff also had the opportunity to compete in an MKDS mini tourney during the International Fun Cup in Paris, March 2007 amongst his two British Team mates Sami Cetin and Tom Gaffikin and 3 French karters. Several tracks were selected for the races and Biff came 3rd place out of 6 players in the final standings.

Further Gaming Events

Later in 2007 Biff attended a games event held by Sami Cetin that had visitors from France, Netherlands and Norway. Street Fighter 3 : 3rd Strike was a popular game amongst the gamers at this time and Biff had the opportunity to face some of the French players once again, defeating many in some good matches despite limited time to play this version. Marius Hukkelaas from Norway however was on an excellent level and defeated Biff in a series of matches on the NTSC version of Street Fighter 3 : 3rd Strike.

In 2008, Biff attended a few gaming conventions in London along with Tom Gaffikin which featured several versions of Street Fighter. He challenged a Top French player on one of the SF2 Hyper Fighting versions and marginally lost after a good battle. Players there who watched claimed that they had seen few who could use Fei-Long as well as Biff did, despite the loss. Tom also participated in a few matches and spectated several others.

Biff and Philosophy

Biff also became a Philosopher of a unique kind by coming up with his own methodologies, reasoning and problem solving strategies. This has over the years helped him to win his battles, and generally Feel no Way. Several Legendary 'Biff' Quotes have been documented and are honoured by many in the UK and abroad.

Biff's Other Crazy Achievements

• Holds the Gamer's Record for eating the most food in one meal; 4 large mixed kebabs!! (Briefly seen on Biff Part II : The Challenge in Paris)

• Claims to have been able to reach near 40mph down the spiral ramp of a Multistory carpark.

• Holds the land speed record for South London to Folkestone.

• While playing GTA3, proved that he could tip over a train in the game when no one believed it possible.

• Once managed to turn Coca Cola that had gone flat, to become fizzy again.

• Knows how to repair PS2 consoles.

• Once developed his own console, known as the "Biffcast"

• Claims that if there was an apocalypse, that he could parry it.

The Future of Biff?

In the recent days, Biff plays XBox 360 casually, testing out various games just for fun. Although he is semi-retired from competitive gaming, he does occasionally participate online on Street Fighter 2 HD Remix and the new Street Fighter 4. Biff's future gaming plans are currently unknown.

He once proposed that he would release a Hardback Copy of his Autobiography ('I Merked Crime... The Autobiography of Jonathan "Biff" Sifleet') when he reaches about 40. Biff continues to be an out and out Legend and a man of immense power. He is a credit to the Gamers of the UK and an iconic figure for his rise as an unknown gamer to one challenging the ranks of some of the best. It has always been known that if one ever has a problem, small or large, Biff will always have the answer.

External Links

• Biff's SMK profile