Most of the fighting games still played today were developed in the 90s and as a result, their characters reflect the cultural contexts of that era as they were largely inspired by martial arts films and combat sports, Paul Phoenix is a perfect example, He embodies the early American full-contact karate, which is a mishmash of certain elements from basic karate that American servicemen in Japan picked up with Army boxing. His style features basic boxing techniques combined with backfists and karate-type lunge punches, reminiscent of legends such as Bill Wallace and Joe Lewis.