Super Street Fighter II Impressions: The Thrill is Gone

Jan. 24 2:03 AM by Sardius

Every review of SSF2 is required by law to include a shot of Cammy's stage.

I remember waiting outside the closed grate of the mall arcade on the day that Street Fighter II: Champion Edition arrived, gaping as its attract mode played on in front of my eyes, just barely out of reach. I stood there for a good ten minutes before the place opened, with the only interruption coming when the kid waiting beside me said to no one in particular, "Chun-Li looks even hotter in her red clothes." I didn't know if he was intentionally quoting that month's Hot At the Arcades column in GamePro or if he was just creepy and insane.

I wasn't waiting outside the arcade when Super Street Fighter II was released. I walked in one day -- probably weeks after its arrival -- and saw it sitting there with no one playing it. This is in stark contrast to when the same arcade had no less than three cabinets of the original Street Fighter II, all of which were constantly being played. I dropped in a quarter. I played as one of the crappy new characters. I lost pretty quickly.

Right then, the era of Street Fighter was over and done with, as far as I was concerned.

Ryu looks EVEN HOTTER in his blue clothes.

Only a few months prior, I ran up to one of my friends in middle school with the exciting news that a version of Street Fighter II was finally coming to the Genesis. I thought he would care, since he didn't own an SNES. He was long past caring about video games, though, and barely acknowledged me as he walked off with his other friends.

Several months before that, I asked my mom and dad to buy my Street Fighter II Turbo for the SNES for my birthday, knowing full well that I already owned the original Street Fighter II and that Turbo was only a minor upgrade. Since games cost something ridiculous like $80 back then, Turbo was one of only two or three games I'd get that year, but I was glad to get it nonetheless. I played the hell out of it, and it was one of my favorite games for years running.

Sometime before then, I was at a point in my life where I actually gave a damn about fighting games, and would routinely beat the scary 16-year-olds at the arcade by cheesing M. Bison's Psycho Crusher over and over in the first few days of Champion Edition's release. I racked up like 15 or 20 wins in a row one day before some guy figured out that my invincible back-and-forth Psycho Crushering could be defeated with E. Honda's Hundred Hand Slap.

I remember all of these moments vividly. I owned Street Fighter II and Street Fighter II Turbo for the SNES. I played SF2, Champion Edition, and Turbo at the arcades almost daily as a kid.

I never owned Super Street Fighter II. The first quarter I spent on Super Street Fighter II in arcades was the only quarter I'd ever spend on it.

Since then, I've tried to appreciate Super SF2. I've tried to like SSF2 Turbo, even, since everyone insists that it's supposed to be the ultimate evolution of Street Fighter II.

I always come up empty. The jump from Hyper Fighting to Super was technically bigger than the jump from Champion to Turbo, or from SF2 to Champion, but Super always felt empty. It was hollow. It was meaningless.

Nobody I knew played Super Street Fighter II. We had all moved on.

Capcom didn't, though, and Street Fighter's fanbase began to shrink even further from that point on. Try as they did, Capcom never did manage to capture the magic of the pre-Super Street Fighters, even in the brilliant and technically excellent Street Fighter III: Third Strike.

I'm rambling, though, and we're not talking about Third Strike (which is awesome, by the way, and you should play it). Point: Street Fighter II Turbo is still the best fighter on the Wii's Virtual Console. Ignore Super Street Fighter II. The upgrades from Turbo aren't worth it, and in many ways make for a worse game overall.

Here's a short (and incomplete) playthough as Fei Long, one of SSF2's new characters.

Comments

I have to disagree with you on this one, Mr. Sardius. Even though I never remember playing Super Street Fighter II in the arcades - or even if the game was in any of the local arcades, for that matter - this game is good for many hours of friendly battles (assuming you've got a friend to play against, which is the only way most any Vs Fighting game stays fresh over the long haul).

This is arguably the best Street Fighter option that is going to be released on the Virtual Console, at least in North America. It's got the eight original characters, it's got the four original bosses, and it's got the four "New Challengers" to play around with. Most, if not all, of the original characters have new moves added to their repertoire, which fleshes out the experience and changes the balance of power between certain characters. Each character has their own stage, including the best Street Fighter II stage there is: Cammy's England bridge fight. You can do character versus character battles with any character you please, and you can choose the color of your character's outfit (and, in some cases, skin).

True, the game does have its faults. For one thing, it's a Street Fighter game, so the one player mode can get old pretty fast. Also, the new characters moveset is not as prolific as the original characters (Cammy has what, three special moves, not counting the Frankensteiner?), so developing a versatile fighting with any of them can be difficult. On top of that, it doesn't have some of the later characters in the series, so people who have "moved on" with the series or came in after this point may not have their favorite options available.

All that being said, this is the definitive Street Fighter game from the SNES era in my opinion. I was kind of forced by my friends into spending my $8 on it even though I have several other options for playing the game (including that original cartridge), but it's still just as enjoyable to beat them down now as it was nearly fifteen vyears ago.