Street Fighter II

"The game that started it all is on the SNES."

Street Fighter has become synonymous with video games almost as much as Mario or Sonic. Except instead of one character to idolize, Street Fighter has a championship of fighters. In the arcades, no other game at the time had that many people to choose from, and nothing else came close in the graphics department. When it was time to get this baby out to home consoles, you could tell that the Super NES was the one that could handle it. I was one of the happy youngster on my religious holiday where you get presents when I found Street Fighter 2 was one of my presents. This can could be the game that turned the tide for the SNES during the battle against the Sega Genesis. This game could be called one of the greatest all of time in the arcades. When it went to the SNES, some things were lost, but could be called prefect.

The plot of Street Fighter 2 is simple: Whoever wins gets dubbed the strongest fighter in the world (or best fighter in the world.) The first Street Fighter had only 2 people to choose from, and they were exact copies with moves. The only difference was names, Ken and Ryu, hair, and clothing. However, this Street Fighter has 8, yes, 8 fighter for you to choose from (not that much now, but that was a lot 10 years ago) each completely different from each other (besides Ryu and Ken, who come back) and each with a good amount of butt kicking moves. However, there are 4 which are not available to you. Which is a let down, really. The way that you win is in a 2 out of 3 format, which has become the standard of today. That's about it for the fight let up and plot.

Graphics: 10
These are some of the best that a game from this time in the SNES life had to offer. Detailed, colorful graphics which would be impossible on the Genesis are seen with power to spare. However, they are not arcade perfect, as most consoles could not compare to the arcade. However, they were as close as you could get at the time. Each fighter has their own animations when winning a battle or losing a battle with no time on the timer (which you can set for infinite time) You can see when the fighters get hit they have almost a look of pain on their faces, instead of the usual cold, lifeless look. However, when the win, they show a bit of life in their pale cheeks (except Ryu and Bison, those cold-hearted meanies) You can see the amount of time and hard work it took to make this game.

Gameplay: 10
This game set the standard for Fighting games, or at least raised the bar about 5 notches higher. You really can't go wring with this type of game beside sit being very slow, or very glitchy, which SF2 isn't. However, when a good amount of flashy moves are going around, like Chun Li's kick thing and Blanka's electrical shock, you see some slow-down, only because of too much stuff going on screen at the same time. Well, as I said before, you have 8 fighters. Each can give you a different way to play, and you must master them all to become, well, a master at SF2. In the arcade, they have a joy-stick and 6 buttons. Luckily, you have 6 buttons on the SNES, so you are able to do the soft, medium, and hard punches and kicks without some strange control set up. The D Pad works just as well as the joy stick in the arcade, the you move with smooth walking and jumping. What I haven't like in the SF series is that they can't run, which I think would be a great addition to this game. Setting that aside, the gameplay is as arcade perfect as you can get.

Sound: 9
Each level has its own music, so unless you are stuck on someone (Vega comes to my mind) you really can't argue with the sound. I will always remember the music that comes up before the fight in the blue screen with your fighter and your AI controlled opponent. Forever. Nothing is bad about the sound unless is you listen to it at a high volume, but then it just hurts your ears. Also, every time a fighter uses a special attack, a little sound byte come up. I know everyone knows ''HADOKEN!'' Just because it is so cool. I mean it, it is a cool word. Oh, and you got elephants trumpeting. That cool too. Anywho, the sound is great.

Fun Factor: 10
This game is Whoo Doggy and a Barrel of Monkeys all in one fighting taco. How could you not like this game? You must like at least one part. You know you do. This game deserves a medal or something of the sort.

Buy or Rent?
Why would you rent when you can buy it for only 2 bucks? Buy it. You video game past shall thank you.

Graphics: 10
Gameplay: 10
Sound: 9
Fun Factor: 10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 04/30/02, Updated 04/30/02