Street Fighter II

"My holy Lord, this game rocks"

Once again it seems that people have been paying too much attention to the fruit of the labor and taking the labor for granted. In this case, the fruit of the labor is Street Fighter Alpha 3, the greatest fighting game ever made in my opinion. The labor is Street Fighter II. Yes, the original Street Fighter II, with no subtitles on it. This game single-handedly opened the floodgates for other fighting games to make their way into the homes of impressionable youngsters and adolescents. Some exact clones of their inspiration; others fared better by adding unique touches (Mortal Kombat famously introduced blood and sexuality to the mix and became a monster all its own). Either way, we all have to thank Street Fighter II for introducing us to fighting, and for getting it right so the other developers would have a good primer to work off of.

Ethnic diversity was one of the things that made this fighter so great. Each World Warrior represented his or her own country to be named the best fighter on Earth. Ryu and Ken, both identical in their martial arts technique, had distinct personalities that forced the player to take a preference; Edmund Honda of Japan, the big fat sumo wrestler who just wants to get back to maintaining his bathhouse; Blanka, the green beast from the Brazilian jungle primeval; Guile, a no-nonsense flat-topped soldier from the good old U.S. of A; Chun Li, the Chinese girl who's out to avenge the death of her father by the hand of Bison; Zangief, the Russian beefcake who wrestles grizzlies with his ''bear'' hands (sorry, couldn't resist); and Dhalsim, the really skinny Indian guy who could stretch his limbs to incredible lengths and whose source of firepower came from spicy Indian curry. With a repertoire of moves for each character hitherto unimagined in the world of video gaming, you selected a character and fought the other seven, and then took on the four champions of the world: Balrog the boxer, who relies on his fists to get the job done; Vega the Spanish fence-climber, whose vanity is matched only by his fighting skill; Sagat the kickboxer, a long-time rival of Ryu (he put that eyesore of a scar on his chest); and finally, Bison, the most powerful man alive and head of the Shadoloo clan responsible for many many murders. Only a skilled worker of the controller could possibly hope to face up to these rough 'n' tough bad guys. Challenge? Street Fighter II provided it - in spades.

SF2 had some of the most airtight control I've ever seen in a video game. This game was the first of its kind to make you fly through a rapid combination of buttons in order to pull off a move. Other games have added complex combos to the basic formula and required faster fingers of the player, but strategy was first employed here. Button mashing doesn't cut it, and you have to be at least three steps ahead of your opponent to stay in the game. Some of the most memorable attacks ever are found in this game. Ryu and Ken's Dragon Punch, Blanka's electricity, Zangief's Spinning Pile Driver, and Vega's off-the-wall (literally!) swan dives have all delved a hole in our memories. As you become more familiar with the computer characters and the way they attack, you in turn will learn a varied method and how to strike with dead-on efficiency. The CPU won't waste its time with the same cheap moves and people who don't know what they're doing - it takes real skill and knowledge to beat the World Warriors and take the crown of champions.

For its time, Street Fighter II's graphics were the best money could buy. Realistic portraits of the characters available looked very sharp, and in battle, the people looked great AND moved without slowdown. The memory crammed into the game was a landmark achievement and was the explanation for the great movement. Ambience in the background was also a first. People rode bicycles by on the streets of China, and props on both sides of many stages could be broken (though not used) if hit with enough force. The uniqueness of having something going on in the background during a battle was a little distracting, but also fun to watch. It was especially humorous to watch people cheering in the background, though sometimes you weren't sure if it was you or the other guy they were rooting for.

Though the sound and music were usually very quiet, the tunes could sometimes be heard, and what ones you could hear are memorable. Each is a representation of the cultures of its locale, especially Blanka's, Vega's and Dhalsim's themes (heh, I'm a poet and didn't know it). The sound effects are basic punches and kicks, maybe grunts if you hit somebody hard enough in a certain sensitive area (which makes 'em barf up blood! Yes!). Great songs are to be expected from a great game, and even though the sound effects are meager, what else can you expect? When someone gets hit, are they going to say, ''Oh, jolly good uppercut, chap! That was a wicked googaly''? No. Besides, when Capcom gets everything else on the mark, they can be forgiven one fault.

If you want replay value, Street Fighter II provides it to an infinite degree. As far as fighting games go, this one is easy to master, being one of the first. However, its appeal and the diversity of its characters will have you coming back out of nostalgia and sentiment. Do your tastes lie toward the slender, nubile Chun Li or the muscular but very slow Zangief? Will you walk the path of the ninja as Ryu or Ken or show off your tough guy skills as the all-American icon Guile? You can learn a variety of styles from each character - everyone has something new to offer you, even more so if you play Turbo or Champion Edition (where you can fight as the four boss characters as well). Street Fighter II is one you can come back to all the time and have a good time guaranteed.

I cannot recommend Street Fighter II as a rental, because I am 100% dead sure that if you bought it, you'd have a good time with it, bearing in mind that you're a fighting game fanatic. If you're not, stay away from what practically everyone else considers a classic. Hard to believe that ten years have passed since this game hit the shelves and gamers' hearts. Silly video game players - the fun isn't in the soap operas and slow action of your RPGs, it's in the non-stop violent action and universal enjoyment of fighting games. I promise you that playing this is a reward for any time wasted with a console.

Thumbs Up-percut
--Great animation
--Great graphics
--A pioneer that established the path for all the others like it
--Smooth control
--Much diversity of characters

Kick in the Pants
--The sound effects and music are a little too quiet; other than that, nothing

Score: The biggest 10 I could find

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 06/13/02, Updated 06/13/02