Street Fighter II

"Good for a half hour of entertainment"

Street Fighter II for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a decent fighting game, with pretty good graphics, and easy controls. There are the basic short kicks and jabs, strong kicks and punches, and fierce kicks and punches. For some people, using the R and L buttons to perform certain moves can be difficult, but there's an option to change the controller figurations to suit you. One or two players can play this game.

Gameplay
Basically, you travel around the world and fight. There are 8 fighters for you to choose from, each with their own style of fighting (aside from Ryu and Ken, who are exactly the same). You pick your character, and fight the remaining 7. Once you defeat all of them, three more secret characters appear (not playable), and after you face them, the boss of the game (M. Bison) is available for battle. Matches can be timed or untimed. The difficulty level can be set at different levels for different levels of skill. There is also a VS. mode, in which you can battle your friends.

Storyline
Storyline? What storyline? There is a Street Fighter movie that wasn't too great that explains the whole Street Fighter background. Basically, everyone in the game had something happen to them in the past that made them want to fight, so they fight to avenge lost loved ones, etc.

Sound/Graphics
The sound in this game is pretty good. The characters speak when they perform their special moves, which doesn't happen in many SNES games. The sounds of kicks and punches connecting, moves being blocked, and other sound FX are clear. The graphics for this game are good, but some of the characters are a little fuzzy around the edges. The stage backgrounds are well done, and very clear.

Rent or buy?
There isn't much replay value to this game, unless you want to try and beat it on the highest difficulty. I'd say borrow it from a friend, or if it's still available to rent, rent it. Unless you're a die hard fan of the Street Fighter series, don't buy it. If you're looking to buy a good Street Fighter game, get Super Street Fighter II, or Street Fighter 2 Alpha.

Conclusion
This is a great game, but the lack of replay value and variety can make it seem boring. If you're looking for something to keep you entertained for a half hour (or less), play it. Otherwise, go for something else.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 07/15/03, Updated 07/15/03