Street Fighter II

"The game that made me gain 10 pounds as an impressionable teenager."

Poor me...I was a stick until Street Fighter 2 came out for the Super Nintendo. I got this game mainly to get better so I could be ''da man'' at my local arcade and beat all the kids who had been whuppin' me for so long. So, I bought this game in the first week of its release, and it was proof that the 16-bit systems could handle respectable versions of arcade games. The now classic game concerned eight World Warriors, who each had their own reasons to enter a tournament sponsored by Shadowloo, an evil empire run by the mysterious M. Bison.

Graphics
When this game was released, it knocked my socks off! Each stage and character looked alarmingly like the arcade game; after dealing with NES nightmares, finally a platform got a great game right. The color palette naturally suffers a bit, but it's nothing that I would call noticeable.
(9/10)

Sound
The music was also well done by Capcom. A few classic stage tunes, such as Blanka's jungle tunes, were altered, but this is mostly a forgivable flaw. The sound effects (mostly when hits register) are faithful and effective. And Vega is just EVIL!!!
(8/10)

Control
The control still holds up today! All of the World Warriors are responsive and excellent, and their special moves are almost criminally easy to pull off. The only exception would be Zangief's Spinning Piledriver, but it is worth the effort. Every aspect must be mastered, and even the SNES control pad is easy to use in place of the overpriced Control Sticks they sold.
(9/10)

Gameplay
Sure, the SNES eventually got fighters with more than eight characters, but this was an awesome number when the game was released. Each Warrior was different (disregard Ken and Ryu here) and usually each of your friends had a different hero that could make competition fierce in two-player. For the two people that don't know how this game plays, it is like this: in the one-player mode, you choose one of eight characters each with unique moves and mannerisms, and you go against computer controlled components in a limited side-scrolling fighting arena. The first character to score two KO's by depleting the other's stamina bar wins. This game was a classic in its time and still holds up today with its simplicity and addictiveness.
(8/10)

Story
Well, each fighter has a small story, and most are interesting, but the real purpose of this game was for ACTION and it shows.
(6/10)

Replay Value
Almost unmeasurable, with the amount of characters and the endless wealth of friends we all had that wanted to fight us just one more time. And the secret code to allow the same fighters duke it out was incredible...this game was almost Championship Edition all by itself!
(8/10)

Average (8/10)...Sure, this game was eclipsed by an endless stream of sequels, but it was the originator and a classic in its time. A truly great SNES arcade adaptation.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/11/00, Updated 02/11/00