Super Street Fighter II

Senseless violence

Street Fighter II was one of the first big one-on-one beat-em-ups, and went down a storm at the arcades, with its characters, combo, and general sprinking of broken teeth. It also managed to become probably the most converted game ever. The numerous sequels and improved versions that were developed have been converted to a multitude of consoles and computers. The latest chapter in the saga, Street Fighter Alpha 2 has just been released in the arcades, and its prequel ***Street Fighter Alpha ***has been converted to the Playstation.

The PC has its share of Street Fighting carnage too ,with conversions of the original Street Fighter 2, and also Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo. The former was more or less a straight copy of the Amiga version, and while the latter was graphically and sonically excellent, it was heavily bugged; at the last count, patch number 6 had been released. And now, Virgin Interactive Entertainment and Capcom have decided to release yet another SF2 game. What is it? A bugless version of Super SF2 Turbo? A conversion of the all new Street Fighter Alpha?

GBH

Er, no. It's actually a conversion of ***Super Street Fighter II ***. Perhaps I'd better explain Capcom's rather odd numeric system. First came Street Fighter 2. Then came Street Fighter 2: Championship Edition was released, allowing you to play the bosses. Then came ***Street Fighter 2 : Turbo ***, adding a few extra moves, and general tweaks. Then came Super Street Fighter 2 adding more moves, tweaks, and four all new characters. Finally came Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo which added yet more moves, and a super-meter which allowed you to perform new killer super-special moves. Confused? The gaming public certainly was.

But what this all means is that Super Street Fighter 2, the game which I'm reviewing, isn't the latest version of the game. It lacks the extra bits that ***Super SF 2 Turbo ***has. And indeed, you may well ask what the point of getting this game is, if a later version has already been released on the PC. After all, V.I.E surely have realised that it would have to be something special in order to get the gamesplaying public to shell out their hard earned cash for it. And does it? Is it the game that will stomp all over the crushed remains of Pray for Death, MK3, and the rest of the PC beat-em-up crowd?

Super Street Fighter Poo

Well, no. You see, there's one fatal flaw, one teensy weensy thing that stops SSF2 from taking the beat-em-up crown. You see, it's crap. Complete and utter crap. Easily the worst game I've reviewed since Voyeur II, and that's not saying much.It's not that I don't like the Street Fighter games. It's just that this is such a poor conversion that it can't possibly stand up against other games. I'll be as objective as I can about this; I'm not going to just slag a game off without explaining myself.

First of all, there's the music. An integral part of any game, and possibly the first thing that you notice when you load up the game. The arcade version of the game had a thumping soundtrack to the game. The PC version of SSF2 Turbo had a re-scored, but excellent CD soundtrack, and the floppy version of the game had a MIDI soundtrack, which was nearly as good. This game, on the other hand , has music which sounds like it was created by a six year old child using a small electric organ. Actually , I'm probably being a little unfair. To the six year old child. The music in SSF2 really is appalling, and discordant. And you can't even turn it off. And that's on an AWE 32!. Try it on a standard SB16 and it sounds even worse. The SFX aren't any more impressive. Every single one sounds extremely muffled. So, sonically, it's not looking too good. But what else is there? How about the graphics?

Poor quality

No better, I'm afraid. Not only are they blocky, and the characters poorly animated, the characters seem to have been subjected to some sort of unusual apparatus. Even Chun-Li, with her unfeasibly powerful thighs, able to lift her into the air, seems to have acquired the shape and stature of a garden rake. Similary, all the other characters have been stretched, shrunk, and squashed sideways, giving the whole game a rather odd look. This isn't exactly what I'd expect from a professional conversion.

SSF2 also has the biggest box-blurb porkie since GT Interactive's 'MK3 modem play' fib.* ' Includes hot new modes, including Group Battle, Tournament, and Time Challenge'*, boasts the box. So where are they, then? Down the back of the sofa? Lying in a box at Capcom HQ perhaps? Because they sure as hell aren't in the game. Which deals the final crippling blow to the gameplay. Nurse, call a crash team; I think we're losing Mr StreetFighter.

Waste of money

What you're left with after all that is a grating, clunky, incomplete game. Even modem play fails to lift this game out of the gutter. Without a proper tournament mode, you're limited to simple one on one fights. No multiplayer tournaments; unlike practically every other conversion of the game. And there's not even a proper VS mode. Once you've picked your character, you can't pick a new one, till you lose a fight. So, if you're winning, you're stuck with that character. So much for variety.

The core of the game is strictly average, too. I found it pretty hard to get used to the lack of super-moves, and the extra moves found in SSF2 Turbo. And on top of everything else SSF2 a pain, not a pleasure, to play.

Nightmarish

You might think I'm exaggurating here; after all, how can anything Street Fighter 2 related be that bad? Believe me, it can, and after browsing through the alt.games.sf2 newsgroup, I know I'm not along in my views. Even if this was being given away free, it would hardly be worth it. Avoid this game at all costs. And if someone comes towards you wielding a copy of this, back away. Quickly.*

Review By GamesDomain