GAME REVIEWS

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Street Fighter II' Champion Edition

~ STREET FIGHTER II' CE ~
Capcom / NEC Home Electronics
HuCard
1993

I was never a Street Fighter II fanatic or anything, but I spent my fair share of quarters on it in the arcade just like every other normal high-school male back when it was new, and I enjoyed it enough to purchase the SNES renditions of the original title and the Turbo followup. I don't like fighting games in general, but SF2 plays absolutely wonderfully and features remarkably memorable moves, tunes, and cast members. Experiencing the PCE version of Champion Edition (which, of course, allows players to use the four boss characters who were originally unselectable) just a short time after giving ACD Fatal Fury 2 a go reminded me of just how soundly SF2 thrashed all the wannabes and pretenders of its time.

(If, by chance, you have yet to become acquainted with Street Fighter II and are wondering what exactly makes it so significant and enjoyable, I highly recommend that you check out the brilliant piece written by longtime Duomazov ally Masters Marmeladov on the original arcade game.)

Graphically, I couldn't have asked for a better performance from a HuCard. I'm not one to count the elephants in Dhalsim's stage or compare the various console versions' respective sky shades, but I do know how very impressed I was when I powered up this chip for the first time and saw the game in action.



But the music... I've gotta believe the PCE is capable of producing audio superior to what's on offer here. It was kind of interesting to hear these subdued takes on the classic SF2 tunes, but before long, I was really yearning for the stronger SNES arrangements. And I wish we had gotten Turbo, with its high-speed play modes, rather than plain old CE. Regardless, this is a very impressive port, as I'm sure most people by now know.


1 comment :

Guilherme said...

The PC Engine version is one of the best ports.