Super Street Fighter 2: The New Challengers
Reviewed by Steve S.
Much has been said about the Street Fighter series, good and bad. This
game definitely ranks in the middle. It was made in 1994, when games
for the 16-bit systems were all getting fancy graphic overhauls, and
this game has terrible character sprites. All of the original 12 characters
look the same, except for a few new frames of animation and some
newly-colored outfits. However, four new characters entered the
tournament in this T. Hawk, Dee Jay, Fei-Long, and Cammy. The game
is pretty boring except for the new additions.
Graphics: 5 out of 10
Blech. The character animations in this fighter are horrible. The
animation is very choppy, and the characters leave nothing to the
imagination. Capcom could have at least used some fancy advanced
computer modeling like in some games of its time (i.e. Donkey Kong
Country and Killer Instinct), but it just took the same sprite models
of the first Street Fighter II title. The only good side of the graphics here
is the backgrounds. They are fairly impressive, especially the way the
foregrounds scroll in 3-D. Also, the opening scene of Ryu is excellent.
Music and Sound: 9 out of 10
SSF2 would score a perfect ten in the sound department if not for
the tinny sound effects. The music is EXCELLENT! Every single track
in the game is remixed, and the four new tracks of the new fighters
are great, too. This is all due to some new sound technology that
Capcom developed for the Super NES. I advise you to get a good hyper
bass VCR and a good pair of headphones, because you do not want to
miss out on this music! As for the sound, well, it sounds horrible. The
punches and kicks make strange tinny sound effects or loud air-whipping
noises that sound like a tree trunk being swung through the air at 100
miles per hour. But the fireballs and such do make pretty realistic
fireball-like noises as the fighters hurl them.
Game Challenge: 8 out of 10
The challenge here is not very great in comparison with the Street
Fighter games of today, like those in the Alpha series. The only difficult
part of this game is when Ryu and Ken hurl fireball after fireball after
fireball at you, making it impossible for you to attack them. It does take
some skill, if not common sense, to beat the game on its harder levels.
Heck, I can beat level 6 with my eyes closed, because I know how to block
and jump. It's not terribly difficult. Being cheap will actually help you
(throwing fireballs like crazy and bleeding the opponent's energy down
slowly) here, unlike in recent titles.
Game Play-Fun: 8 out of 10
It's a pretty fun game to play, due to all its modes. There are Super Battle,
VS Battle, Tournament Battle, Group Battle, and the extremely difficult
Time Challenge. And, seeing the endings of each fighter is pretty fun if
you're good enough to beat the Super Battle on its higher difficulty levels
(the rewards start at level three). Also, hearing the amazing ending song
when you beat it at level six is well worth the trouble.
Frustration
I don't even know where to start with the frustration factor. As I said
before, all the people who can throw fireballs do it constantly without
letting up. Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Guile, Dhalsim, Dee Jay, and Sagat are only
hard to defeat because they're so cheap! Well, just master jumping over
the airborne projectiles and kicking the fighters' faces in, and you'll be fine.
Replayability: 9 out of 10
You will play this game a lot! I've racked up at least 100 hours on it in
the past few months. It's a blast to play if you can get past the ugly visuals
and frustrating game engine. Here's a tip: play it on Hyper speed (at the
start game screen, press left or right on the D-pad to select your speed,
up to three stars) and it'll be much quicker, not like the worm-on-glue
speed that we're all used to from the first SF2.
Overall: 7 out of 10
I must say that the game isn't all bad because of its graphics, but the
frustrating engine does make it dumb. If it weren't for how cheap and
cheesy all the fighters are, Super Street Fighter 2 would probably get a
perfect ten in my book. However, Capcom worked too quickly in getting it
finished, and it suffered due to this. It's still fun to play and is way
better than its two predecessors!