Street Fighter II was one of the most popular third party releases in the 16-bit era. That’s why I can’t even imagine how big of a blow it was for Sega when Capcom’s first home console release of the title was only on the Super Nintendo. This game was the talk of the playground when I was in school. I couldn’t help but feel bad for all of the Sega kids because it looked as if they would never get the chance to play it on their blast processing system. This was also back before Capcom released every title as many times as possible. A year later they released a new edition on the Super Nintendo, and found a loophole in their exclusivity agreement (by bringing over a separate version) so that they could push it out on the Sega Genesis as well. Even now people are still arguing over which system had the better port, but I think this comes down to which system you originally played it on. They each have their strengths, and there’s no clear victor. Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition is no slouch, and it easily competes with Turbo.
The story here is based around a tournament wherein the strongest fighters from around the world are invited to compete. Every character has their own background, story, and even fighting stage. They’re pretty interesting for the most part, and I like the endings and hilarious dialogue between fights. Like the release of Turbo on the SNES Capcom added the four previously unplayable boss characters to the roster. These include the punchy Balrog, clawed cage fighter Vega, lanky and mysterious Sagat, and of course the final opponent M. Bison. Aside from these there aren’t any new characters, but we’re given different color schemes for the returning fighters clothing. The roster is fun, inventive, and although it plays off of regional stereotypes is really cool. I always play as Ken, because while Ryu was my main character growing up he also was for everyone else and I like being different. I’ve always had a bit of a bone to pick because Ryu and Ken are basically clones of each other. It’s a little disappointing that no new moves were added here.
Street Fighter II: Champion Edition plays identically to every other version of the game. This is a one on one two dimensional fighting game. Each character can both kick and punch (with three power levels for each which is determined by the button you use) as well as jump and walk forwards/backwards. You win a match when you’ve depleted your foes energy meter, and you move on when you’ve been the victor twice. There are no fatalities like in Mortal Kombat, but honestly now that we’re all adults (and there’s far more graphic things in modern video games) it means that this one hasn’t aged as badly. What’s nice is the fact that the ‘boss characters’ have been toned down a little in this version to make them less unfair in vs. matches. Each fighter has their own set of moves, and these generally revolve around directional inputs paired with button presses. Specific cases such as Guile require you to hold buttons down, and E. Honda and Blanka have skills that are activated by rapid button presses. The pool of special moves is diverse and interesting, but far too many characters have projectiles and this can sometimes result in long instances of long range fighting. Of course, any skilled player can easily overcome this but as a kid I relied on this.
Where this game excels is in its combo use. It’s limited for sure, and you don’t get extra points for them, but once you figure out which special moves you can chain together it’s a very rewarding experience. It takes a lot of practice with each character, and is the best measure between a skilled player and a novice. While you can be moderately successful by button mashing and spamming projectiles a truly skilled player will be able to strike in succession with little openings for a counterattack. On another note the game is made all the more frantic and difficult by the new ‘hyper’ mode included. This is a play on the same option in Turbo on the SNES, and is used to significantly turn up the gameplay speed. Some people like this, but I’ve always preferred the standard flow to be honest. Things are just too frantic especially when you’re facing a human opponent. It’s still a decent option plus brings this version up to par with the SNES Turbo edition.
This is one instance in which the Sega Genesis really impressed me. This version looks surprisingly similar to the arcade edition, and is easily comparable to the SNES release. It’s just slightly more pixelated here, but that’s really not a big issue in my opinion. What’s more is that many of the more subtle animations actually look better in this edition. The biggest downgrade is in the color palette. Unfortunately nothing looks as vibrant as it did in the SNES version, but to make up for this some of the stages feature more detail. This is most apparent in Ryu’s stage where you can now see a moon in the sky. It’s a pretty cool way to make up for the worse range of colors. Unfortunately the soundtrack is a pretty big downgrade. The announcer, for example, is significantly more muffled. In addition the music is much more simple, and a far cry from that of the SNES version. The bleeps and blips are all too easy to make out, and everything sounds very archaic. This is a far cry from the classic soundtrack of the SNES version.
This version of the game is just about on par with Turbo on the SNES, and you really can’t go wrong with either of these releases. Capcom did not disappoint with the first outing of this franchise on the Sega Genesis, and this remained the best fighting game on the platform even after the hardware was retired. This is a necessity for any Genesis collection. Just be sure and get the six button controller because without it Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition is not worth it.
