Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers

This is another of my personal favorite video games of all time and one of my favorite games in the fighting genre of all time. I was a kid from the 90's and I'm a fan of the Street Fighter franchise as I of course was one of the kids that played the game when it first came to the arcade. There were even other things for the franchise from the two 90's movies the anime film and the live action film which I like believe it or not (and reviews for another time). An anime show "Street Fighter 2 V" which is one of my favorite anime shows (another review for another time).

Things like that showed how much of a phenomenon this game truly was; it wasn't hard to see why people easily gravitated toward this game. I remember how in the arcades the crowds for this game were just crazy as there were people that were in long lines just to play the arcade cabinet of this game and home console versions were selling like hot cakes as it meant they could invite friends or sleepovers just to play this game; so, you can easily imagine how much fun I and my friends had playing this game. I, my wife, and friends of mine still love to play this classic entry along with the sequels. There are even video game tournaments to this day held for this franchise. All these things show how timeless this franchise truly is and most importantly established the fighting game genre as a permanent place in video games.

Part of what made this game great is that fact that it was one of the very first one on one video games. Fighting games have been done in the past, but never really captured that fluidity of combat which is why the genre was never popular at the time. The first entry of the franchise tried but wasn't successful as it could be in doing it which is part of why it's been a forgotten entry. However, when the 90's came, they gave "Street Fighter" a second shot and it turned out to be the best shot heard around the world as it was a bullseye.

There isn't a lot I can say that hasn't already been said, one of the highlights is the fact that you have that option element where you have this colorful roster of characters that could be straight from an anime/manga or comic book each of them has their strengths and weaknesses. It's easy to see how this blew people away, because in most games you just play as your assigned character but in this game, you get to call the shots on who you want to play and experiment to figure out what character/charters best suit you.

The control is spot on with the great gameplay to boot. The fights in the game play out like the kind you'd see from a shonen anime/manga. As you are just jumping to heights that even a fitness nut would be envious of, blocking and hitting, and shooting and putting on some of the super moves, it was just a crazy good time. Other thing that was revolutionary was of course in the fighter control where you had six buttons, where in most games it was only two. This deepened the fighting experience as in martial arts you always had a set of basic moves, this game you have things like a fast to strong punch as well as fast to high strong kick. And when you moved the joystick a certain position your able to do other things while pressing either the punch or kick button.

Of course, one of the other highlights are the super moves which raise the stakes and deepen the combat more and are always fun to use. It's true it may take plenty of practice to get them down, but once you do you almost feel unstoppable. But like I said almost these super moves aren't always the ace card up your sleave, their by their nature tools to help in your combat. Even though you can do damage with them they don't work every time as they can be blocked or dodged. Also, you can only wield them so much, so you still have to be careful.

These kinds of things really give the game a strategy element where you can't fight on sole pure aggression and rely on luck alone, you must at time think about offence and defense, observe, and study your opponent's carefully on the moves the make and find the windows of opportunity to strike. There of course is the function of playing against a friend, which is cool as that is something that hasn't at the time been done much as most of the time in video games it was where the second or third player work together. This was always fun as it gave you the opportunity to test each other's skill, see if you can beat them with different characters, and just simply have a good rowdy wild fun without getting physically hurt.

Really love the graphical presentation which looks and feels like anime/manga or comic book style. From the detail of the different backgrounds and the character models. I really love how lively both were from seeing people cheering in the background but most of all the characters from their expressions of getting hurt, to their expressions of victory.

And there is the sound and music which is just superb; the music really enhances the memorability of the game as it signified each area and fighter you were going to be in. And of course, there was that theme song which is one of my favorite themes of all time, it just sings out action and excitement. I really like that sound as it feels like each of the blows you deliver really do make an impact, or even when you crash into environments it feels like you really hurt your opponents, or you feel the hurt. There are even little vocal cues which help in distinction of each of the characters but also enhances the liveliness of them.

These are four favorite characters that I love playing, I wouldn't say their totally surprising picks but my personal picks all the same.

Ryu: My main man, this guy is one of my favorite protagonists in video games. Sure, his motives are simple as it's to be the best fighter every but I'm fine with that as it's non cliche and I can emphasize with that as one of my drives in life is to be the best in what I do best in life. Anyway, I really like how balanced and the power the character has, and he of course has some of those wicked moves from the Ha Do Ken which is much like Goku's Super Mov. But also, another favorite that helicopter flying kick which is always so cool.

Chun-Li: My main woman another of my favorite protagonists and feme fatales in video games. I really love how energetic she is and despite on the serious strong side there was also a sense of humor about her. She's got cool moves from that lighting kick which is always awesome as she is executing multiple side kicks at a rapid-fire pace like Kenshiro with his punches in "Fist of the North Star" And there is her upside down helicopter kick which is also awesome as it goes really fast and makes quick and hard impacts; though makes me wonder how she doesn't get dizzy doing that.

Fei-Long: His character is obviously inspired and a homage to martial arts legend "Bruce Lee" which makes him even more awesome as I'm a "Bruce Lee" fan. Like Bruce he's a movie star but he doesn't let ego get to his head and just as he wants to make the best movies, he wants to also be the best at what he does. Really like the fluidity of his movements which feel true to Bruce, and of course he super moves like a fiery dragon flying kick which always looks cool.

Guile: Always liked the design of his character as he kind of looks like Duke from "G. I. Joe" which is one of the reasons I love playing his character as I'm a "G. I. Joe" fan. His character is militaristic and charismatic. He's just cool as he's got some of the best moves from the sonic boom and the flash kick.

This timeless classic packed a punch back then and still does today.

Rating: 4 stars.