Every once in a while, a game comes along and raises the bar for video games everywhere. In the 70s there was Space Invaders, Pong, and Asteroids. In the 80s you had Pacman, Super Mario Bros. and Tetris. In 1991 Street Fighter II hit the arcade and was an instant hit with people lining up to spend their pocket money for a few minutes of intense action.

Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting is a competitive fighting game developed and published by Capcom for the arcade and released in 1992. It is part of a sub-series of Street Fighter II games along with Street Fighter II: Championship Edition, Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers, Super Street Fighter Turbo, and Hyper Street Fighter II: The Anniversary Edition. I will not be reviewing each sub-series instalment individually, so they will all be lumped in together. For this review, I revisited Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting version that can be found of the SNES Mini.

Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting was also ported to the following:

• 1992 – Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, Spectrum ZX and PC (DOS)
• 1994 – CPS Changer
• 1995 – Game Boy
• 1997 – Master System
• 1998 – Saturn and PlayStation
• 2004 – Mobile
• 2006 – PlayStation 2, XBox and PlayStation Portable
• 2018 – PlayStation 4, XBox One, Nintendo Switch and Windows

Plot

According to Street Fighter “canon”, Ryu won the first tournament by defeating Sagat. During the battle, Sagat was badly injured by Ryu, hence his chest scar, and suffered a mental breakdown. Later, the story seems to have changed a bit. Now, Sagat was winning the fight quite easily. When Ryu had been knocked down, Sagat offers a hand to help him up. Ryu, possibly affected by the darker nature of his martial art, takes advantage of this show of mercy and performs a Shoryuken to Sagat’s chest. Ryu goes on to win the tournament. Sagat melts away, is recruited by M. Bison and joins Shadaloo (Shadowloo – a powerful and deadly criminal organisation).[1]

So, we find ourselves entering a second tournament. Who are the competitors?

• Ryu is the champion of the first tournament and a student of Shotoken karate. Dedicating his entire life to martial arts, Ryu has no home, no family or friends. He wanders the globe testing his skills against other fighters.
• Ken is also a student of Shotoken karate, but has a huge ego to match his fighting ability. In recent years, Ken has not been training as hard, and is not as sharp as he used to be. A challenge from fellow student Ryu prompts Ken back into action and he enters the tournament.
• E. Honda is the greatest sumo wrestler of all time and has received the highly prestigious title of “Yokozuna” (Grand Champion). After hearing that the world doesn’t consider sumo wrestling a true sport, he has entered the tournament to prove himself.
• Guile is ex-special forces. He was captured and imprisoned, along with co-pilot Charlie, during a mission to Cambodia (or Malaysia depending on which information you read). After months of imprisonment in the jungle, they escaped and began their long trek back to civilisation. Along the way Charlie died, and Guile has been seeking vengeance ever since.
• Chun-Li is an undercover Interpol officer secretly tracking a smuggling organisation known as Shadowloo. The trail leads to the tournament in which she enters, believing that one of the Grand Masters (Balrog, Vega, Sagat or M. Bison) is responsible for her father’s death.
• Blanka is somewhat of an enigma. From the rainforest of Brazil, he is the source of reported sightings of a creature that is half-man, half-beast. Recently he has been found wandering into cities and fighting whoever dares to confront him.
• Zangief is a proud Russian. He loves his country and he loves fighting! One of his favourite pastimes is wrestling bears, hence the scars all over his body.
• Dhalsim has spent a lifetime dedicating himself to yoga. He has a disciplined mind, but now he wishes to enter the tournament to test his fighting skills. Proving himself will help him gain a higher state of consciousness.
• Balrog (based on boxer Mike Tyson) is a former Heavyweight boxing champion who has been banned from the ring for disobeying the rules. He is very strong and very aggressive, and fights in the streets of Las Vegas for money. He is also bodyguard to M. Bison.
• Vega is a nobleman by birth, and has spent time blending Ninjitsu with skills learnt while he was a matador. He has been nicknamed the “Spanish Ninja”.
• Sagat was once labelled “King of the Street Fighters” but has since lost this title due to being defeated by Ryu in the first tournament. Skilled in Muay Thai boxing, he plans to regain his title in this tournament.
• M. Bison is a mysterious but powerful man. He is the leader of the criminal organisation Shadowloo and the ultimate boss that must be defeated to ensure victory.[2]

Gameplay

Street Fighter II can be played in one or two-player modes. In one-player mode, once you have selected a fighter, you must battle your way through all the other opponents before fighting the Grand Masters: Balrog, Vega, Sagat and M. Bison. There are eight difficulty settings allowing for less experienced players to practice on easier settings. Each character has their own motivation for entering the tournament, and in order to see each character’s own unique ending, you need to defeat the game on at least level six (as I recall but I may be wrong).

Each character is distinct (although nowadays some argue a little stereotyped) and has their own individual fighting styles, except for Ken and Ryu who have the same Shotoken fighting style.

How Does It Handle?

Like all great games, Street Fighter II is easy to play but difficult to master. Once the fun of the one-player mode has been exhausted, Street Fighter II really comes into its own with a highly addictive two-player mode. All over the world, you can be guaranteed to bump into people who have memories and stories about rainy afternoons and late nights with friends playing into the the early hours of the morn. Additionally, during one and two-player modes, you can increase the fun and challenge even more by turning the time limit on or off, and increasing or decreasing the speed of the game.

Graphics

The fights take place all over the world with beautifully illustrated and animated backdrops. The characters are highly detailed and are easily recognisable.

Music & SFX

The music is memorable, with each fighter having their own distinct tune. Some, annoyingly, get stuck in your head. Many of the phrases from the fighters such as hadouken, yoga flame and tiger uppercut have be one part of our everyday lexicon.

Did I Complete The Game?

I have completed the game in the sense that I have finished the game with all 12 characters and have seen their respective endings. However, I have not defeated the game with all 12 players on the hardest setting.

What The Critics Said:

Edge Magazine: “If you own SNES SFII it’s still a tricky decision whether you should buy Turbo: at current import prices, probably not. But if you’ve yet to be introduced to the genteel art of street-fighting, and have a few pounds to shed, SFII Turbo is the one to get. Overall 9/10“.[3]

Gamepro: “Despite the minor quibbles with the AI of the computer, the repetitive crowd-noise effect, and the removal Re-Dizzy Combos from CE mode, SF II Turbo is worth every penny for its boss and speed features alone. Overall 5/5“.[4]

Nintendo Power: “This game is a must have for all Super NES players who like action and competition. Overall 4/5“.[5]

Electronic Games: “For those looking for a good fighting game, Street Fighter II is the best to date. Capcom should be proud. This translation has no equal. Overall 94%“.[6]

Superplay: “Faults? Well, as a one-player game it’s superb, but inevitably has its limits – it’s the two-player game that makes it so great, even trouncing Super Tennis for laughs and general lasting interst. Overall 94%“.[7]

Super NES Buyer’s Guide: “Spectacular graphics, great animations and realistic sounds make this a great game to get! Overall 9.3/10“.[8]

Electronic Gaming Monthly: Steve: “All the moves, graphics, gameplay and sounds are rolled into a 16-Meg cartridge that will do anything but disappoint fans of the arcade original or fighting games in general. Awesome! Overall 9.5/10“.[9]

N-Force: “The smooth animation’s poetry in motion, it’s martial art! Apart from minor control problems which will be remedied with the new joypad, this is everything you could ask for. If you’ve got a SNES you’ve got to get a copy. It’s the game of the year! Overall 96%”.[10]

Megazone: “Street Fighter II is already and undoubted classic on the arcades and this classy conversion will be a smash hit for the Super Nintendo. Overall 95%“.[11]

Awards:

Best Game of the Year (All Games Systems) & (SNES) – Electronic Gaming Monthly’s Best and Worst of 1992[12]

Best Video Game Ending (All Systems) – Electronic Gaming Monthly’s Best and Worst of 1992[13]

Joint winner of Best Video Game Babe (All Systems) – Electronic Gaming Monthly’s Best and Worst of 1992[14]

Hottest New Character in a Video Game (All Systems) – Electronic Gaming Monthly’s Best and Worst of 1992[15]

Best Trick That Didn’t Work (All Systems) – Electronic Gaming Monthly’s Best and Worst of 1992[16]

According to Wikipedia, Street Fighter II won several more accolades, but as of yet, I have been unable to find the original magazines to verify.

My Verdict:

“Memorable characters, memorable music, and fab gameplay. SFII has multiple difficulty levels, plenty of different characters to use, and a competitive two-player mode, giving this game huge replay value. SFII remains close to the hearts of gamers everywhere.”

Rating:

What are your memories of Street Fighter II? I would love to hear your thoughts, and don’t for get to follow and subscribe so that you don’t miss my latest reviews! You can also find me on Instagram: @nicklovestogame.

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[1] Jasper, G., (July 20th, 2018). ‘Street Fighter: Timeline and Story Explained’. www.denofgeek.com. (https://www.denofgeek.com/us/games/street-fighter-v/242133/street-fighter-timeline-and-story-explained Accessed 20th February 2020).

[2] ‘The World Warriors’. Street Fighter II: Turbo Instruction Manual. (March 1991). :14-37.

[3] ‘Testscreen: SNES – Street Fighter II: Turbo’. Edge Magazine. (October 1993). Issue 1:82.

[4] Quan, S., ‘Super NES ProReview: Street Fighter II: Turbo’. Gamepro. (August 1993). Issue 49:26-35.

[5] ‘Now Playing: SNES – Street Fighter II’. Nintendo Power. (August 1993). Issue 38:105.

[6] Camron, M., ‘Video Game Gallery: SNES – Street Fighter II’. Electronic Games. (October 1992). Volume 1 Issue 1:72.

[7] Brookes, J., ‘UK Review: SNES – Street Fighter II’. Superplay. (November 1992). Issue 1:67.

[8] ‘Super NES Review – Street Fighter II’. Super Nes Buyer’s Guide. (July 1992). Volume 1 Issue 2:60.

[9] Steve., ‘Review Crew – Street Fighter II’. Electronic Gaming Monthly. (July 1992). Volume 5 Issue 7:18.

[10] ‘Reviewed! – Street Fighter II’. N-Force. (August 1992). Issue 2:48-9.

[11] Iredale, A., ‘Review: SNES – Street Fighter II’. Megazone. (October/November 1992). Issue :36-7.

[12] ‘EGM’s Best and Worst of 1992: Best Game of the Year (All Game Systems) & (SNES) – Street Fighter II: Turbo’. Electronic Gaming Monthly’s 1993 Video Game Buyer’s Guide. (1993). :14.

[13] ‘EGM’s Best and Worst of 1992: Best Video Game Ending (All Systems) – Street Fighter II’. Electronic Gaming Monthly’s 1993 Video Game Buyer’s Guide. (1993). :20.

[14] ‘EGM’s Best and Worst of 1992: Best Video Game Babe (All Systems) – Street Fighter II’. Electronic Gaming Monthly’s 1993 Video Game Buyer’s Guide. (1993). :20.

[15] ‘EGM’s Best and Worst of 1992: Hottest New Character in a Video Game (All Systems) – Street Fighter II’. Electronic Gaming Monthly’s 1993 Video Game Buyer’s Guide. (1993). :20.

[16] ‘EGM’s Best and Worst of 1992: Best Trick That Didn’t Work (All Systems) – Street Fighter II’. Electronic Gaming Monthly’s 1993 Video Game Buyer’s Guide. (1993). :22. (