| ARTICLE |  Japan |
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This is found in the Street Fighter Anniversary Collection.
Street Fighter 2 is a video game legend, it not only got people going back to arcades it was the incipient of the entire fighting game genre. To celebrate the 15th anniversary of Street Fighter 2 Capcom decided to make a new version of Street Fighter 2. Thus is the story of Hyper Street Fighter 2. If you were expecting new characters, a new fighting system, 3D graphics, actually anything beyond Street Fighter 2 you’ll have to look somewhere else. Hyper Street Fighter 2 is a game made for die hard fans of the series.
That doesn’t mean that Hyper Street Fighter 2 doesn’t have anything new. If you remember back to the days of the original Street Fighter 2, Capcom would release slightly updated versions of the game. For instance there was the Champion edition which allowed you to pick the boss characters and Turbo edition which was much faster. Each version of Street Fighter 2 had tweaked gameplay and even new characters. For instance Dhalsim didn’t learn the teleport move until Turbo Street Fighter 2. All of these different versions of the characters are packed into Hyper Street Fighter 2. Before you select your character you have the option of selecting which version of Street Fighter 2 you want to fight with. The versions that are included are original, dash (in America it’s called Champion edition), Turbo, Super and Super with Turbo. The fighting system is pretty unique because you can do battles like the original Ryu versus the upgraded Super Street Fighter 2 version. However, you can’t choose the bosses playing original mode and you can’t pick the extra four characters from Super Street fighter 2 unless you’re playing "Super" or higher.
This system allows for some great mix ups and the chance to end debates of which version is better. At the same time there are some definite gameplay imbalances due to having all of these versions. For instance Super Street Fighter 2 was the first version that had a "super" meter that could be charged up to unleash a special move. You won’t have access to the super meter unless you choose to play Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo. The problem is that the computer always plays with the Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo system, which gives it some advantage over playing with the other systems. Overall playing with the computer gets boring pretty fast. It’s nice to get your hands on a classic to play it through again, but Street Fighter 2 can be beaten in about fifteen minutes. Beating the game gives you an ending and the endings are the exact endings from each arcade version. Which means they’re slightly different depending on which version you select your character from. Still, there’s not much reason to keep playing the game in single player mode unless you’re practicing.
Playing with a friend is what fighting games are designed for and Hyper Street Fighter2 is no different. While using the different versions of the game allows for a decent amount of fighting variety a lot of players will realize how archaic Hyper Street Fighter 2 feels. No switching characters, custom combos, no super jumps, not even a dash feature is in this game. After moving on to say the Marvel vs. Capcom series, Street Fighter 3 or even Capcom vs. SNK this game feels dated. Old fans of the series may appreciate playing the game over again, but players who are buying this expecting a new game will be disappointed. Another problem with the entire fighting system is that Hyper Street Fighter 2’s controls don’t feel as natural with the Playstation controller. Ever since the Playstation days most fighting games changed to four button controls instead of six buttons. The system doesn’t feel as natural with the two of the six buttons being mapped on the R or L shoulder buttons. This makes Hyper Street Fighter 2 optimally enjoyed with an arcade joystick.
Besides the dated gameplay is dated graphics and presentation. While the graphics of Hyper Street Fighter 2 look clearer than any console version of Street Fighter 2 ever, they’re still 16 bit graphics. Sure the backgrounds are colorful and the sprites are well done, but they pale in comparison to other 2D fighters like Guilty Gear or the Capcom vs. Snk series. There are some neat graphical enhancements like including all of the different sprites from the arcades. For instance you can play as the original Blanka sprite or the cleaned up Super Street Fighter 2 version. There are some other neat features like including all of the different arcade introductions and the Street Fighter 2 anime video. Audio wise the game sounds stale. The voices sound like muffled sound effects compared to the clear voiceovers we have today. Other sound effects like the gush of the sonic boom or the electricity coming from Blanka’s body don’t sound as good as they did in the past. They’re the same old sounds not even the clearer sounds used in Capcom vs. Snk 2. The music sounds pretty good, all of the songs are the same old songs with more vibrant sounding instruments.
If you’re a fan of Street Fighter 2 you’ll appreciate what Hyper Street Fighter 2 has to offer. It plays very nostalgically, like a history text book of how fighting games evolved. After playing this you’ll appreciate the evolution from Street Fighter 2 to Soul Calibur 2 in just ten years.
Import Friendly? Literacy Level: 0
Most of the menus are in English, but the anime movie is in Japanese. You won’t need any instruction on how to play this game, so it’s very import friendly.
US Bound?
Hyper Street Fighter 2 is packaged in Street Fighter Anniversary Collection
+ Pros: Remixed fighting system, uses fighting moves from all versions of street fighter.
- Cons: Same old Street Fighter 2, gameplay feels a bit dated
Overall: Fans of the series will appreciate this game and love the option to play different versions of characters together. However, if you’re not a hardcore Street Fighter 2 fan this game probably isn’t for you.
< Screenshots >
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