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The Lowdown
Pros: Remixed fighting system, uses fighting moves from all versions of
street fighter
Cons: Same old Street Fighter 2, gameplay feels a bit dated
 Purchase
at Play-Asia
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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.
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 has no slated release date in America and it
doesn't look like it's going to see a US release.
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.
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