Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix Review

The Street Fighter series has been a staple in the video game world, especially in the genre of fighting games since Street Fighter II was let loose on arcades in 1991. Since then Capcom has continued the series with new releases, remakes and spin off titles. The latest in this line of remakes is Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix for the Playstation 3’s PSN and Xbox 360’s XBLM. How does this classic game hold up in modern times?

Story

Unlike most fighting games that try to add in a story into the game just for the sake of having one, Super Street Figher-err SSFIITD-errr Street Fighter does not have one in this version. Sure if you look online, watch some old anime or something like that you can find the story that deals with Street Fighter, but it’s largely unnecessary. Street Fighter understands what fighting games are supposed to be about, fighting, and leaving out the story is probably the best route they developers could go with the game.

Gameplay

Street Fighter, in the eyes of fans & critics alike, is more than likely to be the definitive 2D fighting game. The game has been largely untouched since its original version(outside of graphics & features) & preserves the fun/frustration that comes with its design. Street Fighter is a hard game, a very hard game and if you don’t want to put yourself through frustration I suggest you stop reading right about now. For those of you who are a bit masochistic, Street Fighter is the game for you. Even on the easy difficulty setting the game will still make your hands hurt from trying to beat the computer.

While Street Fighter is hard, and frustrating most of the time, it’s not frustrating to point that you’ll vow to never playing the game again, ala Rayman. Instead it is more satisfying as once you finally beat the CPU you’ll most likely jump in excitement. The main challenge with the game is mastering the combos, which range from the relatively easy & classic Hadouken to the more difficult Dragon Fist or super attacks (depending on the character).

There are a few modes & features that come in this version of the game. For example there is the classic style (which has different controls and the original character balance) and a new HD Remix style that has rebalanced characters. The difference between these 2 modes can largely be unseen by the average gamer or person, its more there for the fans, and msot of the extras are there for the fans. For example theres the choice to use the original music, or original sprites in the game. While this is a nice feature to have, especially for fans its largely useless as compared to the modern HD sprites, the old ones from 1991 look less than appealing.

Online

The online mode is well done with absolutely no lagg during the matches at all. While the game does not have lagg which helps tremendusly, there are a few things that are missing. The lack of a player skill matching system is disapointing as it can be very easy for newcomers or amatuers to get absolutely destroyed in an online match against a more skilled opponent.

Told you it wasn't pretty

Graphics/Audio

The new HD backgrounds and sprites look absolutely fantastic. It is easily on the best looking 2D games released in recent years and shows that even in the era of 3D realistic graphics, there is still a place for 2D. The remixed music is equally well done, especially the free music downloads that are exclusive to the PSN.

Conclusion

While there isn’t much in this HD version of a classic game, it is still a worthy peice of software for your fighting needs. The graphics and Audio are top notch and the title is full of fanservice. While I, and many others enjoy this game, it is not for everyone. The extreme difficulty will be a turn off for many a gamer, however, persevere through the diffculty and you’ll find a well balanced, incredibly fun fighting game.