The sheer number of games bearing some form of the name "Street Fighter II" is staggering. So when Capcom announced that it was putting together a compilation of Street Fighter games, I was stoked. My excitement quickly cooled when I discovered the true nature of Capcom's package. Street Fighter Collection contains Super Street Fighter 2, Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo, and Street Fighter Alpha 2 Gold, a slightly updated version of Street Fighter Alpha 2. The original Street Fighter 2, Champion Edition, and Hyper Fighting are nowhere to be found. The result is a shallow package that should have been so much more.
The graphics and gameplay in the Super games are identical to what you remember. Every frame of original animation appears intact, and there isn't any noticeable slowdown. The sound is decent, but the speech sounds a little tinny - and even the intros are intact.
The second disc contains Street Fighter Alpha 2 Gold. The game is almost entirely identical to Street Fighter Alpha 2, with only a few differences. First, any character that was in Street Fighter 2 Champion Edition can switch between normal and Champion Edition modes. Playing a CE version of a character disables his super meter and changes a few moves here and there. The CE character graphics are still Alpha 2-style. Also, there is now an Akuma mode, which pits your character against Akuma over and over again instead of fighting all the other characters. Also, Cammy is hidden in the game. She appears in her X-Men vs. Street Fighter costume.
All this is fine and good, but what about all the other great Street Fighter games? Where's SF2 Turbo: Hyper Fighting? Or the original SF2, complete with Guile's "handcuffs" and all the other weird little glitches? Capcom truly missed out on a great opportunity by releasing a "collection" that is obscenely incomplete. If you're really itching to play SSF2 or SSF2T, this package is right up your alley. But fans hoping for a complete collection must keep on waiting.
