Would've been better if they included a port of Street Fighter I instead of another update of Street Fighter II since the first game has never been released in it's orginal arcade formate
Street Fighter Anniversary Collection Review
The two games in Street Fighter Anniversary Collection have aged gracefully. In particular, Street Fighter III: Third Strike stands out as one of the best 2D fighting games on the PS2.
In 1991, Street Fighter II was released in video arcades all over the world, and it became an instant classic. This one-on-one 2D fighting game featured incredibly responsive controls and unprecedented depth, what with its eight memorable and highly complex playable characters. It ushered in a new era of arcades--a decade dominated by Street Fighter II-inspired fighting games. Street Fighter II itself saw several substantial upgrades over the years, which added new characters and new moves for the returning fighters, but the core gameplay never changed, and it didn't have to--it's timeless. Now you can experience the Street Fighter II series, as well as 1999's Street Fighter III: Third Strike, in a single volume in Street Fighter Anniversary Collection. Unfortunately, the name of this volume is misleading, since it's a missed opportunity to celebrate one of the greatest gaming franchises of all time. It's also worth noting that, while the forthcoming Xbox version of Street Fighter Anniversary Collection promises online play, this version lacks that option. But the good news is that these fighting games--true to their classic roots--have aged gracefully. In particular, Street Fighter III: Third Strike stands out as one of the best 2D fighting games available on the PlayStation 2.
Despite what's implied by the game's title, Street Fighter Anniversary Collection is a no-frills package. The Street Fighter series' legendary status is known even by those who've never played a game in the series before. Unless you have played these games before, though, you'd be hard pressed to understand their importance judging by Street Fighter Anniversary Collection. Sure, it includes a little gallery mode that lets you sample some cutscenes and music and things from the old games. It also contains an English-dubbed, censored version of the feature-length Street Fighter II animated movie that was released in the mid-'90s (a nice extra, apart from the bad dubbing and the censoring).
But there's no history here, and considering this is one of Capcom's most important, most successful series of games, there probably should have been. There's no sign of the original late-'80s Street Fighter game, which wasn't that great, but it is still a representation of the origins of the series and many of its memorable characters. There's no context for the different versions of Street Fighter II. There's no description of the changes from one upgrade to the next, apart from a cursory explanation in the game's thin black-and-white manual. None of the mid- to late-'90s Street Fighter Alpha games are included, either; nor is the original version of Street Fighter III or its first upgrade, Double Impact. However, Third Strike is undeniably the best of the Street Fighter III variants, so the absence of earlier versions of the game is no big loss.
Simply put, Street Fighter Anniversary Collection is best suited for Street Fighter fans--those who will gladly settle for just having that familiar gameplay experience again. To a lesser extent, fans of other 2D fighting games will appreciate this set.
When you load up Street Fighter Anniversary Collection, it lets you choose between playing Street Fighter III: Third Strike and a game called Hyper Street Fighter II: The Anniversary Edition, which is an amalgam of Street Fighter II and its four upgrades: Street Fighter II: Champion Edition (1991), Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting (1992), Super Street Fighter II (1993), and Super Street Fighter II: Turbo (1994). Specifically, this "new" game is an updated version of Super Street Fighter II Turbo that optionally lets you to play as older versions of the game's cast of 17 characters.
Hardcore Street Fighter II players know that some dramatic changes were made to the game's characters from one year's version to the next--mostly in an effort to balance out the various fighters' strengths and weaknesses, but also to further differentiate each respective character. As a result, it can be interesting to pit the relatively simple yet very strong Street Fighter II-era characters against their more complex Super Turbo counterparts. You choose from one of five different styles each time prior to selecting a character. Your decision not only affects the moves and abilities of your character, but also determines such things as the character's portrait and voice, and even the sound effects made when he or she hits the opponent. Again, the hardcore will appreciate this, though they might also notice a few relatively slight yet annoying discrepancies here and there. They'll also notice that, despite being an arcade-perfect port of Super Street Fighter II Turbo for the most part, it's missing something important.
Mind you, Hyper Street Fighter II: The Anniversary Edition, plays very well--practically as well as ever. Each of the game's characters is complex, yet it's pretty easy to pick up and start playing. Even after all these years, it's still a joy to play this game against an opponent of similar skill. The stock PlayStation 2 controller's D pad works great with the game's various linear and circular special move motions. In addition to special moves, each character has a variety of normal attacks with distinct properties for you to learn and master.
So what's the problem? The problem is that this is not Street Fighter II, nor is it any of the four subsequent upgrades; it's something different, even if slightly. But since the original games are considered classics, the change is not entirely welcomed. Sure, the new option of being able to pit the different versions of the characters against each other is cool. Yet it would have been preferable for a product called "Street Fighter Anniversary Collection" to include the Street Fighter games in their original form. As it stands, purists will lament the absence of the original Street Fighter II's notorious glitches, such as Guile's "handcuffs" or "magic throw." They'll also be disappointed to find that, while the older versions of characters thankfully retain their original voices and sound effects, the game's announcer is the horrible, happy-go-lucky one introduced in Super Street Fighter II.
Conversation powered by Livefyre
Street Fighter III 3rd Strike was great, but having Street Fighter II in the mix. Even better.
Street Fighter Anniversary Collection is sure to please fans and newcomers to Street Fighter alike.
Also on:
Street Fighter Anv Col Navigation
