Yes it is and you know it's true. Street Fighter is an overly simplistic mash fest with awesome graphics. This much I'll grant you, Street Fighter II Turbo Hyper Fighting Kamehameha Exploding Energy Fist is a good looking game on Super Nintendo. It looks good in arcades too. Yet, does it actually play well? Is it enjoyable?
No. No it isn't.
I haven't played SF3 or its innumerable spawn, but from what I've seen of others playing, there's a deeper fighting system to be found there. That game has parries and parries = good. Street Fighter II THF has no parries, it has two basic combos that are ridiculously similar in execution and lead to misfires on combos. Every other combo save one is exactly the same for every character, save one.
Combo 1: Hadouken
Down, down-forward, forward+punch. It's easy, and everybody can do it. Bring your 2-year old cousin to the arcade, I guarantee he/she can do it. Your decrepit scarecrow of an aunt? She can do it too.
Combo 2: Dragon Punch
Your anti-air attack. An uppercut to destroy the nutsacks of male challengers and severely disgruntle Chun-Li. Dragon punch would be better if it wasn't almost exactly like a Hadouken. Essentially your thumb has to work some magic by moving forward, then back to neutral, move straight down flawlessly (too far back and its Hadouken for you) and then finish with a Hadouken that doesn't quite complete itself. Oh, and you get about a 1 second window, and you'll be under constant pressure because your opponent is going to be charging/jumping/punching/kicking/hadoukening/spirit bombing you to hell all the while. Good luck with that thumb coordination. There's nothing worse than losing because the wrong combo came out.
Combo 3: Hurricane Kick
A saving grace. This move can be performed without fear of misfiring. Quarter-circle back + Kick. A wonderful invention.
Combo 4: SMASH SMASH!
Mercilessly headbutt the punch or kick buttons and at least 1/4 of the characters will perform a special attack of some sort.
Combo 5+6: Everything Else
Hold Down for a second and then punch/kick forward or hold backwards instead and then punch/kick forward. Nearly every character can be summed up with these two specials. I'm not even kidding. Only Ryu and Ken are safe from this because they're the same character anyway and only have combos 1-3.
Developer's Epiphany: Zangief
Zangief is also an exception. For some reason, perhaps guilt, the developers of Street Fighter II thought to actually create a third type of character . Instead of Ryu mold and allothercharactersthataren'tryu mold, they created Zangief. Zangief actually has some variation from the other fighters. He's still overly simple to use, but at least he's different and simple. Either press two punch buttons together or two kicks together (Turbo) and he'll work his Russian wizardry to win the match for you. Show your friends and watch their anger boil!
His last move is the Piledriver. Also known as the most satisfying move in the game, this little number requires a 360 degree motion on the joystick/d-pad + punch at close range. It kills people, but it kills them gloriously.
You could actually fight without using the specials, if you're a masochist. The computer and your friends will take you to the chopping block. Of course, you could also just not play Street Fighter II. There are plenty of better fighting games with far better balance. Tekken, DOA, Soul Calibur, and Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 spring to mind.
