I think it's hard for people who are too young to remember what arcades used to be like, who are too young to remember SFII's heyday, to understand what a massive impact this game had. I remember riding bikes with friends to the local 7-Eleven to crowd around the Street Fighter II machine, just to watch people who hung out there all day test their skills against each other. What a tremendous, exciting phenomenon it was. But as much as I enjoyed watching others play, I hardly ever played it myself. I think I shied away from competition. At that age I had a tendency to beat myself up for not being very good at things, rather than taking it all in stride and trying to get better. I had no problem testing my skill at single-player games--I thrived on it, even--but something about going head-to-head against other people just intimidated me at that age. And of course the depth of its competitive play is what made Street Fighter II so extraordinary.
When the original Street Fighter II was released for the SNES, my friend Scott and I went to the Software, Etc. at the previous incarnation of the Sherman Oaks Galleria so he could pick it up. This would have been around July of 1992, I guess. And they charged some outrageous price for it. I think it may even have been as high as eighty bucks. If I'd known, I could have told him that an even better version of the game would be made available for play on a home console for the much lower price of $15.00, if he would only be patient and wait 16 years, until he was married with a kid and had hardly any time to play games anymore!
Now here we are, in 2008, and the gameplay of Street Fighter II, a bit refined but essentially the same, still totally stands up. Something about that just warms my heart. And I love the way this updated version of the game looks. Truthfully, this updated version of a nearly nineteen-year-old game is one of my favorite games to look at on my spectacular new humongous 32" HDTV! It looks like a comic book in motion. But unlike 19 years ago, I no longer just sit back and watch. I love playing it, too, even though I'm not very good. I certainly won't be fighting Akuma any time soon. But hey, there's only one way to get better.
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And it wasn't any better on the consumer side. Capcom USA was stuck with so many unsold copies of the Super NES and Genesis versions of Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers that it almost went out of business, and was eventually forced to give away those unsold copies in contests.
So it was little surprise that the home versions of Super Street Fighter II Turbo were relegated to the 3DO--Trip Hawkins, you still owe me $400--and various personal computer platforms, not any of which were published by Capcom.
But I guess that nostalgia can cloud things.
Super Street Fighter II Turbo: HD Remix is not an improved version of the greatest video game of our teenage years; Super Street Fighter II Turbo: HD Remix is an improved version of a video game that we ignored back in the day.
And while HD Remix is, according to multiple reviews, an improved Super Street Fighter II Turbo, it's still Super Street Fighter II Turbo, and with that we get many of the things that no one much liked about Super Street Fighter II Turbo: four--well, five--characters that few people cared about; most of the awful, out of place voices and questionable gameplay changes, most notably the shift from defense to offense.
And with no demo at the PlayStation Store, I am not paying $15 to try it.
@Thraxen
My old friends from the Southeast 2d tournament scene are crying blasphemy right now. Take that as you will
I declared fighting games dead almost three years ago, and last year I decided that it is impossible to revive the genre.
They're fine with it being a niche. Even overhead/horizontal shooters still get new games made.
They're just spent. The last great 2D fighter I think I played in an arcade and had a pickup fight was Street Fighter Alpha II, and it was fantastic. It made me think of all the things you reference above, and how much I miss walking into a local arcade to duke it out with a bunch of random kids.
Travo_basic