Street Fighter II': Special Champion Edition

SF II SCE is a close conversion of the arcade Hyper Fighter. The voices are barely comprehensible, but overall this cart's a Champion among Sega fighting games.

The Genesis version was worth the wait - not only do you get all-new moves, but you can also play bonus stages missing from the SNES version.

Nadie debería permitirse el lujo de prescindir del mejor juego realizado para Mega Drive.

Incredibly enough, it's great. Well, it's the same as the coin-op, isn't it? Only slightly slower. Ju-ust slightly. Still, you can 'be' the bosses.

They said it couldn't be done. They said it wouldn't be done. Yet Capcom's legendary fighter has found its way onto the Genesis, and Sega fans can breathe a collective sigh of relief. And what's this? There's even something not found on the Super Nintendo versions, as you've probably guessed from the title's "Special Championship Edition."

Of course, comparisons to the SNES Street Fighter 2 Turbo Edition are unavoidable, and to be honest, the Genesis simply can't deliver the same degree of sharp visuals and rich audio. This version's graphics look slightly grainy compared to the SNES, and some sound effects are downright cringe-worthy. The announcer in particular sounds awfully congested. Even so, this Championship Edition turned out much better than most expected, and the six-button Genesis controller provides an ideal button configuration (identical to the arcade game). Fans will also appreciate the inclusion of the arcade game's intro, not present on the SNES cartridge. There's an exclusive "group battle mode" as well, but that's hardly worth mentioning. SF2 Championship Edition is a rock solid fighter, but if you own an SNES, I'd opt for that version instead.

Apart from a few patchy graphics the disappointment is in the sound. The sampled effects are coarse and the tunes are sub-Bontempi standard. A Super CD version would, of course, overcome this problem - Capcom please take note.

Ah, yes, Street Fighter II. The game that got people back to the arcades. For so long Genesis players watched with envy as Super NES owners got to enjoy an exclusive home version on their systems, and they were left out. But in 1993, Sega fans rejoiced when Capcom announced plans to not only bring Street Fighter II to the Genesis, but as an exclusive Champion Edition as well, meaning Sega owners would get mirror matches, more moves, faster speed and the ability to play as the bosses. However, things would change in the following months, and to make a long story short Genesis players would wind up with a Special Champion Edition, basically a port of the SNES' Street Fighter II Turbo with some Genesis-exclusive features. While it wasn't the killing Genesis players envisioned, it still does an excellent job bringing street fighting action to the ol' black box.

But beyond minor little differences like the Group Battle mode, this version of Street Fighter II just proves to be redundant here on the Virtual Console. While it is still a fine game on its own merits, there's very little reason to download Special Champion Edition when another, better edition of Street Fighter II is already on sale in the Wii Shop for the exact same price as this one. There will certainly be a few Genesis fans who rejoice at this specific version's arrival, and will purchase it out of a strong sense of nostalgia for this particular release. But everyone else is much better off getting more features and more characters for their money with Super Street Fighter II.

While this is not the version of the game to introduce non-SF fans too, the hardcore fans might find this an interesting diversion. That is of course, if they can live with the complete lack of combos and the impossible specials. Still, it's better than the Game Boy version and can be playable if you just accept the hardware it's running on. Competent, just not the game it used to be.