Super Street Fighter II: Turbo Revival

The Good
I think the last time I played Street Fighter 2 was in a local arcade about 5 years ago. So picking this up was one hell of a flash back.

The last Street Fighter game I played was Street Fighter Alpha 3, which I still play regularly and I regard it as the best in the series (of over 20 games!). So comparing this to that is a little unfair. For one, Alpha is much quicker, better animated and on a more powerful system (Playstation and Dreamcast, although there is a Advance version in the works).

So playing Turbo Revival was like going backwards instead of forwards. Not that it's a bad thing, since there is plenty of enjoyment to be had here. Graphically the game isn't all that bad. Characters are nice and big on the screen, and the animation has actually improved over time since I last saw it.

Such a tiny little cart has packed in plenty of features. A 2 player mode was of course important to the sucess of this, so I'm glad that is here. The other features are nice to play around with aswell.

The Bad
Here's where things start to go down hill. Since this is the Game Boy Advance, and so much work has been put into the graphical presentation, to me it's like Capcom forgot about the sound. The original music was way better then the stupid midi music found here, and character voices are far from what I remember.

Sound isn't the biggest problem, though. As Street Fighter is a 6 button game, the Game Boy Advance has a hard time in translating this, with only 4 buttons to work with. Sure, it says to hold down the a and b buttons for the harder moves, and tap for medium, but it just isn't the same as having six buttons and a joystick to work with then this.

I'm sorry, but I have to say it. Why release this when Alpha 3 is in the works, and so much better? Graphically, although it is just as good as the original, Turbo Revival is nothing compared to what's found in Alpha 3 (or any other current Street Fighter/Capcom fighter). Looking at Golden Sun and Doom, I'm sure more can be achieved for games like this.

The Bottom Line
Turbo Revival is nice for the trip back in time, and fun for two players. But for value of money, hold on for a while and see how well Alpha 3 comes out on the tiny screen. In the meantime, this is perfect for a weekend rental, or for those who collect Street Fighter games.