The fifth, final, and best incarnation of Street Fighter II, and I'll forever (in retrospect) ask, "did we really have to go through World Warriors, Champion Edition, Hyper Fighting, and Super before getting here?" Of course, at the time I was at each arcade machine pumping in my quarters, if not waiting in line to purchase the new console release. Well, except for SSF2 and CE ... but, nevermind.
Super Street Fighter II Turbo continues where SSF2 left off and adds the greatly needed Super bar, which surprisingly never altered combat very much in my opinion. Probably due to the fact that the super meter had only one level, charged slowly, reset after each round, and that landing a super move to get maximum damage (or even worthwhile damage) required far more precision than, say, the more forgiving Versus games that would come later on.
And I don't mean the above paragraph as negative criticism. This primitive system contains its own charms that the flashier games never quite capture. I like this system because the shadow-trailing specials come few and far between (a missed Super truly feels like a missed opportunity with little room for second chances.) Because the moves didn't go overboard with scale and fill up the entire screen, because unlike future games SSF2T was not built around the Super Meter. In short, they actually felt special.
I liked Capcom before all the flash.
Capcom also introduced Akuma who has a cameo in the game's new attract mode featuring Chun-Li and Cammy, which builds off SSF2's Ryu-fireball attract mode. Truthfully, though, I never grew very fond of Akuma (either playing as him via the code, or fighting against him.) Once the intrigue of a new mysterious character wore off -- essentially a remix of a meaner Ryu and Ken with a few additions such as aerial fireball and teleportation abilities -- I reverted back to my random selection of characters. Besides, Akuma had no Super meter, and I liked using Supers.
I also seem to remember SSF2T's AI increasing exponentially from SSF2 to the point that I stopped playing the arcade. I knew exactly what the button-reading CPU-controlled T Hawk would do against every single move in my arsenal. There is no fun in playing a game you know can (and will like clockwork) counter anything you throw at it. I hate fighting a walking IF/THEN statement.
Needless to say, aside from tweaks and new additions to the fighting system, the core components of Street Fighter II remain intact -- 8 original characters, 4 boss characters, 4 new challengers. Most of the moves from SSF2 carry over in some shape or form. Same stages, same endings with one additional (beautifully drawn) screen, I believe. The player fights through 8 battles before confronting the 4 bosses
why am I saying this? You know the drill.
After more or less skipping SSF2, I was happy to return to this final version of Street Fighter II and eagerly awaited the home version which never came to be. Not until many years later.
This is the only version of Street Fighter II I play anymore.
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