Super Street Fighter 2 logo AGA

Reviewed by Tina Hackett

Following hot on the heels of all the hype surrounding the film, the latest addition to the Street Fighter titles is finally here for the Amiga. Called Super Street Fighter 2, it features four new players each with an additional setting. Now you will also find Cammy (played in the film by Kylie Minogue), Dee Jay, Fei Long and T Hawk, plus all the old familiar ones. They have also been improved with extra moves and new touches.

However, the first thing that strikes you when you load up the game is how dated it all looks. A few years ago this would have been quite acceptable but now after Mortal Kombat 2 and Shadow Fighter have passed, it does look its age. And a very amateur introductory animation is quite laughable. But the gameplay is what counts and this, fortunately, works well.

You can either play against the computer, choosing the level of difficulty, or a human opponent chosen from a number of characters. Each has their own set of special moves which are surprisingly easy to execute. The moves can be put together to perform a number of 'hit combos' and each character is different enough to provide varied gameplay.

E Honda, for example, is a large character who relies on his bulk, whereas Cammy is small but agile and has lightening fast reactions.

The game can also be dramatically altered by changing the speed you play at. The Turbo option can be turned up to high which speeds everything up - including the music - and means you have to think fast and move quickly to avoid the blows from other players.

What is particularly nice about this game is that it supports a joypad. This works a lot better than using the one-button joystick as you get a separate button for either a punch or kick. You can also use a two-button joystick on this same principle.


SSF2 does have a few negative points but when it comes down to gameplay it works extremely well - especially if you have a joypad

As I mentioned before, though, the graphics are very dated - such as the bland backdrops which don't do anything to create atmosphere. And what's worse is that they look flat and two-dimensional and there's been no attempt to make them interesting with the use of animation.

Okay, so this may have slowed the game down but other games manage this successfully and it would certainly have made for a more polished looking title.

Another flaw is the size and detail of the characters themselves. I'm sure they've been intricately designed but they're just to small to see any detail or, sometimes, what is going on properly.

Huge black borders around the screen don't help matters either and although you can change the screen mode from Pal 50 hertz to NTSC 60 hertz to speed things up and get rid of some of the blackness, it never disappears completely.

Music and sound effects don't really enhance the game either, with feeble death noises and dismal music. Oh, and some of the characters have some very strange verbal expressions when they launch an attack, such as 'Had-o-ken' or some other weird saying which does nothing to increase the competitive atmosphere.

However, what really let the game down was the amount of disk swapping involved. Thankfully it is hard disk installable, otherwise it would be completely unplayable with a ridiculous six disks to access each time.


Move closer

Super Street Fighter allows you to put a very able combination of moves together. Each character has a good range of kicks, punches and special moves.

Dhalsim - he stretchy limbs of Dhalism allows you to attack your opponent and keep out of their reach.

Blanka - uses electricity to keep his opponents at bay.

Chun Li - despite being one of the smaller fighters, this works to her advantage as she can move quicker than, say, Zangief.

E Honda - uses his sumo size to launch his powerful weight against his rivals.

Battle of the beat-em-ups

Super Street Fighter 2 as it stands is a good, playable title, but compaire it to the likes of Mortal Kombat 2 with its bloodthirsty graphics or Shadow Fighter and it does start to look rather limp. Mortal Kombat 2 managed to create an authentic atmosphere and had some fantastic and original special moves.

Shadow Fighter was also a particularly rewarding and addictive game with well-designed characters which looks very clear and detailed for this type of action.

Final word

After reading all this, it may sound like the game is a complete letdown. This isn't the case. Yes, it does have quite a few negative points but when it comes down to the gameplay it works extremely well - especially if you have a joypad. Two-plyer mode works particularly well too, and there's never a situation (unlike Rise of the Robots) where you can corner your opponent and bash them to death with the same tedious move.

An A500 version is also planned, although this won't support a joypad. We'll bring you an update on this in a future issue.



Super Street Fighter 2 logo AGA

The most famoust game ever, in the history of all things finally pops its head through the Amiga door. But does it sting like a bee?

Pugnacious affairs have long beena popular computer game pastime and, particularly prevalent over the last five years, a major player in the MegaDrive and SNES revolution, dare we use such a word.

The Amiga hs been very much the poor relation in the family of beat-'em-ups, a machine not thought suitable for the bruising battle. Yet it's still here, bright and breezy, ready to take on all corners, long after last orders have been called and the tap room emptied, the custom forlornly staggering in the street, looking for the nearest kebab house. Ahem...

Sure, we Amiga fellows generally work with only the one-button stick, while their pads have buttons galore, but there's more to it than that. Perhaps the image of the computer has left it far removed from what, let's face it, is one of the most playable, most competitive of game genres.

Road Warrior, too
A genre that has even spawned professional gamesplayers in the United States. The consoles are the ideal platform for beat-em-ups, but that doesn't mean that the Amiga can't fight it out with the best (or should that be, the rest?) of them.

Gremlin Interactive's Shadow Fighter proved such, and the Amiga version of Mortal Kombat 2 kicks bottom with a steel-toed cap.

Not that most AF readers actually like beat-'em-ups. Our readers surveys suggest that only those of you aged 12 and under go for them ina big way. And we've been accused by softies of not liking beat-'em-ups, but, then, they've accused us of not liking platform games either. Nonsense. We embrace you all.

Super Streetfighter 2 is perhaps the most feted of beat-'em-ups, a game that our friends on console magazines GamesMaster, Sega Power, Total! and Superplay will wax lyrical long after the cows are snoring soundly. An, of course, we're never going to accept second best, without so much as a whimper. Why the heck should we? After all, the Amiga is the machine where the talented writers learned their craft.

OK, maybe we're getting just a little paranoid here? Games are games, and no matter which format they grace, playability shoots heavenward, but I guess we occasinally get the feeling that the Amiga is an afterthought. "C'mon then, let's do an Amiga version, shall we? They've still got a user-base most platforms would die for and, heck, the other versions have been out for over a year now."

Super Streetfighter 2, Amiga version. Seven disks, eh? Blimey! First impressions are that, well, the backgrounds are a might shoddy and, erm, gosh, the sprites are not quite as big as they could have been.

And there is no way you can play this game using a single disk drive - you swap disks up to four or five times for one bout and replaying the same bout can take some two and a half minutes of loading time.

Even those with extra drives will find it extremely painful. Mercifully, it's hard drive installable and this, I suggest, is a pre-requisite when considering a purchase.

Each character has a host of special moves and stunning combinations.

Virtually fighting
Right. Confessions time. I've never popped round to our friends on the console magazines and pummeled SSF2. Sure, we all piled over for a game of Virtual Fighter on the new Sega Saturn late last year, but we're not holding our breath for the Amiga conversion of that.

But our esteemed Technical Editor, Mr Sandiford owns a SNES and is a keen fan of the pugilist arts; he reliably informs me that the cartridge is a dream to load, the game runs faster, the sprites are bigger and the backgrounds more detailed. On to the SNES version.

OK, OK. But all the moves are here and they're much the same as the other versions. Of course, as soon as I challenge the tech-head, he knows all the manoeuvres, doesn't he, because we're using CD32 joypads which utilise all the buttons. And I'm taking a righteous kicking.

He whacks a couple of buttons, then deftly rolls his thumb around the pad and Ken is flying at me, putting on the combos in style and the bout is done and dusted before you can exclaim "it's all right for you, you know all the special moves."

Chun Li, God bless her, is lying in a heap. But then, young Sandiford has battered many a challenger into submission at trade shows. Mind, he can't beat me at Sensible Soccer. Some consolation, I guess, but give a few more days practice and I'll be able to send fireballs straight for the mid-riff.

Combo and Cleggy
There are loads of fighters and locations in Super StreetFighter 2. You can punch your way through continents, choose from a range of 16 different characters, some with fists of concrete, others with a Cantona-esque drop-kick.

Each have a host of special moves and a variety of combinations and some are quite stunning.

Ryu is reckoned by many to be the finest all-round battler, but our man with the deft thumbs considers Feilong to be superior by far. I like Rhei, the skinny little waif of a rat from Brutal: Paws of Fury. He's cool.

Learning each character's intricacies is a game within a game, discovering how different manoeuvres work against the range of opponents.

Some can counteract certain fighters with a particular combo and, best of all, the whole cult surrounding the game suggests that some moves are highly dishonourable and many is the young scamp that has taken a cuf around the ear in an arcade affray, which has become more of street fight than a Streetfighter 2 one.

Super Streetfighter 2 is up with the best of Amiga beat-'em-ups; the sprites move fluidly and, despite the rather poor backgrounds, SSF3 is a triumph of gameplay over graphics.

But, and it's a Huge but, avoid it if you only have one disk drive, consider it if you have an extra drive and embrace it warmly if your Amiga proudly owns a hard drive.


WELCOME OUR FRIENDS, PLEASE

Super Street Fighter 2: Dhalsim
Blue man with red stripes and no hair.

Super Street Fighter 2: E Honda
Fat bloke with a Japanese car.

Super Street Fighter 2: Guile
Hair remains cool in the face of adversity.

Super Street Fighter 2: Thawk
Tommy Hawk is a dreadful fighter.

Super Street Fighter 2: Vega
Get your hair cut and your nails filed.

Super Street Fighter 2: Zangief
Mad bloke fond of purple vests.

SOME FIGHTERS, YESTERDAY

Super Street Fighter 2: Balrog
The one with the boxing gloves.

Super Street Fighter 2: Chun Li
The lass with the fancy haircut.

Super Street Fighter 2: Dee Jay
Thumbs aloft from Dee Jay. Beware.

Super Street Fighter 2 Fei Long
Our techie-head's favourite character.


Super Street Fighter 2 logo

Vom Plastikpüppchen bis zur Zelluloid-Action mit der belgischen Dampframme Jean Claude: Dem Kult-Automaten "Street Fighter II" blieb keine Zweitverwertung erspart. Warum sollten also ausgerechnet die Amiganer ungeschoren davonkommen, wenn U.S. Gold den Arcade-Nachfolger umsetzt?

Am 500er gibt's die erste Ernüchterung schon bei der berühmten Schattenboxeinlage im Intro - sie erfolgt hier nicht ur völlig lautlos, sondern auch in argem Schleichtempo. Vom frischgebackenen Besitzer der fünf ECS- bzw. sieben AGA-Disketten erwartet man dagegen sehr wohl flinke Finger: Selbst bei Verwendung eines Zweitlaufwerks sind pro Match rund zweimal die Datenträger zu wechseln.

Die komfortable HD-Installation bleibt allein den A1200/4000-Eigern vorbehalten, doch sogar sie müssen das Game laut Anletiung von einer speziellen Bootdiskette starten.

Dazu aber ein kleiner Tip: Da auf der Scheibe lediglich eine einsame Startdatei abgelegt ist, läßt sich der Inhalt problemlos auf Platte kopieren und das Spiel dann mit dem "Execute"-Befehlt in Marsch setzen.

Für all diejenigen, die sich hier Innovationen gegenüber dem Vor-Schläger erwartet haben, bläst das Gameplay jedoch zum Trauermarsch, denn zu den zwölf bereits bekannten Gossenhauern gesellen sich gerade mal vier neue - die schwergewichtige Rothaut Thunder Hawk, der kraftstrotzende Kickbox-Champion Dee Jay, der Kung Fu Fighter Fei Long sowie die fesche Cammy, welche das Manual trotz ihrer unverkennbar weiblichen Formen als Geheimdienstmann ankündigt.

Aber halten wir uns nicht mit solchen Kleinigkeiten auf, denn vor dem Spielstart warten viel entscheidendere Entscheidungen auf den Bildschirmkämpen; etwa die Wahl eines Zeitlimits (ja/nein), des Spieltepmops (elf Stufen), des Schwierigkeitsgrads (acht Stufen) und der BildFrequenz (50/60 Hz).

Sollten zwei menschliche Teilnehmer in den Ring klettern wollen, dürfen sie unter den 16 KämpferInnen ihre persönliche Identifikationsfigur küren und sich bei Bedarf selbst ein Handikap auferlegen.

Endlich im Regenwald, am Tempel-Vorplatz oder irgendeinem andere der 16 Hintergrundmotive angekommen, startet entweder das Duell Mensch gegen Mensch oder der Solist zu seinem einsamen Kampf gegen die CPU-Riege.

Im Normal-modus muß er dabei das computergesteuerte Ur-Dutzend nacheinander niedermachen und darf als Bonus zwischendurch diverse Sachwerte (Autos, Fässer) vernichten; alternative kann er aber auch im bonuslosen "Super"-Modus das komplette 16er-Feld nach und nach zur Strecke bringen.

So oder so muß man pro Auseinandersetzung zwei von drei Runden per K.o. für sich entscheiden, um den Sieg in der Tasche zu haben. Am Energievorrat des Kontrahenten knabbert man dabei mit den genreüblichen Slides, Hieben, Tritten, Kombischlägen sowie allerlei (über komplexe Joystick-Kommandos zu aktivierenden) Spezialitäten vom Schlage eines Feuerballs, von Teleportationen oder Stroboskop-Kicks,

Daß die Programmierer die legendäre "Street Fighter"-Spielbarkeit auch hier wieder nahezu verlustfrei auf den Amiga retten konnten, ist ihnen hoch anzurechnen: Die Fertigkeiten der einzelnen Charaktere sind genial ausbalanciert und gehen per Zwei-Button-Pad gut und mit dem CD32-Steuerknochen (dessen sechs Knöpfe nur die AGA-Fassung voll unterstützt) sogar hervorragend von der hand.

Bloß mit einem einzigen Feuerknopf will keine rechte Freude aufkommen, weil dann per Shift-Taste zwiscen Fuß- und Handaktionen umgeschaltet wird, was natürlich mehr schlecht als recht klappt und das Auslösen von Special-Moves zum Glücksspiel macht. Ganz Ähnliches gilt übrigens auch für die TastaturSteuerung.

Ansonsten gibt die technische Umsetzung jedoch wenig Anlaß zu Jubelgesängen, denn am AGA-Amiga erschrecken dicke, schwarze Panorama-streifen sowie "Schrumpfkämpfer" mit leicht reduzierten Animationen das Auge

Daß die gesamte Ätmosphäre unter derlei Mankos in der Präsnetation leidet, ist klat, zumal der ursprünglich hübsch bewegte Hintergrund, die Parallax-Effekte und der scrollende 3D-Boden ebenfalls nicht für konvertierungswürdig befunden wurden.

Eine noch herbere Enttäuschung hält die A500-Version parat, tatsächlich sieht die neue ECS-Variante um Klassen schlechter aus, als das bald drei Jahre alte "Street Fighter II" am 500er ausgeseen hat! Und anscheinend hält man die Normalamigos bei U.S. Gold nicht nur für blind, sondern auch für taub; wie sonst wäre es zu erklären, daß FX und Sprachausgabe im Vergleich zur AGA-Version reduziert bzw. zum Teil ganz wegrationalisiert wurden?

Der langen Rede trauriger Sinn: Die technisch nicht gerade bahnbrechende AGA-Fassung bleibt zwar hinter den Erwartungen zurück, überzeugt aber immerhin in puncto Spielbarkeit - sofern Festplatte und CD32-Pad angestöpselt sind.

Selbst dieser Vorzug entfällt bei der schlichtweg mißratenen Standardumsetzung; hier versetzen nervtötendes Disketten-Handling und eine äußerst bescheidene Optik dem Spielspaß den finalen K.o. Wer daher am A500 packende Straßenkämpfe erleben will, sollte es besser mit dem originalen Street Fighter II" oder modernen Konkurrenten wie "Elfmania" und "Shadow Fighter" versuchen.

Oder Ihr wartet noch ein, zwei Monate, bis "Super Street Fighter II Turbo" für den Amiga erscheint, wußte Gameteks Variante mit dem Nachbrenner im Titel doch bereits am PC sehr gut zu gefallen! (rl)



Super Street Fighter 2 logo AGA

Under no circumstances should you go and see the film, however.

Playing Super Street Fighter 2 has provoked sweeping rushes of excitement and gut-wrenching drops of disappointment in me. IT manages to change from being hugely entertaining at times to fearsomely dull, clumsy and unresponsive at others, and then to precise and poised, seemingly from one minute to the next.

Why? Well it depends what you play it on and how you play it, but that's getting a little ahead of myself. Rewind a bit and join on an emotionally draining marathon tour through every character and location in SSF2.

Compared to today's beat-'em-ups, the original Streetfighter 2 (AP22, 74%) is pretty ambarrassing. Back in 1993, a junior upstart staff writer going by the name of Mark (who he?) Winstanley was quoated as saying that "you just help the players along and don't control them. There's too much context-sensitivity in the control. I'd say about 65%."

I, that is, he, thought it embodies everything that's wrong about trying to convert arcade games onto home computers, as it looks the part, but moves jerkily and has a stupid control system where the game picks the type of attack based on where you're standing.

If you can't do a proper version then why bother (obvious answer - to cash in) to churn out a second-rate effort? It's been sitting in our disk boxes for years now, and only won a reprieve because I wanted to compare the two versions.

BIFFO
"Ahh," the people at US Gold tell me, "but the programmers of the original Amiga version didn't have support from Capcom or access to the actual game. They were forced to nip out to the arcade or watch videos to work out the technicalities. For Super Streetfighter Two, Capcom have provided the collision charts, the source code and everything else from the original. This Time it's the Real Thing."

So off I start with high hopes and high expectations, which are lifted even higher by the smart intro visuals, and then promptly clubbed on the head by the first sight of the game - acres of black banding at the top and bottom of the screen, a painfully, thin playing area and tiny, tiny, tiny character graphics. Almost shamefully small really.

"The little graphics don't bother me" chips in Jonathan cheerfully, but even so, my heart sinks, and switching it to 60Hz Mode doesn't help. As well as allowing it to be played on the 11 Amigas in the USA, this switch also makes the playing area a bbit bigger, but this just goes to highlight how poor the graphics are, how Ryu's got black lines round him and Sagat's face is all squishy and how the frail Cammy hardly shows up at all.

Surely beat-'em-ups are all about two huge characters facing each other? This is nearly as bad as Shaq Fu. And it's really, really slow too. This is a low point in the proceedings.

"Ahh," says the Voice of Authority in the strange guise of Amiga Format's technical editor Graeme, "but this version's obviously based on the SNES one, and the laying area wasn't much bigger on that. And it's only slow because you've got it on the slowest setting. Pump up the turbo setting and I dare say it'll fairly blur along. And I should know, because I've finished that version with every character. And done pretty much the same thing on the arcade game too."

I inwardly hate him for being so proficient at games, and make a mental note to haul him in during his dinner breaks to play through the game with me. Hmm, this isn't too bad after all.

BOFFO
Round one, and Graeme and I go head-to-head using various characters. We're having problems with our hard drive and are forced to play from disks. From the seven disks. Bad idea. The AMIGA POWER stopwatch (last used to record the humiliating 11 minutes between loading and playing World Cup USA '94 in AP41) is brought out and used in a similarly devastating manner.

For a poor quality beat-'em-up player like me, I find more time's being spent swapping disks and staring at the loading screen than playing, and although you get none of this if you replay a match with the settings and characters unchanged (you just press space and start instantly), pretty much everything else takes swaps or loading time. You finish a game and the winner's announced. Loading. You see the results table of matches so far. Buzz, whirr, more loading. You choose new characters. More loading, more disk swapping. This is not good.


Sagat's face is all squishy and how

The sound is irredeemably poor, and although I could write a novel on its listless, whiney-qualities, I'll restrict myself to a few examples. Imagine the Street Fighter 2 music being played through that little speaker inside a ZX Spectrum. Now imagine Dale Winton from TV's famous Supermarket Sweep saying "sonic boom" in his most effeminate voice. Such is the sound in SSF2.

THWICKO
And yet when we get into the game a bit, it's all uphill again. We're playing on an A1200 and both using CD32 game pads, revelling in the control we're given over our characters. The collar buttons give you a punch and a kick, leaving two buttons for a weak punch, and two for weak and strong kicks. For the first time in my life, I start to see why everyone's so into this game, it's kind of fun, isn't it? Kick, punch, flying, kick, low punch and a 'Four combo' bonus is announced. Cool.

Even the mythical 'special' moves are easy to pull off with the CD32 pad, and a quick check with Graeme confirms they're the same as the SNES Version, so format jumpers should have no problem with that. And Graeme's relentless attacks that leave all my characters bloody and broken just increases my optimism in the game. I mean you've got to practice to get good, right? In the unlikely event of you owning an A1200 and two CD32 pads, make sure you add ten percent to the end score, they make that much difference.

The range of moves makes or breaks any beat-'em-up, from the nine or so in Rise of the Robots to the many and diverse ones in SSF2, all animated with enough in-between frames to make whatever combinations you choose flow together well. But I still can't shake my hatred of the iddy-biddy graphics. The static backgrounds are a compromise I can live with, although no doubt many hardened SSF2 veterans will weep copious tears at the lack of gyrating and wiggling behind men.

But these little graphics - yuk. You can see that Terry Hawk's got all kinds of Indian gizmos on his costume, but they're too ill-defined to see what they are, and Cammy's supposed to be this famous computer game babe, but she looks like a stick man in tights. Graphics ARE important in beat-'em-ups, and this one constantly disappoints me.

Rudely dismissing Graeme, I plunge into the single-player game, turn the difficulty down and the turbo speed up, and manage to actually beat one or two opponents, even getting the option to kick in a car or two, which, due to the (grrr) tiny characters, are far too large for any of them to drive.

Switching from a CD32 pad to a two button joypad, I find the going a little tougher, but still sort of acceptable. Changing to a single button joypad (which I guess most people own) and it's starting to get faffly, requiring you to hit the keyboard to switch from punches to kicks, which makes combat awkward and combos a lot more difficult.

The AP stopwatch returns to record damning disk accessing testimony. If you lose a match you have to sit through three disk swaps and around two and a half minutes of accessing time just to replay with the same character, which is numbingly boring. Combiining that with the standard joystick, SSF2 is starting to look like the poor conversion its predecessor was.

THWACKO
And here's the rub. Running it from hard drive and controlling it with CD32 pads, SSF2 reveals the multitude of options, moves and 'special' bits that have made SSF2 universally popular in game terms (and ignoring the tiny characters) it's got more scope than MK2 and better moves than Shadow Fighter making it, in terms of gameplay, my best beat-'em-up on the Amiga.

But you CAN'T ignore the tiny playing area or the miniscule characters, or the terrible sound. If you haven't got a hard drive you CAN't ignore the disk swapping as it completely breaks down the flow of the game. And with a one button joystick, it's not got the precision or easily accssed 'special' moves that Shadow Fighter's got.

SSF2 purists and Capcom would have been annoyed by compromises in the game, but as it stands, I think most people will be disappointed by all the things that get in the way of them simply playing the game.


HARSH REALITIES We've cropped out all the black bits in the other pictures to make the page look pretty, but here's what you actually see on your monitor. Grim, huh?

Super Street Fighter 2
This one's SSF2 in the normal mode. Now decide whether you could live with all the blackness while playing a game in letterbox format. It annoyed me.

Super Street Fighter 2
You can get rid of a bit of the blackness (and speed the game up) by switching to the 60Hz mode, which apparently produces a bothersime whine only Jonatahn can hear.

Super Street Fighter 2
For comparative purposes, here's a similar grab from the original Streetfighter 2 (AP22, 74%). It had terribly intrusive disk accessing too and was a bit rubbish overall.

Super Street Fighter 2
Again, for comparative purposes, here's what you see on the screen of Shadow Fighter. It's a cruder-looking game, certainly, but sits more comfortably on the Amiga.

AND THE WINNER IS...

Super Street Fighter 2
In victory, Balrog looks badly drawn.

Super Street Fighter 2
Blanka has no armpit hair. Odd.

Super Street Fighter 2
It's the most famous arcade backside.

Super Street Fighter 2
Rather uncooly, Chun Li giggles.

Super Street Fighter 2
Finding trousers to fit must be a drag.

Super Street Fighter 2
Enter Fei Long, the Bruce Lee rip-off.

Super Street Fighter 2
Is it just me, or is Ryu sort of old hat?

Super Street Fighter 2
Terry Hawk's a guy who can pose well.

Super Street Fighter 2
Vega - kicking a man who's down.

Super Street Fighter 2
Eric Honda midway through a spasm.


HMM, THE FILM THEN

Super Street Fighter 2: Dhalsim
The Budda of Suburbia's dad played Dhalsim.

Super Street Fighter 2: E Honda
Some fat geezer played Eric Honda. Natch.

Super Street Fighter 2: Guile
JC Can Davies was Guile. Minus the silly haircut.

Super Street Fighter 2: Thawk
Terry got three seconds of fame. With a headband.

Super Street Fighter 2: Vega
And Vega was alright. The film? Crap mate.

Super Street Fighter 2: Zangief
Top marks for Zangief, the best SF2 movie bloke.

Super Street Fighter 2: Ryu
The two leads were played by two bimboids.

Super Street Fighter 2: Blanka
Blanka looked exactly like a painted bloke.

Super Street Fighter 2: Balrog
Was Balrog in the movie? We don't know.

Super Street Fighter 2: Chun Li
Chun Li was a top reporter. Or something.

Super Street Fighter 2: Dee Jay
And Deejay was her cameraman. We think.

Super Street Fighter 2 Fei Long
Fei Long? Again, no one remembers him at all.

Super Street Fighter 2: Ken
A completely forgettable nobody was Ken.

Super Street Fighter 2: Sagat
Ahh, now Sagat was actually quite good.

Super Street Fighter 2: Cammy
Cammy was Kylie. Who's not tall. Or English.

Super Street Fighter 2: Bison
Raul Julia's last movie was THIS. For shame.



Super Street Fighter 2 logo AGA

Price: £34.99 Publisher: US Gold 0121 506 1800

The Amiga beat 'em up market is about to be beefed-up with one of the most famous games ever. CU Amiga Magazine finds ou what's in a name.

Street Fighter 2 will, I believe, always be remembered as a pivotal product in the shaping of the computer games universe. Pretty much every beat 'em up since has tried to copy it - with very few really succeeding. Of course, as assured as Street Fighter 2 is of being fondly remembered in the future, there's also a damn good chance that anyone who was into the Amiga a few years back will be ready at a moment's notice to have a laugh over the piece of rubbish that was US Gold's original conversion.

Dodgy graphics, horrendous loading times, and the sort of collision detection that Damon Hill would die for (probably quite literally) all managed to come together to tarnish the Street Fighter name. And as if that wasn't humiliating enough, they're back again!

Fortunately, US Gold appear to have learnt their lesson, and have teamed-up with a talented bunch of chaps from the development company, Freestyle, to produce a much more polished product second time around.

Taking the Street Fighter 2 legend one step further than the Amiga has previously seen, this is in fact SUPER Street Fighter 2, and as such introduces four new characters to the proceedings, along with a plethora of modified moves and power enhancements.

Disk shuffling?
The other key to this review is the fact that the success of the game is, most probably, going to be down to how good the disk accessing is. With a large number of character combinations, all suffering from the added complication of different background scenery and theme tunes, data retrieval is easily the most important factor of all.

Fear not, brave warriors, for tis' not too bad at all. Comparing the Amiga version to the various console versions available isn't exactly going to be a fair trial, but it's inevitable, and what with most people being fairly familiar with the aforementioned product, it does give us something to mark against.

OK, let's be picky first. There's a tremendous amount of 'sitting quietly' when playing this game, and even with a second disk drive, you're going to spend more time looking at the disk loading scree (as nice as it is) than you are playing the game.

There's also a lot less music going on than regular SF2 players will be expecting and, though the programmers have obviously tried very hard to get things identical, it's a bit silly having to wait through a minute's loading just for the 'you've been beaten' screen.

Still, once you do load things up, the graphics are nice and clear (if a little small) and the 'feel' of the game is satisfying enough. Having converted from the likes of the six-buttoned SNES joypad, the control method is a bit of a problem, particularly if you only have a single-button joystick. The sort of combination play that made the original so popular isn't really an option when you have to hit the shift key to swap between punches and kicks, but if you've never played the original, maybe you won't be too bothered by that.

As for myself, well, once I'd plugged in my CD32 joypad, I was more than happy (which leaves me convinced that the CD32 game will probably be the version to get excited about). A two-button joystick option is included, utilising a user-friendly 'direction alters strength' system.

The 'Super' part of the game's title also introduces the player into the world of 'first attack bonuses, 'multiple hit awards', and even marks for a god recovery. The manual supplied gives all of the special moves for each of the characters, and certainly with the CD32's joypad, these are all extremely well calibrated.

The detection system has also been well tweaked, so when you move in close for a throw, you do actually look and feel as though you have the opponent (something sadly lacking from the opponent (something sadly lacking from the demos we've seen so far).

Close enough
The action is spiced up throughout with nice little presentation touches,a nd though Cammy (the new-English contender) is by no means as babe-like as her arcade counterpart (or Kylie for that matter0 the detail in both the graphics and sound manage to give most of the characters at least eighty percent of their full personalities.

There are a couple of options to tweak around with, mostly to alter difficulty levels and speed of play, but also to select exactly what sort of one player game you play. If you play in 'normal' mode, you won't be able to access one of the four super characters as your character, but you will get to play the bonus rounds thrown up every so often.

The 'super' mode allows you to plough through every character, chopping and changing your identity as you go. The two player 'versus' battle is as simple as always, with a handicapping system stopping you from murdering your six year old nephew every game.

Whether this game succeeds or not is probably more down to how patient people are when it comes to watching the loading screen. And do I recommend this to you? Well, I'd certainly say that the product is polished enough to perhaps warrant investing in a CD32 joypad and if you have a hard drive to cut out the tedious disk swopping, then yes. I'd go and buy it now. I can't see anything coming closer than this.


A1200
Super Street Fighter 2: A1200

A600
Super Street Fighter 2: A600 ...and in the yellow corner, the A5/600 version. Hmm, not really all that funky looking compared to the A1200 version and certainly not as atmospheric. You also have to choose between having either the music or sound effects, which doesn't exactly help the product along. Still, better to have a lesser product available than none at all, I suppose.


Super Street Fighter 2 logo CD32

The most famoust game ever, in the history of all things finally pops its head through the Amiga door. But does it sting like a bee?

In the conclusion to Steve Bradley's review of Super Street Fighter II in Issue 74, he recommended that owners of single drives should avoid the game and that twin drive owners should only consider buying it. Hard drive owners however, should embrace it warmly.

The reason? Loading times. With a single drive it could take anything up to five solid minutes before the player even got a whiff of a bout. Unacceptable in this day and age, even with SSFII representing one of the best beat-em-ups on offer in the Amiga scene.

That's why CD32 owners should rejoice loudly. For the compact disc that SSFII comes on eliminates disk swapping at a stroke. No longer must the gamer squint their eyes over illegibly small print requesting disk four, or was that disk five? Yes, no disk swaps makes playing a joy rather than a chore.

So, what about the playability? Considering that this is the CD32 version it makes sense that the player will own a CD32 pad. Preferably two. If so, aficionados of the arcade version will find that all of the original special moves and combos ae in here waiting to be pulled off with requisite skill and ease.

In fact, part of the joy of the game resides in the 'game within a game' scenario of getting to grips with the special moves and combos of each character.

The compact disk that SSFII comes on eliminates disk swapping at a stroke.

And all the original arcade characters are here too. Sixteen hustling, bustling, preening and muscling street fighters. Each sporting their own individual unmistakable kick-ass characteristics.

Who on the right side of 18 can fail to be impressed by the electrifying Blanka, the avian gracefulness of Chun Li, the raw brutality of Fei Long, or the Aryan arrogance of Guile? Not me, that's for sure.

The fait accompli of Super Street Fighter II is that our very own technical editor and writer, Graeme Sandiford, has given the game his stamp of authoritative approval. He, after all, can complete all of the bouts in the arcade version without blinking an eye. He's an official regional champion and he reckons that the game's subtleties have been captured perfectly here.

Capcom supplied the programmers with source code and collision charts from the arcade original. And boy has it been put to good use.

The main criticism however, lies in the size of the sprites. Compared to Mortal Kombat 2 or Shadow Fighter they're simply too small. More like Shaq Fu really. Beat 'em-ups really require larger sprites than this to be truly and utterly enjoyable.

Nevertheless, Super Street Fighter II has made it to the CD32 and retains the playability of the arcade version in the process. For that we can be truly thankful.


CHOOSE YOUR FIGHTER

Super Street Fighter 2
Vega is heartless in the kill.

Super Street Fighter 2
Balrog is a big bully.

Super Street Fighter 2
Cammy is a basher.

Super Street Fighter 2
Get off the screen Blanka.

Super Street Fighter 2
Deejay likes to play soul.

Super Street Fighter 2
So short but so Feilong.

Super Street Fighter 2
Ryu plays like Arsenal.

Super Street Fighter 2
It's good to Thawk.

Super Street Fighter 2
Chun Li and chips please.