Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting

• Release Date: 1993
• Genre: Fighting
• Style: 2D Fighting
• Similar Games: Fatal Fury (Super Nintendo Entertainment System), Mortal Kombat (Macintosh), Mortal Kombat 3 (IBM PC Compatible), Mortal Kombat (Game Boy), Mortal Kombat 3 (Game Boy), Mortal Kombat II (Sega Genesis 32X), Eternal Champions: Challenge From the Dark Side (Sega CD), Mortal Kombat (Sega CD), Mortal Kombat (Sega Game Gear), Mortal Kombat II (Sega Game Gear), Eternal Champions (Sega Genesis), Fatal Fury (Sega Genesis), Fatal Fury 2 (Sega Genesis), Mortal Kombat (Sega Genesis), Mortal Kombat II (Sega Genesis), Mortal Kombat 3 (Sega Genesis), Mortal Kombat II (Sega Saturn), Mortal Kombat 3 (PlayStation), Art of Fighting (Super Nintendo Entertainment System), Fatal Fury 2 (Super Nintendo Entertainment System), Mortal Kombat (Super Nintendo Entertainment System), Mortal Kombat II (Super Nintendo Entertainment System), Mortal Kombat 3 (Super Nintendo Entertainment System), Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (Super Nintendo Entertainment System), Mortal Kombat 3 (Macintosh), Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (Game Boy), Justice League Task Force (Super Nintendo Entertainment System), Justice League Task Force (Sega Genesis), Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (Arcade), Art of Fighting (Arcade), Fatal Fury: King of Fighters (Arcade), Fatal Fury 2 (Arcade), Mortal Kombat (Arcade), Mortal Kombat II (Arcade), Mortal Kombat 3 (Arcade), Mortal Kombat II (Game Boy), Art of Fighting (Sega Genesis), Mortal Kombat (IBM PC Compatible), Mortal Kombat II (IBM PC Compatible), Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (IBM PC Compatible), Art of Fighting (Sega Genesis), Art of Fighting (Neo Geo Advanced Entertainment System), Fatal Fury (Neo Geo Advanced Entertainment System), Fatal Fury 2 (Neo Geo Advanced Entertainment System), Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (Commodore 64/128)

Game Description

Twelve of the world's greatest fighters have once again entered competition -- turbo style. Returning to the game are all your favorite characters with new colors and added moves: Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Blanka, E. Honda, Zangief, Dhalsim, Guile, M. Bison, Balrog, Sagat and Vega. Depending on which fighter you control, you can pull off rolling attacks, sonic booms, flash kicks, hundred hand slaps, sumo head butts and other special moves, along with the standard punches and kicks.

Was the original Street Fighter II too slow for your tastes? Now you can adjust the game's speed from one to a maximum of ten stars, raising the intensity of matches to new highs. Also, you can turn the time limit on or off. Like in the first game, a couple of energy meters across the top of the screen let you know who is winning the round.

Pick one of 12 warriors, including the four bosses, and battle your way until you are the last one standing. If that isn't enough, square off against a second player in the versus mode to see once and for all who is the Street Fighter Champion!

Roots & Influences

The first game in this series, simply titled Street Fighter, hit the Arcades in 1987. Street Fighter II followed in 1991.

Yie Ar Kung-Fu (1985) is one of the forerunners of the Street Fighter II-style fighting genre. It even features an energy meter! Other influences include Shao-Lin's Road (1985), Boxing for the Intellivision (1980) and Chuck Norris Superkicks (1983).

Review: Overall

In this update to Capcom's wildly popular Street Fighter II for the Super NES, Street Fighter II: Turbo Edition allows you to configure the game's speed (up to 10 stars) and play as any of the four bosses, upping the amount of playable characters to 12. Otherwise, the game is nearly an exact copy of the original. Considering that Street Fighter II was a technical marvel at the time of its release, this is a good thing. For the uninitiated, your goal is to become the Street Fighter Champion by traveling the world to defeat all contenders.

There are 12 battles in the game, each consisting of three or more rounds, meaning you must defeat the enemy at least twice in order to continue. As you meet each fighter on his or her home turf, you'll notice beautiful backdrops with animation: bicycles travel across the screen, chickens flap and mighty elephants trumpet. At the top of the screen is each fighter's score and two strength meters, which gradually diminish as each fighter receives blows; if your opponent is not defeated within the allotted time then the player with the least amount of damage loses the fight. In between some of the fights are three bonus rounds, requiring you to destroy either bricks, barrels or a stationary car within thirty seconds.

After eight victories you'll face one of the bosses, Balrog, a boxer obviously patterned after Mike Tyson. Then it's time to stretch the fingers and prepare to take on the last three bosses: Vega, a vain fighter who wears a mask to protect his delicate face; Sagat, the original boss from Street Fighter who still bears a scar from his last encounter with Ryu; and finally the evil dictator M. Bison, the man standing between you and the championship.

To defeat these foes, you'll have to learn your selected fighter's special moves and effective combinations (combos), requiring precise pad movement along with multiple button presses. While the moves are almost the same as in the previous version, each character has a few new wrinkles such as Chun Li's fireball and Zangief's Turbo Spinning Clothesline. Unfortunately, it is still a genuine pain to use the Super NES's control pad to perform them; it's just not the ideal layout for fighting games. If you have a joystick, however, then you'll be able to pull off moves like Dragon Punches with the grace of a true master.

All in all, the game is a great conversion of the Arcade game and adds to the fun of the original classic. Yet it's not the great leap forward you might expect from a sequel, since it's essentially the same game with a few more features--features that should have been easily programmed into the first title. While Street Fighter: II Turbo is the better game because of these improvements, some may not feel that they are enough to warrant another purchase. One thing is clear, however. If you've somehow missed out on the first game, this is a must-have title which represents the very best in the genre.

Review: Enjoyment

The only disappointment is that there are no new characters or backgrounds. The quality of the 12 characters and speed of play help make up for this.

Review: Graphics

While missing some of the animation found on the Arcade game, and despite having slightly smaller characters, the game's visuals never fail to impress. The graphics are fantastic.

Review: Sound

The music is also well-done and in stereo. Character voices are clear and sharp, so you'll know to get out of the way when you hear 'Sho-Ryu-Ken.'

Review: Replay Value

All great fighting games have high replay values, and this is no exception. A two-player mode means the action never gets dull and the new moves give the characters more balance.

Review: Documentation

The manual includes character bios and special moves. No complaints in this area.