The legendary game that helped define the fighting game genre.
Overview
A one on one fighting game where you choose from one of 8 selectable characters from around the world (world warriors) to challange the remaining lineup and 4 bosses. Or grab a buddy and go head to head to see who will be crowned champion. 2 Bonus Stages are also included so you can get your frustration out by smashing a car (Final Fight Style) and destroying burning barrels.
Graphics 9/10
The graphics In SF2 are clean and crisp. The characters are large and well animated. Another nice feature is that each character and their stage are good graphical representations of their country. Blanka the mysterious creature from Brazil, is found in a hot lush jungle, while the cute and sexy Chun Li is found on the busy streets of China. However the graphics do fall a little short in terms of backgrounds. Where animations are displayed in a 2 frame process that intensifies towards the end of each round.
Gameplay/Controls 9/10
Each player controls his or her character with an 8 way directional joystick and 6 buttons. The buttons are split into two sections of punch and kick actions. Each button has a degree of strength and speed. Punches Jab, Fierce, Strong. Kicks Short, Foward, RoundHouse. Furthermore several special moves can be executed with the proper cobination and timing of the controls. The controls and moves does have an intermediate learning curve, but once mastered the movements and attacks have good response time.
Sound/Music 10/10
With nice graphics and impressive gameplay capcom didn't slack off when it came to the sound and music. Altough not the most realistic effects, the punches, kicks, falls, screams, etc. all sound like they came from an action martial-arts movie. However this is a good thing! The sound of each effect can be felt from a blocked punch to a crash through a crate. In addition each stage has a matching soundtrack that goes along with each country potrayed. For example the music in Vega's stage has a fast beat, spanish style track to represent ...Spain.
Replay Value 10/10
IEight characters, each with a different ending, this game will take some time to see each one. In addition the countless vs matches is a shining feature of this game, where the toughest opponet could be your friend.
Overall 9/10
IAltough not the first one on one fighting game, this game truly defined the standards of a what a fighting game should be. If you havn't played this game yet, play it, if you have, then I'm sure you wouldn't mind lacing up for one more round!
- By Enternal
