Super Street Fighter II X For Matching Service (Review)

The full title of the game is Super Street Fighter II X Grand Master Challenge For Matching Service. Holy shit.

Release dates:

North America: Unreleased

Japan: December 22nd, 2000

Europe: Unreleased

Game details:

1-2 players

Standard controller

Arcade stick

Keyboard

Mouse

VGA box

Online multiplayer (disabled)

Most of us remember Street Fighter II and its many incarnations from relatively unspectacular Genesis/MegaDrive and Super Nintendo ports. Enter Super Street Fighter II X For Matching Service. The game is an arcade perfect port of the arcade counterpart (known as Super Street Fighter II Turbo in the states), and was accurate enough that the PSN/XBLA release Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (holy shit again) was based on the code for the Dreamcast version of the game. Street Fighter games have come a long way since II X landed, and if you're wondering how the old game holds up, you can find out here.

Gameplay

If your Street Fighter origins are III or IV, you're in for quite a shock. This is the origin of modern fighting games, and we've come a long way since then. Don't mistake my words as negative; it just really is a shock to the system to play the game. I put many hours into Street Fighter II on my Genesis, but picked fighting games back up about eight years ago with Street Fighter III on Dreamcast. When a friend purchased Street Fighter II' on Xbox Live several years ago, I felt like I was naked because of the game's simplicity. There aren't any twitch timing parries, complicated FADC cancels or careful gauge management here. This is a pure fighting game. Be faster than your opponent, spam your special moves, and use your gauge when it finally fills all the way. It's really very hard to say much about this game in the gameplay department. It's the originator, and if you don't know how it works then you've missed out on a huge genre of video games. Super Street Fighter II X does add one new feature, which is the super combo. Some of you were likely confused by my mention of a gauge in Street Fighter II; it was introduced with this game, which to my knowledge never made it to the Genesis or SNES. In terms of balance, this is my personal preferred version of Street Fighter II. More or less solely for the reason of E. Honda not being able to move during the Hundred Hand Slap. For the arcade purists, as stated in the intro, this is 100% arcade perfect.

Storyline

The day I can write something here will be a good one…

Graphics

The graphics in SSFIIX are actually very nice; if you've only played the SNES and Genesis versions, you're in for better graphics and some subtle, but nice touches. In particular, there's some nice parallax scrolling I noticed in the floor of Dhalsim's stage. The game looks great on a VGA box, but this is definitely a game of its time. The newest characters in the game are noticeably better looking, which can sometimes be distracting and detracts from the overall look of the game.

Sound

This will be broken into two sections in order to provide information on Team RDC's remixed release featuring sound from Overclocked ReMix's Blood on the Asphalt remix.

(Original version)

This is my preferred version of the soundtrack. Again, if you haven't heard these songs, you're missing out on a major piece of video game history. Guile's theme is legendary (and inspired an equally legendary YouTube meme) and my personal favorite, Ken's theme is just awesome.

(Remixed version)

This remix mostly falls flat. The only song that I prefer superior to the original is Ken's theme. The guitar is perfect, and the solo is excellent. The rest of the remixes are mostly slow and sparse, and it can feel odd while playing the game. I'll admit that when playing the game with friends, we usually do choose the remixed version and just play Ken's stage repeatedly.

Conclusion

Super Street Fighter II X is the best version of a legendary game. There's really not much to say for this review; you should know this stuff. It's part of gamer DNA at this point. If you don't know it, something has gone wrong. Since the time SSFIIX came out, it's my opinion that it has been eclipsed by other Street Fighter entries. Regardless, this is still a great game.

8.5/10