Super Street Fighter II Turbo

Super Street Fighter II Turbo
Developer(s)	Capcom
Publisher(s)	Capcom
Designer(s)	Planners: Noritaka Funamizu (Poo) Haruo Murata (Mucchi)
Composer(s)	Isao Abe Syun Nishigaki Yuki Iwai
Series	Street Fighter
Platform(s)	Arcade Computers: Amiga. PC DOS Consoles: 3DO, Dreamcast, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation, Sega Saturn, PlayStation 2
Release date(s)	February 23, 1994[1]
Genre(s)	Fighting
Mode(s)	Up to 2 players simultaneously
Cabinet	Upright
Arcade system	CPS-2
Display	Raster, 384 x 224 pixels (Horizontal), 4096 colors

Super Street Fighter II Turbo, released in Japan as Super Street Fighter II X: Grand Master Challenge (スーパーストリートファイターII X -Grand Master Challenge-), is a competitive fighting game released for the arcades by Capcom in 1994. It is the fifth arcade installment in the Street Fighter II sub-series of Street Fighter games, following Super Street Fighter II. Like its predecessor, it ran on the CP System II hardware.

Super Turbo introduced several new play mechanics to the game system from the previous Street Fighter II installments, including the addition of powered-up Special Moves called Super Combos. It also introduced the hidden character of Akuma, who would go on to become a recurring character in later Street Fighter installments and other Capcom fighting games.

Super Turbo was originally ported to the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, followed by the PlayStation and Sega Saturn (under the title of Super Street Fighter II Turbo: The Ultimate Championship) as part of the Street Fighter Collection and for the Japanese Dreamcast under the title of Super Street Fighter II X for Matching Service. A remake of the game was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 titled Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix.

Gameplay

Super Street Fighter II Turbo made the following changes and additions to the play mechanics inherited from Super Street Fighter II.

Super Combos

Ryu finishes off Zangief with his Shinkū Hadōken Super Combo.

A Super Combo is a type of special move, usually a more powerful version of a character's special move, that can be performed only under a certain condition and will strike an opponent multiple times. Each player has a Super Combo gauge at the bottom of the screen which is filled up while the character performs their basic and special techniques against the opponent. When the Super Combo gauge is filled completely, then the gauge will be replaced with the word "SUPER". The player will then be able to perform their Super Combo technique by inputting the specific command, which will then reset the Super Combo gauge back to zero. If an opponent is defeated with a Super Combo, then the background will flash red and yellow.

Air Combos

Super Turbo also introduced the ability to perform a combo against an opponent who is in mid-air. Whereas previous versions of Street Fighter II feature a few techniques which would strike an opponent multiple times, Super Turbo was the first game in the series to feature an extensive Air Combo feature. Certain basic moves allows the player to strike an opponent more than once in the air and "juggle" them. These "juggling" moves can be connected into another juggling move or into a Super Combo.

Other new features and changes

Super Turbo was the first Street Fighter game (excluding home versions of the previous games) to feature an adjustable speed setting. The speed can be adjusted on the system configuration by the game's operator or (if the speed setting is set to "Free Select") can be chosen by the player at the start of the game. The player has a choice between three speed settings.

Additionally, the bonus mini-games featured in previous versions of Street Fighter II were absent in this installment. The eight-player "Tournament Battle" mode from the original Super Street Fighter II was absent as well.

Characters

Alternate versions

Super Street Fighter II Turbo allows players to play as versions of characters from the original Super Street Fighter II in addition to their regular counterparts in the game by inputting a code for each character. The character would play as they would in Super Street Fighter II, with subtle differences. For example, the alternate version of Sagat in Super Turbo can now cancel his short kick into any special move, whereas in Super Street Fighter II he couldn't.

This method has its strengths and weaknesses. "Super" characters cannot perform the Super Combo moves and they cannot fall safely from a throw. On the other hand, some features are beneficial, such as at the start of a Shoryuken, "Super" Ken and "Super" Ryu are invulnerable when they perform their Shoryuken and cannot be hit out of it (Normal Ken and Normal Ryu can be hit out of it at any point). All of the characters' original color schemes (i.e. Ryu's red headband and white gi, Chun-Li's blue outfit, Bison's red uniform, etc.) are only seen in their Super version since their regular Super Turbo versions uses a different default color scheme.

Introduction of Akuma

Super Street Fighter II Turbo also saw the introduction of the series' first hidden character, Akuma (Gouki in Japan). Should the player succeed in defeating all eight preliminary opponents, as well as Balrog, Vega and Sagat without using any continues (and achieve a high score or reach the final match in less than 25 minutes), Akuma will reveal himself. Once the player reaches M. Bison, at the start of the round Akuma will enter the stage and grab Bison, knocking him out with the Shun Goku Satsu attack, and challenge the player as the game's new final boss. There is no name on Akuma's life gauge, and his small portrait is completely black. Akuma can also be selected by the player by inputting a certain code at the player select screen, though the playable version of him is not as powerful as the computer-controlled one. Akuma is a very difficult opponent, being able to move at very high speeds and to deal large amounts of damage.

Home versions

3DO Interactive Multiplayer

The 3DO port was released on November 13, 1994 in Japan, with subsequent releases in North America and Europe. While the graphics are more accurately reproduced compared to the previous console ports for 16-bit platforms such as the Super NES, some of the backgrounds don't scroll like they do in the arcade version, the score system when performing combos is not accurately reproduced, and the order of opponents in the 1-player mode is a bit different as well. Although the loading times are considerably short by CD-ROM standards at the time, the game loads during battle when a player performs an elaborate move such as jumping (especially when both characters jump at the same time) and the play controls are affected occasionally as well. The soundtrack features the same remixed music from the FM Towns version of Super Street Fighter II (with a few additional remixes specific to Super Turbo).

This port also features "simultaneously button cancels", a feature that only existed in the arcade versions up until Hyper Fighting.

MS-DOS

The MS-DOS version, developed by Eurocom and published by GameTek, was released on May 1995 in North America and Europe. The port is almost accurate to the arcade version and utilizes a six-button controller. There are secret commands to use each character's original color scheme, as well as moves that were removed from the 3DO version due to memory issues. The option menus have custom settings (such as enabling and disabling parallax scrolling) that allows the game to be played in a low hardware specs. The biggest change is the game's resolution. The game is played on a resolution of 320x200 on AT/PC-compatible machines and since the graphic data is ported straight from the arcade version, all the characters appear large due to the narrow screen size. Because of this, the distance between both fighters at the beginning of a match is a bit narrower than in the arcade version. There were many glitches in the initial shipments of the DOS port, such as characters landing and recovering normally after landing from a jump if they're knocked out in mid-air with a basic attack. A patch file was distributed that corrected these bugs, which were later fixed in version 1.5 of the retail release. A patch file for a version 1.6 was released as well. The music has been remixed as well, although the soundtrack is different from the one released for the 3DO.

Amiga

An Amiga port was also released by Gametek (and ported by Human Soft) in 1996, which is graphically very close to the original arcade game and remixed stage tracks, but suffers from jerky animation and other shortcomings when played upon an unexpanded machine.

PlayStation and Sega Saturn

Super Turbo is included in Street Fighter Collection, a compilation for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn that also included the original Super Street Fighter II in the same disc, as well as Street Fighter Alpha 2 Gold on a second disc. Although the Super Turbo port is very accurate, the game suffers from slight processing glitches that makes the controls unresponsive during close-quarters combat in certain stages, and there's a bug that allows Guile to throw two "Sonic Boom" projectile attacks on-screen at the same time. Due to the CD-ROM media, the beginning of each stage theme is played one beat later for convenience. The Street Fighter II series took a while to appear on the PlayStation and Sega Saturn due to the fact that Capcom has already moved on to the Street Fighter Alpha series on the arcades.

Dreamcast

Capcom released Super Street Fighter II X for Matching Service for the Dreamcast in Japan as an exclusive mail-order release via the online Dreamcast Direct store (later known as Sega Direct) on December 22, 2000. The Dreamcast version features an online versus mode compatible on Sega's "Matching Service" compatible only on analog modems. The Matching Service closed down on September 1, 2003. The bonus rounds from previous Street Fighter II which were cut in the arcade version were restored in this port and can enabled via a special options menu. The port is considerably more accurate than the PlayStation and Sega Saturn versions, as almost nothing was changed aside for the score display. If the player fulfills a certain series of requirements, then Shin Gouki (the computer-controlled version of Akuma from the single player mode) can be used by the player, who boasts greater fighting skills than his regular self. There's also a third version of Akuma called "Ten Gouki" who can use the Shun Goku Satsu ("Raging Demon") technique as a Super Combo. Other secret options are available as well.

Game Boy Advance

Released on June 13, 2001 in Japan, with subsequent releases in North America and Europe, Super Street Fighter II Turbo Revival is a port of the original Super Turbo for the Game Boy Advance with an all new title screen and character illustrations. Because the GBA only has four buttons installed on its hardware, the four action buttons can be easily customized. Although most of the basic character sprites and animations were transferred from the SNES version of the original Super Street Fighter II, the new techniques that were added from Super Turbo used the same sprites and animations from the arcade version. This results in a few characters suddenly growing in size for a moment when performing certain moves, such as Guile's standing Heavy Kick, since the arcade version used bigger sprites than the SNES version. Likewise, the animation frames when a character advances towards an opponent are the same when he or she retreats. Only Akuma uses character sprites exclusively from the arcade version and his advancing and retreating animations are different as a result.

The home stages for Ryu, Ken, Guile, Zangief, and M. Bison are all-new, while Chun-Li's new stage is lifted from Street Fighter Alpha 2, and Balrog's stage is from Street Fighter Alpha 3. Akuma also has a specific home stage, which is the same one as Ryu's, but with a different palette. All the voice clips of the characters are taken from the arcade version with the exception of Ryu's, which is based on the original Street Fighter II, while Akuma's voice clips are from the Street Fighter Alpha series. While the music quality is not of the same rate as the arcade version, the danger versions of the stage themes are included just like the arcade version's and there are exclusive remixes as well.

Akuma can use the Shun Goku Satsu as a Super Combo, unlike in the arcade version (where he had none). The player can also unlock "Shin Akuma", a variation of Akuma who boasts even greater fighting skills, in addition to the regular version. He can also use the Shun Goku Satsu Super Combo.

PlayStation 2 and Xbox

Super Turbo is included in Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 2 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. Although the first compilation included the first three Street Fighter II games, the second volume skipped the original Super Street Fighter II and only included Super Turbo.

PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360

In 2008, Capcom released a downloadable online version titled Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix for the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade, featuring 1080 pixel high definition graphics (compared with the original 224 pixel) and a rebalanced roster, based on the source code from Super Street Fighter II X for Matching Service for Dreamcast.

Reception

In the January 30, 1995 issue of Gamest, Super Street Fighter II X (known as Super Turbo internationally) placed fourth place in the award for Best Game of 1994 and Best Fighting Game, but did not rank in any of the other awards.^[2] On release, Famicom Tsūshin scored the 3DO version of the game a 29 out of 40.^[3]

References

Sources

• All About Capcom Head-to-Head Fighting Games 1987-2000. A.A. Game History Series (Vol. 1) (in Japanese). Dempa Publications. Sep 2000. ISBN 4-88554-676-1. 

External links

• Official website for the GBA version(Japanese)
• Super Street Fighter II Turbo at the Killer List of Videogames
• Shoryuken.com (the online center of competitive Street Fighter)
• Super Street Fighter II Turbo at Eurocom
• Super Street Fighter II Turbo guide at StrategyWiki
• Super Street Fighter II art at FightingStreet.com