Street Fighter II: The World Warrior review - Super Nintendo

Street Fighter II defined gaming in the 1990s by revolutionising the fighting game genre. Regarded as one of the greatest games of all time, Street Fighter II: The World Warrior was the first release of the Street Fighter II series, featuring the original eight world warriors including Ryu, Chun-Li, and Guile.

Each character has his or her own fighting skills, speed, special moves, and unique ending to make for a truely unique fighting game experience. Choose your character and become a hero in the Street Fighter universe.

What the Mean Machines staff thought

This is the game that everyone has been waiting for and I'm highly relieved to report that it's 'kin ace! Everything from the coin-op is here. Every move, just about every tactic, all the backdrops, every character - it's ALL here! We've got the Street Fighter II coin-op in the office, and the only tiny differences seem to be in the animation and the speed of the game - the amazing playability of the original remains intact. I guarantee you months of fun with the two-player mode as you try to learn all the moves with every combination of characters going! The vast range of options makes the presentation of the game even better than the original - the Versus Mode even let's you choose the backdrop you wish to fight on! I cannot stress how much of a cool game Street Fighter II is, it's a dream come true for Super NES owners! In fact, I would go as far as to say Street Fighter II is even more playable and exciting than the classic Super Mario World - making it one of the greatest video games in the world today!

What surely must be the greatest ever arcade machine has become the greatest ever arcade-to-console conversion. It truly is mind-bogglingly good! Apart from a few minuscule differences - none of which affect the gameplay in the slightest - this IS Street Fighter II. The sound, sprites, animated backgrounds and gameplay are all spot-on, so much so that once you're used to playing with the Super Nintendo control pads (which doesn't take long since you can select which buttons do what) you actually think you're playing the arcade game! All your favourite tactics work, everything reacts in the same way, all the moves are present...everything is perfect! Incredibly, Capcom have also added some new features not present in the arcade machine - a new bonus screen and a whole load of options which allow you to handicap yourself or other players, select the background and change the difficulty settings. I could continue to rant and rave about just how completely superlative this game is, but let me tell you one thing: I've played this more, had more fun and still enjoy it more than any other game I've played in the last ten years. If any game was ever going to sell the Super Nintendo, Street Fighter II is it...

Retrospective comments

What more needs to be said about this legendary game? The SNES quickly became the console of choice due to landing the conversion of the popular coin-op beat-em-up of legends. Import shops across the country were taking orders for this title for £120 upwards. For those lucky enough to have a grey import console this game ran almost as good as the coin-op. (Lets not talk about the PAL treatment of letterbox and slow gameplay here!!) Even today this game stands up as the classic it is. Every character memorable in their own right. The ability to have a tense battle and have it end with a double-KO! This genre was exploited to the fullest during the Super Nintendo's lifetime but for me nothing came close to the Street Fighter. What a game!

Have your say about this review

Stayrsaigh - 08 Mar 2008, 14:04 GMT

What else indeed can be said? I remember to the day when this review came out AND the day I got my grey import of Streetfighter II for £100 (I just couldn't wait!) and I remember the excitement the moment I slotted in the cart and realised I had my favorite game to play as many times and for as long as I damn well liked (And it ran into years!)

I was always a a fan of beat 'em ups and untill SFII Final Fight was the Daddy of them all (My first reason for buying a Super Nintendo!) but nothing could compare to this masterpiece of brutal addictiveness. The game ran a little slower on UK machines and there were a few graphical differences but the Gameplay was the same and I still play matches to this day, although with the arrival of emulators I rarely use the SNES version in favour of MAME but it does still come out from time to time.

What is surely the video game with the longest lifespan ever and that caught the imaginations of a generation of gamers deserves all the praise and hype that was given to it. Sure Capcom raped the series for all it was worth and ended up with unplayable nonsense like the Alpha series with way too much going on screen to be enjoyable but the original and anything up untill Super Streetfighter II had a power and a quaility in graphics, sound and gameplay that has rarely been surpassed these last 17 years. Beleve me if you had been there at the time, you would know what it was all about!

Lady Michiru - 14 Jul 2008, 10:58 GMT

I remember when Street Fighter II: The World Warrior first came out in 1992.
The price at the time was very high ($120.00), but it was worth every cent.
I brought it at Dick Smith Electronics in Gosford & all the kids wanted to look at it, after I brought it. Ah, sweet memories.

Davide - 21 Aug 2008, 13:21 GMT

This game is simply awesome!!! Not more to say about it! ;)

Stealthdave - 26 Dec 2008, 07:37 GMT

I remember paying £120 for Street Fighter 2:Hyper Fighting.

What a game this was, used to play everyday, and could win without using a continue on 8 stars.

Have tried the same on the recently released 360 version and I struggle to beat it on 2 stars these days...;)

Mentasm - 25 Feb 2009, 13:05 GMT

Wow! This brings back memories! I used to read Mean Machines years ago and I can still remember the day the Jap import of SFII dropped through the letterbox. I can't remember exactly how much I paid for it, but it was a hell of a lot and was worth every penny. I also spent a stupid amount of money on the Jap SFII Turbo cart and the US Super SFII cart (and the adaptor to play the latter). I just got SFIV for the PS3 and it's awakened so many memories of entire weekends spent trying to beat Vega (none of that M. Bison nonsense with the Jap cart) with all of the characters, or pummelling less adept friends into submission with Guile. Who could forget the old Down, R, Up, L, Y, B combination to get Championship Mode? SFII pretty much defined 90s gaming and along with Final Fight and Super Mario World was one of the best reasons to import a Super Famicom (that and making all of your UK Megadrive-owning friends very jealous).

Dan - 08 Apr 2009, 12:36 GMT

What can be said about this nigh-on perfect game that already hasn't been? SF 4 has just been released and all it is essentially after 18 or so years is this but with a few nobs on. Possibly the most legendary game ever. N what an issue of MM, Devil Crash, Top Racer, and this all in one mag. I remember my m8 Robs pullin his pud on the bus back from town after readin this review, 98% - pure spunkage.

Any remember hearing about Hyper Fighting's "cheat" where if you finished it with every round perfect on level 8 you could choose Shen Long? I wasted eons trying to complete that feat, and then when I finally did imagine how gutted how was that it didn't happen! Then I found out it was a load of bull shit made up by some gimps. Gimps, you owe my half of my youth back! ;)

Artur687 - 20 Aug 2009, 15:11 GMT

Chun Li: Spinning Bird Kick:
Hold Down for two seconds, then press Up + A.

Princess Michiru - 30 Oct 2009, 09:06 GMT

Dan, those 'gimps' you refer to were the staff of EGM & the whole Shen Long thing was a stupid April Fools Day prank.
They even pulled the same stunt when Street Fighter III came out, using doctored screen shots.

Anyway, back to SFII, I remember when this game first came to Australia, with a hefty price tag of $139.95.
BtW, Sheng Long is the Chinese name for Ryu's Dragon Punch.
Those stupid idiots mis-interpreted the name, thinking it was a real person.

MParallel - 13 Jan 2010, 00:40 GMT

This game was so amazing for its time. A near perfect conversion, on a 16-bit home console. I remember playing this at a local toy shop that had a demo cabinet. Everyone loved it. Even I, a Sega die-hard and MD owner.

We got out sweet little revenge though when all of a sudden, it was ported to the MD too and better yet, the Championship Edition! All boses playable, option to play the same character and above all, SPEED! The SNES version was so slow, the MD version so fast. The MD even got the cool coin-up intro. Graphics were also amazing on the MD, taking into consideration it was technically a far cry from the SNES. Only 256 color vs 32k+ on the SNES. It sure was a proper port.

Later the SNES would also get the Hyper Editions and all and it makes you wonder why the original ran so slow.

Dan - 30 Jun 2010, 14:33 GMT

@Princess Michiru: the bastards!!! I was sucked well and truely in by it, grrrrrrrrrr :)

DEEKAY - 22 Jul 2010, 22:34 GMT

i got this game on import when it first came out on SNES, still play it to this day, you can buy it from xbox live, and it is the arcade perfect version

Darth Lopster - 27 Sep 2010, 23:17 GMT

i can remeber my best friend and I visiting winning 2 bottles of cheap plonk at a local village fete (we were 13!!!) and going back to my house to play this non-fecking-stop for oh god til 2 in the morning.

simply one of THE best games of all time !!!!

Zoltrekun - 18 Oct 2010, 03:18 GMT

In my opinion, Street Fighter II: The World Warrior is best Street Fighter game even today. Its slow paced battle system simpy fits perfectly in every aspect of the game.

I still enjoy playing this version the most. It is a true legendary videogame.


Also to add that music of this version is the best.

Ledreppe - 11 Nov 2010, 19:48 GMT

This was one of my favourite games on the SNES. I will probably get Street Fighter 4 on the Nintendo 3DS when it comes out in March next year. SUPERB!

maison à louer - 06 Dec 2010, 10:13 GMT

This is the best fighting game ever made, all fighting games today come from this one! it is simply MARVELOUS!!!

the retro king - 17 Sep 2011, 14:23 GMT

If i was back in the 90s again and was stuck on a desert island i would take 4 things with me.My super nintendo a copy of street fighter 2 and a copy of super mario kart and a copy of super mario world.I Wouldnt want to leave. LOL.

Will - 13 Jun 2012, 14:27 GMT

Apart from the disgusting sound, the Mega Drive version was better. Faster and bloodier. The first SNES game was like all the fighters were on the moon! Even a superficial glance at the original arcade game should be enough to tell you that the version reviewed was far from arcade perfect.

Kirk - 15 Sep 2012, 23:13 GMT

Still one of the best games ever made.

A truly timeless classic.

Steve - 19 Jan 2013, 22:41 GMT

Streetfighter 2 was to beat-em-ups what the Beatles were to music!
Simple as that!

johney - 20 Jan 2013, 16:09 GMT

Snes streetfoghter 2 was & is one of the best games ever made,with awesome graphics & music,i like the music even more cooler then the arcade version,the soundeffects are infirior and shortened down,but whose cares,it was still audible,in the turbo version,more sound effects like you win,you lose ,perfect etc,,, were added to make it feel more exciting,including m bison as playeble chracter and turbo option,trough the genesis version can be set in much much more faster mode sothat it become so fast,that it feels like you have extreamly overclocked the genesis.
But i prefer the snes version over all other versions,even super streetfighter2 can't stand a chance against it, because it has shitty sound make overs.

Ninjah1982 - 17 Apr 2013, 15:15 GMT

Street Fighter II Turbo was much better than this becasue it was faster and had more playable characters to choose from. Street Fighter II Turbo (SNES) easily makes it (still) into the top 10 best games of ALL time! : )

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