Review by Armando N. Roman for Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix [Online Game Code]
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If you haven’t played Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo before, then this would be the best version to get probably. I’ve played every iteration of SF2 since the first one hit the SNES in the early 90s, and HD Remix is by far the best for your buck. A huge roster of characters, online play, gorgeous HD sprites and a nicely remixed soundtrack make this a blast to play. The version that came out on the ps2 a few years ago had a lot of issues, but with HD Remix, everything’s close to perfect.

I’ll get the good out of the way first. The character sprites here all look incredible. What Capcom did was take the original frames of animation from the original Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo, and just put new sprites over them. So while you don’t get the smooth animation of Third Strike or a Guilty Gear game, players of the original game will feel right at home, not having to worry much about changing the timing of their old favorite attacks. And each character got a lot of attention as far as their new designs go. Plain and simple, the game’s beautiful. I especially appreciate the redone backgrounds too. It makes me wish they’d have done the same for Marvel vs Capcom 2. Every character from the original Turbo is here, and of course Akuma’s available as well. The designers also tried to fix a lot of balance issues with the game by changing some moves and their priority, or adding in some new ones altogether. Examples being: Ryu now has a fake fireball, Chun-Li’s Spinning Bird Kick now goes upward in an arc, T. Hawk’s cheap infinite throw is apparently no longer here (though I’ve seen something awfully close in a few videos), Akuma’s air fireballs don’t travel forward as much, and some of the stronger characters like Balrog, Dhalsim and Dee Jay have been toned down a bit. There’s a training mode where you can turn on the hit boxes, showing you where you can take damage and where you can damage the opponent. This is a huge help in learning why you’re taking hits when it looks like an attack didn’t even touch your character, and where you can get them back. And for those who don’t care for the new changes, the original Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo is on here as well- you select if you want to play the HD Remix or original at the title screen.

Unfortunately, the other main reason to get this game- online play, wasn’t 100% fun, in my case at least. Again, this is just my experience, and I’m of a small percentage I guess, but the couple of times I’ve went online to play against other people, there’s been some pretty bad lag. It was so bad that I gave up after just 5 different matches. I can admit when I lose fair and square, but when there are half-second delays in animation, or the animation just skips ahead altogether, it’s not my fault that I’m losing. Some experts out there can take advantage of the lag, but they’re few and far between. There’d be times when I’d be dominating a match as Chun-Li against Blanka, and then suddenly he practically teleports right in front of her and gets on a bite. I don’t think this was my internet connection sometimes, because one of the times this happened, my connection was running VERY fast (ie- I downloaded the Bayonetta demo in under 5 minutes). But again, that’s just me, and if you don’t experience it, the score can be a full 5 stars. And hey, you can always play against another person on the same system.

Overall, this is sure to please any old school fighting game fan, or someone just looking to relive the simpler days of fighting games. While I still wish the special attacks weren’t so powerful here, HD Remix is a worthy purchase, and there’s usually someone to play against online. Here’s hoping that they give Third Strike the same treatment this console generation!

Review by Michael Nardo for Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix [Online Game Code]
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I did not buy this game as planned, as I was looking for a game in a genre that I don’t have with my wide collection of games. Most of these games are single-player, but I do remember having ‘Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting for the SNES’. I truly enjoyed playing the game over and over by myself and with a friend once in a while. Now I can relive the experience with a few more modifications of the game with 16:9 screen, HD gameplay, with a couple of extra characters.

Watch out when you try out or even competitively play through broadband. There are some great players out there, but I have not encountered anyone of novice experience.

This game is simply worth the download and I recommend you purchase it.

Review by Vic W. Li for Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix [Online Game Code]
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2-d fighters are my fav. Most balanced fighter I’ve played. No overpowered supers, ultras, commonly used 3+ hit combos, etc to make the game unfair or cheap. I’ve been a vet of this since playing the original Street Fighter 1 (I don’t mean the original Street Fighter 2) in the arcades.