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GBA

North America

Super Street Fighter II Turbo: Revival

by Max Lake - March 22, 2001, 2:32 am EST

Capcom is bringing its classic slugfest to GBA & Super Street Fighter 2 is shaping up to be a fantastic handheld version of one of the most influential games ever. Read our detailed preview to learn all about this anticipated release!

Street Fighter II may not have been the first "fighting game" produced, though it proved to be the most influential title in shaping the fighting genre we know and love today.

Although proceeded by early fighting games Karate Champ (1984) and Konami's Yie Ar Kung Fu (1985), Capcom's Street Fighter 2 turned the genre on its head upon its release in 1991. SF2 was the first game to feature multiple selectable opponents with unique moves. Full two player support, new forms of gameplay and highly entertaining animated backgrounds. It literally sparked a revolution. People would line up in arcades for a chance to play and fans of the series grew by leaps and bounds as the game's popularity sky rocketed. Street Fighter was transformed into comics, anime, even a live-action movie… Imitators also started flooding the market, namely Midway's Mortal Kombat and SNK's World Heroes, Art of Fighting, Samurai Showdown and Fatal Fury.

Capcom was quick to cash in on the game's popularity and released numerous subsequent enhancements. Each would give new moves, new stages, options or even different colored costumes. First came SF2: Championship Edition with minor enhancements like balancing characters, adding colors and making the four bosses playable. This was followed by SF2: Turbo Hyper Fighting, which added new moves for all the characters and "turbo" speed. People started hoping for Street Fighter III, though instead got Super Street II, which added four more characters, re-drawn artwork and Q sound. Claiming SSF2 was rushed, Capcom then released Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo adding "Super Combo" bars, which became a mainstay in subsequent games, like the Alpha series. Another historical extra was a new evil character, Akuma & selectable speeds were also added to the mix.

Street Fighter II was released for the Super Nintendo, which was deemed as a huge triumph for the console. Versions of the game were also released on Genesis, NEC, 3D0 and Game Boy. Super Street Fighter II for SNES actually sold far below Capcom's high expectations and the Super Street Fighter II Turbo was version was only released for 3D0, though much later popped up as part of Capcom's Street Fighter II collection released for PSX. The SF merchandise craze continues and the series lives on with Capcom re-inventing and rehashing its original formula.

Now, we're getting a handheld version of the game too, on Game Boy Advance. Confusingly enough, although the game is called Super Street Fighter 2 it seems we're actually getting the Turbo edition, with the super bars & Akuma tucked away.


Ryu Hoshi - Student of Shotokan Karate, Ryu is the signature "Street Fighter" character and perhaps the best all-around character. Ryu was the training partner of Ken and the two have been both friends and rivals for some time. Ryu was in the first Street Fighter tournament, where he defeated (and scarred) the evil Sagat. With his fireballs and unbeatable dragon punch, Ryu wanders the world always looking for new challenge to training his fighting prowess.


Ken Masters - American counterpart of Ryu and fellow user of Shotokan Karate, Ken is one of the few returning characters from the obscure first Street Fighter game / tournament. Ken is a bit of a showboat and less humble than Ryu. Ken became a karate champion in the US & an action movie star. Ken later fell in love with a woman named Eliza. Although he has it made, he enters to the Street Fighter championship to see his old friend Ryu and see who is the better of the two. The first version of SF2 saw Ken as just a palette swap version of Ryu, though the two characters' fighting styles have grown apart and diversified. One of the biggest differences is that Ken's dragon punch is more powerful than Ryu's and makes opponents burst into flames when it connects.


Chun-Li - Chun-Li is the "strongest woman in the world" and an agent of Interpol. This beautiful practitioner of Chinese martial arts has sworn to bring M. Bison and the rest of Shadowloo (or is it Shadowlaw? Ask Capcom - both names have been used) to justice to avenge the murder of her father. Originally, Chun Li earned her reputation with tremendous aerial jumps, a frenzy of hurricane kicks and a helicopter-like "Spinning Star Kick." Later SF2 installments saw her master a new technique, a focused chi blast similar to Ken/Ryu's "Hadoken" fire balls. Chun Li has changed the most of all SF characters over the years both in terms of her moves and appearance. The only thing that doesn't change much is her popularity. She's just behind Ken & Ryu in that department.


Dhalsim - This noble Yoga Master can stretch his body to unbelievable lengths. He is a highly spiritual character who has joined the tournament to heighten his state of consciousness. Dhalsim is one of the few married Street Fighters and looks forward to imparting his wisdom to his offspring. Along with extraordinary flexibility, Dhalsim can also breath fire and corkscrew through the air to strike his foes. Thanks to the later additions of SF2, Dhalsim got a teleportation move too. (All that meditating must have paid off!) Although he is supposedly a peaceful guy, you gotta wonder why Dhalsim wears skulls around his neck.


Blanka - Is Blanka a man or beast? This wild mongrel man was lost in the jungle as a child and was raised by the beasts of the Amazon to become a ferocious fighting machine. Strong as a lion, fast as a gazelle, agile as an ape and thanks to exposure to electric eels, Blanka can even channel electricity through his body. With a feral roar, Blanka can also shoot across the screen to stun opponents with his intense roll attack.


Guile - Guile is a corn fed ass-kicker from the U.S. of A. Bred on the hard streets in his youth and trained in the Military's Special Forces, Guile is one tough man. After he and his friend Charlie were sent on a mission against Shadowloo they were captured and tortured for weeks. After escaping, Guile recovered while Charlie set out again. Once healed, Guile sets out to find Charlie's bloody dog tags & that Charlie has apparently died. Enraged, Guile leaves his family behind to enter the Street Fighter tourney and Flash Kick M. Bison straight into Hell. SONIC BOOM!


E. Honda - E. Honda, why are you so fat? Probably because he is one mighty sumo wrestler who doesn't take any jive with his sushi… E. Honda joined the Street Fighter competition to prove to the world that the Torpedo across the ring to strike opponents with his thick head. Even more devastating is his legendary "100 hand slap" where da big "E" unleashes a fury of blinding pimp slaps that would whip any foe into submission. Then again, his most dreaded attack still might be his "flying sumo butt slam" -we sure wouldn't wanna get caught under the crush of Honda's hella big ass! Oh yeah, the "E" stands for "Edmund" -don't you forget it!


Zangief - The strongest wrestler in all of Mother Russia, Zangief hones his skills by training with full size grizzly bears. Zangief is super strong and a master of grappling. He fights in the Street Fighter tournament to prove he is the strongest and to earn the respect of Mikhail Gorbachev so he can dance with the (now ex-) Russian leader and drink Vodka with him and other fun stuff. Mayor Mike Haggar from Final Fight supposedly has a case pending against Zangief for his stealing his signature "Spinning Lariat" Hurricane Spin.


M. Bison - The evil leader of underground criminal empire, Shadowloo (AKA Shadowlaw, Capcom's used both)… bent on world domination through assassinating and capturing world leaders with his army of top fighters. Bison has imbued each of his top ranking henchmen (Sagat, Balrog & Vega) with his psycho force energies. M. Bison is the embodiment of evil and will stop at nothing to get what he desires. Thanks to the power of the psycho force, Bison may just see his evil schemes realized. In Japan, Bison is known as Vega.


Vega - Agile, vain and deadly, the Spaniard known as Vega wears a mask to protect his beautiful face while he fights. Trained in both Ninjitsu and Bull Fighting, Vega is a deadly cage fighter who joined Shadowloo to fulfill his quest for glory. Vega is a bit jealous of Sagat and believes that he should be Bison's right hand man. Nonetheless, Vega fights vigorously and is more airborne and agile than Chun-Li! For extra deadliness, Vega wears a metal claw on his hand that is similar to the claws of the X-Men's Wolverine (kinda funny the two haven't faced off in either Marvel Vs Capcom game). Vega is known as Balrog in Japan.


Balrog - A rough n' tough boxing champion, Balrog has fought many a highly publicized bout in of Las Vegas. Balrog's lust for women, money and power drove him to Shadowloo to work as a henchman for M. Bison. Empowered by Bison's psycho power, Balrog's punches of rage pack a mean wallop. In Japan, Balrog is known as "M. Bison" while Bison is Vega. Why were the boss names changed in the first place? The character is highly inspired by Mike Tyson (M. Tyson - M. Bison) and Capcom didn't want to take any risks when it released SF2 in the U.S.


Sagat - The champion and final boss of the first Street Fighter tournament, Sagat met with defeat after Ryu's Dragon punch robbed him of his title & left him scarred for life. Swearing revenge, Sagat has developed his own version of the Dragon Punch, known as the Tiger Punch that he honed by striking a waterfall. Now, enlisted in Shadowloo after Bison promises revenge, Sagat anticipates his rematch with Ryu and is more than ready to pay him back in kind.


Cammy - Hailing from the UK, Cammy's past is shrouded in mystery. Apparently, she was a top assassin working for Shadowloo, when she lost her memory…She was saved by a rival organization, re-trained and given the orders to find and kill Bison. Ironically, one element of her sketchy history was that she was not only one of Shadowloo's best but was a one-time paramour of M. Bison as well. Cammy attacks with deadly efficiency and has remarkable leg strength, that enable her to drill into her opponents or flip foes several times her size.


T. Hawk - Thunder Hawk is a giant Mexican Indian … T. Hawk wears the colors of his tribe, who were recently forced to leave their homeland due to the tyrannical actions of M. Bison and Shadowloo. Furious, T. Hawk decides to stand up to this evil and reclaim the freedom of his people. Using his graceful fighting moves Rising Hawk, Diving Hawk & Spinning Face Slam he probably won't have much trouble. His strength is nothing to be scoffed at. He is probably a bit stronger than Zangief though is slower too.


Dee Jay - Jamaican reggae DJ, street brawler and master of boogie-ing down to the beat. Dee Jay has torn up the charts as a recording artist and also torn up all local brawlers in Jamaican. He has joined the Street Fighter tournament looking for a challenge and gotten his promoters to foot the bill. Although some of his moves resemble other characters' techniques, they all come off looking like dance moves but are nothing to be laughed at. It doesn't matter if he is fighting or dancing, Dee Jay is always smiling. He's got rhythm, baby -something he's all too happy to demonstrate by shaking maracas with his victory pose. Dee Jay is the only Street Fighter character created by an American employee at Capcom.


Fei Long - A Hong Kong movie star …. a fighter with unprecedented speed. Like Balrog (M. Bison in Japan), Fei Long is modeled after a real-life fighter, the late, great Bruce Lee though unlike Balrog, the character himself admits the influence. Apparently, Fei Long is a Bruce Lee devotee and has thus become both a master of Jeet Kun Do and Hong Kong film star. Entering the Street Fighter skills to polish his skills & improve his reputation, Fei Long is ready for anything. Using Bruce's trademark shrieks and amazing speed, Fei Long is certainly one of the better "new" characters added to Super Street Fighter 2. His flaming dragon kick is destructive and his punch combos are quick, damaging attacks.


Akuma - (hidden character) This mysterious and evil character is known as Gouki in Japan and is seemingly of demonic origin. Akuma killed the master of

Ken & Ryu and reportedly anticipates slaying them as well. In SFA3, it was revealed Akuma was trained by Gen, a character from the first SF. When Akuma was introduced, he was heralded as being more powerful and evil than Bison. Since then, he has become far more popular as well.

It is unknown if Akuma will be the only hidden character or if other characters features will be thrown in. (Is it too much to hope that the mini-games where you smash cars & barrels will return?) Frankly, we're not holding our breath for too much outside of the port. Just getting this game on the handheld is pretty amazing in itself.

The number of buttons on the Game Boy Advance make it impossible for a faithful arcade translation (3 punch, 3 kick) but we're sure Capcom will work something out so as this won't be a noticeable problem.

It looks like the game is restricted to two-player play. Worse than that other GBA owners will need a copy of the game in order to play against each other. However, with recent revelations indicating that the GBA link cable only provides marginal support for one-cart multiplay with the link cable, there's no real reason to get sore at Capcom.

Four player modes might be asking a bit too much for this older game, though could have been applied to Team/Tournament modes…I was hoping even more for Internet play, with players all over the world competing against each other. It's possible net play might still be included though since Capcom has not mentioned it yet it doesn't seem likely. Bummer.

Nonetheless, let us reiterate that Super Street Fighter 2 will still a very hot GBA title -a handheld version of one of the most historical games ever. How can we possibly complain?

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Genre Fighting
Developer Capcom
Players1 - 2

Worldwide Releases

na: Super Street Fighter II Turbo: Revival
Release Oct 30, 2001
PublisherCapcom
RatingTeen
jpn: Super Street Fighter II X Revival
Release Jul 13, 2001
PublisherCapcom
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