Hyper Street Fighter 2: The Anniversary Edition
PS2, 2003/2004
The most recent edition in Capcom's Street Fighter 2 series, celebrating the 15th Anniversary of the classic game that revolutionised the fighting game genre. On the surface, it seems that Hyper Street Fighter 2 is simply a rehash of a tried and tested system. However, there are several new features that set it apart from the rest of the series.
Select Your Character
This game features every character to have appeared in the Street Fighter 2 series - the series being: Street Fighter 2 - The World Warrior, Street Fighter 2 - Dash(Jp)/Champion Edition(NA, EU), Street Fighter 2 - Turbo, Super Street Fighter 2, Super Street Fighter 2 - Turbo and Super Street Fighter 2 - Turbo X(Akuma only).
Select Your Fighting Style
The total amount of characters is 17, but can be muliplied by five if you take into account the most important special feature. This game gives you the option to play as specific versions of each character, each with different strengths, speeds, movelists and colour schemes. For example, you can pit Ryu from World Warrior with his three special moves and overpowered hits against the refined Super Turbo Ryu who has a special shadow move, new move animations, new special moves, yet is slightly weaker. The same is true for most characters(except for the New Challengers: Cammy, T. Hawk, Dee Jay and Fei Long who only appeared in the Super series) and makes for some interesting match-ups, and makes this the definitive version of Street Fighter 2.
You have fists of god!
Thats not all folks. Also included on the disc is the full-length Japanese Street Fighter 2 anime(albeit in its censored, Western cut, so no Chun-Li's breasts folks), all the different versions of the characters theme tunes, all the opening and closing sequences from each version. Sadly, the older stage backgrounds are missing, but this doesn't detract from the gameplay.
Here Comes a New Challenger!
Sadly, the game is not without its shortcomings. Players are unable to change their button settings mid-fight, nor are they able to save their custom settings to their memory card, as memory cards are not supported for some reason. Also, there is no handicap option in Vs. Mode, nor are you able to select a stage. And the fact that only Arcade and Vs. modes are available makes this a smaller package then first promised.
Game Over
However, the game was released at a budget price, costing less then half of the average new release. The lowered price makes this an essential purchase for Fight fans and newcomers alike.