Good:
- New HD Graphics
- 17 Playable Characters (Akuma not shown above)
- DIP Switch Settings
Bad:
- Normal Difficulty Level Is Too Hard
- Not Enough Game Modes
- Unbalanced Characters
- No Gratification For Beating The Game
Ugly:
- Online Matchmaking
- Audio Sounds and Sprites Are Outdated
The Good: Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix does exactly what it says in the title. It takes the old Street Fighter II Turbo and puts it in HD with better graphics. This game looks great on you're HDTV; colorful characters and backgrounds are poured into the viewers eye so much that it will make Street Fighter fans tear with joy. All 17 characters look detailed and have a new art style that even adds a modernized look. EX: Kens' hair is no longer the 80's haircut but rather a more up to date hairstyle. Each character has all their classic special moves that you remember, all the way from Ryu's Hadouken to Guile's' Sonic Boom. You will painfully be reminded of these moves as the AI lays them on in heavy doses. Some of the special moves are a little cheap and will make you frustrated but thankfully DIP switches are available. These switches aid the 17 year old gameplay and relieve some of the frustration as well. The game allows the player to switch the percentage in which certain special moves connect during Classic Arcade mode, HD Remix, or Local multiplayer. An Example of a DIP switch quoted directly from the game to help you understand is. "Percentage chance that the first frame of Blanka's Horizontal ball is unblockable".
The Bad: Street Fighter II HD Remix is definitely a game for the hardcore Street Fighter fans and is not for everyone. I myself am a fan of the series and although I'm not in the "hardcore catagory" I found myself to be very good at the old games. That being said Street Fighter II HD Remix is probably one of the hardest fighting games I have ever played. I played on the normal difficulty setting in HD Remix single player mode, however this was a big mistake because it felt almost impossible. I was losing constantly, and at one point I couldn't beat Blanka for a solid hour. The amount of frustration I had while playing for a whole hour and losing during every minute of it is unexplainable, so I wont even try. Blanka is clearly the best character in the game and is way too powerful, but it quickly becomes apparent that there is no balance with any of the characters in this fighting game at all. Some characters have 5 or 6 special movies and some like Guile have only 3, other problems that lie within the core gameplay. The ability for characters to repeat special moves continuously until they strike, while certain characters special moves will take away more damage than others, some will have a huge attack range and are almost untouchable in battle. I mean the list goes on and on and it only shows the age in Street Fighter II Turbo's gameplay. Being I was playing on the HD remix mode, I figured maybe the Classic Arcade mode would be a little lighter on me considering I was so good at the older Street Fighter games, but my expectations were shattered as I realized the only difference between the two single player modes is the DIP settings. So basically there is one single player mode in Street Fighter II HD Remix for the sheer that fact you can configure the DIP settings yourself in the options menu. If you do manage to beat the single player modes you are treated with corny freeze frame shots of your character and is basically the same endings from Street Fighter II Turbo, the credits roll and that's it. There is no gratification for beating this game, no unlockable characters, no extra costumes to earn, just a really bad ending that will only last for 1 or 2 minutes. Yes i realize this game is a straight port with new HD graphics but some more changes would have been nice for my 15$.
And The Ugly: There is an online multiplayer in Street fighter II HD Remix but I barley got a chance to play it because no one was playing and the rooms I would try to join were always full. There is your standard ranked matches or player matches but I couldn't find a match in either for 20 minutes. My guess is not enough people have it yet or just no one wants this game. I did however find a match through quick play and of course the other player picked Blanka. This led to my demise shortly after as the online player repeated Blanka's spinning air and spinning ground attacks. Usually I would block these and do some moves of my own but I couldn't do anything of the sort because of the games lag. I would see him form into a ball and then I would be pummeled with a skip of a frame leaving me no time to react. I don't understand why its so difficult to make a good netcode in a fighting game. There is a tournament mode but when I searched for games none could be found. This mode however did look interesting as you can play in a online tournament and climb you're way to the top. However I'm sure none of these online modes will be fun because lag will always be a factor. Another Ugly feature in Street Fighter II Turbo Remix is the sound. It sounds like they recorded the sounds with the same program they used in 1987. You can hear they re-recorded some sounds but it still sounds really, really old and only confuses me to think why Capcom wouldn't improve it. I understand Capcom may have been going for the nostalgic approach but HD to me also means HD sound.
Final Thoughts: Street Fighter II HD Remix is a game for the hardcore Street Fighter fans who love to use Blanka and have a lot of patience. I myself like to use Ken and have no patience, therefore screwing me over big time with this one. This game can be fun if you're playing local Multiplayer with your friends at home because odds are you will be at the same skill level as one another, enabling fun battles and reminiscing about how fun Street Fighter II used to be. However this game is a remake and feels very old and I'm going to give it the review it deserves in today gaming standards, because lets face it there are better games to download over XBLA or PSN. If you were looking for a game to hold you over till Street Fighter 4 this is not that game nor would i recommend it to anyone. I screamed at my TV for hours while playing this game and you will too. It's just too hard and it makes you angry, so angry you will end up having an actual street fight with the nearest person thinking about how Blanka electrocuted you over and over and over again.....
D+
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