Retro Magazine 1

those
games where one
man against the
machine always drew
a crowd of people.
But what was great in
one-player was expanded
exponentially in two-player, with the satisfaction
of beating the machine itself not half as much as
defeating the man standing next to you, destroying his
pride and scarring his soul. Whether it was your best friend or some random kid
you met in the arcade, nothing mattered except sending that person home licking
their wounds and hanging their head in the wake of your bare-knuckle skills.
Attack of the clones
chance to finally play as one of the four bosses, Balrog, Vega, Sagat, and the big
baddie M. Bison. While the ending sequence for each boss was essentially the same –
with the evil hordes taking over the world – the attraction of being able to finally use
moves like the Tiger Uppercut and Bison’s all-powerful Psycho Crusher was a big draw,
and unsurprisingly, Champion Edition was a big hit.
The success of Champion Edition brought on a whole host of illegal pirate versions
of the game, with faster speeds and some outrageous moves. Now every man and his
fish could walk into a seedy arcade, funfair, or takeaway and experience a more
intense, if illegal, Street Fighter experience. Now Ryu could shoot a volley of fireballs
that covered the whole screen, any character could teleport, and you could switch
between characters mid-game. The games had titles like Rainbow Edition and Blackbelt
Edition, and while they looked cool, the lack of any kind of rules to these special
moves rendered them unplayable.
As a result, Capcom went back to the drawing board, and beat the pirates at their
own game by releasing Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting. This version had similarly
Never one to overlook a potential franchise, Capcom released a new version of Street
Fighter II in 1992. Champion Edition wasn’t that different to the original game, with
Capcom keeping the tried-and-trusted formula but making some small alterations. On
the visual side, each character had some brand new threads, but everyone also had
their moves beefed up. Ken’s Dragon Punch had a further range, Ryu’s fireball was more
powerful, and every character was stronger. However, the biggest addition was the
radical moves, but was much more stable. The main attraction of Hyper Fighting was its
increased speed, but Capcom again gave all the characters new outfits and another
increased level of power and strength. Now Ken was able to fly across the screen with
his Dragon Punch, and he and Ryu could reach higher with their Hurricane Kicks.
Blanka received a new cannonball attack and Dhalsim was blessed with the best move
of all – the ability to teleport. Hyper Fighting was, expectedly, a huge success, but this
wasn’t the end for the series just yet. Capcom was only just getting started.
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