To the uninitiated or passing fan that hasn’t spent the past decade-plus scrutinizing the way each character clashes against the other, though, similar experiences will be had across both. I haven’t been following the hardcore SFII fan community too much, so I’m not sure what the heavy hitters think about the remixed and rebalanced gameplay, but anyone that isn’t feeling the changes has the option of playing the game in classic mode. The result of the former is a pretty solid collection of efforts from the OC Remix site and, as much as I love the original soundtrack, it’s nice to have some fresh jams to go with the new coat of paint.
The music and gameplay also received some remixing. The slick backgrounds still pulsate with all the animated action of cardboard cutouts, but any more and they would just be distracting. Honda or Sagat, both towering over everyone else and virtually filling the screen. The art really stands out on larger characters, like E. There’s some awkwardness that’s unavoidable, though, because changing the actual skeletal structure of SFII‘s oddly proportioned fighters would cause more of a hit-box fueled stink than any amount of remixing could muster. The visuals are the most notable, as expected, and for the most part UDON Entertainment’s squad of skilled artists has made a game that really shines. “Aside from the gorgeous visuals,” one might start their grueling inquisition, “just what exactly is so ‘remixed’ about this game?” A fair question, and the answer is… pretty much everything. That kid may have made a foolish financial decision, but plopping down fifteen bucks for this revamp is anything but. Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix is a title that has me-someone that’s played so much SFII over the years that he thought his will to continue completely drained-staying up late and pummeling the series’ iconic characters like it’s 1994 and we’re hanging out with the one kid down the street that owns a 3DO. Now that it’s out, none of these concerns seem even remotely valid. Will it meet the far from hushed expectations and demands of Street Fighter IIfans? Will it completely destroy the game that birthed countless future fighters? The only problem with delays like this is that it gets the community bubbling. Turns out it was much more in-advance than we could have imagined, as the long-awaited remix slipped further and further into 2008, eventually landing earlier this month. In one of the very first issues of Otaku USA, we featured an interview with Rey Jimenez, one of the producers behind this highly-defined return to the legendary fighting streets, and it certainly seemed timely at the moment.