Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting (Sniper)
Genre: 2d Fighter
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom

Graphics
Various versions of Street Fighter II were ported to practically every platform under the sun, and Nintendo fans were pleased that the work done in bringing the game to their system of choice led to one of the better looking renditions. While nowhere close to the arcade version of the game, this Turbo release nonetheless uses the same large-ish sprites and colorfully detailed backgrounds that featured in the first Super Nintendo iteration-- even if it does lack the "building" intro from the arcade and Genesis releases.

Sound
The game's plethora of voice samples-- shouts from the characters, the announcer-- are crystal clear, giving major kudos to the Super Nintendo's DSP. The music, on the other hand-- reused from the first Super Nintendo release-- shows the limits of said DSP, where it fails to produce the moody rock vibe that the arcade and Genesis renditions have. Some of the samples are flat-out bizarre-- Ken's song with a tuba in it? Still, the music is passable, and the sound effects and voice samples are magnificent.

Gameplay
All of the Hyper Fighting characters and moves are present, and despite the Super Nintendo's sometimes-inadequate CPU, the turbo modes work without any framerate issues. This port does lack the incredible fluidity of the Genesis rendition, and the stock Super Nintendo controller's dpad is a bit finicky with motions due to its too-small diameter. All the same, this is still an excellently-playing version.

Overall
On the Mega Drive, Street Fighter II Turbo was a real revelation, as it was the first release for that platform. On the Super Nintendo, it feels much more like a minor, incremental release, since it shares all of the music, sound effects, and artwork from the prior version. That said, rebalanced characters, added moves, the wonderful turbo options, and the delightfully colorful art work make this one of the better home conversions of this popular arcade series.

Sniper's verdict: