Format: HuCard
Genre: 2d Fighter
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: NEC

As one of those 'tweener systems that spanned console generations, the PC Engine's quirky characteristics are perfectly manifest in this accomplished port of Street Fighter II-- which has the rich, arcade-like colors of the Super Nintendo adaptations, and the incredible fluidity of the Genesis ports. The sprites had to be shrunk down a bit, but considering that this is a HuCard release that only has access to the original system revision's RAM, it's remarkably impressive.

The Super Nintendo ports of the original and Turbo had dreadful music, filled with trombone and farting samples. The Genesis versions fared better, since Sega's 68000-based monster essentially shared the same sound chip with the original arcade releases. But it's this PC Engine version that takes the audio crown; one listen to the deep, rich chords that open Ken's theme makes that clear. And like the Super Nintendo iterations, the voice samples in this version are pleasantly clear.

When the PC Engine's controller-- which was basically an NES Redux design-- was on the drawing board, Street Fighter II and games of its ilk weren't even yet a sparkle in anyone's eye. But proper six button options are available for NEC and Hudson's little Engine-that-could, and then this port shines, with the smoothness and playability of the Genesis renditions. Even two-in-ones-- tricky in these early versions of the game-- are a cinch.

It would be easy to say that this rendition of Street Fighter II is an incredible adaptation, given that it runs on the original, Famicom-competing PC Engine hardware. But it's an incredible adaptation period; it takes the best elements of the Super Nintendo and Genesis versions of the game, and one ups both of them with a superior sound track. Given that this was a fall '93 release, it's a shame that Turbo, with its new moves, costumes, and selectable speeds, wasn't the choice, instead of this older Champion Edition. But, it took a whopping 20 Megabit, double-decker HuCard to house even this port-- so perhaps Turbo was simply a bridge too far.