Genre: 2d Fighter
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom

As this reviewer discussed in his review of the Genesis port of this same game, it was a bit much asking the 16-bit home video game systems to adequately impersonate Capcom's CPS-2 arcade board-- and sure enough, this Super NES rendition's character sprites are hardly any larger than those in the Mega Drive version. They are, however, more colorful, and the backgrounds are of significantly higher quality due to the Super Nintendo's larger simultaneous colors ceiling.

With the shift to the CPS-2 board for "Super Street Fighter II" and DSP-based music, the Super Nintendo moved into its comfort zone, and this rendition of the soundtrack has a crystal clear, high quality sound to it, which in some ways is superior to the arcade original's music. Sound effects are a mixed bag, with some sounding clean, and others a bit scratchy. The announcer voice has an echo thankfully, but the fact that the "Round X, Fight" voices are missing is an annoying distraction.

Although this port doesn't have that mystical, magic fluidity of the Genesis rendition, it plays very well, with a smooth and consistent framerate. The Super Nintendo d-pad works well for special moves, although shoehorning the series trademark six button configuration into Nintendo's goofy diamond button layout requires awkward compromises. All of the characters, moves, and stages are here, and there are even some cool added modes.

At least three home video game systems got new "Street Fighter II" variants in 1994: the 3DO's "Super Turbo" port stands on top by a mile, followed by this Super NES version of "Super", trailed closely by the also excellent Mega Drive "Super" conversion. This reviewer bought the Genesis version the day it hit that year and loved it-- while today, he mildly prefers this Super NES version among the competing 16-bit entries. Both are excellent games, which hold up well today.