Genre: 2d Fighter
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom

The video gaming youth of the world used to play the SNES and Genesis versions of SFII at home, with their dull colors, flickering sprites, and tiny characters. They used to go to the arcade to get the real deal. The 3DO port of this final version of the famed fighter is, literally, an arcade-identical port; every frame of animation, every character costume color, and every ounce of size and substance is perfectly preserved. For the SFII nut, this 3DO incarnation is the best graphical home version of the franchise in the world.

The sound effects were taken, exactly, from the arcade version, and even make use of Capcom's "QSound" surround sound. The music, unlike the arcade's synthesized selection, is a 100% orchestrated rendition of the soundtrack. While some of the instrument choices lead to slight disappointments (Fei Long's song, for example, is not the high-pitch tune I remember it), this is the best version of the SFII soundtrack to ever be produced, and there's been maybe a dozen different instantiations of it over time.

What needs to be said about SFII? It is the chess of all fighters, 2d or 3d. Thick books have been written on the engine's intricacies, and learning a new character is akin to learning to play the game all over again. The 3DO version maintains, perfectly, the speed, complexity, and accuracy of the arcade version of the engine. All 16 characters are present, and as this is the only home version of SSF2T, ever, it is also the only home SFII title to feature Akuma.

SFII is the deepest fighter of all time. SSF2T is the final, greatest title in the illustrious SFII heritage. And this 3DO port is a 100%-perfect incarnation of the arcade version. Sign me up! Unless they want to spend the money on an arcade cabinet, every SFII fan should run out, buy a 3DO, and pick up a copy of this game. If you own a 3DO, you must own this game, as it might be the best title in the entire 3DO library, which is quite a statement to make.