The mirage syndrome usually causes a person to imagine stuff that doesn’t exists. This optical illusion usually happens in the desert but almost every person remembers a moment where he saw the light at the end of the tunnel but what happens if the brightening light is a blue fireball?

Capcom recently re-launched one of the most popular video games in history – Super Street Fighter 2 – all re-mastered in high definition. The game is available for purchase through both PSN and the Xbox Live. The transition to HD textures (both character models and backgrounds) combined with a brand new soundtrack, really looks great. At first, the player will have some adjustment period (usually a few minutes) but afterward he will gets used to the new graphics. The differences are mostly noticeable when the HD mode is turned off.

The general concept of the game is to make an effort to preserve the original feel of the Arcade game. Super Street Fighter 2 features all 17 fighters including Akuma (secret character). For me, the fighters in the Street Fighter franchise are very colorful and that adds a lot to the experience. Besides different proportions, each fighter has a personality which mostly expresses herself at the match ending celebrations. The feeling of getting pounded on the head, while the opponent celebrates is one of the franchise’s trademarks.

The main mode in the game features a world tour, which takes the player around the world in a series of fights that conclude in an epic battle against Mr. Bison. One of the biggest innovations of the game is the ability to choose between the classic arcade engine and a brand new rebalanced engine. Personally I didn’t feel any groundbreaking changes between the two engines, besides a different move sets (which is easier to perform). Street Fighter veterans who will probably notice the differences being made, will have the option to edit and tune it via the settings menu.

The Artificial intelligence in the game is adjusted through the different difficulty settings (there are 4 settings), in the more difficult setting the opponent will fight faster and will deploy his entire arsenal. Even though, that some of the fighters have a similar move list (Ryu and Ken for example), playing with different characters will generate a different experience. In some cases, the player will have to develop some sort of a tactic in order to win. For example while using Cammy it’s easier to fight against Vega who uses a quicker style instead of Zangief who is very powerful.

One of the things that bothered me with the game was its ranking system. In the classic titles the game had a point based ranking system that transformed into a table at the end of each game. The game uses an online scoreboard which sounds really good but for me the lack of an offline classic based ranking system, was disappointing. In a related note, the famous bonus levels are also missing from the game.

Besides the world tour, the game also features a training mode which helps the player to learn the different move sets in an easy and convenient way. The interface in the training mode lets the players, to edit the stance and the resistance of the opponent while learning the timing of the moves. The move list itself is available at any time during the pause menu.

One of the key elements of the game besides the transition to HD is its online modes. The game features online scoreboards which lets the players to play ranked matches, unrakned friendly matches (can be played locally as well) and even an online tournament. The player can start a quick match, custom match and the ability to host a game (that enables him to adjust the rounds, engine, use of Akuma and more).

While playing online I noticed some minor connection problems. These problems mostly prevented me from starting a match and in some cases caused some lag. I then learned that most of the problems accrued when I tried to start a quick play. The solution was to start a custom match which shows the different games and the ping level. The game also features a network smoothing option which helps to those with slow connection.

My favorite online modes were the Quarter mode and the Tournament mode. The Quarter mode tries to recreate the feel of the old arcade room. While entering a game, the player will be able to spectator on a match that is being played and then play against the winner. Once given the opportunity to play, the player will be able to keep playing up until he loses. The tournament mode enables the player to conduct up to 8 player tournaments with complete results and brackets. In my opinion these features adds a lot to the competitive aspect of the game.

In conclusion, for me – the Street Fighter franchise is something that symbols my love to the video games industry. Even though I was never good at the game and often got my ass kicked, I got attached to the colorful characters (Zangief, Sagat, Balrog) and to the user friendly control scheme. Unlike the mirage syndrome, the Street Fighter franchise is not an illusion.

Score -85

Review by Oren Nathan