What is the definitive 16-bit home version of Street Fighter II?

[Leon Retro]

Yeah, the Amiga version was strange. A friend of mine had it, and it was hamstrung because Amiga controllers tended to only have one button

You often had to switch discs between fights to load different assets.

It's terrible in many ways: Lack of animation, controls feel weird, and you have to keep swapping discs. If the Amiga had a cartridge slot, maybe a developer could have made a decent version of SF2, but having to put the game on loads of discs ruined its potential. Some Amiga games use 2 buttons, but still far off what SF2 needs.

SF II CE on the Mega Drive better than the Snes Ver of Turbo and the six button MD pad is the best fighting pad around.

As much as the MD version is very good, overall I prefer the SNES version. It just looks and sounds a bit nicer overall. Of course there are plus points of the MD version, but SNES Turbo is definitely my favourite version of SF2 on that era's consoles.

[Brad]

PCE is 8-bit or 16-bit depending how you look at it. Same for SNES an probably others, like the Amiga 500's CPU is kinda 16-bit in a way. Some parts are X bits, some Y and the graphics Z blah blah. Better to compare against generations and not worry about their bitness!

[Leon Retro]

Better to compare against generations and not worry about their bitness!

Well, the only spanner in the works when it comes to talking about the "16-bit" era, is the PC Engine, because it has an 8-bit CPU. I think it's quite safe to mention the PCE in the same breath as the Mega Drive & SNES on here, because people tend to know it has a 16-bit GPU that enabled it to compete with proper 16-bit machines.

Of course, maybe it is best to just say "that generation of machines" when talking about the PCE, MD, and the SNES.

[Neon Ignition]

Couldn't really speak for the other systems but out of the SNES/MD entries then Turbo, very easily but admittedly part of that is due to the controller which even in six button comparisons I much preferred to the Mega Drives. For the most part it's down to it playing better because of the faster speeds which suited the game. Super was solid for the content but a chore to play after Super, even then it's the SNES version as the MD version was poor.

There's always Street Fighter <Alpha> 2 as an answer Butchered but damned interesting

[Dogg Thang]

Not sure there is a definitive one... For me, Super is easily the best from the 16-bit SF2s. The new characters and moves added much more to me than the speed lost (personally, I reckon Turbo got too fast). As for which version, if we're considering controllers (and people are), I massively prefer to play with the 6 face buttons rather than shoulder buttons (the left shoulder button is awkward with some moves and fast combos) so the Megadrive wins for that reason alone. I'm going to guess the SNES version is the more accomplished port - I do remember being blown away by it when a friend imported it and we played it to death - but face buttons beat shoulder buttons.

[dataDave]

This is almost verging on silly question territory. SNES Turbo, every day.

[Leon Retro]

Not sure there is a definitive one... For me, Super is easily the best from the 16-bit SF2s. The new characters and moves added much more to me than the speed lost (personally, I reckon Turbo got too fast).

I went back to Super on the Mega Drive and SNES. The SNES version has terribly weak sound effects and music compared to Turbo. On the Mega Drive, the graphics are truly ugly compared to the previous Champion Edition.

So for me it's all about SNES Turbo vs MD Champion Edition. Turbo wins, simply because the graphics and sound are quite a bit nicer. But MD CE definitely has plus points - such as a full screen display and a few more graphical details.

, I massively prefer to play with the 6 face buttons rather than shoulder buttons (the left shoulder button is awkward with some moves and fast combos) so the Megadrive wins for that reason alone.

I guess it's because I played SF2 games for years on the SNES, that I like having shoulder buttons to press. I also did the same with the 3DO version that I played a lot. But I can appreciate why some people prefer having 6 face buttons, as that makes things easier.

[Dogg Thang]

Yeah, I can totally understand it being a case of what you're used to when it comes to controllers.

[samanosuke]

This is almost verging on silly question territory. SNES Turbo, every day.

Is it? I disagree. If we are simply comparing graphics/sound then yes, it is. But the MD version having six face buttons *AND* closer gameplay to the arcade (the SNES version does not feature CPS1 combos) make it less clear cut.

I feel there is a touch of fanboyism going on here... not that there's anything wrong with it... but people preferring a cross d-pad and shoulder buttons to the MD 6-button is plain lunacy.

[Leon Retro]

but people preferring a cross d-pad and shoulder buttons to the MD 6-button is plain lunacy.

I wouldn't say I necessarily prefer it, it's more a case of it being what I spent years using, so I really got attached to playing SF2 games that way - both on the SNES & 3DO. I'm not someone who ever aimed to be great at SF2 anyway, so I just played it with friends who were mostly not very good at it. We just had a lot of laughs messing around with the SF2 series of games.

[Neon Ignition]

Plus I imagine there's a factor that 4 face buttons and shoulder buttons has more commonly been the norm so the more at one the player is with that over the 6 button layout the less 6 buttons would be favoured. Like, for me, having the heavy hit buttons on the face of the controller wouldn't add anything to the experience and if it did it'd be more outweighed by how the MD's dpad is inferior.

[Protocol Penguin]

I remember playing Super in the arcades back in the 90s and just thinking it felt "bigger", but then again, those games were on massive screens with loud speakers, and usually if you had a day in the arcades you were sugared and caffeined up to the eyeballs, so it was something of an altered state anyway. As a result I don't trust my own memory in this regard.

Can relate to that. Assumed as a kid that the Super NES conversion of SFII looked smaller and weedier because of PAL/NTSC issues, but then discovered even the full-fat NTSC original had borders and missing animation. Back then “arcade perfect” in magazines really just meant a decent, recognisable recreation of an arcade games, and weren’t 16-bit consoles far better at that than the European home computers we were used to?

Super Street Fighter II on the Super Famicom is my go-to 16-bit SFII these days. Never owned any version for my Mega Drives, and the PC Engine one is superb, but limited to me as I only own one 6-button pad.

[roachie]

https://www.polygon.com/a/street-fighter-2-oral-history/chapter-4

Interesting stuff in here about how Capcom initially outsourced the MD port.

[dataDave]

I feel there is a touch of fanboyism going on here... not that there's anything wrong with it... but people preferring a cross d-pad and shoulder buttons to the MD 6-button is plain lunacy.

We shouldn't really be bringing optional peripherals into the argument. Although if you like, we can.





That said, the SNES button layout seems to be the general preference. Having two fingers reserved for fierce and roundhouse and a thumb covering the weak to mediums doesn't necessarily handicap someone who has no option but to paw at six face buttons - the alternative being using a single thumb for six buttons which is, as you say, lunacy.

When it came to the Saturn I still used those shoulder buttons over C and Z. It's just a lot faster.

[dataDave]

Plus, there's the fact that Turbo > CE if for the balancing alone.