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

[Asura]

Was thinking about this recently, and it has come up in a few threads.

When the SNES Mini came out, there was some discussion over how the machine features Street Fighter II Turbo, as opposed to either Street Fighter II or Super Street Fighter II.

The prevailing opinion about Street Fighter II was that Turbo is pretty much just superior in all respects; like if you turn off the turbo mode in SFIIT then you pretty much have the same game, so there was no reason go with the original instead of Turbo.

However, I've seen different opinions expressed about Super. Some people think it's because the Switch version of the HD SFII game was contemporary to the Snes Mini's release and maybe Capcom didn't want Super on the Mini; however others have suggested the reason is that the SNES Super isn't universally regarded as "better" than Turbo, if you put aside the obvious draw of having the 4 additional characters.

Back in the 90s, I had Championship Edition for the Megadrive, which had the drag factor of the MD's 3-button pads (I only saw the 6-button pad in magazines), though it was certainly very playable. I also played Super at a friend's house, but for some reason, I always felt it to be worse than the prior one... But I'm unsure why.
[MENTION=1524]Yakumo[/MENTION] 's Battle of the Ports series has made me reflect on how as a kid, if I perceived the differences between game versions, I didn't really "get" them. 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.

So I ask, what was the best 16-bit version of Street Fighter II?

[Nu-Eclipse]

Assuming we're deliberately leaving the Japan-only Sharp x68000 version out of this as it was pretty much 1:1 arcade perfect (which you would expect as it is said that Capcom pretty much used the x68k to develop CPS-I and CPS-II games), then I don't see how the SNES version of SF2 Turbo isn't the best 16-bit port. Sure, the MD port sounds closer to the coin-op than the SNES port does but it doesn't sound great. And there is the having to purchase a 6-button MD pad.

But yeah, SF2 Turbo on the SNES is the one for me. Super SF2 on the SNES is lacking somewhat for me - I feel like Capcom would've been better off trying to make a compressed port of Super SF2 Turbo a la what they did with SF Alpha 2.

[speedlolita]

I think I agree with the above, Super just feels slow comparatively.

[_SD_]

How about we ignore the need to purchase an extra controller... I remember MD2s coming with 6-button pads later on anyway. It also makes it a bit fairer on the PC Engine version too. Which is very impressive, all things considering.

[Leon Retro]

So I ask, what was the best 16-bit version of Street Fighter II?

I'd still stay Turbo for the SNES is the best. I prefer how it looks and sounds over the Mega Drive Champion Edition. The PC Engine version is nice enough, but I'd choose SNES Turbo over it any day.

Super on the SNES doesn't have very good audio in my opinion. I also think the graphics are a bit less chunky. But maybe I'm wrong, because I haven't played it for a long time. I just remember feeling that way when I first played it.

After the 16-bit versions, I got Super Turbo for the 3DO and really loved it. It was very close to the arcade version, with excellent CD audio.

[CMcK]

If I can cheat a little I would say Megadrive CE version with Pyron's enhanced colour patch and Stef's fixed audio driver patch too.

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[Tetsuo]

Championship Edition on the Mega Drive is a non-starter, 6-button pad or not.

I've never been especially arsed about Super SFII not having the speed of Turbo – that always seemed like an odd complaint to me (Street Fighter isn't supposed to be that fast, which is why it's only so in Turbo). In hindsight, the 16-bit versions struggled the longer they went on, and it probably took until the 3DO to get an ultimate, accurate version, but that's 32-bit.

I'll plump for SFII on the SFC, just because of the wow factor and the fact it's the only version of World Warrior, so it's pretty unique.

[Samuray]

I'll pick "Super Street Fighter II", not having played the 3DO version yet.

I actually like the colors and the new stages and characters....as I said in the other thread, it really feels like a deluxe version of SFII to me. "Turbo" on the other hand has strange colors for the characters in default, and I agree that the hightened speed doesn't add much....not for me at least. We usually take a few stars off the default setting because hey, we're old (and even as a kid I found the music and animations on super speed kinda ridiculous )

SSFII on SNES probably isn't perfect, but I like it a lot. Maybe it just feels so special to me because I only got to play it now, as an adult, while the other two SNES iterations have been with me since back then. That's probably it.

[Nu-Eclipse]

How about we ignore the need to purchase an extra controller... I remember MD2s coming with 6-button pads later on anyway. It also makes it a bit fairer on the PC Engine version too. Which is very impressive, all things considering.

How about we don't ignore it at all? The MD and PCE version needing 6-button controllers to be purchased to play SFII as intended is a fact and should always rightfully be considered in these comparisons, fair or not.

That said, I agree with you about SFII' on the PCE - an excellent technical achievement by Capcom and NEC (even if it was put on a bigger than usual HuCard to house it).

[samanosuke]

How about we don't ignore it at all? The MD and PCE version needing 6-button controllers to be purchased to play SFII as intended is a fact and should always rightfully be considered in these comparisons, fair or not.

That said, I agree with you about SFII' on the PCE - an excellent technical achievement by Capcom and NEC (even if it was put on a bigger than usual HuCard to house it).

...but when you do purchase them the PCE is arguably better due to six facing buttons, and the MegaDrive’s 6-button pad is categorically better for its superior d-pad and six facing buttons. I don’t know anyone back in the day who invested in the MegaDrive SF2 priced at £59.99 retail and didn’t get at least one pad with it, if not two.

Anyway, controllers aside, for me the MegaDrive SF2 is the definitive (excluding X68k) as it is the closest to the arcade in terms of gameplay. Yes, the SNES version looks and sounds better, but even ignoring the controller issue - which I’d argue is a clear win for the MegaDrive - neither the SNES nor PCE versions include CPS-1 combos so play differently to the arcade version to mid-level or above players. Yes, we can argue that players that good should be using CPS-1 version anyway, but if we look at it contextually (and if not then what is the purpose of this thread?) then anyone who was playing at that level back then would need a version at home to practice on.

As for the Super versions, the MegaDrive version was utter arse, graphically and sonically inferior to SCE in my opinion, although the SNES version looked and sounded a lot closer to the arcade. I think the reasons Super on the consoles isn’t regarded as highly as Turbo/SCE/CE are twofold: for one the hardware was much less capable of producing a faithful port so more corners were cut in these versions, and secondly whereas Turbo/SCE is the final - and most balanced - of the SF2 iterations, Super was superseded by Super Turbo which did not appear on the 16-bit machines. Therefore Super is not strictly the final product.

As a side note I would say that I absolutely love the PCE version as CE was the version I played most of all BitD so I have more of an affinity for it, even though I accept Turbo as being superior. Furthermore it was a bloody miracle it looked and sounded so close to the arcade version when you consider the PCE was technically an 8-bit console.

To sum it up for me:

MD SCE > SNES Turbo > PCE CE > SNES Super > MD Super >>>>>>>>>>> Amiga any version

[Samuray]

Hoooo boy, the PCE version is dope!!

I don't have it, never did, but I got to play it at someone's place two years ago or so, and man, it was really something to behold! Unbelievable that this was running on an 8-Bit system!

Might pick it up one day if I see it for cheap AND if I decide to get appropriate controllers. But that game is a truly amazing achievement and easil stands its own against SNES/MD.

[Leon Retro]

Amiga any version

it was really something to behold! Unbelievable that this was running on an 8-Bit system!

[Asura]

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, maybe two (someone here will likely link me to a six-button arcade stick, but I never saw one of those back when the machine was still going). You often had to switch discs between fights to load different assets.

The playground debate was which was better out of Amiga Street Fighter II or Body Blows. Like, Body Blows was clearly the inferior to the competent versions of SFII but it was on one disc, loaded quickly and was built for one-button control from the ground-up. We honestly used to debate which one to put on for the evening, just because the Amiga SFII just seemed like an imitation.

[_SD_]

I was never lucky enough to get Super at the time, but I did spend a lot of time sitting in the pub after work with Turbo Revival on the GBA...

[Team Andromeda]

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.