PCE Review #10: Street Fighter II’ Champion Edition

Game: Street Fighter II’ Champion Edition
Genre: Fighting
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: NEC Home Electronics
Format: HuCard
Release date: 1993

Nowadays, this port is the definition of “meh-worthy,” thanks in large part to Capcom’s milking of the Street Fighter franchise. Back in the day, though, it was a marvel, as it proved, once and for all, that NEC’s pint-sized–and basically 8-bit–PC Engine could compete graphically with its 16-bit competitors (those being the Mega Drive and Super Famicom, of course). Admittedly, the music and sound effects took a pretty big hit in the transition from arcade to (20-Megabit) HuCard, but everything else is pretty much spot-on–it even includes the barrel-breaking bonus stage that was cut from the Super Fami version of the game. All that said, I rarely play Street Fighter II’ Champion Edition. In part, that’s because I’m not the world’s biggest fan of one-on-one fighting games, but it’s also because I have yet to pick up the six-button controller that was released alongside this title and is a required purchase if you want to get any enjoyment out of it at all.

See also: Previous PCE Reviews