GENRE
	Fighting
	DEVELOPER
	Capcom
	PUBLISHER
	Capcom
	NUMBER OF PLAYERS
	1-2
	CONNECTIVITY
	No
	BUY NOW AT

During the blunt end of the Game Boy Color’s life, critics and pundits not unlike yours truly often lambasted publishers for putting out cheap handheld cash-ins created solely to ride off the coattails of their console counterparts, this trend continuing through to the present with the Game Boy Advance. What puzzles me, however, is how this “travesty” was not mentioned at all back in the days of the cave man’s Game Boy; for I’ve discovered that this business tactic was just as bad, if not worse, during that oft forgotten period from 1989-1997. Yes, I’ve reached this conclusion via substantial play time with the game mentioned in this review’s headline.

I suppose you can call this analyzation an “abstract”, but that wouldn’t really be an appropriate term. Rather, the game is as condensed and basic as they come, the forgotten counterpart adapted to a patently more limited schematic. Street Fighter II for the “block boy” is extremely similar to the various 'SF' titles available on the other retro consoles, it’s just not as good.

visuals

As the old adage goes, “pickers can’t be choosers”. If you wanted to play Street Fighter II on the go in 1992, you would have to downgrade considerably. There is not much one can really say that would let you, the reader, in on what to expect graphically. The animations are rather solid, considering, each character model etched to the highest possible emulation of the Super Nintendo renders. To accommodate the fast paced brawling the series is famous for, there is a visible lag time between the execution of a move and the result of such combat, which has ironically made it a simpler task to pull off each fighter’s special moves.

In addition to an obvious lack of color -- though the Color/Advance adds a blue hue to fireballs -- each level has been stripped of background animations; moving pixels meant to resemble anxious spectators about the globe. They do not exist on an air force base, nor on the crowded streets of a typically rambunctious Las Vegas. The only life forms in earshot are you and your opponent, trapped in Capcom’s barren black and white world, devoid as well of other stimulatory senses...

audio

The cart’s Achilles heel (as if it were infallible in all its other facets), is not quite an Achilles heel, but a larger flaw in a pool of many. With a barrage of Street Fighter II offshoots and upgrades making their way to Nintendo’s and Sega’s sixteen-bit machines, the dominant cordless contraption required its own interpretation of the series, however lacking it’d have to be. Unfortunately for gamers, technology was not quite up to par in 1995 to capture the kinds of sounds present in virtually all other versions of the franchise released thus far. There are two classes of sounds in the Game Boy version, as opposed to around five in the more ambitious console cousins.

The first class, of course, is the music -- gruesomely distorted renditions of the familiar themes heard on your Super Nintendo. Though the inclusion of these pieces is an obvious requirement, probably better there than absent completely, these mutated melodies are by far the most abhorrent aspect of the game. The second class of sound(s) are the various swishes and waves generated by the fighter’s limbs rupturing the still air, as well as the thud of a floored foe (or yourself if you suck). No cheering, no wooing, no announcer to punctuate the action...

Sounds similar, only, not.

gameplay

For veterans of the series, the inherent learning curve is virtually non-existent. Likewise, this is perhaps the easiest time I’ve had with a game in like, five years. To acquire a more defined sense of what went into the game, I’ve completed it with four separate characters. The most difficult fights are in fact the “mirror matches”, as neither you or your opponent’s identical personas are discolored in any way to differentiate one from the other. Add that to the aforementioned lag, and you’ve got yourself a broad, innate oversight on Capcom’s part. Nonetheless, I was personally able to attain my bearings on each account and quell the CPU without perspiration.

As is expected, the format of the game is as simple as they come. When flying solo, you can play the normal ladder-climbing arcade mode, or test your endurance in survival mode. Defeat each character from one level to another, in commonplace dual-rounded duels that inspire within thee a unique sense of déjà vu. A bit tired and mundane, if acceptable, in this editor’s humble opinion.

In any case, I’d be remiss in not mentioning one of a few consequences derived from the game’s lag. The most obvious drawback is the relative inability to pull off special moves that require repeated “rapid-pressing” of the action buttons, such as Blanka’s shock shield, a self-encapsulating electric field that can only be overcome via other elemental projectiles. I was able to pull it off, sure, but for a mere two seconds at a time.

To the game’s absolute credit, a banner feature is the successful implementation of a workable interface with just two action buttons and the modern Game Boy’s impotent directional pad. Though only one level of power and speed exists, the kicks (‘A’ button) and punches (‘B’ button) are varied by the direction in which you press the D-pad. Special moves are, in most cases, an absolute breeze to execute.

multiplayer

With two copies of the game and a special cable to link the original handhelds to one another, player’s can duke it out, though I wouldn’t expect them to do so if they had access to the console counterparts. You’d be much better served playing a game like Tetris on that road trip to nowhere.

overall

Upon completing either of the two single player modes in this game, you are not greeted with any unique ending specialized to your character. Instead, a black background with “Congratulations” and “Presented by Capcom” fades in. That’s it. No glory. No prize. No elaborate pay-off. No unlockables. This cartridge is as bare bones as they come. This is a Street Fighter title, so there is entertainment to be had. It is just not worth it with so many other better, affordable options available to the modern gamer. The signature is there, but the soul, however, is not.

5.0/10