The New Nintendo 3DS is a nifty device with a number of great games available, but as everyone knows something cannot be considered a true games machine unless you can play Street Fighter II on it. Thankfully Capcom has stepped in to save New 3DS owners from the taunts of ZX Spectrum, Atari ST and CD32 gamers by bringing the game to the eShop. Twice. Released alongside the speedy Street Fighter II Turbo is this second SNES update – Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers.
Unless Capcom is planning a 3DS version of Super Street Fighter II Turbo (or a portable HD Remix-style release) this is the most up-to-date edition of the game available for New 3DS. It lacks the Super Combo moves and Akuma from Super Turbo but it offers some more special attacks and four new characters over that predecessor, as well as a wider choice of colour options for your fighting garb plus redrawn character portraits.
For all that it added, SSF2 disappointed when it arrived in arcades as it ran slower than Hyper Fighting and a lot slower than the top speeds of the SNES and Mega Drive versions. By default this SNES port also crawls along but there are four speed settings to choose from by pressing right or left on the title screen. There's nothing to match the over-the-top rapid movement of its predecessor's top speeds, but it runs at a quick pace that's still suitable for normal gaming.
The controls are responsive and work well although they can take some getting used to if you favour an Arcade Stick or Fight Pad over the SNES-style layout offered by the New 3DS. Button assignment can be changed in the options menu if desired and you can bring up the electronic manual at any time if you've forgotten how to perform a Yoga Teleport.
The main mode of play is a lot like any other version of Street Fighter II as you pick your fighter then defeat twelve others to see an ending. Along the way you also get to smash up a car, some bricks and some falling barrels in the three bonus rounds. Although featuring the same number of fights as SF2T, with sixteen fighters in the game not all of them are fought during a playthrough. However the final four battles are always against the Boss characters that were unselectable during the World Warrior days.
On the audio side of things there's the usual wonderful music during fights (with four new tracks thanks to the additional characters) but the sound effects and speech are less impressive. Whilst the various impact and smash sounds as well as calls of "Yoga Flame" or "Tiger Uppercut" enhance the fights they sound a little muffled and distorted. Additionally the announcer doesn't do his "Round One, Fight!" intro. It's not a deal-breaker, but the effects and speech do sound better in SF2T.
As well as new characters and moves, one thing SSF2 did offer over the earlier SNES Turbo was a number of multiplayer modes. However, as is the norm for these SNES Virtual Console releases on New 3DS, simultaneous multiplayer is not possible so the Group Battle as well as the standard Versus Battle are menu options not worth selecting.
The third multiplayer option is "Tournament Battle" and this can actually be tackled solo, although you may need to change "controllers" (hold the Z buttons and press Y) if you get drawn on the right side of the screen. With suspension and restore point functionality, finding time for your fighting isn't really an issue but if you want a quick playthrough in one sitting then Tournament Battle is worth a look.
You are one of eight fighters engaged in single-round battles. Win three and you win the tournament. You have to watch all the fights including the loser bracket ones that determine placing, but these can be sped up by holding down a button so tournaments are always over quickly.
The lack of multiplayer is of course a negative, but working through the main game with the different characters (eight difficulty settings available) keeps you busy and a playthrough is enjoyable when travelling. There is one other mode available and that is "Time Challenge". As the name suggests this involves trying to win quickly and whilst not offering the addictive replayability of a Mario Kart Time Trial mode, there's still fun to be had in trying to smash someone's face in a little bit quicker.
Conclusion
It's not Super Turbo, but an earlier version of a great game is still a good way to spend your time. It offers a few more modes, moves and additional characters than the alternative eShop option (Street Fighter II Turbo), but there's still the disappointment of having to fight alone. Nevertheless there's a lot to keep you entertained here and for the solo player on the move Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers is a game you'll enjoy coming back to during breaks in your travels.
Comments 60
I always fear for me 3DS buttons with games like this...
At least, Wii U have this too.
No multiplayer, no cross-buy... Nintendo still has to enter the 21st century.
Will they release super turbo on wii u??
Again, the fact there's no multiplayer is a deal breaker. Who's idea was this? Unfortunately, not interested.
@SanderEvers SFV is great now after the free update.
Same again: Nintendo simply isn't doing these Virtual Console games justice half the time, especially on New 3DS. This should basically be a 10/10 game. Street Fighter II Turbo and Super Street Fighter II on SNES are two of the greatest fighting games ever made, bar none, and it's actually really enraging that they've had to be gimped so much in the transition to New 3DS VC that they've both scored a 7/10.
Still trying to figure out why the New 3DS SNES games don't feature multiplayer. It makes no sense.
So fed up of reviewers complaining about this being slower than the previous game, oblivious to the 10-star top speed of this version. Sure that may still be slower than Turbo's top speed, but it's a heck of a lot faster than the 4-star top speed they say it has
@VanillaLake @SanderEvers SFV is one of the best fighting game I have ever played...and I started with SF2 on the SNES. Then again I think no multiplayer makes this kind of games really boring really quickly
@samuelvictor oh ok!
What's the best wii u VC street fighter game??
No, you're one of 16 fighters engaged in 2-4 round battles.
Awesome love SF2 played this night n day as kid.
No thank you. Only VC SNES game I was willing to buy for the outrageous price they want for it was ALttP since that is one of my nostalgic greatest games of all time, and Super Metroid, since the price was lowered thanks to ALttP, haven't played it yet and it's a legendary game. I think noone except for the most diehard fans will buy these games at that price.
@pandarino Agreed, after the update Street Fighter V has become one of the best fighting games ever. One of the few PS4 games I play frequently, but it's also on PC, in case anyone is interested in it.
@Superzone13 @Kirk Maybe because it's a ton of extra work to configure local wireless and/or online multiplayer through an emulated version of an old SNES game. I agree that it's a much better option to just grab the game from the Wii or Wii U VC, but I don't blame them for not bothering with multiplayer here.
@Piersen I don't know what price you'd find reasonable, but $8 per game isn't bad for SNES games. It's about what it would cost you on average at a used games store. I've certainly bought my fair share of SNES and Genesis games at that price on the Wii VC.
Sure, it's mostly pointless to get these games on the 3DS when you can get them on the Wii or Wii U instead (unless of course the 3DS is your only recent Nintendo system) and certainly not worth double-dipping, but that's a separate issue.
@BulbasaurusRex I'd give 3€ at most. I think Nintendo could make better profit if they were selling legacy games at that price. 8€ is something I'd pay for a big semi-recent game on sale on Steam or PSN, or even some sales on the Nintendo eshop. Heck, look at the recent Atlus price drops in Europe. Much better value.
I don't want to advocate emulators and piracy, but when you're selling your old games that cost you little effort to make available, and the value you're offering is basically that you're the only source of them except Ebay, where because of collectors these games go for like a hundred dollars + appealing to the customer's morality ("Piracy is wrong, you wouldn't pirate that old game, would you?")... Well, I think then something is wrong.
Also I think it can't be compared to used games stores. You can resell physical games, so they can be more expensive.
@Piersen You are right. Digital old games should be cheaper, there's no excuse for charging €5 for a NES rom these days and Nintendo is the only one who has this ridiculous pricing scheme.
@VanillaLake Well, to be fair, Symphony of the Night costs 10€ on PSN so they're not the only ones who are doing it.
@samuelvictor For my nostalgia, SSFII. I also played SFIIT at a friend's place but as you said the higher turbo options are unplayable.
@Piersen Correct.
The new characters and stages added here never did it for me. I think, as a whole package, Turbo is the superior entry. The change to Guile's voice when delivering a sonic boom is terrible, in my opinion. Also, it's rather disconcerting to me not having the announcer say "fight" to start the round.
@SanderEvers I am sorry you didn't like the game, it's an incredible fighter with tight and fun gameplay...with 5000+ entries at EVO, they really must have done something right, no?
I'll add Capcom was very clear on what you would get with the game on launch though, so maybe next time do a bit of research before buying (games or really anything). I am not denying it was very lacking in the single player mode but we were warned...anyway the main draw of these games is fighting other players, at least for me! Sorry if this sounded paternalistic, but I really feel SF5 doesn't deserve the hate. Overwatch and Splatoon had very similar releases and none of this.
@pandarino " they really must have done something right, no? " Yeah they did. They didn't sell a million copies of SFV or better yet hasn't sold a million copies.
Guess Capcom should'ave done some research on selling a rushed 60 dollar game.
@TwilightOniAngel Actually at the end of March it had shipped 1,4 million copies, as Google will tell you. Capcom target was 2 million though, and I can see them reaching it, eventually. It managed to be really liked by the FGC, as the EVO numbers show..go hate something else, if you really must.
@pandarino You're right my mistake then. But my last sentence still stands. Never release an unfinished game. Especially if you're Capcom. Guess me and Capcom should'ave done some research am i right?
And i'm not hating. There's nothing to hate on.
@Piersen 10 buck for symphony of the night is not bad value even if the game is old finding a good psx disk for that price would be luck.
I even didn't mind paying for all Dkc games in my 3DS so I could play them portabel carts cost a lot more these days.
"8€ is something I'd pay for a big semi-recent game on sale on Steam or PSN" So you are basicly a cheapskate...
Yes some games are not worth their money but some games are definitly worth more than just 8 bucks, ofcourse buying games at low price is never bad, I payed 30 eur for Rise of the Tombraider and I don't regret it the game is gorgeous.
I bought Contra 3 for full Eshop price because the EU version has those dumb robots and getting alien wars on cart costs you a whole lot more than 5 euro or so and gamecarts for games like Earthbound and A link to the past will cost you a lot more and I am not going to shovel over 130 bucks.
While I do agree that most NES games are not worth their money most of the time and you basicly pay just for the effort of emulating and distributing the things. and to me having some games portable adds extra value but that's a personal matter and I never payed Nintendo twice for a game.
@TwilightOniAngel well, it's a way of seeing the thing. I see free updates with triasl, cinematic story mode, new characters and stages I can also earn by playing the game instead of paying 6-9$ as in most games...but most importantly a very good fighting game. Very finished in its mechanics: I don't care if you have 1000 modes on release date if the core game is not that good. I am not saying you are wrong, and I get your pov just that 0) the game itself is very good 1) they were very clear on what they were giving us on release 2) they have been expanding a lot 3) their system is less greedy than other games.
I do wish it had the release its mechanics deserved...
Going back on topic, SFV in its release date form seems a better purchase than this New 3ds re-releases: the price is downright shameful, there is no cross-buy and you can't even play against other players in any way. Useless. And not improving over time, unlike sfv.
No multiplayer in a fighting game? No point in buying then.
Who would actually play multiplayer anyway even if it was available?
That's why I'd love the arcade versions of Street Fighter on 3DS (which is technically capable of emulating them).
@pandarino
The target of 2 millions copies sold was for March. It still hasn't passed it accordng to Capcom:
http://www.capcom.co.jp/ir/english/finance/million.html
Also Street Fighter 4 sold 3,4 millions copies and SF2 sold 5 millions so this SF5 is clearly a flop. It only did well at EVO because Capcom (or Sony) paid to impeach the SF4 tournament to happen to force the community to buy SF5 (glad it didn't work). So they deserve all the hate possible like Nintendo deserved the hate when they tried to impeach the Melee tournament.
The game itself is not good at all. No arcade atmosphere, big loadings, bad online, bad balancing and lack of depth (crush counter are way too powerful). I'm a big fan of Street Fighter but I regret spending 60 euros for this game and I'm not the only one since the user score for this game on Metacritic is 3.3. I tell to people if they want to play a fighting game with actual depth they should play Street Fighter 4 or Smash Bros on WiiU or 3DS.
The worst thing is SF5 has been so rushed and it flopped so badly we probably won't see another Capcom fighting game ever. It's really a shame. Sony shouldn't destroy strong japanese IP like that.
@bitleman as 99% of the reviews will tell you, the game itself it's a wonder but keep hating, man. It did well at EVO because it' fun to play and to watch so please stop make up stupid narratives. It's not a flop by any means, it just underperformed and should have had a better release.
I'm playing the game on a daily basis and I can assure you the servers and matchmaking are mighty fine and the issues on release were dealt with very quickly. And come on, server problems the first few days of a game with a big online component...is anyone really surprised? I didn't have crazy wait time for matches as I did for Smash, even when the issues were at their worst.
The 3DO version of this is my favorite Street Fighter game but I was rather underwhelmed with the SNES version.
As I have SF4 3D, Smash Bros and DOA Dimensions (my favorite fighter) on 3DS; plus all the SF games on Wii U I don't think I need any more versions.
@samuelvictor ok, cheers! Will get it on wii u
The reasons that SSF2 had to be slowed down was because of the added characters and modes, something which impacted on the sound quality too.
@pandarino Some people here would love Street Fighter V if it had a Wii U version.
@gaga64 Sounds like the DOS port as that had ten speed settings.
@VanillaLake would love it myself actually hahaha 😂
Not sure a game like this with no multiplayer can warrant a 7/10.
@Shiryu Does no multiplayer affect your interest in this? aside of buttons?
£5.49 on Wii U or £7.19 on 3DS. Hate that about the SNES games on the 3DS.
@elreins It is definitely a huge miss having no multiplayer whatsoever. As mentioned in the review there is still a lot of single player content to tackle and I usually play alone on my 3DS.
Cammy makes every game she's in a better game. That being said, not her best outing.
@pandarino
Yeah sure Smash sold 10 million copies, SF5 sold 1 and you're trying to tell us SF5 is more populated. What is your interest in lying? Are you paid by Capcom, or Sony?
@VanillaLake I own a PS4. Why are you accusing anyone who tell the smallest criticism about Sony to be a Nintendo fanboy? Do you think Sony is perfect or something? That would tell a lot about your comment.
@bitleman I think you wanted to reply to someone else, I did not call anybody a Nintendo fanboy nor I was praising Sony at all.
@bitleman I am not interested in praising any company, in my experience is just a lot easier to find matches online for SF5. Pokken was even faster than SF5 while I played it.
@VanillaLake Don't be hypocritical you were implying it. And your statement was wrong anyway. If SF5 was released on WiiU it would have been bashed for being such a mediocre and casual game. SF4 skipped the Nintendo system too and got a metacritic score of 94 (20 more points than SF5) so you'll have to find another excuse than it's just Nintendo fanboys hating.
@pandarino Ok then stop praising mediocre games just because they're PS4 exclusives and you won't look like a blind fanboy.
@bitleman Reported.
@bitleman Take it easy; they're just games and sales numbers!
No more insults from anyone on this page please. Let's keep the comment section civil.
@bitleman the game far from being mediocre, it had just a bad "package" when it come out ... And I am on Nintendolife because I am a Sony fanboy? Agree to disagree on the game if you don't like it just don't call other people names for having different opinions.
@VanillaLake As you chose to publicise that you reported bitleman, can I just ask what part of his post you felt was abusive?
@gcunit "As you chose to publicise that you reported bitleman, can I just ask what part of his post you felt was abusive?"
Are you being serious with me? You should know what kind of comments are hating and flaming by now and I replied to his hatred quite politely. Anyway, these are Bitleman's comments:
@VanillaLake "Why are you accusing anyone who tell the smallest criticism about Sony to be a Nintendo fanboy? Do you think Sony is perfect or something? That would tell a lot about your comment."
@VanillaLake "Don't be hypocritical you were implying it. And your statement was wrong anyway (...) find another excuse than it's just Nintendo fanboys hating."
And now my only comments on the thread, tell me if I am hater, a Sony fanboy and a flamer OR if he's the one hating and flaming me. Look at my reply to him. My only crime is not saying that Nintendo is always right.
VanillaLake comments:
#3 No multiplayer, no cross-buy... Nintendo still has to enter the 21st century.
#7 @SanderEvers SFV is great now after the free update.
#17 Agreed, after the update Street Fighter V has become one of the best fighting games ever. One of the few PS4 games I play frequently, but it's also on PC, in case anyone is interested in it.
Moreover, I did what you told me to do last time.
#21 You are right. Digital old games should be cheaper, there's no excuse for charging €5 for a NES rom these days and Nintendo is the only one who has this ridiculous pricing scheme.
#24 @samuelvictor For my nostalgia, SSFII. I also played SFIIT at a friend's place but as you said the higher turbo options are unplayable. @Piersen Correct.
#36 That's why I'd love the arcade versions of Street Fighter on 3DS (which is technically capable of emulating them).
#42 @pandarino Some people here would love Street Fighter V if it had a Wii U version.
#53 @bitleman I think you wanted to reply to someone else, I did not call anybody a Nintendo fanboy nor I was praising Sony at all.
EDIT. FORUM RULES:
Do not "flame" others. Blatantly offensive posts directed at others will not be tolerated*. While we do allow members to debate and voice their own opinions**, there will be a limit to how far a heated debate can go before it is closed by staff.
*That's not me!
**That's me!
@VanillaLake Thanks for taking the time to respond to my query, I was being serious.
The reason I asked is because I, personally, did not consider the words 'hypocritical' or 'fanboy' to be abusive or flaming. And I don't see any 'hating' going on in those comments you've referred to.
But let's be clear - I'm not accusing you of any hating, flaming or abuse either. I just think it wasn't appropriate to report bitleman's post as abuse. That's all.
Interpreting the respect, abuse, and flaming guidance in the Community Rules is obviously going to be a subjective matter.
I appreciate 'fanboy' is a term that causes annoyance in some people, but on the scale of insults/abuse, I see it as very minor. If we started deleting every post that includes an accusation of fanboyism then there wouldn't be much left half the time
On the other hand, Kirk's tirade in the AM2R section against another user was not what I would class as minor. It was an extended post of nothing but unpleasantness and asterisks that were obviously intended to imply expletives towards that user. It was blatantly offensive, or likely to be seen as intended to offend. And it wasn't just one sentence, it was multiple paragraphs. To me that was an obvious case for moderator intervention, whereas I don't see bitleman's comments as being obviously unacceptable.
@gcunit Thanks for your reply. If you read my post, you have seen that I didn't mention Sony and I did not call anybody a "Nintendo fanboy", which were his (unfair) accusations. I was just praising Street Fighter V update (that's Capcom, not Sony) because I got the game and I like it. I admit it was not a complete game when it launched (and I said that on PushSquare) but I wanted to be honest and let people know that now it's great. Besides, I really think some people would love the game if it was available on a Nintendo console and they actually try it, but we both know that for some people a game is bad when it's not available for their favourite console, whatever it is, and most probably they haven't even played it, yet they are happy to only have the SNES versions on their Nintendo consoles. I was not being "hypocrite" and I did not call anybody a "Nintendo fanboy". Actually, I said that Street Fighter V is the only PS4 game I play frequently (that is how much a Sony fanboy I am!). He said that I was calling people "Nintendo fanboys" and that I was saying that "Sony is perfect", which are lies and also a distorted interpretation to the point I honestly thought he was not talking about me. Then, when I asked him, he confirmed his accusations and I think that is flaming, because those accusations are lies and the tone was unfriendly, you must agree about that, so I reported him. Do you understand me now? It's not nice being accused of things I did not even mention. I know my life on NintendoLife would be easier if all I said were silly comments about how great is everything but then I wouldn't be myself (and I would be a boring user to read). Even NintendoLife staffers (like @ThomasBW84) can be quite critical when talking about Nintendo and I really appreciate that. One more thing, I like Nintendo Life (and @PureXbox) because they are not delusional, while being on @PushSquare and being slightly objective can be quite complicated because of you know who.
I hope you understand me now.
@VanillaLake I think I do understand, thank you. I can see that bitleman seemed to get the wrong end of the stick, or at least over-interpreted your comments. His comments to you weren't friendly, but they weren't overtly hostile either.
Please bear in mind that we don't have the time to police whether someone else is misquoting you, distorting your words, lying about something you did/didn't say etc. - it's just not practical to re-read an entire comments section to work out whether someone's being misrepresented or not.
I agree it's annoying to be accused of saying something that you didn't say, but if it only happens once I wouldn't see it as abuse.
If a user repeatedly makes false claims about you then that might be a form of harassment, which we do try and intervene on, but a one-off needs to just be dropped. By all means correct the other user, as you did, by pointing out where they've gone wrong, but then it's time to move on.
@VanillaLake I am tough to like, so I understand that they don't come my way very often (though one of my posts did get over 50 the other day ). Thanks for the 'like'.
@gcunit Yes, because I understand what you mean now, I will correct them as I did and if it gets repetitive then I'll report.
@bitleman
100 % fully wholeheartedly agree with your comments about SFV
C'mon give me a break : "SFV a one of the best fighting games after the "free update" really ? don't make me laught. One of the best fighting games around with no arcade mode? and with an absolutely crappy rushed unfinished story mode? free update?? might I remember all of you who purchased the game paid a full price AAA game but got only an alpha instead? such updates are no free you paid for them already when Capcom rip you off selling an alpha content at a full AAA game. (Heck there are free demos which offer more content than SFV at launch).
If you want to see a relative new fighting game that offers honest and quality content check out Pokken Tournament or the recent King of Fighters XIV which despite its ugly PS2 type graphics its has solid mechanics and gameplay, lots of contents and is utterly fantastic fun.
No wonder why Pokken Tournament realeased in a console with a much smaller user base (Wii U) outsold SFV a game realeased in a console with the largest user base (PS4) and the biggest gaming community out there (PC).
The worst part of this SFV ultimate failure is they plunged fighintg games into a new dark era which is quite ironic since SFIV saved from the last one.
P.S. SorryEnglish is not my native tongue and I rarely use it in the country where I live.
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