Poll: Box Art Brawl: Special Edition - Street Fighter II

I've never owned or played the Mega Drive versions, but in terms of box art, both of them blow the others out of the water.

You have to wonder where the line is drawn between novelty and oversaturation.

Out of all of these boxarts though, whilst I really like the MD and Saturn ones and the original is obviously iconic, I have an incredible bias towards Bengas's Street Fighter art. It's very divisive among the community, but I absolutely love it (some of the facial expressions are just absolutely amazing) so I'm definitely going with Final Challengers.

Also, did you know that Street Fighter 2 alone has more entries than Golden Sun and Chibi Robo combined? Just thought I'd let everyone know

I went Super Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting (SNES).

I love those E.Honda slaps and this is the only one that shows love for the big guy.

Since this is all about the artwork, and not the games themselves, I went with Street Fighter II: The World Warrior on the SNES. Easily the best of the bunch imo.

I personally like the Switch version the best. It gives you a chance to see a majority of the characters in a pretty clean presentation.

Megadrive’s Super Street Fighter II is my favourite, with anything anime styled after that. I can’t believe the US SNES cover is winning, it just looks hideous to me.

It’s a pity the Japanese SF2 Turbo for the SNES isn’t there as that’s my personal favourite.

⚠️While I used to hate seeing Guile getting hit on the SCE box-art, I now like it knowing how CHEATY Guile is (instant Flash-Kick while walking forwards😡)

I went with Street Fighter II: The World Warrior on SNES.
This was a rather difficult choice though. The Special Champion Edition on Mega Drive in particular, with Bison looming in the background, is very cool as well.

I guess I'm a bit confused as to which version of Street Fighter II is the "definitive" version. Is it all the same game with additions to the roster and stage selection? Are some entries side stories, not necessarily part of the main story from the original Street Fighter II?

It kind of intimidates me, to be honest. With so many versions of what is probably the same game, I don't know which one to play. That's why I largely stick with fighting games like Soulcalibur and Super Smash Bros: no multiple sub-entries of a given gave. It's one and done.

Really like the Game Boy and Advance covers - there’s something about the square boxes that focuses more on the image. If I was just going for my favourite art, USFII for the Switch would win, but the logo is so big, it feels like we’re missing out. So went with the Super SFII for Mega Drive. Good character art, cleanly visible. Winner.

I like the Commodore 64 boxart for the original Street Fighter because it appears to feature Ryo Hazuki from Shenmue on it! Especially funny as Shenmue was set in the late 80s when Street Fighter C64 was released...

Oof tough one. I remember now I owned the gba one. Terrible controls.

Obviously the anime ones are nicer but the horrid western style actually fits the aesthetic of the original portraits better.

Still, I think I like the Saturn one best. Or no, no. 4, Mega Drive one. Yes. 90s anime aesthetic for the win.

Whoever voted for Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition - Mega Drive... did you even look at Ryu's derped out face?

SNES one it's a classic but the cover is not the most beautiful in my opinion. New Challengers for MD is the most beautiful with the Switch one as a close second place. Love the HD version from Udon so much and the possibility to make your own colors.

I went with the sega Saturn version I like the art and the colours look right not over saturated like the switch version

I voted for the Street Fighter 2 Sega Saturn box art.

Many of the others are iconic, but Final Challengers just has a feeling of awesome mixed with much more clean art and refinement that the others don't have as much. I'd say SSF2T on the 3DO is a close second though

IMO, the Gameboy cover is the best, followed closely by Mega Drive.

Super Nintendo will of course win due to nostalgia.

This is a tough one.

I do generally prefer anime styled box arts (particularly for Japanese games, as it makes me think that's the intended look/vibe for the game) so perhaps should have gone with The New Challengers (Mega Drive), but I'll admit nostalgia took over and I voted for The World Warrior (SNES).

Yes, they did "de-anime" it, which is a practice I complained about a coup!e weeks ago (so I'm a hypocrite, lol), but they still retained the core look of the characters even in the westernized art style & it is a pretty kinetic/action filled piece.

I think the moral of this story is that you don't need a good box cover to have a successful game. ^_^

Oeff the sega saturn box art amazing.

I went with the Saturn version, as that seemed to have the best balance of multiple characters and dynamism.
Also, given how Chun-Li's character has developed, don't her legs in the original SNES and GB box art seem pixieish in hindsight?

It's the Saturn one, not even a subjective opinion, it's the only correct answer.

One of those rare instances when the Westernized take on Japanese characters is actually really good.

Impossible to choose just one. 🤷‍♂️

It was between the original or Ultra for me. The rest were either just okay or absolutely hideous.

3do, also interesting controller

I like the GBA Turbo Revival's box art character design. Very nice.

Street Fighter II: The World Warrior for Super Nintendo, easily. It's ugly as hell, but it's sooo iconic, we had a poster that came with Club Nintendo magazine back in the day. When I look at that cover, it reminds me of my childhood. But, if we had to choose them by design, it'll be Ultra Street Fighter II's cover, that one is the best on that sense.

Western style is super ugly here

Man—that 3DO one with Akuma! Never seen it before but I dig it. I’d hang that on my wall. Surprised it’s not getting more attention.

@Fizza I adore Bengus' art, I didn't know it was controversial. It's soooo good.

I voted for the Saturn collection with the MD Super Street Fighter a close second. All the anime ones are good. There are good elements to the US art. It's technically sound at least. It's funny how the SNES original, along with Turbo, and Special Champion Edition for Genesis all depict what are supposed to be action shots, yet they come across as the most static, like there's no action or energy even happening in that moment. I don't get any sense of motion from those, which is a problem since that it what the artist was going for.

The Final Challengers, kinda because it’s the version of the game I have, but mainly because Chun Li has the cutest pose on it.

@Krull Not 100% clear whether you know this or not, but it's not a coincidence that the logo on the Switch version is so big, and if you feel like you're missing out, it's intentional. They made the logo like that to hide Cammy's rear end in a thong, which is dead center of the original artwork.

@JasmineDragon I definitely didn’t know that. Now I don’t know whether to laugh or cry! Maybe Capcom could have just commissioned a different composition? The art itself is great.

Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers - Mega Drive. Just because it's the same art as the fantastic anime movie.

Without bias or nostalgia or anything, the Game Boy one wins for me. I just imagined seeing all of those covers on display in a game store, not knowing what system is what, and that's the one I'd first pick up to look at.

@RR529 while I agree, they still maintained the looks of the characters in the western art, I find the art to be extremely static for what are supposed to be action scenes. I'm not taking issue with your comment. I just always thought the attempt at depicting action in those covers fell flat.

@chreddy You really think SNES World Warriors has better drawn artwork than Street Fighter Collection?

I honestly like the cover for SSFII on the Genesis (NA) best.

Mega Drive Champion Edition (with the huge blue M Bison at the top) will always be my favourite since it's the one that I owned. But it's also pretty classy, I think!

@xiao7 it's worth it for the most badass M Bison you'll see in your life.

Ultra Street Fighter II is probably my favorite composition-wise but definitely still really like the classic original SFII boxart with demented Blanka and the Mega Drive boxart for Super Street Fighter II since I'm always a sucker for the look of the 90s Street Fighter anime.

@Clyde_Radcliffe
I think that mightve been the spectrum box art as well. That looks really familiar!

The SNES box art is awful. So terrible. The Super Famicom box art was so much more impressive. SF2 Turbo in particular. Why is that not on the list but the 3DO version is???

Blanka looking like a pinball flying towards Chun Li is great, only other box art I like is the one for Switch.

@RobotReptile back in the day it was, hands down, the best home port prior to Saturn and PS1 releases. Samurai Shodown was also amazing on the 3DO.

Jesus, how hideous they are... only ultra's art feeling a bit like the game

The original Super Nintendo one, because the drawing is great and Blanka is defeating Ryu and Chun Li at the same Time.

always liked the original colours of the PAL SF2 (world warrior)

https://image.konsolenkost.de/item/images/9025187/full/9025187-0_1.jpg

@Rambler

Yeah, 2as for all the Euro home ports.

Bizarrely you missed the best cover art, the Super Famicom version of SF2.

I chose Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers on Mega Drive. Fantastic artwork.

A toss up between Gameboy and Megadrive for me, I know the Gameboy one is the same as the SNES with less but I think it looks better

The original SNES World Warrior cover looks like an ad for a breakdancing competition.

Not nearly enough!!!!!

@Type_Trubbish Yeah, I went for the Gameboy version. I like how it looks like Chun-Li just murdered Ryu with a well-placed kick, but the look of shock on her face is because Blanka busted in saying "your secret's safe with me... for a price!" ...Maybe it's just me.

What an epic brawl! More like this please!

@AstroTheGamosian New characters, modes, characters are more balanced. That's really about it. It looks more intimidating than it really is.

@RobotReptile

I have the game. The 3DO's pad was NEVER meant for fighting games. I mean NEVER with all caps.

Ugh...that's too many SF IIs Capcom. I have to go with the Sega Saturn SF Collection. Looks great.

@Lanmanna Nowadays, they just use online features to push through updates and add DLC. I guess that's one good thing about online games. Why spend $50 to buy the same game with a few tweaks, after all?

But it still begs the question: which version of Street Fighter II is the true definitive version to get?

All the mega drive ones are my favorite, specifically the special champion edition.