In some alternate universe, I like to think that 2-d beat ‘em ups are the most popular sport in existence. Their best players are known worldwide, and whenever they play in an arcade a huge crowd draws near to witness their lightning fast reactions and calmness under pressure. And they get all the girls and that. Naturally, I am one of these people in the alternate universe. The best one.
What’s that I hear you say? “But how can that be? If everything in this universe is different, how come you’re still the master at 2-d beat ‘em ups?” Ho ho ho, the answer, young friend, is that I’m pretty crap at them in this universe. Then you say: “But if you are the best in the alternate universe, surely that would mean you’d have to be worst in this universe.” I say “SHUT UP!” and move down-to-towards and punch, firing a blue fireball at your face.
For the uneducated, that’s probably the most famous move from the Street Fighter series. But I’d be very surprised, even if you have never owned a Street Fighter game in your life, if you didn’t know that. Anyway, this “Collection” is a collection in the loosest sense. If people said that they had a collection of ears on their head, it might be worthy of that title, but they don’t, so it’s not. It’s a duet of Hyper Street Fighter 2 (all 5 versions of Street Fighter 2 melded together) and Street Fighter 3. Before getting this, I didn’t even know there was a third one, and it was a bit of a surprise to me that there were only 4 characters that I knew in it (Ryu, Ken, Akuma and Chun-Li). I know characters are dropped and new ones put in when they make a fighting game sequel, but it seemed a bit extreme only to keep 4.
Some of the new characters do have the same moves as old ones, though, like Remy (who has some of Guile’s moves) and Necro (a kind of cross between Dhalsim and Blanka – which makes him a complete Gaylord, believe me). Sadly the moves are nowhere near as pyrotechnic as they are in games like Marvel vs. Capcom. In that, the super giga special moves, or whatever they’re called, could probably give a whale a new blowhole. In SF3 they could probably only do that to a dolphin. So you don’t get that “in a Manga film” feel you do with some other beat ‘em ups. I suppose that might be a good thing, though, if you’re not too keen on Japanese animation. But then you're a bit of a foo'. Speaking of Japanese animation, this thing also has the rather good Street Fighter animated movie.
Now, I’m not a real 2d bmup aficionado, so I don't know an amazing amount about what makes one work, but this one’s pretty good. It’s got a nice balance of fast, strong and all-round characters, although some stand out as a lot better and easier to use than others. But that’s the case with nearly every beat ‘em up. The speed of fighting’s about right, and it’s got the good old “beating-up-a-car” bonus stage as well. And the verdict on Hyper SF2? Come on, you’ve already played it.
