| Introduction
After the wonderful Final Fight One, Capcom delivers
yet another classic Beat'em Up, although this is arguably
'THE BEST'. Super Street Fighter is the game that was
responsible for shifting all those SNES consoles in
the early 90's when shops simply couldn't stock enough
of this title. Here we have a handheld version, which
in itself is amazing enough, but will it bring back
those memories of battles around your television and
can your fingers and thumbs handle all the punishment?
GamePlay
Every gameplayer knows how a Beat'em Up works and
SSF is arguably the title that defined the genre. Two
fighters enter a fighting arena and battle it out until
one knocks the other out and that's it. What SSF did
which the likes of IK+ never managed was to make it
theatrical and a great deal more fun. There's never
a simple punch or kick here and most moves are accompanied
by fire, lightning or fireworks of some type. This version
of SSF contains 16 different fighters to choose from
and various game modes, some of which are exclusive
to this edition.
The fighters all have various strengths and weaknesses
and it's up to you to find out which one best suits
you. The phrase 'the bigger they are, the harder they
fall' comes to mind for instance, while some of the
larger fighters such as Ken and Blanka display a high
level of brute strength they're not as agile as some
smaller characters. Cammy, for example, really doesn't
appear to posses any fighting skills when she first
enters the arena but, not only can she pack a punch,
she also moves around the screen with great speed.
The game modes are plentiful to say the least and
even when you've conquered them all there remains the
option of making everything more difficult. You can
change everything from fight time to player damage.
The Training Mode is a good place to start and it's
here you can really sharpen your moves. The Arcade Mode
has you in a championship fighting tournaments across
the world and really will take you some time to beat.
Then there's the highlight -The Vs. Mode. This can only
be achieved by linking two GBAs together and playing
against a friend but is far more satisfying than any
computer could ever be. It will, unfortunately, require
two copies of SSF but this is understandable when you
look at the sophistication of the game.
The gamescreen is the usual format with a timer and
the health bars of the two opponents but it is all nicely
tucked away at the top of the screen leaving a huge
area for the fight. Obviously there is no save feature
as there's no data that needs saving. Instead we get
the true to the arcade version which works just fine.
Controls
As you'd expect with a fully featured Beat'em Up,
the controls are a little complicated and everything
on the GBA is used. Most of you will pick up the normal
kicking, blocking and punching straight away but the
combos will take a little more practice. Matters are
made a little easier however, as the instruction booklet
lists all the characters and their special moves. That's
not to say there aren't more moves but that's up to
you to discover.
Graphics
Not only are the fighters extremely well rendered
and animated but the backgrounds are too. My first fight
was in Jamaica where there was a reggae band playing
behind me and people dancing on the beach. Every location
is very different and it's nice graphical touches like
these that really make you feel the developers have
taken care with this conversion. The victory dances
are as entertaining as they always were but it's in
the fighting where this game's visuals really shine.
With the amount of available moves the animation always
had to be good and fortunately it is. Everyone moves
with great ease. You'll be hard pushed to find better
in a GBA title. In addition to this the special effects
that accompany the combos must be seen to be believed.
Sound & Music
The music is great and anyone who played this game
through the early part of the last decade will be right
at home. There are also some wonderful samples from
the various fighters who even appear to let you know
just what they think of you. The sound effects are well
above average so that, when wearing a good set of headphones,
you can almost feel the pain.
Final Comments
This is the complete Beat'em up. We can't recommend
it enough so before we go any further, if you like this
type of game, go out and buy it now or put it on your
Christmas list. Nothing has been compromised, the GBA
version retains all the excitement of the original arcade
and SNES versions. Capcom have a real winner with this
title and, with other games such as Final Fight and
Megaman echoing the same quality on display here, they
should be a GameBoy Advance developer to watch.
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