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I was in two minds to review Street Fighter II or not. On the one hand it was a sort of experiment that was carried out to see if it could be done, but on the other hand the programmer released the game onto the general public. Swaying towards the latter I decided to have a look at the game, well that and the fact that the editor wanted one page of review space filled up.

First thing that you will notice is things are a bit bright, well orange really. The menu screen comes up and the next thing you will notice is that you can only choose from four fighters - Ryu, Ken, Guile and Bison. With the lack of fighters to choose from and the limited menu options the game gives off a distinct lack of completion feel.

Then the game begins and the graphics are noticeably very close to the original - obviously the sprite design limited the on-screen colour count. Also, the graphics are quite jerky when moving - a bit of a shame - and the overall look of the game gives off an unfinished feel, despite this being the final released version.

Gameplay is limited by the CPC controls: no intricate six-button moves here I'm afraid. In fact, it seems possible to advance by just using kick and punch moves. Sound was also noted by its absence. Admittedly sound doesn't make a game, but this just adds to the games failings.

So you might wonder why bother converting the game to the CPC in the first place? I thought that myself, after all so many others have tried before and failed: Street Warriors, Fres Fighter II and even the original Street Fighter couldn't capture the gameplay of the original arcade version. Certainly the potential was there for a decent game, half decent graphics, half decent presentation, half-decent gameplay. See where I'm going here?

It seems as if the coder gave up halfway through the games production and released the game as it was - advertising it as completed. So from its graphics through to gameplay Street Fighter II falls flat on its face much like Ken receiving one of Ryu's Dragon Punches.

Once again a Street Fighter game fails to make any impression on the 8-bit computer market. Surely after twenty years they will let it be?

Defeat one opponent.

Graphics 54%
P. Looks okay.
N. Limited colour and animation is poor.

Sound 0%
N. Nothing!

Grab Factor 61%
P. A famous game.

Staying Power 29%
N. Limited options. Poor playability.

Overall 39%
A great arcade game tarnished by yet another poor 8-bit conversion.