Street Fighter II

STORY / GAMEPLAY
As in every fighting game out there, in Street Fighter 2 you have to fight your opponents in a one-on-one close-quarter martial arts combat. The objective in each round is to deplete the opponent's vitality before the time runs out. You either win or lose, depending on the way you play this game and how good you are in controlling the character (and his or her powers) you choose. In case both fighters simultaneously knock each other out, then you have a "double KO" and in case the time runs out with both fighters having equal vitality left, then you call it a "draw". When a "draw" occurs, you'll have to fight some additional rounds until one of the two fighters is down for good. Street Fighter II gives you the option (as opposed to its predecessor) to select a fighter among multiple characters from different countries and different distinct fighting styles and special moves. The game is credited for initiating the fighting games' "craze" that "hit| the video games market during the 90s!

GRAPHICS / SOUND
The ST graphics are nice, with 16 color on screen but they are inferior in quality compared to the Amiga or PC version (and the Sharp X68000). The game here leaves a lot to be desired, but I couldn't expect more from the "weak" Atari ST hardware to handle fighting games loaded with many details and huge sprites. But still, most of the original (coin-op) details are found in each fighting stage, although a bunch of animated candies at the backgrounds are missing. The sprites are nicely drawn, all taken from the original but the action frame-rate lags a lot, which is frustrating and renders the game quite unplayable! On the other hand, the game's sound features most of the original digitized sound effects and all the great in-game tunes.