Street Fighter II: Champion Edition

Street Fighter II: Champion Edition
Developer(s)	Capcom
Publisher(s)	Capcom
Producer(s)	Yoshiki Okamoto
Designer(s)	Akira Nishitani (Nin Nin) Akira Yasuda (Akiman)
Composer(s)	Yoko Shimomura Isao Abe Yoshihiro Sakaguchi
Series	Street Fighter
Platform(s)	Arcade, PC Engine, Sharp X68000, Master System
Release date(s)	April 1992
Genre(s)	Fighting
Mode(s)	Up to 2 players simultaneously
Media/distribution	ROM, cartridge, HuCard, floppy disk, CD-ROM
Cabinet	Upright
Arcade system	CP System
CPU	10 MHz
Display	Raster, horizontal orientation, 384 x 224 pixels, 4096 colors, 60 Hz refresh rate

Street Fighter II: Champion Edition, released in Japan as Street Fighter II Dash: Champion Edition (ストリートファイターIIダッシュ -CHAMPION EDITION-^?, stylized as Street Fighter II′)^[1], is a competitive fighting game released for the arcades by Capcom in 1992. It was the first of several updated versions of the original Street Fighter II. The main changes consisted of the addition of the Grand Masters (the final four computer-controlled opponents in the single-player mode) as playable characters and mirror matches (same character vs. matches). The fighting techniques of the eight main characters from the original game were also further refined to allowed for more balanced competitive play.

Street Fighter II: Champion Edition was followed by Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting, released several months later.

Game System

Street Fighter II: Champion Edition featured the following changes from the play mechanics inherited from the original Street Fighter II.

Playable bosses

The ability to play as the four Grand Masters (Sagat and M. Bison shown here) was made possible in Champion Edition.

The four Grand Masters (Balrog, Vega, Sagat, and M. Bison), who were the final opponents controlled by the computer in the single-player mode, are now usable by players. However, their strength compared to the other player characters were not toned down even a bit from their computer-controlled counterparts. As a result, they became some of the most powerful characters in the game.

Mirror matches

In the original Street Fighter II, players were not allowed to choose the same character without the use of a glitch. This meant that if one player chose Chun-Li as their character, the other player would be forced to use one of the other characters. In Champion Edition, this was corrected by giving each character two color palettes. The characters' original color palette from the original game are selectable by pressing the punch buttons, while their alternate palettes are selectable with Start or kick buttons. If a second player chooses a character already selected by the first player, then the second player will use the palette that was not selected by the first player. The font of the player's name display also changes colors from yellow to blue if their character is using an alternate color scheme.

Refined character balance

The returning eight main characters had many of their techniques and priorities modified in order to allow for more balanced match-ups between different characters. Ryu's and Ken's fighting techniques in particular were changed in order to differentiate both characters' playing styles.

Single-player mode

The matches in the single-player mode was increased from 11 opponents to 12 due to the addition of the mirror matches. This also changed the order in which the third bonus stage occurred (the drum-breaking minigame): in the original game it took place after the match with Vega; wherein Champion Edition, it took place after Balrog. The endings of some of the return characters were redrawn (particularly Ryu's, Ken's, and Zangief's) and the four bosses each received an ending showing their four faces and a scrolling text specific to the player character. The special ending credits shown when the player completes the single-player mode without losing a match (or having another human player interrupt for a challenge) was also changed.

Home versions

PC Engine

The PC Engine version (published NEC Electronics and developed by Capcom) was released exclusively in Japan on June 12, 1993. The accuracy of this port is high compared to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System port of the first Street Fighter II, as it featured the barrel breaking bonus stage that was cut out from that version, along with numerous voice clips by the announcer and the elephants in Dhalsim's stage (although, these were later integrated in Street Fighter II Turbo for the SNES). Although the majority of PC Engine games released during the port's production were CD-ROMs, this version was released on a 20-Megabit HuCard. A six-button controller was released specifically for the game. When Dash is played on a regular two-button controller, the Run button, along with buttons I and II, are used as switchable attack buttons, while the Select button is used to toggle between punches and kicks.

X68000

On November 26, 1993, Capcom released an X68000 port of Street Fighter II Dash exclusively in Japan, which consisted of four floppy disks. The port is almost identical to the arcade version, with the same exact graphics and almost identical soundtrack. However, the X68000 version forces player to switch floppy disks when loading different stages and characters (it is possible to avoid this by installing the game to the system's hard drive if the computer has more than 6 Megabyte). The game also included a joystick adapter that allowed players to use the Super Famicom and Mega Drive versions of Capcom's CPS Fighter joystick controller. On an X68300 with multiple PCM drivers installed, the music and voice quality can match that of the arcade version's ADPCM sound system.

Master System

A Master System port of Street Fighter II′ was also released in 1997 for the Brazilian market, published by Tec Toy. This version, based on Champion Edition (hence the prime symbol), although the character designs in the player select screen are based onSuper Street Fighter II. It features only eight characters: Dhalsim, Honda, Zangief and Vega are not in this version.^[2]

Other releases

Champion Edition is included in both, Street Fighter II Turbo for the SNES and Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition for the Sega Genesis, which both also included Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting. In the SNES version, Hyper Fighting is the default game mode, while in Special Champion Edition it's Champion Edition. It is also included in Street Fighter Collection 2 (Capcom Generation 5) for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn, as well as Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 1 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, and Capcom Classics Collection: Reloaded for PlayStation Portable.

References

1. ^ The word "Dash" is not written in the game's logo. It is represented by a prime symbol. The prime symbol also shows up in the North American version's logo, but was left unpronounced.
2. ^ GameSpot Staff (2006). "Street Fighter II′". http://www.gamespot.com/sms/action/streetfighter2/index.html. Retrieved 2006-08-08. 

Further reading

• Studio Bent Stuff (Sept. 2000) (in Japanese). All About Capcom Head-to-Head Fighting Games 1987-2000. A.A. Game History Series (Vol. 1). Dempa Publications, Inc.. ISBN 4885546761. 

External links

• Street Fighter II: Champion Edition at the Killer List of Videogames