I’ve played a lot of Street Fighter in my time. If one were to take Nintendo’s many series’ out of the mix, Street Fighter might be the one franchise I’ve put the most hours into across its many versions.
While I’ll be quick to tell you that Street Fighter III represents some of the finest animation and gameplay in this or any series, no one can deny the staying power of Street Fighter II. This is a game that defined a genre and is still influencing other games, whether directly or by association, to this day. Now that I can play it on my Switch I can safely say that one more version doesn’t hurt.
I won’t waste time explaining the gameplay itself, but the Switch version offered a unique opportunity for me to try Street Fighter II with a new controller type. The Joy-Con is smaller than a Super Nintendo controller and doesn’t feature a D-Pad, while the stick on offer isn’t on the level of an arcade or fight stick. The face buttons were no problem, though I will say that the shoulder buttons sans a Joy Con strap are somewhat inconvenient to access, particularly SL. Via the standard layout, this robbed me of hard punch as an easily used option.
Sitting about ten feet from the Docked Switch, itself sitting behind the TV, I didn’t experience any sort of noticeable lag or trouble with connectivity while playing. For the first few matches there was a bit of an adjustment period, but within a handful I felt confident enough and was able to consistently pull off Shoryukens, Flash Kicks and Spinning Piledrivers without issue. I even managed Vega’s super combo motion just fine, arguably the most complex motion in the game. So for playing with friends locally, the game more than passes the test for some classic fighting fun.
While I’m not equipped nor knowledgeable enough to make calls on frame data, nothing in the game stopped me from enjoying it as is. Only time will tell if this iteration holds any sort of tournament presence versus its older versions, but it’s definitely earned its place on my Switch. With two new (albeit altered versions of existing) characters, visual and audio options, extra modes and more on offer in the latest version, look forward to our full review to see all I have to say about Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers.
Leave a Comment
Written by Ricky Berg
When he isn’t writing for Nintendo Wire, Ricky’s anticipating the next Kirby, Fire Emblem, or if the stars ever align, Mother 3 to be released. Till then he’ll have the warm comfort of Super Smash Bros. to keep him going.
