Joystiq hands-on: Street Fighter II HD (XBLA/PSN)
by Zack Stern 
{ Mar 13th 2008 at 1:30PM }
Frankly, I don't even remember which character I played. It doesn't help that my only choices were Ken and Ryu, who have nearly the same moves. My helpful opponent reminded me how to do some of the special attacks; I was far out of practice on the Hurricane Kick, but I could throw fireballs right away.
Our widescreen fights looked crisp and perfectly redrawn, but I didn't spend much time taking in the visuals. Instead, I used the stick and six buttons to try to attack, defend, and counter-attack. And from my laid-back style -- I call it "shrugging panda" -- it felt good. I always thought Street Fighter captured this back-and-forth dance better than most fighting games.
The fights alternated between standard and rebalanced modes, but I didn't notice a clear difference in that moment. I'm sure that gamers who remember all of the attacks will be able to tell. In my handful of matches, I was content to just walk through the steps with an old, familiar partner. Sure, she's had some work done, but Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix comes out feeling timeless.
The fights alternated between standard and rebalanced modes, but I didn't notice a clear difference in that moment. I'm sure that gamers who remember all of the attacks will be able to tell. In my handful of matches, I was content to just walk through the steps with an old, familiar partner. Sure, she's had some work done, but Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix comes out feeling timeless.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Lonecow @ Mar 13th 2008 1:42PM
I'll ask because I know I'm not the only one interested:
Cammy/Chun Li....
Bounce?
PojoMofo @ Mar 13th 2008 1:56PM
E. Honda will have some bounce, but in a VERY wrong kinda way
xFenixKnightx @ Mar 13th 2008 1:43PM
I dont understand this, why wouldnt Joystiq get someone that IS a fan of the series and DOES know how to play?
Either way, I'm getting Commando 3 just for this beta. I love SF and those pics look sweet!!!
ViagraFiend @ Mar 13th 2008 1:58PM
Exactly. Why the hell would they get Zack to play it when I'm sure others on the Joystiq staff knows the game well.
Dumb.
hakujin @ Mar 13th 2008 1:50PM
This entire piece was of little value to anyone who reads Joystiq. You didn't remember which character you played? You don't remember how to perform the most basic Street Fighter moves? You didn't really look at the updated visuals? You aren't sure if the game plays differently?
The only thing these four paragraphs accomplished was wasting your readers' time. Please send someone more qualified before commenting on future stories.
upz @ Mar 13th 2008 3:13PM
Let's cut him some slack. Remember, these guys are tasked to cover every game of every genre. There's bound to be stuff they don't know. Hell, if I worked for them, I'd be clueless when it came to anything MMORPG.
Squibmacbooth @ Mar 13th 2008 3:27PM
@Upz
C'mon, this was pretty poor. Even for Joystiq's standards. Lay down the crack pipes and pick up the games guys. It would be appropriate to send someone who would actually APPRECIATE the opportunity of playing the beta early by staying awake long enough to look at the screen.
Besides, half of the stuff on here is the best bits from other sites.
I love Joystiq, which is why it hurts even more lol
Skewed Perspective @ Mar 13th 2008 2:00PM
I stopped reading after "I don't remember which character I played". You should have lied.
primetime4 @ Mar 13th 2008 2:51PM
Agreed. In college, everyone I knew went by their SF names. You would walk down the hall and someone would yell out "Blaaaaanka". You don't forget stuff like that.
DangerMouse @ Mar 13th 2008 4:51PM
Roll down the hall?
nerrrrrrd @ Mar 13th 2008 2:02PM
I'm not a Street Fighter fanatic either but i know that Ryu = white, Ken = red and all the moves are either quarter circle and kick or punch.
Just admit that you were not a Street Fighter player ever :)
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Mar 13th 2008 2:05PM
Business as usual for joystiq. Anytime there's a new entry in a franchise, the guy who gets to preview it is the one who's only heard of the franchise in passing.
Guess what joystiq. Thats fucking dumb.
On to real comment:
Those visuals should be what high definition is all about. I will absolutely murder Fernando for a Castlevania or Metroid or Mega Man done with all hand drawn sprites like this.
You'd have the golden return of the sidescrollers.
Zertoss @ Mar 13th 2008 2:23PM
This gives me an idea for population control.
Yourself @ Mar 13th 2008 2:58PM
Vanillaware at least seems to have heard this call. Their 2D visuals are topnotch. Can't wait to get my hands on their Wii game in development.
upz @ Mar 13th 2008 3:17PM
And if they redrew Castlevania or Mega Man, they probably wouldn't have to worry nearly as much about this pixel/frame perfect crap us SF fans are adamant about and could actually add more frames of animation to make it look better.
Oh and if Fernando ever stops showing up every five minutes, we'll know who to blame.
kftgr @ Mar 13th 2008 5:14PM
rant on.
What's fucking dumb is all the people that don't realize that this wasn't a Street Fighter only event.
What's also fucking dumb is that people presume to know the details of how Joystiq chooses to send people out to events. Perhaps they assume that Joystiq has infinite budget and that their writers' sole purpose in life is to be 100% fanatical and knowledgeable about every gaming genre so that when the chance arises, they are ready to report on said genre so that they can enrich the lives of their masters readers -- readers who wouldn't hesitate to call them fucking dumb for being just slightly imperfect.
rant off.
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Mar 13th 2008 6:00PM
Rant on:
ITS FREAKING STREET FIGHTER 2. IF YOU WORK FOR A GAME BLOG YOU"D THINK YOU"D BE KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT ONE OF THE GREATEST AND GROUND BREAKINGEST FIGHTERS OF ALL TIME!!
Rant off.
Nigeria @ Mar 13th 2008 2:08PM
Well, at least Zack isn't displaying the blind enthusiasm that would be expected of a games blogger/journalist.
Would you rather he pander to the audience's dreams and say everything was incredibly exciting? I know I wouldn't. He was bored by it. Unmoved. Maybe Joystiq could have sent a Street Fighter fanatic, but then we'd have got the same bland hyperbole that is being spewed elsewhere on the internet.
I salute Zack's apathy.
xFenixKnightx @ Mar 13th 2008 2:12PM
Ahhhhhhhhh shutuuuuuuup!!!!!
Kendall B @ Mar 13th 2008 2:13PM
The whole point of a preview is to get information about a game, not a "meh", *yawn*, or complete indifference. Otherwise, why even bother calling it a preview? Maybe you'd have a point if he provided anything resembling actual information about the game.
hakujin @ Mar 13th 2008 2:23PM
You are confusing apathy with ignorance.
Nigeria @ Mar 13th 2008 2:23PM
But at the same time, isn't that what's wrong with previews.
You get information, but as the game is still a work in progress the journalist must use hyperbole for two reasons: to pander to the existing audience for page hits, and be "nice" to the developers so they can still gain "exclusive" coverage. (I'm speaking in general and not necessarily and in relation to this post)
Too often, previews read like press releases. And In fact, Zack's post wasn't a preview. He doesn't even use the word. It's a hands on. And he was bored by it.
The Joystiq bloggers should ruffle more feathers.
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Mar 13th 2008 2:26PM
He's only apathetic because he has little grounds for comparison. There were 2 characters, and he couldn't even remember which one he played? He can't tell the difference between normal and rebalanced? Thats like the biggest freaking question any SF2 fan wants to know, but we get our info from retardstiq apparently.
This is like the starcraft 2 preview all over again. "I've never played starcraft, but I'm going to preview starcraft 2 and tell you crap you already know, like you have minerals instead of gold, and some races uses different resources."
Thanks. Didn't know any of that. Just like I didn't know any of what was written here. Oh wait, yeah I did, because I've played street fighter 2 before.
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Mar 13th 2008 2:34PM
I do want to add, that its probably not Zack's fault he was assigned this particular article (probably), so I'm directing my ire more at joystiq the company.
Ludwig Kietzmann @ Mar 13th 2008 3:03PM
One thing to add to this discussion: The word "preview" does not appear in this post.
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Mar 13th 2008 3:17PM
Arguing the difference between "preview" and "hands on" is a semantic argument at best. I seem to recall the starcraft "preview" was called a "hands on" also.
Ludwig Kietzmann @ Mar 13th 2008 4:22PM
Why does being a semantic argument somehow make it a lesser issue? We are talking about the meanings associated with these words. Whereas a typical preview aims at conveying certain information and details (as evidenced by the complaints), a hands-on can be different. In this case, the author expressed a certain opinion drawn from his playtime, specifically, "Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix comes out feeling timeless."
I think a lot of the hubbub centers on the expectation of things like, "How many stages/weapons are there?" or "What are the features?"
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Mar 13th 2008 6:10PM
We already know SF2 is timeless. You mentioned that you don't write "step-by-step, graphics/controls/sound/etc. previews that any robot could write." Well, like you said, its SF2, only HD, and with some play balancing. We all know what its like to play SF2, therefore what your readership expects from a hands on is their impressions of *whats new or different*, not "SF2 is a timeless fighter".
"Yeah, I played it, it was alright" is basically what he said. No kidding. Its SF2. That goes without saying. Anyone interested in reading a hands on is going to know that going into the hands on.
Point is: if you're going to bother writing a (4 paragraph) entry, make sure there's some meat in it.
Again, its not his fault, and it really isn't yours either, if he was the only one available. But if you know your readership is going to want "step-by-step, graphics/controls/sound/etc that any robot could write (and in this case, has already written multiple times)", and you give them fluff, it makes you look worse than if you had written nothing at all.
Kendall B @ Mar 13th 2008 2:11PM
Somebody phoned it in today.
As someone who's genuinely interested in the game, I'd really like to see a much more in-depth hands on with the game. Maybe get someone who would be able to tell the difference between normal and rebalanced modes?
Not the writer of the SSF2THDR @ Mar 13th 2008 2:21PM
Even in the first sentence, this article is already crap.
"I'm not Street Fighter fanatic, but I've enjoyed the series over the years.
Where's the "a" between not and Street?
Grr, there's so many more things to pick at, but I'll stop after one more.
"I was far out of practice on the Hurricane Kick"
Dumbest comment I've read all year.
Scott @ Mar 13th 2008 2:21PM
wow...........so you post about art updates at least half a dozen times, and any tidbit of news, but an actual preview HANDS ON.....we get....nothing....no detailed info....forget video...
thanks!
DangerMouse @ Mar 13th 2008 2:32PM
Nice to see some new screens, but it's looking disappointing. It's too shiny and too polished. Ryu's stage (the one with the bandanna) seems to be a rather dark setting, yet the characters are glimmering with vibrant colors. Maybe i have to see it in motion to get a better idea.
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Mar 13th 2008 3:00PM
Have you ever played street fighter? Bright primary colors abound. This isn't mortal kombat. Strong Anime roots here.
DangerMouse @ Mar 13th 2008 5:04PM
I don't know how you pulled anime out of my post, or even Mortal Kombat for that matter, when that clearly wasn't what i was talking about.
It's not the colors, it's the contrast between the characters and the background. It looks fine on Ken's stage and Fei Long's, because it's day light, it's supposed to be bright. Ryu's stage is too dark, thus making the characters look too bright. It's easy to fix, just make a the stage a little brighter and get rid of some of the black.
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Mar 13th 2008 6:12PM
Oh, now I see.
I thought you were complaining about their choices of colors.
pasteymofo @ Mar 13th 2008 2:38PM
Wow... have lack of enthusiasm much? I think this is is the worst hands-on preview I've seen on Joystiq.
xFenixKnightx @ Mar 13th 2008 2:39PM
Guys, guys, guys!!! Fellas... 2 videos right here =)
http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/900/900198/vids_1.html
upz @ Mar 13th 2008 3:30PM
My god... I knew SFII was choppy as hell, but that combined with the new hi-res graphics looks horribly out of place.
iag25 @ Mar 13th 2008 2:48PM
This preview is shit. Guy knows squat about SF.
Jhongerkong @ Mar 13th 2008 4:46PM
O RLY?
Ludwig Kietzmann @ Mar 13th 2008 3:00PM
I understand a lot of the concerns and complaints here, but there are two issues I think are worth noting:
1) Zack was the only person able to attend this for us. I think a lot of you guys are exaggerating his supposed unfamiliarity with the series, not to mention an inability to answer what we feel is the most important question:
2) Does this play like Street Fighter 2? This is a graphical update to a game you've all played and, indeed, can play on XBLA right now. I think that point is addressed in this post.
The desire for more detail does make sense, but I think frequent readers of the site know we don't provide step-by-step, graphics/controls/sound/etc. previews that any robot could write (and in this case, has already written multiple times). That being said, your complaints have been heard.
KeenCommander @ Mar 13th 2008 3:07PM
Forget this, when do we get Last Blade 2 HD Remix, or Mark of the Wolves HD Remix (and I know those are both SNK games, just saying it would be good), or Marvel vs. Capcom HD Remix? Me want more.
deaftly @ Mar 13th 2008 3:11PM
Ok Why exactly is everyone fussing over a preview of Street Fighter fucking 2. What did you expect? Its just a prettier version of the SAME fucking game we have been playing for years now. Give the guy a break.
primetime4 @ Mar 13th 2008 3:18PM
You just described half the games made over the past 6 years. Halo, COD, MGS, GTA. If you put it that way, why even bother at all.
deaftly @ Mar 13th 2008 3:20PM
Yea all those had sequels, this is exactly the same game. On a side note I just watched some videos that Fenix linked to, they were kind of a let down :(
colin @ Mar 13th 2008 4:26PM
the haters are coming out in droves today. next thing you know, they are going to band together and start a player-hater defense force.
jynxycat @ Mar 13th 2008 4:28PM
Meh, this is the first time I've bothered to look at these screenshots, and I'm not impressed.
Looking at the gallery, there are clearly two different builds of this game shown, with the earlier build having much better shadow/detail on the characters.
The new characters basically consist of one color, with a tiny bit of shadowing.
Boo.
ps. Who still thinks SF2/SSF2 are even fun anymore? No combos, no dodge/parry/counter systems, it's like playing Madden '93 when you could be playing Madden 2008. Don't confuse nostalgia with fun.
zero2dash @ Mar 13th 2008 6:03PM
Your lack of a Street Fighter education is astounding.
SF2 has no combos? Think again. Hell, Super Turbo has air combos and juggles.
A dodge feature? It's 2D, not 3D. (Unless you count X-Cody in Zero 3 who automatically dodged attacks.) This isn't the horrendous EX series.
Parrying? What, the worst feature of III that completely ruined the game for pros who could parry practically every move that was not a grab in the game?
No counters? [Again] *think again*.
I think you've grown a little too spoiled on the dummified versions of Street Fighter over the years to appreciate the finer old versions which still stand the test of time as some of the best 2D fighters ever made.
Zero 2 Dash and Zero 3 being my favorite ones of all of them, but SF2:HF and SSF2T are definitely a close 3rd and 4th behind them.
anon @ Mar 30th 2008 12:52PM
The "better shadowing/detail" on the sprites was changed because everyone (Udon, Capcom) agreed they were aiming too high to try and get all the sprites done in that style.
So they changed the render style in order to be able to get the game out easier (and additionaly with extra features due to the time taken to restart the art process.)
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Mar 13th 2008 4:32PM
What I learned from Joystiq. SF elitists are total fucking pricks.
Jesus Christ, cut the guy some slack. Besides I kinda viewed this article as a sort of a good thing. Like Zack I'm not really a hardcore street fighter gamer, but it's good to know that while this game will definitely cater to the hardcore, it'll also be fun for the casual player.