Information on SSFII and SSFIIX

SSFII, the first of Capcom's upgrades to SFII to introduce new characters, is an almost flawless translation from the arcade. Very little is missing, and the game has everything, from the four "new" characters, to the bonus stages, to the arcade music.

The problem, however, lies not with SSFII, but rather, SSFIIX. Being only an upgrade, one might expect to see an equally flawless translation, but this is not the case. Although the game can still be called a 95% arcade-perfect translation, it suffers from slight slowdown on certain stages, and sometimes, muted sound effects. However, to give Capcom credit, this is still the best home translation of the game ever, and for most players, the slowdown will not make much of a difference. I play the game on the fastest speed, "T4", and have found that while the slowdown is detectable, it is not very bad, and does not ruin the gameplay for me. For those who spent much time playing the game in the arcades, though, the slowdown may affect the timings of the moves and combos, forcing players to readjust themselves to the game's slight change of speed.

The graphics of both versions are outstanding. The characters are large, containing most all of their animation, and the colors are bright and vivid. This IS the arcade.

The sound is also very close to the arcade's, containing the original arcade music. The voices, while clear, sound slightly lower than the music, however. The sound effects, while sometimes muted from two characters striking each other at the same time, are also of arcade quality.

Also arcade perfect, the control is flawless, as every move, including the super combos, are extremely easy to perform. Even the secret codes are now easier to perform!

SSFII is a great arcade translation! The problem is, SSFIIX is still not perfect. Even though it has it's flaws, this and SSFII are still very much as fun to play now as they were when they were first released into the arcade. The closest translations from the arcade possible, and the most fun, despite the flaws of SSFIIX.

Information On Street Fighter Zero 2 Dash

Unlike SSFIIX, the translation of Street Fighter Zero 2 Dash has only been improved from the original. Although the illustration gallery found in Street Fighter Zero 2 has been removed, several new features have been added in.

The first new feature is "Gouki Mode", which allows you to directly challenge the super-cheap Shin Gouki/Akuma in a fight to the finish on the plains of the hidden stage in Australia. If you manage to defeat this fearsome creature, you will sadly only recieve the game's credits. :P

The second addition to the game is the addition of new moves for several of the characters, including Sakura, Dhalsim, Sagat, and Guy. In addition to this, Capcom has also upped the number of alternate characters, and made them easier to access, with new "Championship Edition" versions of Ryu, Ken, Sagat, Chun-Li, and Vega/M. Bison, to go alongside Dhalsim and Zangief. Sakura also has a code which enables her to have pastel-colored outfits, and Evil Ryu and Shin Gouki/Akuma are now easier to access than in the last version. To add even more, Capcom put in a new option which allows for Super Moves to be executed at any time, despite what the Super Bar's status reads. (Thankfully, this IS just an option... :)

The last new addition and also the most surprising is the "new" hidden playable character: Cammy! Clad in her uniform and possessing all of her moves from X-Men Vs. Street Fighter, Cammy is a force to be reckoned with...in the Versus and Training modes, that is. Unfortunately, Cammy is not selectable in the 1P, Survival, and Gouki modes. (However, there is a Pro Action Replay code available which lets Cammy become available in the 1P and Survival modes...)

(For all of the codes in SF Collection, please see my SF Collection Secrets FAQ, which accompanies this review.)

Information On Street Fighter Zero 2 Dash

Just like Street Fighter 2 Zero, SFZ2' contains almost of the arcade animations and colors, and for those with new moves, new animations have of course been added in as well.

Unfortunately, the sound is also like SFZ2...! :) Although it is not bad, most of the characters suffer from having slightly muffled voices.

Arcade-perfect and now even easier! Certain gameplay features such as the Custom Combo System have now been made slightly easier to perform...

SFZ2' alone is enough of a reason to buy SF Collection! This is even better than the original version of SFZ2, which was an outstanding game to begin with! With the new additions of Gouki Mode, the new moves/hidden characters, and Cammy, the best Street Fighter game just got better.

-Lee

Graphics: 9.75

Sound/Music: 9

Gameplay/Control: 10

Lasting Power: 9.75

Overall: 9.5

-Lee